Evolution of poultry processing in America - Essay Example

At the end of 19th century poultry in USA were raised primarily for their eggs. In the early 1920s farmers, mainly women, began to sell eggs and meat on a market. By 1925 many farmer had already sold out poultry by rail. So, for 30 years home production of poultry had been turned into industry. In the 1930s, in some agricultural regions feed salesman sold to the farmers baby chicks in order they feed them on credit. When the chicks were grown, they buy chickens back at a price that would cover his costs and guarantee farmers a profit (Stull, Broadway, 1995).

In some years these businessmen were able to open their own poultry processing plant and hatchery. So, during this period the poultry production was divided into several different sectors which include local growers, hatcheries, feed mills and processing plants all operating independently of one another. "The farmer switched from plant to plant based on the timing of each plant's needs. The biggest problem with this type of arrangement was a lack of protocol" (Stull, Broadway, 1995). During this time, there was no standard plan in order to give detailed instructions for farmers and processing plants to raise birds or hatcheries to process chicks or mills to formulate ingredients for feed (Moreng, Avens, 1985).

At this period manual . In addition the poultry processing work was dangerous, repetitive, and unhealthy. At the end of 1930s, when the Second World War began (1939), there was a significant growth in the poultry industry, and poultry consumption. The main buyer was the War Food Administration which reserved the processed chicken from many US states. This was an advantage for poultry plans as they can estimate the quantity of products having a guaranteed buyer. During the war period there was a shift from "New York dressed" (with head, feet, and entrails intact) to fully processed chickens (without head, feet, and entrails), and later to frozen birds, which became the industry standard (Moreng, Avens, 1985).

In the middle of the XX century poultry industry grew remarkably. According to statistical data the number of farms involved in poultry production rose from 230 to 3,499 between 1939 and 1950. Many poultry processing plans integrate innovations and completed the vertical integration of their plants. These changes were caused by scientific discoveries and improving technology, which resulted in high productivity of plants. On the other hand, because of advances in technology and the need for constant refinancing to modernize chicken houses, the number of frames went bankrupt.

For instance, "In Hall County only one-sixth of the number of contract growers in 1950 produced six times as many chickens in 1997" (Ensminger, 1992). The cooperative was developed to integrate the functional areas under one plant attempting to reduce costs with economies of scale and create standards that control quality from the hatching egg through the processing plant. To further cement the functional areas, the company was consolidated under our current management