Many chicken farmers want out, but the off-ramp isn't an easy path

Poultry farmers often end up feeling like indentured
servants. (Graphic by Adam Dixon, Offrange)

Fueled by the industry's long-held "contract system," many poultry farmers end up shouldering mountains of debt and endless workloads. Farmers looking to exit the profession, despite dire financials, can get help from a "growing network of advocates," reports Lela Nargi for Offrange.

In the contract system, the poultry company pays producers for most start-up costs and animal care by providing chicks and covering additional costs, such as feed and medicine. They also dictate contract terms. Farmers provide the barns, land and labor.

While it sounds like a reasonable arrangement, farmers often take on big debts to build the required chicken houses, and they have to work as many hours as their flocks require. Many farmers end up feeling like indentured servants, which is why the Socially Responsible Agriculture Project developed the Contract Grower Transition Program, Nargi reports. The program helps cash-strapped chicken farmers forge a path to "break free" financially, including a plan that repurposes expensive chicken houses.

Through media and major farming events like Farm Aid, the Transfarmation Project, which helps industrial livestock farmers switch to specialty crops, uses stories from former chicken farmers to support and educate poultry farmers looking for a way out, as well as those considering the profession. Nargi writes, "Transfarmation has been documenting every transition they’ve worked on, in order to provide detailed models farmers can replicate on their own."

Despite efforts to help poultry farmers develop an off-ramp, not all farmers feel financially able to leave the profession. "Some advocates hope legislation passed under the Biden administration, updating 1921’s Packers and Stockyards Act in three phases, would create a more equitable playing field," Nargi adds. However, the USDA "is seeking to delay implementation of the third update from July 2026 to December 2027 . . . ."

Time to talk turkey: The cost of this year's Thanksgiving dinner has decreased

When Americans sit down to their Thanksgiving dinners next week, the dinner's price tag will be a bit lower, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 40th annual Thanksgiving dinner survey. The report shows that the average cost this year to feed 10 people a classic dinner will be $55.08, down from $58.08 in 2024. The average price of a 16-pound turkey this year is $21.50, down 16% from 2024.

Over the last few years, the star of the meal -- usually a turkey -- has dropped in price, while the cost of sides such as fresh vegetables and sweet potatoes has increased. "A veggie tray is up more than 61% and sweet potatoes are up 37%," reports AFBF. "Natural disasters contributed to these higher costs. North Carolina, which produces more than half of the nation’s sweet potatoes, experienced hurricane damage that reduced yields and tightened supplies ahead of the holiday."

As families and friends sit down to bountiful holiday meals, giving thanks for the hard work and ingenuity of U.S. farmers might be in order. AFBF reports, "Crop prices have fallen again while fuel, fertilizer, labor and machinery costs continue to climb, leaving many operations below breakeven . . . effective support remains essential to keeping America’s food supply stable, affordable and secure."

To prevent bird flu, farmers invest in lasers to discourage wild birds from flying over farm animal operations

Birds see the beams as a threat and avoid the area.
(Graphic by A. Dixon, Ambrook Research)

An increasing number of farmers looking to stop the spread of bird flu are using lasers to discourage wild birds from flying over poultry and dairy operations. Farmers have "sought to reduce the risk of their animals contracting the disease," reports Daniel Walton of Ambrook Research. "They know that wild birds such as geese, ducks, and seagulls spread bird flu along their migration routes, and lasers are becoming a go-to tactic for keeping them — and by extension, the virus — away from buildings or pastures."

Lasers work because birds rely on their vision to sense any surrounding threats. Walton explains, "Green lasers in particular are close to the wavelengths that birds best perceive in motion, and the beams likely interact with the green chlorophyll in plants to produce disorienting effects only birds can see."

Jake Vlaminck, a turkey producer in Lake Lillian, Minnesota, decided to start investing in lasers as a wild bird deterrent after "a bird flu outbreak forced him to cull tens of thousands of turkeys," Walton writes. A neighboring farmer introduced him to a "robotically controlled system. . . . Its laser swivels on a base to target dozens of different points in constantly shifting patterns, keeping birds from growing accustomed to the beams."

While Vlaminck wasn't sure the system would help, "he was willing to take a chance on anything that might avoid a repeat outbreak," Walton explains. "He set up two units in early 2023, before the spring migration season, and over the following year his flocks remained untouched by flu. . . . Minnesota poultry farmers have put in over 100 laser systems since 2023, some with support from a state program meant to prevent bird flu transmission."

Lasers may not be a "silver bullet" solution to stop bird flu transmission, but "for farmers who’ve lost entire flocks to bird flu. . .Gutshall says the investment can be very worthwhile," Walton reports. "He estimates that laser clients usually see their wild bird activity drop by 80%, with even further reductions when they add on other deterrents."

China hits U.S. farmers with 15% tariff. When farmers don't make money, it 'directly ripples across the rural economy.'

Tariffs could permanently hurt U.S. farm income.
(Adobe Stock photo)

In the escalating U.S.-China trade dispute, China has issued retaliatory tariffs targeting American farm goods. "Beijing imposed the levies in response to President Trump's extra 10% blanket tariff on Chinese goods," reports Megan Cerullo of CBS News. "Under China's retaliatory action, U.S. farmers now face levies of 15% on chicken, wheat and corn, and 10% on soybeans, pork, beef and fruit."

In the immediate future, the tariffs will cost American farmers money from lost sales. In the long-term, the tariffs could do U.S. farm product sales greater harm because some vendors may decide to permanently purchase meat and fruit from other producers. Cerullo explains, "If prices of foreign-grown goods rise in China, locals will turn to less expensive alternatives either from China or other countries. American farmers that deal in chicken and more will likely lose market share as a result."

