Poultry is big business in the state, and Northwest Arkansas leads the way.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture 2012 Arkansas poultry highlights show that poultry was the largest agricultural product produced in the state in terms of cash receipts, providing 40 percent of the total.
Broilers, chickens raised specifically for meat production, were the largest of the state's poultry products. They provided 30.6 percent of the state's total agricultural cash receipts. Broilers accounted for 76.5 percent of the total cash receipts from poultry and poultry products in Arkansas at $2.88 billion, according to The Poultry Federation, which represents the industry in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.
The state ranked third in the nation for broiler production at 5.8 billion pounds in 2012, behind only Georgia and Alabama, according an federation.
Marvin Childers, the federation's president, said Washington County had the state's largest one-day broiler count at 20.5 million birds. Benton County ranks second with 20.4 million birds, according to the 2007 Census of Agriculture released by the Agriculture Department. The agency releases new census numbers every five years and will release the full 2012 report later this year.
"Not only do you have Tyson Foods, but you have a lot of other companies involved," he said.
Springdale-based George's Inc. has plant locations in Arkansas, Missouri and Virginia, with national delivery coverage. George's reported 19.56 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken on a weekly basis in 2013, according to Watt Poultry USA, a monthly magazine focusing on the poultry industry. Watt Global Media conducts research for the agribusiness industry.
George's has a slaughter plant, further processing plant, hatchery, feed mill and research facility in Springdale. It has 1,691 grow-out houses across the country.
Simmons Foods based in Siloam Springs has facilities in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. The company has two processing plants and a home office in Siloam Springs, a processing plant and hatchery in Decatur and a two plants in Van Buren. It has 1,241 grow-out houses and 4,700 employees.
Weekly production for ready-to-cook chicken was 13.26 million pounds last year, according to Watt.
Ozark Mountain Poultry, a Rogers-based poultry producer, purchased a Pilgrim's Pride Corp., plant and the surrounding complex in Batesville last October for $25 million. The company now has processing plants in Rogers and Batesville.
The company produces approximately 1.5 million pounds of antibiotic-free poultry products weekly for the restaurant industry and its consumer-based brand, Forester Farmer's Market, according to the Ozark Mountain Poultry website.
Cobb-Vantress is a global poultry research company that develops, produces and sells broiler breeder stock and is based in Siloam Springs.
Other national companies with local turkey processing plants include Cargill in Springdale and Butterball in Huntsville.
NW News on 03/23/2014