October 6, 2011

 

Fulton Valley Farm to close amid high feed prices

 

 

High costs of feed-corn will cause Fulton Valley Farm to close early next year, resulting in 185 jobless people in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.

 

The company has been sold to a Chinese buyer that does not plan to keep it going at least in the near future, Chief Executive Officer Andrew Carlson said Tuesday (Oct 4).

 

He said that feed prices have disallowed them from running the business model like they would like them to run it.

 

The Turlock-based company, which also goes by Central Coast Farms, raises poultry at its ranches and contract ranches around the north valley.

 

The birds are processed at Squab Producers of California, in Modesto, and Pitman Family Farms in Sanger, Fresno County.

 

Carlson said that Fulton is trying to find other outlets for its chicken farmers and the new owner might restore jobs in two to five years.

 

The company has produced about 12 million chickens a year, a tiny amount compared with Foster Farms, the leading West Coast poultry outfit.

 

Fulton's products include organic and free range chickens, game hens and types known as poussin and bleu leg. The company dates to 1925 and recently moved its headquarters from the Bay Area to Geer Road in Turlock. Central Coast Farms changed its name from Central Coast Fryers.

 

The operation includes Heartland Grains & Milling, along Highway 99 just north of Keyes.

 

The closure will happen in mid-January and the sale agreement does not allow him to disclose the buyer, Carlson said.

 

The sharp rise in corn prices has been hard on many producers because this grain makes up most of the feed, said Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation in Modesto.

 

He blames the problem on increasing demand from ethanol producers and supports efforts to end federal subsidies for the alternative fuel.

 

"It is just devastating for the livestock industry, particularly poultry," Mattos said. "You cannot afford to buy corn at these prices and still make a profit from a chicken."

 

Turkey producers are faring better because they are getting higher prices for their meat, he said.

 

Squab Producers of California is the nation's largest supplier of these young pigeons. Losing the Fulton chicken processing contract could affect 12-24 of the nearly 60 jobs at the plant off Crows Landing Road, President Robert Shipley said.

 

There is a chance that the squab plant can find another poultry company that needs processing before the Fulton work ends, he said.