Jan. 20, 2001

Fuel prices hurting poultry industry

By Arnold Lindsay Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer

Skyrocketing fuel prices are draining revenues for the state's chicken growers as they try to keep poultry houses warm and flocks alive.

And the mounting debt means trying to keep their businesses alive.

Todd and Susan Dupre, who operate 14 chicken houses on their Mendenhall farm, said they have searched everywhere for help with fuel bills that threaten their livelihood. Last year they paid 99 cents per gallon for butane. This year it's $1.60 per gallon, and they're using more than double the amount.

"Right now, I've probably got a $10,000 gas bill. The last flocks we sold the first week in January, we had a $9,800 gas bill. And they're refusing to bring us gas unless we pay $6,500," Susan Dupre said. "By the time you pay your gas and your utilities you have nothing to live on......There''s no way I can pay all my gas bill at one time."

Jimmie Adcox of Magee said he's searching for money to live on for seven weeks until he delivers another shipment of chickens to Tyson Foods. Last winter, Adcox paid 60 cents per gallon for 15,000 gallons of butane, but will use 30,000 gallons this winter.

"By the time I pay my note and my gas bill, I'm going to have to find some money from somewhere else to pay my bills. There won't be nothing left to live on," Adcox said. "I don't know of anything we could do to get any help. I've been a grower for 25 years and I've never had a whole lot of trouble paying my gas bills in the years past."

High fuel costs and low prices for chicken three years running have affected growers nationwide, said Mike McAlpin, president of the Mississippi Poultry Association.

"Gas prices for poultry growers are at an all-time high and this comes in the wake of the first real winter we've had in many, many years. It has had an enormous impact on growers and it's also impacted the processors. It is very painful on both sides of the coin," McAlpin said.

McAlpin said he has sought financial assistance from Mississippi's congressmen and U.S. senators for growers, but has found none.

"Right now, when they get their checks they have a choice of paying the gas company or paying the bank for their loan," McAlpin said. "I talk to growers everyday and my heart just absolutely bleeds for them."

Ed Nicholson, spokesman for Tyson Foods in Springdale, Ark., said the company sometimes helps growers with their bills. "We'll look at all the factors, weather and the price of energy. And if it's possible, we'll grant them some (cash payments) for fuel. And it will vary from complex to complex. It's not always enough to offset the increases they face," Nicholson said.

He added that the company has also been adversely affected by natural gas costs, having to curtail production at some processing plants. Tyson operates in 17 states.

Ricky Gray, spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture and Commerce, said he had sympathy for the growers who called him seeking help, but "obviously, the state is not in a position to assist."

Another Pelahatchie grower, Buck Alman, thought he would avoid higher prices when he paid 85 cents per gallon in bulk last fall.

"With this winter we've had, it's eaten what we'd projected we'd use. And if it stays as bad as it has, we're going to be in trouble. After the price gets up above 70 to 75 cents you can't make nothing on chickens, not with the temperatures you have to keep in these houses," Alman said. "It costs about eight cents a pound to keep them warm and you're getting about a nickel (from processors)."

Last year, growers paid 75 cents to 99 cents per gallon for propane. This year they have paid between $1.60 to $1.75 per gallon. Natural gas prices on Friday stood at $7.13 per thousand cubic feet. A year earlier, natural gas cost about $2.27 per thousand cubic feet.

http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0101/20/20chick.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 20, 2001