Co-op Development Action
AREC strives to help struggling
poultry producers
By Sarah M. Pike
Common Enterprise
Development Corporation
he Arkansas
Rural
Enterprise
Center
(AREC) has
been working with local and
regional poultry producers
for the past five years,
offering training and
technical assistance that is
helping put money back into
farmers’ pockets. While costs
have been lowered — most
significantly through biomass
innovations — AREC is now
tackling the latest hurdle for
the poultry producers: a loss
of poultry-production
facilities in the area.
Cutting costs with
innovation
A combination of rising
feed costs, slowing demand
and over-production is
buffeting poultry processors
and growers nationally. Prices
for corn and soybeans, the
primary sources of chicken
feed, have reached record highs.
Processors and growers are also paying
more for fuel and electricity.
Consumers are also dining out less
often, especially at casual sit-down
restaurants, where chicken is a menu
staple. Sales to supermarkets and other
retailers have not grown enough to
offset the lost restaurant business,
experts say. That has led to an
oversupply of chicken, keeping prices
low and preventing processors from
raising prices to cover their added costs.
To combat the poultry producers’
hurdles, AREC has assisted Poultry
Partners Inc., a 400-member association
and cooperative network of Arkansas,
Missouri and Oklahoma poultry
producers. AREC is helping members
take an innovative look at how to create
more efficient production methods.
One major initiative is examining
heating costs and identifying lower-cost
alternatives. AREC has put together a
series of training sessions for Poultry
Partners Inc. members on the
economics of converting poultry houses
from using fossil fuels to using biomass
as a fuel source.
“Given the different resources
available to each farmer, AREC did not
focus on one source of biomass but on
several, from corn to wood pellets and
everything in between,” explains Donna
Uptagrafft, program officer with
AREC.
The results of their findings can be
found in the publication: “A Review of
Biomass Furnaces for Heating Poultry
Houses.” A link to the publication on
AREC’s website is www.winrock
programs.org/Arkansas-agriculturaldevelopment/.
Al and Bev Saunders are poultry
producers who benefited from AREC
technical assistance. The Saunders’
chicken farm near the Arkansas-
Oklahoma border takes advantage of
new technology as it becomes available.
The couple is currently testing woodburning
stoves to determine their effect
on energy savings for their houses.
AREC was able to assist Poultry
Partners Inc. through previous funding
received from USDA Rural
Development’s Rural Cooperative
Development Grant (RCDG) Program.
The annual RCDG Program provides
critical funding to co-op and rural
developers throughout the country.
Although AREC did not receive
RCDG funding for 2010, the
cooperative development center
continues its work with the poultry
producers and other rural development
projects as much as possible, including
responding to a recent request from
poultry farmers in south Arkansas who
have experienced an even greater
challenge.
Next hurdle
In 2009, Pilgrim’s Pride, the largest
chicken producer in the United States,
idled three facilities, two in Arkansas
and one in Louisiana, stopping
production indefinitely.
One of the three facilities Pilgrim’s
Pride shut down was located in El
Dorado, Ark. The result was that more
than 120 Arkansas poultry farmers lost
their primary buyer. Most producers
did not get contracts with other poultry
companies. As a result, millions of
dollars in farm loans remain with no
income to service the debt.
AREC was invited to assist Arkansas
poultry producers in rebuilding their
businesses. With the El Dorado poultry
processing plant still dormant, AREC is
working with 40 poultry producers and
local entities to examine the feasibility
of creating a processing co-op. The
feasibility study is in the preliminary
stages and will also examine the role of
a cooperative in purchasing inputs.
The poultry producer projects are
just one area of AREC’s work that
establishes economic sustainability in
rural America. AREC is part of
Winrock International, a nonprofit that
works to empower the disadvantaged,
increase economic opportunity and
sustain natural resources.
AREC is also a member of
CooperationWorks! (CW), a service
cooperative consisting of about 50
cooperative developers from across the
United States. These members
represent 17 cooperative development
centers, along with several other
organizations and individuals.
For more information about AREC
and its projects, contact Donna
Uptagrafft at 501-280-3078 or
duptagrafft@winrock.org. For more
information on CW, call 800-600-7682
or e-mail info@ cooperationworks.coop.