Alongside tariffs doled out by both countries, the inconsistent tariff announcements by the Trump administration have left farmers feeling like their livelihoods are on shifting sands. Virginia-based farmer John Boyd Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association, told Cerullo, "You are really shaking at the root of all the major commodities that we produce in the U.S. because we are a market-driven industry."

Even though U.S. farmers may have "anticipated Trump would impose levies on key U.S. trade partners, there wasn't a whole lot the farmers could do to prepare," Cerullo adds. Nick Levendofsky, executive director of the Kansas Farmers Union, told Cerullo, "This trade war and these tariffs adds to that very stressful time and does not help the farm economy. When farmers aren't making money, they are not spending money, and that directly ripples across the rural economy."

A federal plan to combat avian flu has 5 parts, but scientists disagree on how effective the changes will be

Major poultry and dairy organizations back vaccine
use to control the virus. (Farm Journal photo)

The Department of Agriculture has been hard at work "hatching" a plan to contain and prevent further avian flu, also known as bird flu, outbreaks among chicken flocks. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins "released a five-pronged strategy and investment of $1 billion to combat avian flu and reduce rising egg prices," reports Dawn Attride of Sentient Media. "The new measures focus largely on fixing on-farm biosecurity gaps as well as push for a new poultry vaccine."

A large chunk of the USDA's investment will shore up farm biosecurity by "ramping up protocols to guard against disease spillover from wildlife — at no cost to farmers," Attride explains. "The Rollins plan is light on concrete details as to what exactly the new biosecurity strategies are," but it appears the rollout will lean on a set of biosecurity protocols created in 2016 as part of the National Poultry Improvement Plan.

In her Wall Street Journal commentary, "Rollins notes that of the 150 sites that followed recommended biosecurity protocols, only one was subsequently affected by avian flu," Attride reports. The USDA plan includes using "smart perimeters" to predict and prevent the disease from infecting flocks.

Not all scientists agree that "smart perimeters" can deliver bird flu prevention. Maurice Pitesky, an associate professor and expert in poultry disease modeling at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, told Attride, "[Smart perimeters] are a pretty crude way of assessing risk." Attride adds, "What works better, according to Pitesky: accurately tracking bird movement and holistically assessing different factors — such as wind or temperature — that might drive birds into this radius."

The USDA also plans to step away from its long-held insistence that infected flocks be culled; however, experts disagree on how that change will play out. Meghan Davis, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, would like more details on which "strategies will replace depopulation," Attride reports. Davis told her, "These stamping out policies have been in place for quite some time. There’s a reason it exists and one of them is animal welfare issues –– these birds get really sick… and [rarely] recover."

The new plan looks to incorporate vaccinating chickens against the disease. "The USDA has given conditional approval to a Zoetis vaccine H5N2 for chickens, but has yet to give the go ahead for vaccinating commercial poultry flocks against avian flu," Attride adds. But "many countries won’t accept vaccinated chickens. The U.S. is the second-largest exporter of poultry and should a vaccine be rolled out, the federal government would have to negotiate agreements with its trading partners."  

"The plan’s success hinges on industry adoption and global trade acceptance," reports Jim Wiesemeyer of Farm Journal. "Balancing effective disease control with maintaining poultry exports remains a critical challenge."

Virologists are worried about a human 'bird flu' pandemic; wastewater testing in Texas signals the disease's spread

Bird flu transmits from wild birds to other animals, including dairy
cows. At least 14 people have been infected. (Adobe Stock photo)

As bird flu continues to spread among U.S. dairy cows, the disease has become more adaptable, with 14 human cases reported since March. "Both are worrying developments, say virologists, who fear that the country’s meager response to the virus is putting the entire world at risk of another pandemic, reports Jessica Hamzelou of MIT Technology Review. "Infections in dairy cattle, first reported back in March, brought us a step closer to human spread. Since then, the situation has only deteriorated." Researchers have even found evidence of bird flu, or H5N1, in wastewater in 10 cities.

Even though H5N1 spreads stably in global bird populations, the disease has also infected their predators. "The list of affected mammals includes bears, foxes, skunks, otters, dolphins, whales, sea lions. . . . Some of these animals appear to be able to pass the virus to other members of their species," Hamzelou explains. "This is bad news — not just for the affected animals, but for people, too. It’s not just a bird flu anymore. And when a virus can spread in other mammals, it’s a step closer to being able to spread in humans."

How dangerous the virus can become depends on how it mutates, which isn't predictable. Scientists do know that the virus is effectively circulating and evolving. Hamzelou reports, "So far, it's clear that the virus has mutated but hasn’t yet acquired any of these more dangerous mutations, says Michael Tisza, a bioinformatics scientist at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. That being said, Tisza and his colleagues have been looking for the virus in wastewater from 10 cities in Texas—and they have found H5N1 in all of them."

For now, Tisza and his colleagues "don’t know where this virus is coming from — whether it’s coming from birds, milk, or infected people, Hamzelou adds. "But the team didn’t find any signal of the virus in wastewater during 2022 or 2023, when there were outbreaks in migratory birds and poultry." Tisza said, “In 2024, it’s been a different story. We’ve seen it a lot. . . . This virus is not causing a human pandemic right now, which is great. But it is a virus of pandemic potential."

Cases of bird flu in cattle and humans are on the rise; researchers disagree on vaccinations for farmworkers

Dairy cows or milk could infect humans
with bird flu. (Photo by A. Kipp, Unsplash)

As cases of bird flu increase in cattle, some experts believe the United States should follow Finland's example and offer vaccinations to workers who are likely to be exposed. "Veterinarians and researchers have taken note of Finland’s move to vaccinate farmworkers at risk of infection. They wonder why their government doesn’t do the same," report Amy Maxmen and Arthur Allen of KFF Health News.

