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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).

|X|  Form 3 Holdings Reported

|X|  Form 4 Transactions Reported

________________________________________________________________________________
1.   Name and Address of Reporting Person*

Grimes                                James                  A.
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   (Last)                            (First)              (Middle)

P. O. Box 988
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                                    (Street)

Laurel                                Mississippi            39441-0988
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   (City)                            (State)                (Zip)
________________________________________________________________________________
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
________________________________________________________________________________
5.   If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Year)



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

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

         Chief Accounting Officer/Secretary
     ____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
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
================================================================================


                                                                                                 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                3/05/02                  M4              7,500       A      $10.875
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Common Stock                3/05/02                  S4              7,500       D      $24.65
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Common Stock                6/24/02                  M4              5,000       A      $15.00
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Common Stock                6/24/02                  S4              5,000       D      $24.50       0          D
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                                                                                                                          ESOP
Common Stock                                         3(1)                                        2,391          I         Allocation
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                                                                                                                          ESOP
Common Stock                                         3                                           8,995(2)       I         Allocation
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====================================================================================================================================

(1) There were 2,391 shares allocated to the reporting person's ESOP account
when he became an executive officer of Sanderson Farms, Inc. on November 1,
1993.

(2) Reflects total amount of shares allocated to reporting person's ESOP
account as of October 31, 2002.

*    If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see instruction
     4(b)(v).

FORM 5 (continued)

Table II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
            (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

================================================================================


                                                                                                                    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)             $10.875   7/25/96  A         7,500        7/25/97* 7/24/02  Stock      7,500                0    D
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employee
Stock
Options
(Right                                                                          Common
to Buy)             $15.00    7/24/97  A         5,000        7/24/98* 7/23/07  Stock      5,000                0    D
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Employee
Stock
Options
(Right                                                                          Common
to Buy)             $10.875   3/05/02  M4              7,500  7/25/97* 7/24/02  Stock      7,500                0    D
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employee
Stock
Options
(Right                                                                          Common
to Buy)             $15.00    6/24/02  M4              5,000  7/24/98* 7/23/07  Stock      5,000                0    D
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employee
Stock
Options
(Right                                                                          Common
to Buy)             $13.00    4/23/98  A         5,000        4/23/99* 4/22/08  Stock      5,000            5,000    D
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employee
Stock
Options
(Right                                                                          Common
to Buy)             $ 7.46875 4/24/00  A         5,000        4/24/01* 4/23/10  Stock      5,000            5,000    D
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employee
Stock
Options
(Right
to Buy)             $ 7.188   5/01/00  A         7,500        5/01/01* 4/30/10  Stock      7,500            7,500    D
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employee
Stock
Options
(Right                                                                          Common
to Buy)             * 11.10   4/27/01  A         7,500        4/27/02* 4/26/11  Stock      7,500            7,500    D
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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:

*25% of the options vest on the date indicated, and an additional 25% vest
each year thereafter until fully vested.


                                                              January 17, 2003
---------------------------------------------            -----------------------
      **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.