Southern Vigo turkey operation keeps growing

Farbest Farms, a division of Farbest Foods, in February began construction on a more than $1.6 million confined-feeding operation to produce 1.1 million turkeys annually. The facility, located on Stephen Drive near Lewis, will take in 1-day-old turkeys and will raise them until they are 38 days old.

Now, Solar Sources is to construct a $1.28 million turkey grow-out facility, on East French Drive near Lewis, that will take some of those turkeys, housing them from 29 days until 20 weeks old, when they are shipped to market, said Jay Houchin, live production manager for Farbest Farms.

The Farbest facility will grow 170,000 turkeys in the 38 days. The Solar Sources facility will be one of 200 grow-out farms to which those turkeys will be shipped, Houchin said. Both confined-feeding operations in Vigo County are located on reclaimed mining property.

Solar Sources, a coal mining company, also operates Solar Sources Agribusiness. The company's Vigo County facility will handle up to 54,000 turkeys until ready for market, according to its confined-feeding operation permit from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

The company will construct six grow-out turkey barns, each of which can house 9,000 turkeys. Each barn will have a compacted earthen floor with wood shavings as bedding. The barns will be cleaned out annually, according to the state permit.

A compost/manure storage building with a concrete floor and a utility shop will also be constructed. The confined feeding operation, located on 35 acres, will have an earthen stormwater control basin and associated berms and swales for stormwater conveyance, according to the state permit.

The turkeys will be shipped to Farbest Foods' fully automated, 227-000 square-foot processing plant in Vincennes. The company is one of the largest turkey producers in the U.S., shipping about one million pounds of raw fresh and frozen turkey products daily to brand-name food processors in the U.S. and around the world.

Indiana ranks first in the nation for duck production and third for egg and turkey production, according to the Indiana State Poultry Association. However, two highly pathogenic avian influenza strains have caused the death of more than 40 million birds in 16 states.

Because of that, the Indiana Board of Animal Health on May 27 banned all bird shows at county fairs this summer and through the fall. Other states, including Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Iowa and West Virginia, have also banned events where birds can commingle.

Health officials say wild waterfowl, impervious to the viruses, spread the influenza strains in their droppings, which is deadly for chickens, turkeys and other poultry. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it poses little threat to humans.

"We are very, very concerned about it," Houchin said. "The first preventative measure is biosecurity and that we take very serious. This type of business model lends itself to that [bird flu]. This is a shower-in and shower-out facility. No vehicles go into the farm. [Bird flu] would be devastating."

"We are concerned about the commercial and backyard poultry," Houchin said. "It is like any disease prevention."

There is no vaccination available, but surveillance and monitoring are important to prevent spread of disease, Houchin said. "All of our birds are tested for that," he said.

Farbest's brooding facility, according to the company, will be entirely depopulated for about 2 1/2 weeks, during which time all spent litter will be removed and barns will be cleaned and disinfected and prepared for the next flock.