Many farmworkers may handle infected birds or raw milk products, which could leave them vulnerable to catching the virus. Kay Russo, a livestock and poultry veterinarian in Fort Collins, Colorado, told KFF Health News, "Farmworkers, veterinarians, and producers are handling large volumes of milk that can contain high levels of bird flu virus. . . . If a vaccine seems to provide some immunity, I think it should be offered to them.”

Testing results from Colorado may support the move to vaccinate workers who could be in contact with cows, raw cow milk or chickens. Amy Maxmen of KFF Health News reports, "Five people who work at a poultry farm in northeastern Colorado have tested positive for the bird flu, the Colorado public health department reported July 14. (One of the cases awaits confirmation by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.) This brings the known number of U.S. cases to nine."

Extreme heat may have played a role in the virus' spread in Colorado because farmworkers' protective gear, such as goggles and masks, makes the work even hotter. "Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University, posted on X, 'You don’t send farm workers in to cull H5N1 infected birds without goggles and masks. Period,' Maxmen reports. "If it’s too hot to wear those protections, it’s too hot to cull. We need vaccines to be made available to farm workers. We have to stop gambling with peoples’ lives.'"

So far the CDC has remained reluctant to pursue bird flu vaccinations. "Some researchers side with the CDC recommending against vaccination for now," Maxmen and Allen write. "There’s no evidence that this year’s bird flu virus spreads between people or causes serious disease in humans. And it’s unclear how well the available vaccine would prevent either scenario. . . . In considering vaccines, the agency takes a cue from a 1976 outbreak of the swine flu."

So far, it has been difficult to gauge how many people have been infected with H5N1, but some researchers in Michigan are working on testing for it. "To understand whether cases are going undetected, researchers have sent the CDC blood samples from workers on dairy farms," Maxmen reports. 

Report: Chicken plant in West Virginia has recorded a number of serious injuries; immigrants 'shoulder' more risks

Chicken segmentation line (Adobe Stock photo)

Working in any U.S. factory comes with some risk of injury, but immigrant workers at Pilgrim’s Pride’s chicken factory in Moorefield, West Virginia, have faced compounded dangers, according to a report.

"Over the past 30 years, thousands have left their homelands and come to Moorefield to work at West Virginia’s only industrial poultry plant," reports Allen Siegler of Mountain State Spotlight. "Seeking safety and a better life, they’ve often faced unsafe working conditions. . . . Throughout the last decade, Pilgrim’s Moorefield plant has been one of the most dangerous non-coal industrial workplaces in West Virginia."

Large knives, saws and automated equipment make poultry production inherently dangerous. This plant has had a number of documented injuries. "From 2015 to late 2023, 12 factory employees had workplace injuries that led to amputations or overnight hospitalizations, according to data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration," Siegler writes. Debbie Berkowitz, a former OSHA chief of staff, told Siegler, "This is a red flag on safety conditions in the plant."

Federal data doesn't include all injuries. Siegler explains, "In 2022 and 2023, local paramedics responded to calls to the Moorefield factory 138 times — about once every five days — according to the Hardy County Emergency Ambulance Authority. . . . In a state in which 91% of residents are white, a disproportionate amount of the danger is shouldered by the plant’s large immigrant workforce."

Immigrant workers often fear deportation should they speak up about workplace dangers or ask questions about how a job should be done. Others don't speak English, so a job at the Moorefield plant is one of their few options, Siegler reports. 

Despite efforts to get local or corporate Pilgrim's Pride officials to comment, "they didn’t answer a letter with over a dozen questions related to this story," Siegler writes. "A recent lawsuit against major American poultry corporations, including Pilgrim’s Pride, alleged the companies recruited vulnerable immigrant workers to staff some of the most dangerous jobs in the U.S. . . . Pilgrim’s denied these allegations and said the workers’ lawyers were selectively pulling unflattering quotes from various reports and people."

Rural veterinarians have an unusually tough and unpredictable job; the shortage requires multiple solutions

Ongoing U.S. rural vet shortages can threaten U.S.
food supplies. (Adobe Stock photo)

Rural veterinarian's perfect daydream: Cows never slam their bodies into you. Goats don't dig their horns into the back of your legs while you try to draw blood. And bunnies don't die of fright from routine procedures. Most "patients" get a little treat afterward. . . There's even time for lunch.

Rural vet reality: You work 10 out of 14 days and are on call during off-hours. You're treating colicky horses who require IV sedation alongside ungrateful cows with colds. Your back thighs are bruised and sore because Farmer Joe's goats hate blood draws, and you have to explain to your neighbor's 10-year-old daughter that even indoor bunnies can die of fright.

Given the overall toughness of rural veterinarian practice, it's no wonder the nation is experiencing a significant rural vet shortage. "Speak to anyone in the industry, and they will cite everything from poor mental health outcomes, high levels of student debt, long, often unpredictable hours, physical demands, and difficult clients," reports Lewis Kendall of Ambrook Research. "A recent industry survey found that more than 700 counties across all 50 states are experiencing potential large animal veterinarian shortages."

The shortage has multiple causes and requires varied approaches to be effectively addressed. Oklahoma State University's College of Veterinary Medicine is "piloting a new program that it hopes will help better understand the scale of the issue and offer practical solutions," Kendall writes. "Known as the Center for Rural Veterinary Medicine, the program takes a three-pronged approach: academic research, education, and training for student vets specific to rural environments."

