|
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Chicken is a Sunday dinner staple in Kentucky. It’s also big business in rural communities that are benefiting from the growth of the poultry industry in the Commonwealth. Now Kentucky poultry producers have their time to crow as they celebrate National Chicken Month in September and the World Chicken Festival Sept. 21-24 in London, Ky.
“Poultry has grown into an $800 million industry in Kentucky,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “Contract broiler production has enabled many Kentucky farmers to prosper. Their success has a ripple effect on the economies of many Kentucky towns.”
Kentucky farmers took in $813.8 million from sales of broilers, eggs and other poultry in 2005. Only horses and stud fees generated more farmgate receipts in the state. Income from broilers alone topped $704.3 million, 18 percent higher than in 2004.
Perhaps no community has benefited more from the explosive growth of Kentucky’s poultry industry than McLean County. The western Kentucky community is home to a Tyson hatchery near Beech Grove and a Perdue feed mill near Livermore. Perdue has a processing plant in Cromwell in Ohio County, and Tyson has a facility in Robards in Henderson County. A Tyson feed mill is located north of Sebree in Webster County.
Banker Charlie Mann raises between 120,000 and 149,000 chickens at a time in six grower houses and averages 5.25 flocks per year.
“Everything just works fine for our operation,” Mann said. “The return on investment has even exceeded our expectations.”
Mann is vice president and business development officer for First Security Bank in Island, a post he has held since he came out of retirement last December. He is the former president of Citizens Deposit Bank of Calhoun, where he worked for 27 years. That’s where he was when Perdue and Hudson Foods came to the community 10 years ago. (The Hudson facilities later were bought out by Tyson.)
“Being raised on a farm myself, growing tobacco, I was looking for an opportunity to get back into agriculture and saw the opportunity to do so,” Mann said.
Otis Griffin has three complexes with a capacity of 90,000-95,000 chickens each on his farm near Calhoun. Like Mann, he raises chickens for Perdue. He built the first four-house complex in 1996 and since has built two more.
“We were looking for something else,” Griffin said. “Grain prices were not very consistent and not very good for quite a while. Tobacco was under pressure. I was looking for something different. I haven’t regretted a minute of it.”
Income from his poultry operation has enabled Griffin to build a new home, pay off his land and upgrade his farm equipment.
“It has increased my cash flow tremendously,” Griffin said of the poultry operation. “It’s been a real miracle for me. I can’t say enough good things about it.”
McLean County Judge-Executive Larry Whitaker said the local poultry industry has made it possible for young farmers to come back to the area or stay there and run their family farms.
“Poultry has allowed farmers to stay on 15 to 20 acres and have an income comparable to a large row crop operation,” Whitaker said.
The poultry industry has created demand for construction, equipment sales, supplies and other businesses. Whitaker said Ward Implement of Beech Grove is the largest New Holland equipment dealer in North America. Mann and Griffin, a member of the McLean County Board of Education, said the economic impact of the industry has generated increased tax revenues for the local schools.
Mann and Whitaker said farmers use chicken litter in their fields to cut their fertilizer costs. Mann said the nutritional value of chicken litter is $35-40 per ton, and most grower houses generate an average of 200 tons of litter a year.
Some of the first growers are about to retire their debt, Mann pointed out. That will free up capital for farmers to buy new equipment or upgrade existing equipment, he said.
Kentucky also is home to a Cagle’s Keystone poultry processing facility in Albany and a Pilgrim’s Pride plant in Mayfield.
The World Chicken Festival celebrates Kentucky’s heritage in the poultry industry. More than 250,000 people will flock to London for the four-day event. Fried chicken will be cooked in the world’s largest stainless steel skillet, which is 10 feet, 6 inches in diameter, weighs 700 pounds and can cook up to 600 quarters of chicken at a time.For more information on National Chicken Month, go to www.nationalchickenmonth.com. For more information on the World Chicken Festival, go to www.chickenfestival.com.
--30--
|
