Our Business Partners

We Believe in Responsibly Contributing to the Economic Stability of Our Company and Our Business Partners

leading producer of USDA-certified organic chicken

leader in No Antibiotics Ever

3^rd

largest poultry company in the U.S. by sales (7% of market)

4^th

largest poultry company in the U.S. by production

Perdue AgriBusiness ranks among the top U.S. grain companies

As a family-owned, privately held company, we make business decisions that effectively balance our long-term strategies with short-term requirements while staying true to what we believe in. That way, we can make sure our actions bring us closer to our goals. We have a core code of conduct and ethical practices, which we share with all associates and recommunicate to managers annually.

We also know that our ability to contribute positively to others depends on the resources we generate through our business. Our value of stewardship includes the responsibility to generate profitable growth to support the strategic plans of our company, sustaining us into the future.

We understand that our success goes hand in hand with our ability to help our business partners—including our customers, farm partners and vendors—be successful. This is founded in our core values of quality, integrity teamwork and stewardship, and it extends into our strategic growth plans.

Supporting Our Farm Family Partners

Poultry Farmers

 Most 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.

Coleman Natural Hog Farmers

Farmers who raise hogs for sale to Coleman Natural put in extra work to meet our care standards, including no antibiotics ever and an all-vegetarian diet. In turn, they receive a premium price for their animals. We help them with veterinary and technical support.

Niman Ranch Farmers

The Niman Ranch® brand has been part of the Perdue Farms family of brands since 2015. Niman Ranch is a community of more than 600 independent family farmers and ranchers who raise pork, beef and lamb, traditionally, humanely and sustainably.

Panorama Ranchers

Panorama Organic Grass-Fed Meats®, is the nation’s largest producer of 100 percent grass-fed, grass-finished, USDA Certified Organic beef with 34 independent family ranchers that span eight states and nearly one million acres of land. Ranchers who raise Panorama cattle treat the animals humanely in low-stress environments and employ pasture rotation and land-management practices that promote animal health and protect delicate rangeland ecosystems.

Panorama Organic ensures animal welfare standards through the Global Animal Partnership program, a nonprofit organization made up of farmers, scientists, retailers, manufacturers, and animal advocates, all collaborating with a common purpose: improving farm animal welfare. To remain in this program, our ranchers are audited every 15 months through independent third parties.

The Contract Growing Relationship

Perdue has been contracting with farmers to raise our poultry since the 1950s. Many of the farm families raising our poultry 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.

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.

• 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. 

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 U.S. poultry business, environmental stewardship and the expectation that farmers 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.