December 15, 2021

 

Tornadoes in Kentucky, US, destroy Pilgrim's Pride chicken hatchery

 

A Pilgrim's Pride Corp chicken hatchery were destroyed when deadly tornadoes swept through Kentucky, the United States, on December 10, while silos holding millions of bushels of corn suffered damage, the companies and the state's agriculture commissioner said on December 13.

 

"We have a 200-mile swath through Kentucky that has pulled-down grain systems, destroyed chicken hatcheries and, of course, blown-over barns," said Ryan Quarles, Kentucky's agriculture commissioner.

 

The destruction in the Midwest could further raise already high chicken prices and add to supply-chain headaches that have made it difficult for farmers to replace tractor parts.

 

Poultry is Kentucky's top agricultural commodity, and at least a dozen chicken barns collapsed, Quarles said. The state is working with the US Environmental Protection Agency to properly kill and dispose of chickens housed in barns that were destroyed, he said.

 

One Pilgrim's Pride chicken hatchery was a total loss, and another is expected to be offline until spring after suffering significant damage, the company said in a statement. It added that other company hatcheries are supplying chickens to farmers near Mayfield, a town of 10,000 that suffered some of the worst damage from the tornadoes.

 

Pilgrim's is evaluating damage to a local feedmill, while a production plant is expected to be fully operational on December 15, the statement said.

 

The loss of the hatchery in Mayfield "automatically triggers a multi-month delay in the processing and raising of chickens because the hatchery simply is not there anymore to supply the farmers," Quarles said.

 

Mayfield is in Kentucky's top county for agricultural sales, accounting for 6% of the state's total farm business, according to United States Department of Agriculture data, though the state is not a top grain producer. Kentucky held 1.5% of US corn stocks in December 2020, USDA said.

 

"Lots of farmer elevators damaged. Some small feed mills have damage with indefinite timelines," said Andrew Jackson, broker at Producers Hedge, in Lancaster, Kentucky.

 

Mayfield Grain Company, a crop handler, had roofs ripped off of parts of a storage system that holds six million bushels of grain in Mayfield, Quarles said.

 

"You have millions of bushels of corn, much of which was just freshly harvested, being exposed to the elements, being damaged," Quarles said.

 

"We're looking for ways to recover spilled grain but also divert the storage and movement of grain to other facilities around the state."

 

Quarles said the agriculture department will help farmers find buyers for grain amid reduced demand for feed from livestock and poultry producers who suffered losses.

 

- Reuters