Explaining OSU's philosophy, Martin Furr, assistant dean of clinical programs at the College of Veterinary Medicine, told Kendall, "We need to approach this problem of the rural veterinary shortage in the same way: a scholarly approach, understanding the problems, the dynamics, what is going on, and then developing a strategy to fix it. . . . I would hope that this would be a model for how other universities start to think about the problem and develop their own approaches."

Sarah Wagner spent five years as a large animal veterinarian in rural Virginia before moving into academics, where she is now an assistant dean and a professor of pharmacology at Texas Tech University’s School of Veterinary Medicine. "Wagner has spent a lot of time thinking about the plethora of issues currently plaguing her field," Kendall reports. "She noted that as women make up the vast majority of veterinarians in the U.S., institutional problems like sexism — particularly in rural areas — and the gender pay gap have become increasingly prevalent."

Despite industry organizations working to decrease veterinarians' student debts, rural veterinarian medicine requires grit and dedication that can be tough to find. "Earl Brady, who owns a large animal practice in northern Vermont, told Kendall: "When you’re in school, and you have $300,000 of student debt, you have the option to go work for a small animal clinic and make $120,000 working four days a week with no on-call. Or you go to rural Vermont and start at maybe $85,000 and work 10 days out of a 14-day period and you’re on-call and you’re putting prolapses in in negative degree weather and chasing horses with colic around. It’s kind of a hard sell.”

The rural vet shortage has potential impacts for U.S. food supplies and supply chains. Read Kendall's full article here. 

When a town's major employer closes, changes and uncertainty abound

Noel has been in the poultry business since the 1950s.
(Photo by Kaitlyn McConnell, The Daily Yonder)

When one business dominates a town's economy, its closing can create a domino effect of change. Noel, Missouri, pop. 2,100, became one of those towns. In August, Tyson Foods "announced that it was shuttering the town's poultry processing plant, and by October, it was closed – eliminating about 1,500 jobs," reports Kaitlyn McConnell for The Daily Yonder. "It leaves a question other communities have faced: What is the next chapter in a place that so heavily relied on one employer for the town's collective income?"

Unlike nearby Ozarkian towns, Noel boasted "cultural diversity, in contrast to the rest of the region, which is still largely white," McConnell writes. "In the 2020 Census, more than 1,450 residents of Noel – nearly 70% of the town's population – identified as Asian; Black or African American; Hispanic or Latino; or Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander."

McConnell writes, "I drove to Noel in late November, the first time I was in town since it became known that Tyson would shutter the plant. A handful of vehicles remained in the plant's parking lot as I drove by. Tyson's bright-red logos are gone, but discoloration remains." 

Just weeks after the plant closed, "many of the immigrants have already moved away," McConnell writes. "The Hispanic residents seem to be the ones most likely to stay. . . . Another change is at Community Baptist, which closed its doors in late November. The reasons for that are complex – there were ongoing issues tied to funding – but the proverbial straw broke the camel's back when all the ethnic congregants left."

The town's mayor, Terry Lance, told McConnell: "Losing that many jobs is going to naturally affect every other business in town, from the grocery stores to everyone. We really don't know just how much yet."

McConnell writes, "In a typical Ozarkian make-do-or-do-without attitude, Lance is looking for the silver lining. Maybe the former plant can simply be torn down, Lance says, and the town can revert to its deeper tourism roots."

Data on chicken production might save companies and consumers money; critics say it helps corporate collusion

Chicken data is at the heart of the anti-trust suit.
(Graphic by Emil Lendof, The Wall Street Journal)

Versatile, affordable and packed with lean protein, chicken is a popular American meal. And while "winner, winner, chicken dinner" may delight families, a battle is being fought over the meat's data

"When Brian Snyder looks at a bag of chicken nuggets, he doesn't see dinosaurs. He sees numbers — data detailing the nutrition and quantity of the feed the birds ate, and how much it cost for workers to slice each pound, reports Patrick Thomas of The Wall Street Journal. "Snyder runs a company that has become a critical player in the meat industry. . ..The company, Agri Stats, gathers and synthesizes reams of data to help meatpackers make decisions based on spreadsheets versus managers' gut instincts.

"The firm's data has been described as the 'Moneyball' of the meat industry, referencing the Michael Lewis bestseller and Oscar-nominated film about data analysis revolutionizing baseball," Thomas explains. "Agri Stats and poultry industry executives say its numbers-crunching service boosts efficiency and helps keep prices low for consumers."

Not everyone believes that Agri Stats exists to benefit consumers. "Others say Agri Stats does the opposite, serving as a vehicle that has allowed meat and poultry companies to coordinate operations and push up prices," Thomas reports. "The Justice Department alleged in a federal antitrust suit filed this fall that meat-industry executives use Agri Stats to glean details about rivals' supplies illicitly and scale back production to keep profits high."

Agri Stats is fighting the suit. "Its executives say its reports don't show clients how much chicken their competitors produce, or prices a company plans to charge," Thomas writes. "Plaintiffs argue that Agri Stats data, such as the number of egg-laying hens a company is placing on its farms, enables savvy readers to gauge rivals' future production, and that companies don't use Agri Stats reports to lower prices."

"The government investigated Agri Stats a decade ago but filed no charges, and Agri Stats executives say its reports haven't changed since then," Thomas reports. "In a separate lawsuit filed by food distributors, supermarkets and consumers accusing chicken companies of conspiring to fix prices, a judge this past summer removed Agri Stats as a defendant. . . . Agri Stats client list has at times included 97% of the roughly $60 billion U.S. chicken industry and 80% of pork processors."

