Beaty upbeat about chicken farms coming
Since announcing Perdue Farms may be interested in locating a poultry breeder operation here, one local official feels the county may be a step closer to accommodating such an industry.
University of Tennessee agriculture extension agent Dale Beaty has indicated a potential operation in Warren County, from his understanding, depends upon the company purchasing a hatchery located in a neighboring state. Beaty said he was told the new by the state poultry specialist, noting that hatchery would be used to hatch eggs produced in Warren County.
Perdue Vice President of Operations and Sales David Anderson told the Standard last week an announcement would be forthcoming, but emphasized the company, based in Salisbury, Md., has not made an official decision.
“The main message we would have at this point, is the decision is not finally made. There’s no secret to looking around and evaluating. There’s no need for us to try to protect that in any way, but we’re not in a position to announce that a decision has been made yet,” Anderson said.
Beaty said he believes, however, things are looking up.
“Our state poultry specialist is telling us it looks like they’re going to close on the hatchery and if they do, they’ll be visiting with farmers in the next couple of weeks.”
The program would work something like this: Interested parties would go through an interview process with Perdue officials. Then qualified candidates would make an investment in a production facility and contract with Perdue.
About 150 people attended a February meeting at the county’s administrative building to discuss the possibilities. The meeting was attended by two Perdue officials, who said they were “evaluating” the area to determine the level of interest.
At that time, it was reported Perdue wanted to add 12 breeder farms and six pullet-rearing facilities. Pullet farms raise chicks up to 22 weeks and are then transferred to hen houses where they begin to lay eggs.
Anderson confirmed breeder operations are still the company’s area of interest and said the company was pleased at the attendance.
“We were very pleased with the response at that meeting and we’re following up on some of the contacts established at that meeting and anticipate making a decision within 30 days, in the worst-case scenario,” he said.
Perdue officials reported at the February meeting that a $294,000 pullet farm may result in an approximate salary of $20,000 per year, while a $417,000 hen house can result in an estimated $39,000 salary.
According to the company’s web site, Perdue acts as an integrated agribusiness operating hatcheries, feed mills, live production and breeder operations and processing plants, producing 48 million pounds of chicken products and about 4 million pounds of turkey products each week.
Chickens and turkeys are produced by almost 3,000 independent farm-family partners, who raise the birds under contract. Perdue reports it is the fifth-largest poultry producer in the United States, employing about 20,000 people. Its products are sold in 40 countries.