Poultry no paltry industry to county, state

*First appeared in the May 21 edition of the Laurel Chronicle

The recent tornadoes that rampaged through Mississippi – from Tupelo to Louisville and even on down to Laurel – not only destroyed homes, but they also hit the state’s top income generating agricultural commodity – those feathery birds we call chickens – pretty dang hard.

According to published reports, the storms claimed more than 1 million birds statewide. The Mississippi Poultry Association says 18 poultry farms and 78 chicken houses were heavily damaged or destroyed.

Now to why you should care. First and foremost, chicken is delicious. There’s fried chicken, grilled chicken, blackened chicken, even General Tso’s chicken; chicken is the can’t-do-without-it ingredient to dishes like tetrazzini and spaghetti (a personal favorite). I’m a proponent of chicken stability for reasons mostly cooked up in the kitchen.

You should also care because it’s likely that you, someone you know, or someone you’re kin to works in the chicken business.

More than 55,000 jobs in Mississippi are attributable to the poultry industry (28,000 direct and 27,000 indirect).

In Jones County, there are at least three poultry processing plants: Southern Hens, Wayne Farms, and Sanderson Farms. Wayne Farms and Sanderson Farms are two of the top five poultry processors in the country and are among the top employers in the county, according to the county’s website. The presence of these processors “encourages entrepreneurship within the region. Individual poultry growers throughout South Mississippi have a vital livelihood thanks to these…operations.”

Mississippi is even home to Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., the largest egg processor in the world.

Poultry is a large component of Mississippi’s agricultural economy. According to the most recent Census of Agriculture Data, Mississippi has 38,076 farms with 10.9 million acres of farmland statewide. Statewide, Mississippi has about 2,000 poultry farms that produce more than 750 million birds per year that go to stomachs like yours and mine via grocery stores, restaurants, and the old-fashioned grill.

In Jones County, there are 927 farms with more than 125,970 acres of dedicated farmland. The average farm size is 136 acres. In the Free State, farms with any chickens numbered 189 in 2012, a slight decrease from 197 when last measured in 2007. The number of farms with broilers was up from 117 in 2007 to 141 in 2012. (A broiler is a chicken aged 28 to 65 days raised for meat.)

According to researched conducted by Miss. State University, the poultry industry is the largest income-producing agricultural commodity in Mississippi. The majority of the industry’s income is generated by broilers, with commercial egg production making up most of the remainder.

Speaking of broilers, I forgot to mention “broiled chicken” in my earlier list of all the delectable ways you can eat this bird. But I digress.

The chicken economy doesn’t stop in the Magnolia State. These tasty birds also boost Mississippi’s export market, particularly as most poultry is shipped out of ports in the South. Mexico has replaced Russia as the largest purchaser of U.S. poultry, with more than 967 million pounds shipped in 2010. That’s a lot of chicken nuggets, y’all.

Mississippi birds (let’s call them “hospitality chicks”) get exported around the world and play a role in meeting the global demand for protein. The United Nations estimates the world will need two-thirds more protein by 2050 due to increasing populations and incomes; fortunately, Mississippi is poised to “meat” this need through a steady supply of our tasty feathered friends.

There are lots of reasons to support your local chicken folks: For culinary reasons, for jobs, for economic impact, for meeting a global food need. Whatever the reason, I hope you’ll grab an extra chicken breast or two the next time you’re at the grocery store.