Americans will consume more than 46 million turkeys for Thanksgiving; here are interesting facts about the bird

Only male turkeys or "toms" gobble. Females make a clicking
noise. (Penn State photo via Successful Farming)

In three days, many Americans will set their tables with an array of delectable food, but in many families, the turkey is the centerpiece of dinner delights. This Thursday, over 46 million turkeys will be consumed by Americans. But how much do you know about turkeys beyond the bird's signature "gobbling" calls? Jodi Henke and Chelsea Dinterman of Successful Farming serve up a plateful of conversational facts about Thanksgiving's farmed and wild turkeys. 

Hunters beware: Turkeys "can see movement almost a hundred yards away and also have a wide field of vision, which makes sneaking up on them difficult." Their top running speed is around 25 mph, and they can fly "short distances at up to 55 miles-per-hour. Wild turkeys spend the night in trees and are particularly fond of oak trees." While their night vision is poor, they do see in color.

You can tell how a turkey is feeling by looking at the color of its head. "When a turkey gets mad, excited, or defensive, its head and neck turn white. The more extreme the emotion, the whiter the color."

Benjamin Franklin favored the turkey as the best choice for our national bird. "The Smithsonian says Franklin wrote a letter to his daughter, praising the turkey as a much more respectable bird than the bald eagle." 

National Turkey Federation graphic

Thanksgiving birds tend to be hens, while "toms are further processed into cutlets and deli meats." Toms are ready for market at roughly 18 weeks and weigh 38 pounds.

In the wild, turkeys like to roost in trees, and "even if you can't see them, you can probably hear them. The wild turkey can make at least 30 different calls. Humans can hear gobbles from a mile away. Hens don't gobble; they make a clicking noise."

Feed is the most expensive part of raising a healthy turkey for farmers. It takes "75-80 pounds of feed to raise a 38-pound tom turkey."

Which state talks the most turkey? Minnesota. The state is "ranked No. 1 in U.S. turkey production, raising more than 40 million turkeys each year."

Tyson Foods will close six plants, laying off 4,600 workers, leaving employees in rural counties with few options

David Handy at a Tyson poultry plant in rural Noel, Mo.
(Photo by Chase Castor, NBC News)

Six rural counties with Tyson Foods chicken processing plants are steeling themselves for job and revenue losses after the food behemoth announced it is closing plants in four states — Missouri, Indiana, Arkansas and Virginia — laying off "more than 4,600 workers who have long relied on its outsize presence as a local employer,” reports J.J. McCorvey of NBC News. In Noel, Mo., pop. 2,124, Tyson employs 1,500 workers who will lose jobs this October. The income loss will be felt throughout the county of 23,000 in the state's southwestern corner. Bryan Hall, the presiding county commissioner, "said Tyson provided so much of the area’s employment that the plant closure means a quarter of McDonald County’s jobs will vanish this fall."

David Handy, who has worked at the Noel plant for five years, is an example of a dominating employer's profound effect on one rural family's incomes. McCorvey explains: "Handy, 40, said he found the Tyson job soon after moving with his family in 2018 from California. . . . Until now, the company has provided economic stability for his entire household. Handy’s 21-year-old son works at the processing plant as well, and his 17-year-old daughter planned to join them after she graduates from high school next year." Handy told him, “This is really financially crushing. Our sole income is from this company. . . . Starting over is scary."

Over the past two years, the poultry industry suffered losses from the global avian flu outbreak, increasing grain prices and inflation. McCorvey reports, “While inflation has fallen, grocery prices remain high, and meat sales have slowed industrywide, contributing to Tyson’s $417 million loss in the last quarter. . . . But Tyson has also struggled with its own inefficiencies, said Kristoffer Inton, a Morningstar analyst who covers the company." Inton told McCorvey: "The cost of feed went up, but that affected everybody. You could probably chalk up some of it to stuff that affected the entire industry and some of it to [things] Tyson should have done better.”

McCorvey adds, "Laid-off plant workers’ fortunes might hinge on where they live. In North Little Rock, Arkansas, where Tyson employs 300 people in a community of 65,000 abutting the state capital’s metro area, other big companies such as Amazon and Costco have expanded." When its plant closes, laid-off employees will having an easier time finding a new job and the overall region has the economic capacity to shoulder the loss, but for residents from smaller, more rural towns, replacing their Tyson incomes will be tougher.

Two companies receive USDA approval to sell lab-grown meat; food-safety oversight is the same as for natural meat

Chicken bites made from cell-cultured chicken (Photo from Eat Just via NBC)

The Department of Agriculture has given two new companies approval to sell artifically grown meat. Good Meat and Upside Foods "make what they call 'cultivated chicken'," reports Danielle Wiener-Bronner of CNN. "Good Meat, which is owned by plant-based egg substitute maker Eat Just, said that production is starting immediately. . . . Cultivated or lab-grown meat is grown in a giant vat, much like what you'd find at a beer brewery."

The new option may have potential customers wondering about food safety. Good Meat has been selling its cultivated chicken in Singapore since 2020. The USDA defined its oversight yesterday: "Cell-cultured meat and poultry food products are subject to the same Food Safety and Inspection Service's regulatory requirements and oversight authority as meat and poultry food products derived from the slaughter of amenable species."

It has taken several years, but cultured-meat developers have gained the capital for commercialization. "Investors have poured some $2 billion into the space in the last two years, according to Crunchbase data," Kate Rogers of NBC News reports. To investors and consumers, the technology has been marketed as a "more humane approach to eating meat," Wiener-Bronner explains. "Good Meat advertises it as 'meat without slaughter.' Supporters hope that cultured meat will help fight climate change by reducing the need for traditional animal agriculture, which emits greenhouse gases."

The next step is seeing how the public, especially chefs, respond. Good Meat "announced that it was partnering with chef and restaurateur José Andrés to bring the item to a Washington, D.C., restaurant," Wiener-Bronner reports. "As production ramps up, Good Meat may consider partnering with other restaurants or launching in retail . . . . Upside is planning to introduce its product ... at a San Francisco restaurant [and] plans to work with other restaurants and make its products available in supermarkets."

