Area poultry growers face a processing challenge

UTICA -- Now that Burt's Hilltop Poultry, a family-owned poultry-processing plant in Utica, has officially closed, several small-scale poultry farmers are concerned about their own livelihoods.

Unless someone buys the Burt's plant in Winona County soon, local farmers will have to haul their poultry to Wapsi Produce in Decorah, Iowa, or to Callister Farms in West Concord.

Pine Island farmer Paul Wiens said he plans to send his chickens to Decorah for processing, even though the move could peck away at his profits.

"Gas prices and feed prices are so high right now," Wiens said. "Our prices are likely to go up as well."

Wiens sells his processed chickens at the Rochester Farmers Market. He also sells produce from his farm to about 200 families in the Twin Cities.

"A lot of people want to buy locally because they don't trust foods grown outside of the country," Wiens said. "There's a great demand for these locally grown chickens so it'll be interesting to see what happens."

The Utica plant handled 200,000 chickens, more than 10,000 turkeys and roughly 2,500 ducks and geese every year.

It was the only federally-inspected poultry processing plant in the area, allowing the meat to be sold across state and international borders. The plant was also certified organic and didn't have restrictions on the numbers of birds they would take.

Pam Benike from the Southeast Minnesota Food Network, which connects markets and restaurants with producers, said she's talked to several farmers who are worried about lost profits.

"Some are wondering whether or not they should even raise chickens this year," Benike said.

Lisa Klein of Elgin has been thinking about working with the Decorah plant, but processing there will mean that she will no longer be able to offer cut or fresh chickens to customers.

Klein said the Decorah plant doesn't offer chicken breasts, legs or thighs. It sells only frozen full or half birds.

Lori Callister, whose family owns the plant in West Concord, said their plant is a Minnesota Equal 2 plant, so meat can't be sold across state lines.

The plant hasn't been actively advertising and their plant can only handle 250 to 300 chickens a day, Callister said.

"Some growers might start butchering their own," Klein said. "It's legal as long as it's only sold on the farm and not marketed at restaurants."

Rather than haul 250 birds to Iowa at a time, she said she and her husband, Eric, will double their loads to 500 in order to keep transportation costs down.

"You'll still be able to find locally grown chickens," Klein said. "You'll just be paying a lot more for them."