March 12, 2007

 

USDA to conduct first nationwide survey of poultry farms

 

 

The USDA is conducting its first nationwide survey of poultry growers to find out the cost and return of running a chicken farm.

 

The USDA survey, known as the "Agricultural Resource Management Survey," would collect data on 2,200 poultry farms in 17 states that raises 95 percent of the nation's chickens.

 

Agricultural Resource Management Survey is the primary source of information used by federal officials and policymakers to understand the costs of being a farmer in America. The results would be used to calculate

farm subsidies for corn, soybeans and other commodities.

 

Poultry farmers in general are not eligible for any federal subsidies.

 

In disasters such as bird flu outbreaks, the government may be able to use information derived from the survey to calculate the losses suffered by the poultry farmers.

 

The government and states rely on information provided by the poultry companies and farmers to calculate farmers' income and shed light on environmental impacts of poultry farms.

 

Broilers are probably the largest commodity not covered in the earlier surveys, said Jim MacDonald, who heads the USDA survey on poultry.

 

The survey would help the USDA understand which modes of operation are more profitable and helps the department see where the industry is going in the future.

 

The information would include specifics on expenditure, which will allow growers to compare the average to what they are actually incurring.

 

One reason for the focus on expenditure is the trend that sees poultry farmers spending a lot of money to build poultry houses and buying computerized systems to control the environment inside poultry farms.

 

Besides capital expenditures, the survey would capture information on household income. Poultry farmers, besides farming chickens, often grow grains or other commodities on the side, while others supplement their income with a job off the farm.

Richard Lobb, spokesman for the National Chicken Council in Washington, D.C. said poultry operations are unique because unlike other producers, poultry growers neither own nor sell the chickens they raise. Their income is based on their contract with a poultry company and whether they can meet set requirements from the companies.

 

Final results from the survey are due in early 2008.