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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
FORM 5
ANNUAL STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP
Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or
Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940
|_| Check box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations
may continue. See Instruction 1(b).
|_| Form 3 Holdings Reported
|x| Form 4 Transactions Reported
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1. Name and Address of Reporting Person*
Sanderson William R.
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(Last) (First) (Middle)
P. O. Box 988
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(Street)
Laurel Mississippi 39441
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(City) (State) (Zip)
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2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
Sanderson Farms, Inc. (SAFM)
________________________________________________________________________________
3. I.R.S. Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an entity (Voluntary)
________________________________________________________________________________
4. Statement for Month/Year
October 31,2002
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5. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Year)
________________________________________________________________________________
6. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)
|X| Director |X| 10% Owner
| | Officer (give title below) |_| Other (specify below)
____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing
(check applicable line)
|x| Form filed by One Reporting Person
|_| Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
________________________________________________________________________________
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Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of,
or Beneficially Owned
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5. 6.
4. Amount of Owner-
Securities Acquired (A) or Securities ship
2A. 3. Disposed of (D) Beneficially Form: 7.
2. Deemed Transaction (Instr. 3, 4 and 5) Owned Direct Nature of
Trans- Execution Code ------------------------------- at the End (D) or Indirect
1. action Date, if (Instr. 8) (A) of Issuer's Indirect Beneficial
Title of Security Date any ------------ or Fiscal Year (I) Ownership
(Instr. 3) (mm/dd/yy) (mm/dd/yy) Amount (D) Price (Instr. 3 & 4) (Instr.4) (Instr.4)
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Common Stock 2,399,672(1) I (1)
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Cust. for
Common Stock 28,134(1) I Minor
Child
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Dir. of
Private
Common Stock 147,143(1) I Foundation
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Common Stock 4/03/02 M4 7,500 A $15.00 Owner of
Common Stock 4/03/02 S4 7,500 D $26.77 177,984 D Record
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ESOP
Common Stock 9,610(1) I Allocation
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Wife
Common Stock 8,460(1) I Owns
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* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see instruction
4(b)(v).
(1)The amount reported on Form 4 includes 2,399,672 shares of common stock
benefically owned by Mr. Sanderson as co-executor of the Estate of Joe Frank
Sanderson, deceased. The co-executors share voting and investment power with
respect to the 2,399,672 shares owned directly by the Estate. The amount in the
table also includes 147,143 shares owned directly by a private foundation
established by Joe Frank Sanderson for which William R. Sanderson serves as a
director, and as such, shares voting and investment power with the other
directors of the foundation with respect to such shares. With respect to the
9,610 shares shown as indirect ownership by virtue of their allocation to Mr.
Sanderson's account under the Employee Stock Ownership Trust established by
Sanderson Farms, Inc. Mr. Sanderson has sole voting power over such shares, but
the investment power in such shares are exercised by the trustees of the ESOP.
This Form 4 includes 28,134 shares of common stock held by William R. Sanderson
as custodian for his minor children over which he exercises sole voting and
investment power.
FORM 5 (continued)
Table II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
(e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
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10.
9. Owner-
Number ship
2. of of
Conver- 5. 7. Deriv- Deriv- 11.
sion Number of Title and Amount ative ative Nature
or Derivative 6. of Underlying 8. Secur- Secur- of
Exer- 3A. 4. Securities Date Securities Price ities ity: In-
cise Deemed Trans- Acquired (A) Exercisable and (Instr. 3 and 4) of Bene- Direct direct
Price 3. Execut- action or Disposed Expiration Date ---------------- Deriv- ficially (D) or Bene-
1. of Trans- ion Code of(D) (Month/Day/Year) Amount ative Owned In- ficial
Title of Deriv- action Date if (Instr. (Instr. 3, ---------------- or Secur- at End direct Owner-
Derivative ative Date any 8) 4 and 5) Date Expira- Number ity of Year (I) ship
Security Secur- (mm/dd/ (mm/dd/ ------ ------------ Exer- tion of (Instr. (Instr. (Instr. (Instr.
(Instr. 3) ity yy) yy) (A) (D) cisable Date Title Shares 5) 4) 4) 4)
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Employee
Stock
Options
(Right Common
to Buy) $15.00 M4 7,500 7/24/98 Stock 7,500 0
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Employee
Stock
Options
(Right Common
to Buy) $15.00 7/24/97 A 7,500 7/24/98 7/23/07 Stock 7,500 0
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Employee
Stock
Options
(Right Common
to Buy) $13.00 4/23/98 A 2,500 4/23/99 4/22/08 Stock 2,500 2,500 D
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Employee
Stock
Options
(Right Common
to Buy) $ 7.46875 4/22/00 A 7,500 4/22/01 4/21/10 Stock 7,500 7,500 D
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Employee
Stock
Options
(Right Common
to Buy) $ 7.188 5/01/00 A 7,500 5/01/01 4/30/10 Stock 7,500 7,500 D
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Employee
Stock
Options
(Right Common
to Buy) $11.00 4/27/01 A 7,500 4/27/02 4/26/11 Stock 7,500 7,500 D
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Employee
Stock
Options
(Right Common
to Buy) $18.55 7/25/02 A 7,500 7/25/03 7/24/12 Stock 7,500 7,500 D
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Explanation of Responses:
/s/William R. Sanderson January 28, 2003
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**Signature of Reporting Person Date
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal
Violations.
See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed.
If space provided is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.