The majority of our chickens and turkeys are raised on local farms by more than 2,200 independent farmers contracted to care for our poultry on their farms.

Our poultry house contracts are designed to help insulate farmers from most of the financial risks associated with raising chickens and turkeys – including volatile markets – while providing year-round farm income and rewarding top performance. Those contracts were developed with input from our farmers and written in plain English, and they include provisions for peer review to resolve issues between the company and our farmers.  

We are committed to strengthening the relationships with our farmers, who are partners with us in advancing animal care. In 2016, we created the executive level position of Vice President, Chief Animal Care Officer and Farmer Relationship Advocate. We established farmer councils in each of the regions where we raise poultry and launched a farmer-specific website as part of our efforts to improve communications. We developed a Farmer Relationship Index, scoring 81 against our initial goal of 80.

The contract growing relationship

Perdue has been contracting with farmers to raise our poultry since the 1950s; many of the farm families raising our chickens have been with our company across multiple generations, with sons and daughters deciding to build poultry houses based on the experiences of their parents and grandparents. Our ability to attract new farmers is dependent upon the trust we earn within the farm community.

Under the contract growing relationship:

• Perdue delivers day-old chicks to the farms and provides feed, veterinary care and advice.
• Our flock advisors, veterinarians and poultry care officers – backed by an advanced team of scientists and laboratory technicians working with leading research and analytical equipment – assist our farmers.
• Perdue maintains ownership of the chickens, and the farmers are responsible for providing housing that meets Perdue’s standards, and caring for the birds.

Farmers are paid for raising the chickens, with higher pay going to those who are most efficient. A contract poultry operation is like any other business in that farmers need to reinvest in their operations to remain competitive. In addition, standards related to food safety, bird health and welfare and environmental stewardship change over time as a result of, among other things, advances in animal husbandry, changing consumer and customer expectations and new laws and regulations. However, Perdue often provides no-interest financing and other incentives to assist farmers with necessary upgrades.

Our Standards

We have high standards for how we expect our birds to be raised, including no-antibiotics-ever protocols, poultry care programs that exceed the norm for the US poultry business, environmental stewardship and the expectation that farms raising our chickens will be good neighbors.

We promise to consider our farmers when making changes. We are modifying our business relationships with contracts that reward care and welfare, in addition to production and efficiency.

Farms raising our poultry are subject to third-party certifications and verifications, including our USDA Process Verified Program for Poultry Care, USDA Certified Organic and Global Animal Partnership certifications.