As a member of the poultry farming business, it's important to stay up-to-date with any news updates, whether locally or nationally. If there have been changes in technology or in food regulations, then it's vital to your business that you know about these updates.

With so many portals to locate information, it can be overwhelming to sort through all the chicken farming business news. Which ones do you trust? Which ones should you have direct contact with on a weekly basis? These are just some of the questions to ask when you strive for the latest information. Along those lines, consider the following when seeking out chicken news and trends:

1. Follow along with online news updates from chicken farming businesses.

2. Subscribe to publications catered toward the poultry farm business.

3. Become a member of associations or organizations for chicken producers.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Search out online updates regarding poultry processors

Simply searching for news and updates on the chicken industry is one of the best ways to stay informed. With many portals available, you can have your pick of news regarding the poultry farm business. Occasionally these news sites have RSS feeds where you can subscribe to receive updates directly deposited into your e-mail. Use this to your advantage if you want your news immediately without having to search around for changes in the fowl industry.

I recommend: Check out Poultry and Egg News as it provides the top stories to its Poultry Times and Poultry Today publications. Look at the blog list available from WATTPoultry.com. Featuring several industry insiders, get an up-close look at what's happening in the chicken business.

Subscribe to publications the chicken producer business

Find out the latest developments from chicken suppliers in chicken trade industry magazines. Such magazines are great sources of information on technological advances, regulations that may affect production and other industry-related news.

I recommend: Meat & Poultry, from Sosland Publishing, is a business journal free for management and supervisors in the meat, seafood and poultry industries available in both digital and print versions. For smaller-scale businesses, consider Backyard Poultry magazine. This magazine showcases news and ideas in every issue for those smaller industries.

Join associations or organizations for those in the fowl industry

Locate an industry association to keep up with chicken news and trends. These organizations keep an eye on developments in technology, manufacturing, regulation and other areas that impact how chicken processors do business. Use contacts within these associations to network and further your business.

I recommend: Join the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, as it's the world's largest poultry organization. Offering several e-newsletter options, consider which one is best suited for your company, and subscribe so the latest news arrives in your e-mail folder. The National Chicken Council is a nonprofit trade association for those involved in the chicken industry. It hosts an annual conference, where some of the senior executives from chicken processing companies speak about changes in the industry.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Pay attention to the chicken market when following news and trends. Knowing what chicken prices are can have a dramatic effect on your business.

Finding the right chicken supplier for your restaurant is important to not only keep your customers coming back, but also provide a quality product that keeps you in budget. Poultry processors and suppliers are now more keenly aware of your customers dietary needs and in response are providing healthier choices for your restaurant.

Now you must choose which of these high quality products to put on the menu. You want your chicken menu items to be tasty and satisfying as well as healthy. Here are some things to keep in mind when selecting what fowl to put on the menu:

1. Choose chicken producers that provide products geared to your clientèle.
2. Look for chicken suppliers and chicken processors who show a commitment to quality.
3. Select a chicken source that keeps your needs in mind and has great customer service.
   

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find chicken products your customers are interested in

Not only do frozen chicken products make for easy preparation, they often come in varieties that appeal to certain clientele. Fun chicken nugget shapes make for happy young customers and marinated ready-to bake chicken specialty items often appeal to the older crowds.

I recommend: Maxi supplies child-friendly chicken products pre-fried in canola oil, so they are healthier than some of those other chicken nugget companies. Red Bird Farms creates all natural fresh stuffed chicken breasts with flavors like wild rice and apricot almond filling, which are sure to please your mature clientèle.

Keep an eye on quality chicken

When you serve up a meal to your customers, you want to know you're serving up the best. Chicken suppliers who work closely with their chicken farming businesses, making requests of exacting standards, are the best suppliers to work with. Chicken that is free of antibiotics and raised in cage-free environments and processing plants that do not litter the good taste of the chicken with additives and preservatives let you know you've got a good supplier. False claims of antibiotic-free can get you into trouble, as one of the leading chicken producers found out the hard way.

I recommend: SYSCO Corporation is one of the leading restaurant suppliers in the nation and carries some of the finest chicken products on the market. They are a full service restaurant supplier and they bring quality products to your customers table. Townsends' Pristine Cuisine takes food service chicken to a whole new level. The line is certified organic and available for bulk purchasing, making it the ideal selection for any of your health-conscious customers.

Keep an eye on customer service with your chicken suppliers

When you create a relationship with a chicken producer or supplier, they need to have good customer service. Customer service is important for you and it should be important to the suppliers you work with.

