StarTribune - Turkey growers crying foul over USDA decision favoring industry players including Jennie-O, Cargill

Open Markets’ food systems policy director Claire Kelloway on new USDA rules for chicken tournament systems that leave out turkey farmers.

Noting that both chicken and turkey farmers enter contracts without control over a number of inputs, she said, "It's hard to look at this and not see turkey farmers as being left behind," Kelloway said. Successful Farming reprinted the article. 

Eddie Todd has raised turkeys for a major processing company for two decades. He's still confused about how the company calculates his pay.

The company provides the birds, and Todd, the president of the Arkansas Farmers Union, raises them. Sometimes, sick turkey chicks have been delivered to him, he said, which affects his ability to make a living.

"You never know exactly what you're going to get," he said. "I [have] had to compete against some healthy birds, and my check was near nothing."

In this "tournament system," neighboring farms are pitted against each other, and growers have little information about how their payments are calculated. The federal government recently vowed reform, but the changes will apply only to the chicken industry. Turkey growers such as Todd will continue to deal with the same pitfalls.

Read full article here.