There is already pushback from "traditional meat producers, such as the U.S. Cattlemen's Association," reports Amelia Lucas of NBC. Americans will have to accept cultured meat as actual food, which is not guaranteed. Educating U.S. consumers takes time, but the product does have nutritional benefits. Lucas reports, "[It] has a high protein content and a diversified amino acid composition, no antibiotics and very low microbiological content, such as salmonella and E. coli."

Court axes regulatory exception for mid-sized factory farms; hundreds of them will need environmental assessments

A beef-cattle feedlot (Photo via Northern Ag Network)

A federal court has thrown out an environmental examption for some concentrated animal feeding operations. "Medium-sized CAFOs receiving Department of Agriculture loans will be required to have an environmental assessment after a federal court vacated part of a 2016 Farm Service Agency rule," reports Todd Neeley of Progressive Farmer. "The court's ruling is likely to affect hundreds of CAFOs across the country. . . . FSA adopted a rule in 2016 that exempted from environmental review livestock facilities that confine up to 2,500 pigs, 1,000 beef cattle, 700 dairy cows, 125,000 chickens or 55,000 turkeys."

FSA's 2016 exemption sped up USDA loan approvals, which one individual called an "onerous impediment to obtaining financing for operations that will often include young or beginning farmers," Needley reports. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the District Court for the District of Columbia said the FSA had violated the National Environmental Policy Act. "USDA admitted the FSA failed to provide notice and comment before creating the exemption," Neeley notes. "During the five years that the case has been pending, the agency failed to offer mechanisms for community feedback or evidence that medium-sized CAFOs lack environmental impact."

Poor environmental outcomes and insufficient evidence supporting the exemption have made factory farms controversial. "CAFOs have been a point of contention between the livestock industry and environmental activists since they began to proliferate in the 1990s, overtaking small, pasture-feeding operations as the dominant form of animal agriculture in the U.S.," reports Madison McVan of the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. "One large CAFO can easily produce more than one million tons of manure per year — more than the yearly waste of a large city." 

An exact count of how many CAFOs will be affected is not available, but the animal-welfare groups that filed the lawsuit found through the Freedom of Information Act that "The FSA made 130 direct loans of more than $100,000 or guaranteed loans of more than $300,000 each to animal facilities in Indiana alone from August 2016 to August 2018," Neeley reports. "The FSA did a review of its loan decisions for 2010 and 2011, finding there were more than 650 loans issued to broiler chicken medium-sized CAFOs alone."

"The ruling makes no mention of the economic impact, including shortages and price increases that might result from the newly added environmental hurdles," reports Dan Flynn of the Food Safety Network. However, the judge's opinion noted, "Although FSA admitted error in September 2019, to date, it appears that FSA has taken no action to correct its error . . . More importantly, however, there is nothing in the record to confirm FSA's insistence that it will be able to substantiate the challenged (exemption) on remand."

N.C. reporters and a freelancer for a nonprofit win this year's Thomas Stokes Award for energy and environment reporting

Reporters who investigated rural environmental issues share this year's Thomas L. Stokes Award for Best Energy and Environment Writing from the National Press Foundation.

The winners are Eli Cahan, a freelance writer for California-based nonprofit Capital & Main and the USA Today Network; and Gavin Off and Ames Alexander of The Charlotte Observer and Adam Wagner the Raleigh News & Observer, newspapers owned by The McClatchy Co.

In “We’re Losing Our People,” Cahan drew attention to Native Americans in Arizona, Utah and Colorado who face lung disease from regular exposure to toxic metals from mines and analyzed the disproportionate toll Covid-19 took on indigenous people with pre-existing lung problems. Judges praised the piece for its “poignancy and impact” and called it “beautiful storytelling providing a sense of place, historical context and giving a voice to people who have not been heard.”

The first installment of the three-part series was published Dec. 4.

“Big Poultry” was a three–part deep dive into an industry that in North Carolina anually raises over 1 billion birds and generates 2.5 billion pounds of manure, which can leach into nearby water sources and affect human health. The reporters found that the state does not oversee the industry’s environmental impact and that ammonia from chicken-farm waste spreads to Maryland through the Chesapeake Bay.

Judges said the two newspapers “teamed up on a true public service mission to give a literal scorecard on how the poultry industry is operating in North Carolina … [and] exposing how little neighbors have in terms of recourse.” They said the investigation features “impressive” animation and visualization of the densely built chicken farms in North Carolina for an “exemplary” package.

The Stokes Award was created in 1959 to honor the late Thomas L. Stokes, a national-affairs columnist interested in energy, natural resources and the environment.

More states impose poultry quarantines to stop bird flu; scientists explain why it could pose a threat to humans

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention graphic

As the U.S. continues to experience the largest bird-flu epidemic on record, and more flocks are quarantined, "scientists are closely watching the outbreak" to determine the threat to humans, reports University of Colorado biology profssor Sara Sawyer. "Many virologists are concerned that this virus could spill over to humans and cause a new human pandemic."

In Pennsylvania, "207 poultry flocks in eastern Lancaster County and western Chester County that supply live bird markets" have been quarantined, reports Philip Gruber of Lancaster Farming. "A wave of farms in the live market system have tested positive for avian influenza, and others have tried to manage sick birds on the farm without reporting them to the state, State Veterinarian Kevin Brightbill told industry members. Brightbill said, “That is the kind of misguided thinking that can result in, frankly, a massive outbreak in Lancaster County and loss of all of our flocks."

