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  • From: Marcie Rosenzweig <fullcircle AT jps.net>
  • To: market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: pastured poultry press release
  • Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2000 11:41:46 -0800


Since there are so many bird keepers on this list, I thought you'd be
interested. Visit the ATTRA site when you get a chance, it's worth the
time.

M-


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>From: "Anne Fantico" <annef AT ncatark.uark.edu>
>To: sanet-mg AT ces.ncsu.edu, PasturePoultry AT onelist.com
>Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2000 12:48:24 -0600
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>Subject: pastured poultry press release
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>
> 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 AT 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.
>
>
>
>
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Marcie A. Rosenzweig
Full Circle Organic Farm
Auburn, CA





  • pastured poultry press release, Marcie Rosenzweig, 02/08/2000

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