Progress report for LNE22-435
Project Information
Will be completed with final report.
Forty farms from across NYS producing either pasture-raised slow growth or pasture-raised Cornish-type (conventional) broilers will develop a robust understanding of the true income from their poultry operations. One hundred and sixty flocks will be part of this project (4 flocks per farm, 2 each year), involving a total of 12,000 birds. Farms that are part of the project will look critically at flock performance and financial balance sheets while making changes to increase income by $4.85/bird, or $363.75/flock.
Poultry is a low-cost, rapid-return enterprise staple for small farms in the Northeast. The 2017 Ag Census indicated that there were 5,088 farms rearing broilers in the region. Of those, 60% are classified as small broiler enterprises (<2,000 birds/year). These enterprises don’t benefit from the economies of scale like larger producers, so inputs and retail values must be carefully considered. While nearly 50% (35/65) of NYS pastured broiler farmers that we surveyed indicated that there that they were not losing money on their broiler enterprises and 71% (46/65) understood their production costs, our preliminary data does not agree with these findings.
Many times, the true costs of production are not evaluated in enterprise budgets, resulting in losses rather than profits for a farm. Upon calculating the average sales price of a traditional white broiler through Cornell's MeatSuite web page (https://www.meatsuite.com/), which allows farmers across NYS to advertise their meats, it was found that the average price was $3.55/lb. The "Niche Poultry Enterprises in New England" guide, created by the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project in 2014, shared that a broiler enterprise operating under the 1,000 bird exemption needs to charge a minimum of $4.52/lb to break even. Therefore, for every pound sold, it's projected that the average small-scale pastured broiler producer in NYS producing Cornish breeds is losing $0.97/lb.
The relatively depressed growth rates and lower carcass weights from slow-growth broiler types have a large impact on production costs. The average price from MeatSuite for these birds is $4.08/lb, while the "Niche Poultry Enterprise in New England" guide indicates a break-even cost of $5.65/lb, a loss of $1.57/lb for our producers. Evaluating the production costs of these broilers is especially important, since there has been a recent shift away from the faster-growing Cornish breeds, and there is not a practical management guide outlining their true costs of production.
Value-added processing allowed under the 1,000 bird exemption as well as processing method (on-farm vs outsourcing) can impact profit margins in addition to feed type (traditional, locally milled, non-GMO, and Organic), management style, and age at harvest. Deficient understanding of the optimization of these operations can result in substantial financial loss over many years, and the ultimate demise of small, local broiler farms.
This project will follow 40 pasture-raised broiler producers (20 Cornish Cross and 20 slow-growth) as they raise two flocks over two years to understand costs of production associated with raising, processing, and marketing chicken meat. Farmers will make changes from year 1 to year 2 to improve their efficiency and improve profitability. In addition to the one-on-one education that we will be providing the program's farmers through farm visits and individual farm enterprise reporting and discussions, we'll also provide the opportunity for these farmers to talk to one another in cohorts via discussion circles to see where their costs of production fall relative to other producers and get ideas as to how to become more efficient.
Additionally, our team will host 5 pasture-raised broiler field days across the state to educate 125 current and potential farmers about efficient pasture-raised broiler production in the summer of 2023. We'll also share two webinars on the same topic, reaching another 50 participants near the end of the project. Data from the research portion of the project will be presented at the 2025 Northeast Pasture Consortium to reach an even wider audience of farmers, extension educators, and farm service providers.
Cooperators
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Research
Small-scale pastured broiler farmers can improve profitability through a better understanding of their true costs of production. Building on this foundational knowledge, they can manage production and processing costs while employing strategic marketing and raising prices.
Forty small, pasture-raised broiler farms, with 20 raising slow-growth broilers and 20 raising conventional broilers, will participate on this project. Each farm will have a minimum of 50 broilers per flock with a minimum of two flocks a year. Four flocks will need to be raised over two consecutive years, either from 2022 - 2023 or 2023 - 2024. Only farmers from NYS will be selected for this project to keep costs relatively consistent, but at the same time allow for an evaluation of farms within various markets across the state.