Lancaster County (Wikipedia)

Gruber writes, "Brightbill said at least five farm owners have told him they had been dealing with sick birds for the past month but hadn’t mentioned this to the state. Farmers have been trying to control the disease by culling sick birds and not moving birds off the farm, but Brightbill said that's not enough. . . . The current virulent strain of avian influenza is adapted to waterfowl. The U.S. requires all flocks infected with avian influenza to be killed to prevent the disease from spreading."

In November, "Arizona, Mississippi, and South Carolina reported their first highly pathogenic avian flu outbreaks in poultry flocks, part of expanding activity involving the Eurasian H5N1 strain that has now affected poultry in 46 states, with poultry losses soon to pass a record set in 2015," reports Lisa Schnirring for the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. "The Arizona Department of Agriculture said that officials have quarantined the affected locations, where depopulation is under way. The virus had been previously detected a few times in waterfowl found dead in Arizona."

Scientists are watching how H5N1 mutates to gauge its threat to humans. In Colorado, Sawyer and her collegaues Emma Worden-Sapper and Sharon Wu did a Q and A; here's an edited summary:

1. Is this virus a serious threat to humans? The virus is highly pathogenic to birds, meaning that infections often cause extreme symptoms, including death. But its impact on humans is complicated. There have been relatively few human infections detected – fewer than 900 documented globally over several decades – but about half of those infected individuals have died. The good news about H5N1 for humans is that it currently doesn’t spread well between people. Most people who have contracted H5N1 have gotten it directly from interacting with infected poultry – specifically chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese, which often are raised in close quarters on large commercial farms.

Photo via Lancaster Farming

2. Why is this outbreak suddenly getting so much attention? H5N1 is causing the largest “bird pandemic” ever recorded. A certain viral variant that arose in 2020, called H5N1 2.3.4.4b, is driving this outbreak. In agricultural poultry flocks, if a few birds test positive for H5N1, the whole flock is killed regardless of symptoms or infection status. The Biden administration is considering vaccinating farmed poultry flocks, but the logistics could be quite complicated.

The second reason for increased attention is that H5N1 is now infecting more bird and mammalian species than ever before. The virus has been detected in a broad array of wild birds and in diverse mammals, including badgers, black bears, bobcats, coyotes, ferrets, fisher cats, foxes, leopards, opossums, pigs, skunks and sea lions.

The third and most worrisome reason that this virus is getting so much press is that H5N1 now seems to be transmitting well between individuals of at least one mammalian species. In late 2022, mammal-to-mammal spread occurred in Spain in farmed minks. H5N1 spread very efficiently between the minks and caused clinical signs of illness and death in the mink populations where it was detected.

3. Here’s the key question: If H5N1 can achieve spread in minks, why not humans? We are also mammals. It is true that the farmed minks were confined in close quarters, like chickens on a poultry farm, so that may have contributed. But humans also live in high densities in many cities around the world, providing the virus similar tinder should a human-compatible variant arise.

4. Why don’t we make a vaccine just in case? With avian influenza viruses, it is not possible to make effective human vaccines in advance, because we don’t know exactly what the genetics of the virus will be if it starts to spread well in humans. . . . Right now, the best way people can protect themselves from H5N1 is to avoid contact with infected birds. For more information about prevention, especially for people who keep domesticated birds or are bird-watching hobbyists, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a list of guidelines for avoiding H5N1 and other bird flu viruses.

Ohio derailment and chemical burn 'upended' farm and rural life and businesses, and left big questions about future

Pam Mibuck is thinking about leaving her 14 acres.
(Photo by Brian Kaiser, The New York Times)

What is it like to return your home, your farm, your animals, wildlife and the creek, all perhaps chemically altered by a controlled burn of toxic liquids? The Norfolk Southern train derailment East Palestine, Ohio, "upended an area where generations of families could afford to buy acres of land, raise horses and plant gardens, hunt deer and birds, and build lives undisturbed by the chaos of bigger cities nearby," writes Emily Cochrane of The New York Times. "Although farming provides only a small number of jobs in the immediate area, many residents say that raising livestock and working the land are profoundly important to their way of life."

Farmer Pam Mibuck's land was blanketed by post-burn chemical film. "After the chemicals were released, Tina, the amiable white turkey that Milbuck bought less than a year ago for $3, was put on antibiotics for respiratory problems, and her chickens laid eggs with an unsettling purple hue," Cochrane writes. "Her son in California is urging her to move away, offering to build a barn on his land for her two horses, Samuel and Razor. Mibuck, who works as a custodian at a university, is seriously thinking about leaving the 14 acres that she considers a slice of heaven."

Despite state and federal assessments and testing, "Farmers determined to weather the unknown remain fearful about whether their customers will continue to trust their product," Cochrane reports. Greenhouse operators Dianna and Don Elzer "had predicted that this would be their first normal Valentine’s Day. Even when they were required to evacuate for a few days, driving to Pittsburgh, they came back daily to water and care for their plants — the palms, the herbs, the succulents — and returned as soon as they could. On Feb. 14, they had one customer: a man who bought a single red hibiscus tree. Mr. Elzer, 67, told Cochrane, “No one wants to come here. There’s no way to counterattack the publicity and perception.”

The explosion has permanently altered futures. "Michael McKim had a business dream he shared with his wife: an affordable destination winery in East Palestine. . . . The winery’s grand opening is still set for St. Patrick’s Day. . . .Yet the family business has been rattled by the derailment: Most of the bridal showers, wedding receptions and events scheduled for this year have canceled. Mr. McKim told Cochran, "It’s a tragedy. I could make the best wine in the United States, in the world, and someone could say, ‘Hey, isn’t that where the train derailed?’"

