Tips on Education, Buying Land, and Financing to Start Your Chicken Farm

Educational Opportunities for New Farmers

You don’t need to take formal classes or get a college degree in order to be a successful poultry farmer. Many poultry farmers receive their education by working on farms. However, if you’re new to the chicken business and don’t have access to on-the-job training, you may want to consider formal classes.

Agricultural and poultry science classes are available throughout Mississippi and Louisiana. These courses will teach you the technical aspects of raising chickens, but they’ll also provide you with additional business management skills you can use to run your farm.

Scholarships

Southern AgCredit awards nearly $30,000 in scholarships annually to deserving high school and college students in agricultural programs.

Educational Programs

Talk to an Integrator

The overwhelming majority of chickens are produced by farmers under contract to a poultry company. These companies, also known as integrators, partner with independent farmers to produce the poultry that they need, including broilers, breeders, and pullets. An integrator can also be a helpful source of information about existing chicken farms for sale.

Below, find poultry companies in Mississippi and Louisiana who contract with independent poultry growers.

Poultry Integrators Mississippi

• Koch Foods, Inc. (Morton, Miss.)
• Mar-Jac Poultry (Waynesboro, Miss.)
• Peco Foods (Sebastapol & Bay Springs, Miss.)
• Sanderson Farms (Laurel, Miss.)
• Tyson Foods (Carthage, Miss.)
• Wayne Farms (Laurel, Miss.)

Poultry Integrators Louisiana

• Pilgrim’s Pride (Natchitoches, La.)
• House of Raeford (Arcadia, La.)
• Foster Farms (Farmerville, La.)

Find Land for Your Farm

Lands of America is a great resource for finding land on which to build a chicken farm:

• Mississippi
• Louisiana

Start Your Chicken Farm with an Agricultural Loan

Southern AgCredit provides financing for everything you need to get your business started. We offer fixed rate and adjustable rate loans for new and existing poultry farms. The loans can pay for:

• Broilers, breeders (laying hens), and pullets
• Upgrades to an existing poultry facility
• Land

Visit our Poultry Loans page to learn more, or fill out the form below to reach a loan officer who can help you.