The only variable that we are going to account for is broiler type (slow growth vs conventional). The inclusion of slow growth broilers in this project is due to a recent surge in the number of small farms raising slow-growth broilers. Otherwise, our eligibility requirement is that the birds must be pasture-raised following brooding. Our program team is allowing for natural variation between farms, since this research project's goal is to find the average costs, production, and processing data associated with raising broilers state-wide.
We understand that there can be some high production cost variation due to farm location, year, season, bird strain, and management style. Of these, feed choice is going to be most impactful, specifically when comparing GMO-free/organic to conventional. We will account for this by attempting to select the same number of farms that provide organic and conventional feed under each broiler type.
The 40 farms will be split into two cohorts to divide the workload more evenly (2022/2023 and 2023/2024) over the course of the project and not overwhelm the educators on the project. It will also allow us to make sure we have the correct number of farms for each of our two treatment groups at the conclusion of the study. Farms will be selected from a list of farms which have either previously expressed interest in the project or have a history of working with extension and will see the project through to completion. The 2022-2023 cohort will have 30 farms and the 2023-2024 cohort will have 10 farms for a total of 40 farms on the project. We aim to get an even distribution of slow growth and conventional broilers over both time periods.
The pasture-raised broiler enterprise budget tool created as part of the educational focus of this grant will be used to collect production data. Extension educators will work one-on-one with farmers to collect data and ensure that they know how to use the equipment given to them. Each farm will be visited 5-7 times in year 1, which will include an initial visit to the farm followed by visits over the last two weeks of production for each flock of Cornish-type broilers and the last three weeks of production for each flock of slow-growth broilers. These visits will be for measuring live weights and feed consumption. From this data, feed conversion ratios will be calculated by week. Ten average birds per flock will be selected for weighing and will be banded to ensure that the same birds are evaluated each week.
On processing day, final live weights will be collected on the banded birds, and those birds' carcass weights (w/o neck or giblets) will be taken. Should the farmer want to part these birds out into standard retail cuts (breast, thighs, legs, wings, neck/back), the educator will teach them how to accomplish this as well as weigh the individual parts to calculate their percentage of the whole carcass.
In year two, the same procedure will be followed, and the same data collected on two additional flocks per farm.
The data to be collected for this project include:
• Input costs
• Feed
• Housing
• Chick costs (including shipping)
• Death loss (mortality, predation, etc.)
• Supplements (grit, vaccines, vitamins/minerals, etc.)
• Electricity use
• Equipment (brooder lamps, waterers, feeders, etc.)
• Time caring for birds
• Including pasture rotation data (when put outside, how often rotated)
• Time to process birds, if processed on-farm
• Time and travel to custom processing, if processed off-farm
• Processing equipment and single-use packaging costs
• Time and travel to market and sell birds
• Refrigeration/freezing storage costs
• Marketing costs (website hosting fees, online sales platform fees, etc.)
Following the completion of all 3 growing seasons, the complete data set will be analyzed to find:
• Average input costs by broiler variety (slow growth vs conventional)
• Percentages of each input cost that contribute to the total cost of production
• Growth rates and live weights in the last 2 weeks for Cornish and 3 weeks for slow-growth birds
• Feed conversion by variety in the last 2 weeks for Cornish and 3 weeks for slow growth birds
• Dressing percentage of each bird type
• Carcass part-out values for each bird type.
Because of the natural variability in production data, even within the same farm, we are not going to perform statistical analyses. Instead, we will present ranges, medians, and means, with the intention of finding the true average production costs of raising broilers on a small scale in the Northeast.
None to report at this time. We've just completed year 1's data collection for the first cohort of farmers. As of January 31, 2023, we are in the process of analyzing the data and are preparing to host the first farmer discussion circle, while following up with farmers to see what changes they will make to be more profitable in year 2 of the project. 18 farmers participated in 2022. We will be adding 22 additional farmers to the project in 2023 to get to our total of 40 overall.
As of 2/1/24, we are in the process of evaluating Cohort 1's second year data and cohort 2's first year data, which will be presented to farmers at the time of their discussion circles.