Last night on CNN, in a conversation with a few East Palestine residents, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw pledged "apologized and vowed to make it right through proper cleanup and reimbursing residents," as well as helping rebuild the town's reputation.

How can Congress help solve high food prices? Politico asks four farmers: a senator and three House members

Egg prices continued to increase in January 2023.
(Photo by Teresa Crawford, The Associated Press)

Good thing it's an apple a day keeps the doctor away and not an egg a day: who could afford it?

"The January Consumer Price Index found that the price of food in January increased slightly from the month before and was 10.1 percent higher than it was in January 2022, with the cost of eggs, meat and poultry leading the surge," report Garrett Downs and Meredith Lee Hill of Politico. "The factors driving high food prices are complex. . . Politico turned to a group of experts — four members of Congress who are also working farmers. . . There was bipartisan agreement on many of the main drivers of food inflation. But agreement evaporated when asked what Congress can do to slow it."

Politico: What’s driving up costs for you on your farm?

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who frequently tweets updates while driving a combine in his wheat fields: “Repairs. The cost of diesel fuel, in particular. The cost of tires. I mean, repairs, supplies and energy. Repairs would be mostly manpower, and then diesel’s diesel.”

Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), a rice farmer in Northern California: “If you want to make my cost of producing an acre of rice come back into line with just a few years ago … then my diesel doesn’t need to cost me five-and-a-half dollars a gallon versus two-and-a-half. . . my fertilizer doesn’t need to be tripled, some of the pesticides I use for controlling weeds and stuff. Those have gone up dramatically.”

Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.), raises beef cows on his farm: “Farmers, just like everyday consumers, we buy lots of fuel to do what we do, and the prices for that have gone up dramatically. Like any auto buyer, it’s hard to get tractors because of the supply chain shortages there, and there are more expensive parts.”

Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), an almond farmer who represents Fresno, a critical agriculture district in California’s Central Valley: “The cost of energy. Fertilizer. I grow almonds and the cost of bees has increased significantly over the last five years. And the cost of subcontracting, I’m not large enough to have my own harvesting equipment for my almonds so I hired that out … that has increased significantly over the past several years.”

Politico: As a farmer, what do you think it would take to fix food inflation?

Tester: “More competition in the marketplace. It’s as simple as that. So what the administration has done with meat processing is a step in the right direction. Now they needed to pass my [cattle market] bills to deal with the spot pricing and special investigator. Capitalism works when there’s competition. It doesn’t when there’s consolidation.”

LaMalfa: “[Energy] is one. Also enforcing trade. Trump got a deal cut with China back then. … Our ag products are suffering greatly because [China] is not meeting the goals that were set for the ag portion of it. I talked to him [President Biden] about water, California water. We need his Bureau of Reclamation and the other federal regulatory entities to cut us some slack.”

Rose: “The biggest thing contributing to inflation right now is the runaway government spending that the Biden administration has engaged in. . . . But then you also have just an onslaught of regulation that stands in the way of current production … the types of policies that have interfered with farmers being able to get their hands on badly needed pesticides.”

Costa: “We have a problem in this country that we’ve not been able to address successfully, and that’s the amount of food waste. … I want to look at in this farm bill reauthorization is how we can do a better job with those impacts. Then if it’s not extreme droughts or floods, I don’t know what category you put the avian flu. Clearly these are things we’re looking at better ability to provide in the farm bill reauthorization, [where] we plan for a lot of invasive pests.”

Winner, winner, winner, accidental chicken for dinner: How a minor error started America's large-scale poultry industry

Ike Long, a farmer; Cecile Steele’s children, and Cecile Steele.
(Photo from National Archives and Records Administration)

The Popsicle, chocolate-chip cookies and raising chickens for meat all started with accidents. In the case of chicken, a shipping error launched a 30-billion dollar industry, writes Kenny Torrella for Vox. "The story begins in 1923, with homemaker and farmer Cecile Steele of Ocean View, Delaware. Steele kept a small flock of chickens that she raised for eggs and waited to slaughter them for meat once their productivity waned. . . . But one day by accident the local chick hatchery delivered 500 birds. . . . Returns weren’t really an option, so she kept them anyway in a barn the size of a studio apartment — 256 square feet — that was heated by a coal stove.  . . . She still made a sizable profit off the 2-pound survivors — almost $11 per pound in today’s dollars — and began to ramp up her operations."

Steele's success allowed "her husband to quit his job to help Cecile expand, and within three years, they were raising 10,000 chickens. Word of the Steele family’s success spread, and by 1928 there were hundreds of farmers in the area raising chickens primarily for their meat," Torrella writes. "And the hatchery accident occurred during the Roaring ’20s, a decade of immense economic growth in the United States. . . . The Delmarva Peninsula, where Steele’s farm was located, was also the perfect place for large-scale chicken farming to take off. There was cheap, abundant land a relatively short distance from the hungry consumers of Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City."

Torrella continues: "Steele’s accident set off the chicken revolution as we know it. In the first half of the 20th century, chicken accounted for well under 20 percent of meat consumption in the U.S. Today, it’s about 44 percent. . . . Today grocery stores charge $4 to $10 a pound for beef and pork, while chicken can cost as little as $1.80 a pound. Bacon and steak may take center stage for meat lovers, but when it comes to what’s for dinner, the answer is more often poultry."

The industry's beginnings were a serendipitous "mix of coincidence and ambition. Steele set off a race to put chicken at the center of the American plate, changing the face of agriculture forever," Torrella writes. But for all its popularity, not all the results have been positive. Torella adds, "In the process, we bent the chicken to our will, pushing the species to its biological limits, polluting waterways and our lungs along the way, all to supply a growing population with cheap protein."