U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                     FORM 4

         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(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

[_]  Check box if no longer  subject of Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations
     may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

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1.   Name and Address of Reporting Person*

Butts                                Lampkin
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   (Last)                           (First)             (Middle)

Post Office Box 988
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                                    (Street)

Laurel                               Mississippi             39441-0988
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   (City)                           (State)              (Zip)

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2.   Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol


SAFM
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3.   IRS Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an Entity (Voluntary)



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4.   Statement for Month/Year


December 20, 2002
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5.   If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Year)


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6.   Relationship of Reporting Person to Issuer
     (Check all applicable)

     [X]  Director                             [X]  10% Owner
     [X]  Officer (give title below)           [_]  Other (specify below)

Vice President-Sales
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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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                                                                                                                6.
                                                                 4.                              5.             Owner-
                                                                 Securities Acquired (A) or      Amount of      ship
                                                    3.           Disposed of (D)                 Securities     Form:     7.
                                                    Transaction  (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)             Beneficially   Direct    Nature of
                                      2.            Code         ------------------------------- Owned at End   (D) or    Indirect
1.                                    Transaction   (Instr. 8)                   (A)             of Month       Indirect  Beneficial
Title of Security                     Date          ------------     Amount      or     Price    (Instr. 3      (I)       Ownership
(Instr. 3)                            (mm/dd/yy)     Code     V                  (D)             and 4)         (Instr.4) (Instr. 4)
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Common Stock, par value
$1.00 per share                                                                                      3,873.1454 D         (1)
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Common Stock, par value                                                                                                   Custodian
$1.00 per share                                                                                         80      I         for Child
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Common Stock, par value                                                                                                   ESOP
$1.00 per share                                                                                     24,161      I         Allocation
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Common Stock, par value                                                                                                   Trustee*
$1.00 per share                       12/20/02       P        V       20,000     A      $20.34   1,231,618      I         for ESOP
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Explanation of Responses:

*Mr.  Butts is one of three  trustees of the Employee  Stock  Ownership Plan and
Trust of Sanderson  Farms,  Inc. and  Affiliates  ("ESOP"),  which is the record
owner of 1,231,618 shares of common stock of the Company. As such, Mr. Butts, in
his capacity as a trustee of the ESOP, shares with the other trustees investment
power with respet to those  shares of common  stock and  therefore  is deemed to
beneficially  own, under  applicable  regulations of the Securities and Exchange
Commission,  the shares of common stock owned of record by the ESOP. Pursuant to
Rule 13d-4 of the Exchange Act, Mr. Butts disclaims  beneficial ownership of the
common stock owned of record by the ESOP, except for the 24,161 shares allocated
to his personal  account  thereunder  as a participant  in the plan,  over which
shares Mr. Butts exercises sole voting power, but shares with the other trustees
investment power with respect to such shares.

If the Form is filed by more than one Reporting Person, see Instruction 4(b)(v).

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially
          owned directly or indirectly.

                            (Print or Type Responses)
                                                                          (Over)
(Form 4-07/99)




FORM 4 (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
                                                                                                          of        Form
                    2.                                                                                    Deriv-    of
                    Conver-                    5.                              7.                         ative     Deriv-   11.
                    sion                       Number of                       Title and Amount           Secur-    ative    Nature
                    or                         Derivative    6.                of Underlying     8.       ities     Secur-   of
                    Exer-             4.       Securities    Date              Securities        Price    Bene-     ity:     In-
                    cise     3.       Trans-   Acquired (A)  Exercisable and   (Instr. 3 and 4)  of       ficially  Direct   direct
                    Price    Trans-   action   or Disposed   Expiration Date   ----------------  Deriv-   Owned     (D) or   Bene-
1.                  of       action   Code     of(D)         (Month/Day/Year)            Amount  ative    at End    In-      ficial
Title of            Deriv-   Date     (Instr.  (Instr. 3,    ----------------            or      Secur-   of        direct   Owner-
Derivative          ative    (Month/  8)       4 and 5)      Date     Expira-            Number  ity      Month     (I)      ship
Security            Secur-   Day/     ------   ------------  Exer-    tion               of      (Instr.  (Instr.   (Instr.  (Instr.
(Instr. 3)          ity      Year)    Code V    (A)   (D)    cisable  Date     Title     Shares  5)       4)        4)       4)
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Incentive Stock                                                                Common
Options            $13.00                                    4/24/99* 4/23/08  Stock                      15,000    D
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                                                                               Common
                   $ 7.188                                   5/01/01* 5/01/10  Stock                       7,500    D
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                                                                               Common
                   $ 7.46875                                 4/21/01* 4/21/10  Stock                      18,000    D
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                                                                               Common
                   $11.10                                    4/28/02* 4/28/11  Stock                       7,500    D
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                                                                               Common
                   $18.55                                    7/25/03* 7/25/12  Stock                      18,000    D
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Explanation of Responses:

*All reported option vest at 25% on the date indicated,  and continue to vest at
25% on each anniversary date thereafter until fully vested


    /s/Lampkin Butts                                        December 23, 2002
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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.