While we have evaluated Cohort 1's data for 2022, our team will wait to post the findings until the project's completion because of the variance in the data to date. Something that was unanticipated was the large amount of variation from flock-to-flock and year-to-year. This was mostly in the production arena, with large differences seen between flocks (even on the same farm!) for rates of gain, finished weights, flock uniformity, and mortality. Having a large data set to report at the end of the project will decrease the variability in the data, and allow for a more thorough analysis of factors leading to successes and failures. It will also allow us to answer the following unanticipated questions:
1.) How does placement date impact performance? The cold, rainy spring coupled with the chick shortage in early 2023 resulted in producers placing chicks earlier than usual and having their flocks experience very high mortality rates compared to chicks placed later in the season.
2.) Can we capture and summarize the variability of slow-growth breeds accurately? As we analyzed cohort 1's data, the variation on rates of gain and finished weights of slow growth broilers was highly variable. More data needs to be collected and analyzed to determine the extent of that variability and see what recommendations can be made to optimize producer profitability.
3.) What is the range and median/mean mortality rate in flocks across the state, and what is the highest driver of mortality? Is it possible to avoid high morbidity and mortality rates that occur in some flocks as a general rule?
4.) When is it cost effective to use a 5A processor vs process on-farm? With the number of 5A processors in NYS dwindling, the cost for some to take their birds out to be processed is more expensive than the time and equipment investment to process on-farm.
One of the items that we can report on is the confirmation of our theory that farmers are struggling to make a profit from their broiler enterprises. Evaluation of the financial data from cohort 1's first year revealed that of the farmers we worked with, 1 was making money raising chicken.
None to report at this time.
Education
Hermann Weber, poultry farmer and 5-A processor in Wyoming County, NY. Hermann and his wife Laura have been raising broilers at HLW Acres for over 28 years and have been processing broilers for their customers for over 21 years under a 5-A license. They also sell broiler chicks to their local community members and open their operation to the public to learn on-farm processing techniques and other poultry topics. With this experience, Hermann has unique insights into the production and profitability of pastured poultry.
Hannah and Jeramiah DeNise, beginning farmers in Chautauqua County, NY. Hannah and Jeramiah run Prodigal Farm, where they focus on regenerative agriculture and sustainability. They've only been farming for 2 years and are currently working through their farm’s business plan. Hannah and Jeramiah bring the newly lived perspective of what pasture-raised broiler farmers go through when first starting their enterprise.
Ashley Pierce, Livestock Production Educator at CCE Albany and small farmer in Schoharie County, NY. Ashley has a small, diversified farm where she has raised slow-growth broilers for 7 years. She has been with extension for many years, providing technical assistance to farmers raising all livestock, including poultry.
Sam Vanstrom, Farmer, The Vanstrom Homestead, Chautauqua County, NY. Sam and her husband have a livestock farm in Chautauqua County where they raise beef cattle, sheep, hogs, and slow-growth broiler chickens, processing the birds on-farm under the 1,000 bird exemption. Their chickens are sold both off the farm and at local farmer’s markets.
Amy, Katelyn, and Nancy have working relationships with these committee members, including gathering their input regarding pastured broiler production, which provided part of the base for this project. If funded, the members will meet 2-4 times over the course of the project with one meeting to direct the development of the cost and production tools and another to direct the programming efforts. All members will be invited to the benchmarking webinars to give their input and help refine the next project year's efforts.
All educators on the project will sit on the meetings of the Project Advisory Committee.
The project's advisory committee met prior to the development of the cost and production tools on May 18, 2022. Hannah, Ashley, and Sam were unable to attend, but Hermann and all educators on the project were in attendance.
In Spring 2023, we added an additional CCE educator to the project and advisory board, Rachel Moody. While new to raising broilers, Rachel has worked in agriculture education for nearly 20 years, and brings a wealth of knowledge and perspective to the board. During this time, we also added a new educator, Hailey Feusner from CCE Chemung. Hailey took over Liz Alexander's position in fall 2022.
On March 3, 2023, all grant educators were brought together for a check-in meeting before we moved into 2024 to review the 2023 schedule, what went well in 2022, what needed improvement in 2023, and to discuss scheduling the broiler field days.
