For the birds

New chicken methods, prices

A whole generation of Arkansawyers grew up walking chickens in the summer — and for those not in the know, none of it requires leashes.

Chicken houses have changed a lot since the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Heck, for that matter, chicken houses have changed a lot in the last 10 years. When farmers first discovered they could grow tens of thousands of chickens, in one place, in six or seven weeks, the animal went from being a yard bird scratching for worms into a meat industry.

And chicken houses are now ubiquitous in Arkansas. It would be a wonder to drive down a country road looking at autumn leaves and not see such a farm. Millions of birds are grown, shipped to the factory, slaughtered and sold every year. And with beef and pork prices skyrocketing, more and more chicken makes its way to the grocery’s scanner and onto our dinner plates.

But there are big changes coming. A few weeks ago, Bloomberg News published (and this newspaper’s Business section re-published) an article on the transitions that chicken producers see coming down the road. And they’re not a country mile off, either.

“The biggest chicken producers in the U.S. will likely have to overhaul their breeding programs in a matter of just a few years to meet tough new guidelines major commercial customers are embracing, part of a movement to ensure birds are healthier and more humanely treated.”

Modern groceries and some fast food joints have joined forces with an outfit called Global Animal Partnership. Companies that stock or cook chicken have been focused on productivity and price for approximately forever. Now their priorities are changing.

This past week, the follow-up stories began appearing in the press. The U.S. chicken industry is gearing up to increase production of slow-growing chickens to meet the demand of its modern customers.

What will this mean to Arkansas’ chicken farmers?

We are happy and gratified to be able to answer that question: We don’t know. Because we have our own questions:

• If chickens are to be grown slower, then that means a farmer who grows five or six “batches” of chickens each year will necessarily grow fewer, right? Will he get four turnarounds each year? Or will it be three? And if the number of batches halves, he’ll have to double his income on each batch to make what he made last year. Are the chicken-producing companies going to provide that raise?

• Farmers lose chickens every day during the growing weeks. How will they absorb the added mortality?

• Will chicken houses have to be refitted in any way to account for the added time that chickens live there? If so, who pays for that?

• Speaking of costs, the papers say it takes more food and water to feed birds who live longer. Is there any doubt it’ll take more electricity and natural gas, too?

• This will necessarily cost consumers more at the grocery. Should we expect chicken prices to double over the next few years? Is the $18.99 10-piece family dinner with sides at Popeyes on the endangered list?

• Food companies say Americans will pay for “better chicken.” We don’t remember many complaints about the current chicken.

The market will settle most of this. If chicken becomes more and more expensive, fewer and fewer people will turn to it. Or if people are as interested in better conditions for chickens, as some insist, we will fork over the additional money and sleep better o’ night.

But it would seem that the American farmer is doing a pretty good job feeding his neighbors, not to mention most of the world. And he’s figured out how to do that efficiently in the last few decades.

Now it seems the priority is less on efficiency. What will that mean to the world’s food supply? Especially now when inflation seems to have hit most of us in the food budget already?

As for farmers, they will adapt. They always do. There aren’t many people “walking chickens” in the summer now. Many chicken houses have been upgraded to keep the birds cool in the heat of July and August. But improving those houses wasn’t cheap.

And we don’t suppose any of the proposed changes to chicken farm operations will be cheap, either.