In Arkansas, agriculture dominates the economy, bringing in more than $1.6 billion a year.
Most of such income comes from soyabeans and rice, but poultry also contributes significantly.
With more than 2000 farms, Arkansas is the national leader in the production of chicken, according to Arkansas farm bureau. “One in four agricultural are tied to poultry industry ’’ said Jade Thomson, assistant professor in agricultural economics at the University of Arkansas. “We’re starting to understand how important the poultry industry is to Arkansas.”
According to Thompson, figures like those put Tyson Foods’ decision to close its plant in North Little Rock into perspective. On Monday, the company made the closing announcement and cited the financial difficulties.
“When Tyson made their announcement, they’re looking to really reduce about 10% of their production.” Thompson said “We think about that…two of those plans are really related are really related to Arkansas, and Arkansas farmers are impacted directly.”
Thompson said this could lead to a domino effect with unemployment at the forefront.
“We’re going to have producers that are going to keep their contracts and stick with other facilities to utilize those better,” Thompson said. “For the people who are losing their contracts, they’re either going to have to hope for another contract, or they’re going to have to move into a different industry.
From there, that could impact consumers when they go to buy groceries. “Supply change impacts… we might see a little bit of supplies going down, which means prices might go up,” Thompson said.
According to Thompson, it’s currently impossible to predict what will occur or how this would affect Arkansas position in poultry sector.
“I don’t know that we’re going to drop substantially,” Thompson said. “I think poultry will continue to be important for the state.”
What occurs next only can be determined by time, thus specialists intend to closely associate monitor the situation.
“There are going to be economic impacts when prices are high,” Thompson said. “We continue to see inflation and inflationary pressures.”