I recommend: Townsends does go the extra mile to provide quality products with superior customer support, providing cutting edge products for a changing economy. Foster Farms also has a wide variety of fresh and frozen chicken products to suit many different food service applications. Pilgrim's Pride, a leader in the meat processing industry, has convenient online payment remittance ability.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Some suppliers and food service professionals are concerned with the avian or bird flu contaminated poultry found in Hong Kong. While the Chinese government took fast action to protect chicken producers, you may not want to use a supplier who gets their chicken overseas.

Although the outlook for small farmers is generally considered dim, many experts say today's farmers will soon retire, leaving a great window of opportunity for those with chicken industry education and training. Although poultry farmers and chicken processors can make their business as large or small as they desire, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, the salary for agricultural managers in 2007 was an average of $61,030. But this isn't an industry you can just step into. Knowledge is essential to success.
Most experts suggest training begin in high school, with an emphasis on biology, chemistry and math classes. FFA and 4-H programs are also an excellent idea, and hands-on training on a chicken farm is priceless. Once high school has ended, however, consider the following steps:
1. Obtain a degree appropriate for chicken farming businesses.
2. Join organizations for chicken producers and farmers.
3. Seek out publications to further your knowledge about the chicken farming business.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Pursue a degree for the poultry farm business

Gone are the days when poultry farmers could go without a college degree. Poultry is a true business, requiring not just a thorough understanding of poultry science, but business savvy. Many higher education facilities offer degrees appropriate for poultry science; take advantage of these offerings to ensure the best career possible in the poultry industry.

I recommend: Penn State offers both graduate and undergraduate degrees in poultry science and business. Texas A&M University offers Masters of Agriculture (M.Agr.) in Poultry Science for graduate students. Or, find a college in your area offering educations in poultry science through a site like U.S. College Search.

Join associations for the poultry farming business

Poultry associations offer professionals ongoing education in their field through professional journals, books, DVDs, seminars and workshops. There are a great many associations worth belonging to, depending on your business needs.

I recommend: The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association is the world's largest poultry association; members include processors and producers of broilers, eggs and breeding stock. The association runs The Poultry & Egg Institute, which offers industry-specific training. To learn about other associations targeted at the chicken supplier, see the West Virginia University Extension Service.

Read publications for chicken suppliers and farmers

Science-based periodicals are an effective, relatively inexpensive way to keep up with changes in the poultry science field. Many associations have their own small journals, but there are several larger publications worth subscribing to.

I recommend: "Poultry Science" is the leading journal in the field; the publication's website has searchable articles. "World's Poultry Science Journal" is a quarterly peer-reviewed journal, also available online.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Although producers of chicken need not be veterinarians, they should have a basic understanding of fowl health, so plan your education accordingly.

A few chicken basics will assist retailers in understanding the poultry industry. As a retailer, you can easily become knowledgeable on the types of chicken that farmers produce, what happens when the animal leaves the farm and how their product affects your business. Knowing the history of your chicken product is helpful for productive poultry sales.

1. Farm producers of chicken for reproduction

2. Poultry farm business for human consumption

3. Processors of chicken for meat cutting and packaging

Chicken farming businesses work with processors to provide retailers with the meat and other poultry food products consumers look for on store shelves. Farmers, butchers and meat cutters as well as factory and packaging workers are a few of the people employed by the industry.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Discover the purposes for raising chickens and how they benefit the chicken retailer

Those in the poultry farming business grow chickens commercially for a few reasons. The chickens are either raised for eggs, for their meat or as breeders. The growing conditions of the chickens, whether organic or not and free-range or not, are often factors for consumers when they are making purchasing decisions.

I recommend: The British Columbia Chicken Marketing Board helps regulate the growing conditions of farm chickens. The Alabama Poultry & Egg Association explores specifics of chicken producers and poultry farming.

Discover the role chicken processors have in retail meat production

Poultry processors take the whole chicken from the chicken farmer and, by using special machinery, hand processing, and cooking preparation methods, they prepare the chicken for eating. Restaurants and retailers take these chicken products from the chicken suppliers and sell them to consumers. The chicken can be packaged as whole chicken, deboned and portioned meat cuts and processed meal-ready foods.

I recommend: Dailymotion provides a video visual of the processing of whole chicken into retail cuts. Explore the technological aspects of prepared chicken food products at foodprocessing-technology.com.

Stay informed in order to offer your customers the best fowl

Holding a dominate position in the retail food industry, chicken, too, must adapt to increasing consumer demands. Ensuring food safety is one expectation placed on the shoulders of the retailer. Consumers also want to have the newest and most innovative products available to them immediately upon release. Beating competition in stocking these new items will have them buying more than just chicken from your shelves.

I recommend: Explore the listings on Bvents for business related seminars, conferences and events that focus on chicken. The United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service is helpful in determining recall and safety information on chicken products.