Milestones
Hermann Weber, poultry farmer and 5-A processor in Wyoming County, NY. Hermann and his wife Laura have been raising broilers at HLW Acres for over 28 years and have been processing broilers for their customers for over 21 years under a 5-A license. They also sell broiler chicks to their local community members and open their operation to the public to learn on-farm processing techniques and other poultry topics. With this experience, Hermann has unique insights into the production and profitability of pastured poultry.
Hannah and Jeramiah DeNise, beginning farmers in Chautauqua County, NY. Hannah and Jeramiah run Prodigal Farm, where they focus on regenerative agriculture and sustainability. They've only been farming for 2 years and are currently working through their farm’s business plan. Hannah and Jeramiah bring the newly lived perspective of what pasture-raised broiler farmers go through when first starting their enterprise.
Ashley Pierce, Livestock Production Educator at CCE Albany and small farmer in Schoharie County, NY. Ashley has a small, diversified farm where she has raised slow-growth broilers for 7 years. She has been with extension for many years, providing technical assistance to farmers raising all livestock, including poultry.
Sam Vanstrom, Farmer, The Vanstrom Homestead, Chautauqua County, NY. Sam and her husband have a livestock farm in Chautauqua County where they raise beef cattle, sheep, hogs, and slow-growth broiler chickens, processing the birds on-farm under the 1,000 bird exemption. Their chickens are sold both off the farm and at local farmer’s markets.
Amy, Katelyn, and Nancy have working relationships with these committee members, including gathering their input regarding pastured broiler production, which provided part of the base for this project. If funded, the members will meet 2-4 times over the course of the project with one meeting to direct the development of the cost and production tools and another to direct the programming efforts. All members will be invited to the benchmarking webinars to give their input and help refine the next project year's efforts.
All educators on the project will sit on the meetings of the Project Advisory Committee.
The project's advisory committee met prior to the development of the cost and production tools on May 18, 2022. Hannah, Ashley, and Sam were unable to attend, but Hermann and all educators on the project were in attendance.
In Spring 2023, we added an additional CCE educator to the project and advisory board, Rachel Moody. While new to raising broilers, Rachel has worked in agriculture education for nearly 20 years, and brings a wealth of knowledge and perspective to the board. During this time, we also added a new educator, Hailey Feusner from CCE Chemung. Hailey took over Liz Alexander's position in fall 2022.
On March 3, 2023, all grant educators were brought together for a check-in meeting before we moved into 2024 to review the 2023 schedule, what went well in 2022, what needed improvement in 2023, and to discuss scheduling the broiler field days.
Milestone Activities and Participation Summary
Educational activities:
Participation Summary:
Performance Target Outcomes
Target #1
We will verify learning from the 40 farmers on the project through a pre-participation and post-participation survey, which will include estimates of the costs of production and profitability per bird. Flock costs of production and income values collected by educators and evaluated by our team's farm business management specialist will verify what has been shared in the survey; these numbers will be used to show the difference in profitability per bird from year 1 to year 2.
Evaluation of learning from the webinars and field days will be assessed through three surveys (before, immediately following, and 12 months out from program completion [field days only]) to determine significant changes in understanding, attitudes, practices, and flock income and how they change over time.
The verification survey tool has four major sections:
- Familiarity with different concepts around budgeting and raising broilers
- Level of agreement with statements regarding profitability of broiler enterprises
- How standard costs of production affect their enterprise
- Current price of their broilers and estimated production costs.
Additional Project Outcomes
None at this time.
Comments from some of our farmers:
"We GREATLY appreciate taking part in this project. Previous to COVID, we had averaged around 500 birds/year and, with this partnership, decided to ramp up again following a 3 year break. So far, so good. We’ve sold almost all the birds we raised for this program and have received good feedback."
"I now know the amount of money we weren't capturing on chicken because thighs and drums don't sell as well as breast meat. We've changed our pricing scheme to make the money back from the breast meat, and then whatever we sell from the rest of the bird is profit."
"This process has been very eye-opening... I almost want to take data on everything!"
"We're not going to raise chicken next year. Our freezer space is better spent on storing pork, which is very profitable for us."
"It was an interesting day! I learned a bunch about cutting up birds efficiently."
None at this time.