Poultry Exports to take Wing
March 25, 2009
Daily News Record, by Tim Mitchell
Valley poultry is a key reason why Virginia agriculture exports remain strong, say area farm officials.
According to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Virginia exported $2.22 billion worth of agricultural products in 2008 - that's a 27 percent increase over 2007's total of $1.74 billion.
Tom Stanley, extension agent for farm business management in the central Shenandoah Valley, said the poultry industry is a large part of the state's global farm economy.
"I think that the export market is a lot more important to the Valley than a lot of people realize," Stanley said. "The presence of Norfolk and Hampton and deep-water ports [in the] Chesapeake Bay ... makes Virginia products readily accessible to international markets."
Although a weak dollar has helped make American goods cheaper to purchase abroad, Stanley says there may be a bigger reason U.S. farm products are in demand.
He believes the nation's food safety system is "highly regarded and widely trusted. The USDA-inspected seal is the gold standard around the world."
According to figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the United States was the world leader in poultry exports last year, accounting for more than 41 percent of shipments of poultry abroad. Brazil, the second-leading supplier of poultry in the world, accounted for 38 percent of the market.
"Russia has been a major user, and China, too, of chicken meat produced in the Valley," Stanley said. "There's no doubt that we have a fair amount of chicken grown here that is exported overseas."
But not everyone in the poultry business has felt such growth.
Dennis Stoneburner, a contract grower of chickens from Linville, said that since last fall he has moved fewer birds than usual.
"From what I'm hearing, exports haven't been all that good," Stoneburner said.
Contact Tom Mitchell at 574-6275 or mitchell@dnronline.com