Rain hasn’t inflated cost of animal feed, food producers say

Heavy rain throughout Arkansas and parts of Missouri in April flattened or flooded crops and injured livestock, leaving some farmers devastated and working even harder to make up for the setbacks. While some farmers are reeling, food heavyweights such as Tyson Foods Inc. reported little effect on their operations.

“The impact of the April flooding on our operations was very limited,” said Worth Sparkman, manager of public relations for Tyson, in an email.

According to the company’s recent earnings release, poultry-feed costs decreased $10 million over the sixmonth period ending April 1. Whether or not late April flooding will have a significant impact on corn and soybean commodity prices is hard to determine.

Ken Shea, senior analyst of food and beverages at Bloomberg, said there’s a possibility that poor crops could elevate prices “but it’s too early to tell.”

“Crop prices haven’t moved much, broadly speaking,” he said, referencing commodity market prices. “[They] edged up very modestly.”

Shea couldn’t speak for Tyson, but he did refer to competitor Sanderson Farms, whose recent earnings report covered late April operations. Mississippi-based Sanderson, the third largest poultry producer, re-

ported that its feed costs were locked in and its supply sources haven’t been influenced much by inclement weather, Shea said.

According to the company’s 2017 second-quarter earnings report, which ended April 30, Sanderson Farms reported similar feed costs per pound of poultry products processed;

corn prices decreased 0.4 percent and soybean prices increased 15 percent, compared with a year ago.

“Looking ahead to the second half of the fiscal year, we continue to expect grain prices to remain relatively benign,” Joe F. Sanderson Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Sanderson Farms, said in a release. “There are ample supplies of both corn and soybeans worldwide, and the planting progress of the 2017 corn and

soybean crops remains close to average despite a wet spring in the United States Grain Belt.”

Like Sanderson Farms, Tyson acquires its poultry feed from all over the country, with the lion’s share from the Midwest.

“We’re grateful that our chicken operations in Arkansas were not significantly impacted by the rains in April,” Sparkman said.

More inclement weather hit parts of Arkansas over Memorial

Day and the following weekend. Flash-flood warnings were issued Monday morning for Craighead, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Mississippi and Sharp counties.

Flooding over the past few weeks in Jefferson County forced farmers to replant some corn and rice, according to the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. Storms also delayed production and planting in Poinsett and Desha counties.