From annef@ncatark.uark.edu Tue Feb 8 15:22:16 2000 Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2000 12:48:24 -0600 From: Anne Fantico To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu, PasturePoultry@onelist.com Subject: pastured poultry press release PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2/8/00 PASTURED POULTRY EXPANSION IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM A free report describing the experiences of 35 Southern farm families who participated in a project to produce and market pastured poultry is available from Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA). Titled "Pastured Poultry," the 40-page report focuses on events from 1996-99 of the project, "Integration of Pastured Poultry Production Into The Farming Systems of Limited Resource Farmers." The report is chock full of information useful to farmers considering pastured poultry as an enterprise. Included are firsthand accounts of participating farmers and data on the intricacies of pen-building, brooding, feeding, processing, marketing, legal matters, economics, and a host of other topics. The project was conducted by Heifer Project International (HPI), along with the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), which manages ATTRA. It was funded by the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. The Salatin model "The project employed the methods of Joel Salatin, author of Pastured Poultry Profits: Net $25,000 in 6 Months on 20 Acres," says Anne Fanatico of NCAT, outreach coordinator for the project. "Features of pastured poultry include keeping the chickens in field pens that are moved daily to fresh pasture and feeding non-medicated feed. Farmers capture profits by adding value through on-farm slaughter and direct marketing to local customers." Over the course of the project, HPI and other project cooperators provided about 40 hands-on training sessions throughout the South. Several landgrant universities (Southern, Kentucky State, South Carolina State, Florida A&M, and Fort Valley State) were involved through demonstration sites or Extension agents who helped provide technical support to pastured poultry producers in their areas. An important development of the project was formation of the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association (APPPA). With a current membership of 400 people, APPPA publishes a quarterly newsletter called Grit! and serves as a networking tool for producers. "Limited resource farmers need agricultural enterprises that will allow them to start small and gradually build the operation as needed, without incurring substantial debt," Fanatico says. "Pastured poultry increases pasture fertility through manure deposition and integrates well with cattle or sheep production. However, pastured poultry is a high-labor enterprise, profits may not be high initially for small-scale start-ups, and beginners have a lot to learn about brooding, production on pasture, and processing." Marketing the birds was not a problem for the producers. According to Kentucky farmers Albert and Sheila Baker, "This year we plan on growing at least 200 chickens. Most people, once they tasted our chicken, placed orders for more." Don Wilkinson of South Carolina says, "The project has been almost fun the whole way along-one of the few agricultural enterprises I've tried that I can say that of." New project As an outgrowth of the project, HPI and NCAT have launched another SARE project to address bottlenecks for expanding range poultry businesses. "Many producers are happy to stay at a small-scale level of pastured poultry production but others involved in the project see great potential for commercializing range poultry production on a larger scale to reach more consumers and generate more profits," Fanatico says. She explains that a lack of access to government-inspected processing facilities is a major bottleneck for the range poultry industry. Since the plants owned by large integrated poultry companies do not serve independent producers, some producers establish their own processing plants. Government-inspected mobile processing units (MPUs) are an option that HPI will examine to help spread the risk of investment and serve cooperative groups of farmers. HPI plans to develop MPU prototypes in Kentucky, Alabama, and Mississippi. Another bottleneck is a lack of business training for many farmers. When a substantial investment is needed, business planning, feasibility work and marketing plans become crucial. According to Luke Elliott, an Arkansas pastured poultry producer and owner of a small USDA-inspected processing plant, "It can be easy to market your first 1000-1500 birds directly off the farm. People actually seek you out and come to the farm. Beyond that, it is important to develop a marketing plan, to work with other producers, and to make certain of the legality of your situation." Under the new project titled "Enhancing Feasibility for Range Poultry Expansion," NCAT is partnering with HPI to develop a feasibility toolbox to address these needs-the toolbox will be available to farmers in the future. As a kick-off for assessing the needs of producers and associates interested in expanding range poultry production, NCAT has prepared a survey about such topics as the needs for feasibility, obtaining reliable poultry stock and feed/nutritional needs. People wishing to participate in the survey or obtain a free copy of "Pastured Poultry," please call ATTRA from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday (Central Time Zone) at 800-346-9140. To join the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association, send $20 to APPPA, c/o Diane Kaufman, 5207 70th St., Chippewa Falls, WI 54729 (telephone: 715-723-2293, email: APPPA_Grit@yahoo.com). For more information about HPI and NCAT, visit the websites: www.heifer.org or www.ncat.org. Based at Little Rock, AR, HPI is an international non-profit corporation dedicated to community development through sustainable livestock production. NCAT, with offices in Fayetteville, AR, is a national nonprofit organization focusing on sustainable agriculture and rural community development. NCAT's ATTRA program, a sustainable agriculture information center, has a website at www.attra.org. People interested in pastured poultry are also invited to contact Anne Fanatico at NCAT/ATTRA; P.O. Box 3657; Fayetteville, AR 72701, 800-346-9140 or Steve Muntz at HPI, 110 North Maysville St., Suite 100, Mt. Sterling, KY 40353, 800-359-9581. ATTRA also provides a general publication on sustainable chicken production. To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail