How to Start a Chicken Farm in Mississippi and Louisiana

Man with beard, flannel, jeans, and hat standing in a chicken broiler barn with hundreds of young chickens behind him.

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

Close up shot of thirty small chicks are standing on the ground in a broiler barn.

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

Poultry Integrators Louisiana

Find Land for Your Farm

Three blue poultry broiler barns with closed doors.

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

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.

  • Personal Information


  • Property Information

  • Specify the parish/county in Louisiana or Mississippi in which the land is located.
  • Specify the nearest city in Louisiana or Mississippi in which the land is located.

  • Message

SAC Stockholders Participate in Farm Credit Young Leaders Program

Zach and Melanie Antley of Downsville, La., recently saw firsthand how Farm Credit uses money raised on Wall Street to support agriculture and rural communities. The Antleys, member-borrowers of Southern AgCredit, were among 27 agricultural producers who were selected for the 2018 Farm Credit Young Leaders Program in New York City and Washington, D.C.

2018 Farm Credit Young Leaders Program Events

Wall Street & Federal Farm Credit Offices

The 13th annual program began with visits to a Wall Street brokerage firm and the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation. There the group learned how investors’ purchase of highly rated Farm Credit notes and bonds provides steady funding that local lending cooperatives like Southern AgCredit put to work in rural communities. Together, Farm Credit’s customer-owned co-ops provide more than $261 billion in financing to farmers, ranchers, rural homeowners, agribusinesses and other eligible borrowers nationwide.

Capitol Hill

Next the group traveled to the nation’s capital to exchange ideas with public officials. While on Capitol Hill, the Antleys discussed policy issues with Rep. Ralph Abraham and congressional staff. That same day, the Senate passed its version of the farm bill, setting the stage for a compromise bill of this vital agricultural and food legislation.

USDA

At the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Business–Cooperative Service Administrator Bette Brand and others talked with the group about USDA programs tailored for young ag producers.

Mount Vernon

The five-day program ended with a visit to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s innovative farming and milling operation. “This annual program is one of the ways we support young and beginning agricultural producers,” said Stan Ray, president of the Tenth District Farm Credit Council, which hosts the Young Leaders Program. “Participants are chosen by their local lending cooperatives, and come home with a new appreciation of the role Farm Credit plays in agriculture and rural communities across the country.”

About the Antleys

The Antleys bring mechanical and financial knowledge to their north Louisiana poultry operation. Zach, an applications engineer, and Melanie, a former loan assistant for a community bank, became Southern AgCredit members when they purchased an eight-house broiler farm in late 2016. They then retrofitted the facilities, improving productivity and earning accolades from their poultry integrator. Melanie now works at their Downsville, La., farm full time. The couple has two children.

The Tenth District Farm Credit Council is the regional member of the national Farm Credit Council, the trade association that works on behalf of Farm Credit cooperatives and their member-owners.


Southern AgCredit provides educational programming opportunities like the Farm Credit Young Leaders Program to young, beginning, and small farmers in Louisiana and Mississippi. Learn more about financing your YBS farm or contact us if you have additional questions.

Southern AgCredit Welcomes New Staff Member

Kirby Keith

Kirby Keith joins Southern AgCredit in the position of credit analyst in the co-op’s Ridgeland administrative office.

A native of Decatur, Mississippi, Keith now resides in Madison, Mississippi, with his wife, Stephanie, and two dogs, Toby and Cooper. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in business administration from Mississippi State University and is a graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Banking.

Keith most recently was an assistant vice president with Community Bank, where he worked as a commercial and consumer loan officer.

Directors Bell and Eubanks Re-Elected to Southern AgCredit Board

Stockholders of Southern AgCredit recently re-elected Bryan “Scott” Bell of Lena, Miss., and Charles “Allen” Eubanks of Lucedale, Miss., to the lending cooperative’s board of directors. They will each serve three-year terms.

Scott Bell

Scott Bell

Bell is the owner/operator of Bell Livestock Inc. and is general manager of Bell Farms Inc. Both corporations are cattle, poultry, row crop and trucking operations in Scott and Leake counties, Mississippi.

Allen Eubanks

Allen Eubanks

Eubanks is the owner/operator of Eubanks Produce Inc., Melon Acres LLC, Eubanks Logistics LLC, Eubanks Land Company LLC, Double AJ Packers LLC, Charlie’s U-Pik LLC, and Farm Fresh Gourmet LLC, a vegetable growing and shipping operation.

“It is great to see the cooperative model in action, through the re-election of borrowers like Scott and Allen, who are voted into office by their fellow borrowers,” said Joe Hayman, chief executive officer. “These two directors are an integral part of a team that provides important direction to the institution and is dedicated to ensuring the safety and soundness of our operations.”

The Southern AgCredit 10-member board also includes Reggie Allen, of Brookhaven, Mississippi; John “Van” Bennett of Spearsville, Louisiana; Gene Boykin of Rolling Fork, Mississippi; T.C. Hall of Gloster, Louisiana; Larry Killebrew of Lexington, Mississippi; Kevin Rhodes of Pelahatchie, Mississippi; Emery Skelton of Winterville, Mississippi; and Linda Staniszewski of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Southern AgCredit Welcomes New Loan Officers

RIDGELAND, Miss. — The agricultural and rural financing cooperative Southern AgCredit recently hired three Mississippi State University (MSU) graduates.

Pate DeMuth

Pate DeMuth, will serve as a loan officer in the Ridgeland branch office. DeMuth earned his bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering, technology and business, and then went on to earn a master’s degree in agricultural business management. While a student at MSU, he worked with Crop Production Services as a sales and agronomy intern for two summers in the South Delta. He grew up in Raymond, Miss., where he helped raise sheep on the family farm.

Brandon Nicholson

Brandon Nicholson joins Southern AgCredit’s Greenwood branch office as a loan officer. A native of nearby Greenville, Nicholson most recently served as a research farmer for Monsanto, where he conducted crop and pesticide tests on a variety of crops. He holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural science.

Colton Thomas

Colton Thomas was hired to work as a loan officer in the Greenville branch office. He joins Southern AgCredit after working for Monsanto, where he was a field claims specialist for nine Mississippi counties. Thomas grew up working on his family’s corn and soybean farm in Hollandale, Miss., and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness.

“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome these three young men to our lending team,” said Joe Hayman, president and CEO of Southern AgCredit. “Their credentials from Mississippi State are impeccable, and they all exhibit a keen understanding of rural living and the business of farming. That’s important to what we do here at Southern AgCredit.”

Southern AgCredit 2017 Financial Results

RIDGELAND, Miss. — For Southern AgCredit, a rural financing cooperative serving agriculture in Mississippi and Louisiana, 2017 was a record year. The borrower-owned co-op reported record income and loan volume, and declared a record patronage payment on its 2017 earnings.

At year-end 2017, Southern AgCredit had $1.07 billion in assets, compared with $1.02 billion in assets at year-end 2016.

Southern AgCredit’s net income totaled $18.04 million for 2017, an increase of 9.7 percent from $16.44 million the previous year. Loans totaled $1.02 billion at Dec. 31, 2017, compared with $968.80 million a year earlier. The credit quality of the loan portfolio remained exceptionally strong, with over 99 percent of all loans rated acceptable.

“The board and staff of Southern AgCredit are extremely proud of our co-op’s strong performance and growth last year. But we’re even more pleased that we were able to return $9.5 million — over half of our 2017 earnings — as cash patronage to our customer-owners in February,” said Southern AgCredit Chief Executive Officer Joe Hayman.

“In spite of rising interest rates and thin profit margins in several sectors of the agricultural economy, our customers diligently met their debt obligations and are now benefiting from the cooperative’s success,” he said.

Download the Southern AgCredit 2017 Annual Report

How to Read the Report

In recent years, annual reports have become more and more detailed as reporting standards have become more complex under federal regulations. However, if you don’t have time to read the entire report, you can hit the highlights:

  • Start with the summary page to find out if the co-op grew or made money.
  • Read the letter to stockholders, which typically describes important events and themes from the past year and lays out strategies for the future.
  • Check the auditor’s report to see if an outside firm issued a clean, unqualified opinion.
  • Read the first few notes to the financial statements that describe the business and its accounting policies.

 

About Southern AgCredit

Southern AgCredit is a full-service rural lender specializing in financing rural land and agricultural operations. Headquartered in Ridgeland, Miss., the cooperative operates nine local branch offices in southern Mississippi and northern Louisiana. It is a member of the nationwide Farm Credit System, the nation’s oldest and largest source of loans for agriculture, agribusiness, rural real estate and country homes.


Are you interested in rural or agribusiness lending from Southern AgCredit? Fill out a Loan Inquiry form, and we’ll be right in touch with you.

Upcoming SAC Customer Appreciation Events

Celebrating our Customer-Owners

At SouthernAg Credit, we know our customers are truly something special. While we work every day to provide first-class customer service, we also enjoy taking the time to show how much they are truly valued. All throughout the month of May, we will be hosting several events to simply say thank you. We are excited to have you join us for these special events.Details for each event can be found below.

Hattiesburg Customer Appreciation Dinner

Tuesday, May 15th at 6:00 pm at Mack’s on the River
843 River Road, Hattiesburg, MS 39401

Gulfport Customer Appreciation Crawfish Boil

Wednesday, May 16th at 4:00 pm at Southern Ag Credit Gulfport Branch
12196 Highway 49, Gulfport, MS 39503

Brookhaven Customer Appreciation Dinner

Thursday, May 17th at 6:30 pm at Vine Bros. Meats, Inc.
115 Hwy 24 East, Centerville, MS 39631

Ruston Customer Appreciation Crawfish Boil

Thursday, May 24th at 6:00 pm at Ruston Historic Fire Station
200 East Mississippi Street, Ruston, LA 71270

Shreveport Customer Appreciation Dinner

Thursday, May 31st at 6:00 pm at Silver Star Smokehouse
1201 Dixie Overland Road, Bossier City, LA 71111

Making Dreams Come True

What Owning Recreational Land Means to Randy Heirlmeier

At Southern AgCredit, we like to say we finance life outside the city limits. For some people, that means farming and equipment loans. But for others, it means having a refuge. A place to unplug and unwind.

“I introduced my children at a very young age to the outdoors. It started with hiking, boating, and it went on to hunting. It’s so quiet—you can hear all the birds. You can hear the deer walking by, owls hooting. It’s just relaxing.

A normal bank wants someone who is living on the property. A lot of pieces of property that we looked for did not have a resident on it, so that’s what made it more desirable to work with Southern Ag—that’s what they specialize in.

We bought this place and signed the contract. Before we even closed, someone offered me $60,000 to buy the contract out. I told my realtor that I bought this property for my family. He said at that point, he knew we would not accept any amount of money for the property. That’s what this property means to me.

I spent a lot of time looking for a place that my family would enjoy. Something that I could give to my kids that they will enjoy with my grandkids for generations. That’s what it’s all about.”

Build Your Legacy with Southern AgCredit

Whether you depend on it for your livelihood or use it to get away from the grind, there’s just something American about having a piece of land to call your own. Southern AgCredit understands that for many of its members, land means legacy, and we take pride in helping them build it. Learn more about our loans for Hunting & Recreational land or contact us today.

Hands-On Service

I found Southern AgCredit through other people in the community who I looked up to and respected. They were the first bank to come out to the place and look around, and to come talk to me on the farm. They’re looking out for you to make sure you succeed. Southern AgCredit has always been like a family to us.

A Family Legacy

“Farming is in our blood, and Southern AgCredit is one of the few ag lending institutions around who seems to understand that. They know farming is a challenging business, and they want to see farms survive. They always seem to anticipate our needs and act in our best interest.”

Jingle Bell Jog 2017

Get Signed Up

We are excited to announce another year of the Fit for Ag Jingle Bell Jog race. The half marathon, 10k, 5k, and kids fun run is set for Saturday, December 2 at Madison Central High School.

Get signed up for this great event supporting the Children’s Cancer Center at Batson Children’s Hospital. Race registration and information can be found by clicking the link below.

Sign up now!

Directors Re-Elected to Southern AgCredit Board

RIDGELAND, MS — Stockholders of Southern AgCredit recently re-elected Reggie Allen of Brookhaven, MS; Gene Boykin of Rolling Fork, MS; and T.C. Hall of Gloster, LA, to the rural lending cooperative’s board of directors. All three directors will serve three-year terms.

“Our board of directors plays a very important role in guiding the policy of the association,” said Joe Hayman, Southern AgCredit chief executive officer. “These elections ensure that the policy and strategic direction will continue to be in local and qualified hands that represent the customer-owners we serve.”

The Southern AgCredit 10-member board also includes chairman Kevin Rhodes of Pelahatchie, MS; vice chairman Scott Bell of Lena, MS; Van Bennett of Spearsville, LA; Allen Eubanks of Lucedale, MS; Larry Killebrew of Lexington, MS; Emery Skelton of Winterville, MS; and Linda Staniszewski of Hattiesburg, MS.

With approximately $1.03 billion in assets, Southern AgCredit finances all aspects of life outside the city limits, including loans for real estate, country homes, livestock, equipment and agribusinesses. The cooperative provides financing in 50 counties in the lower half of Mississippi and 11 parishes in northwest Louisiana.

Southern AgCredit is headquartered in Ridgeland and has branch offices in the Mississippi cities of Brookhaven, Greenville, Greenwood, Gulfport, Hattiesburg, Newton and Ridgeland, and the Louisiana cities of Ruston and Shreveport. The 100-year-old lending co-op is a part of the nationwide Farm Credit System, which was established by Congress in 1916.

Southern AgCredit Runs the Race for Children’s Cancer Center

This past December, Southern AgCredit’s Fit for Agriculture Half Marathon raised $30,000 for the Mississippi Children’s Cancer Center at the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children in Jackson, Mississippi.

For the fifth consecutive year, Southern AgCredit organized a unique racing experience to promote healthy lifestyle awareness and to contribute money to the hospital, which is a part of the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

A total of 912 registrants and volunteers from several states participated in the event to support the only place in the state that provides comprehensive care for children with cancer or blood related diseases.

“Our mission with Fit for Agriculture is to bring awareness of a good healthy lifestyle to as many peoples as possible, while also helping children with cancer,” said Joe Mallard, Southern AgCredit’s Senior Development Officer.

Southern AgCredit Returns Earnings to Customers

RIDGELAND, Miss. — Southern AgCredit, a rural lending cooperative, recently returned over $8 million in cash patronage to its customer-owners in Mississippi and Louisiana. Checks were mailed in late February. This marks the 20th consecutive year of the co-op’s patronage program.

In addition to the cash distribution, the association also allocated an additional $6.6 million in equities to their borrowers’ accounts, some of which may be eligible for future distribution at the board of directors’ discretion.

“There are not many lenders who offer a profit-sharing plan for borrowers, but that’s exactly what we do at Southern AgCredit,” said Joe Hayman, Southern AgCredit chief executive officer. “We are pleased that our cooperative has the financial strength to provide this patronage refund to our customers, who collectively own the business.

“We are committed to sharing our earnings with them, thereby reducing the effective interest rate on their loans,” Hayman continued. “On average, this distribution amounts to approximately a 1.00 percent rate reduction!

”The Southern AgCredit Board of Directors approved the patronage dividend for borrowers based on the financing cooperative’s solid 2015 earnings. Every year, the Southern AgCredit board reviews the association’s financial position and determines how much of the net earnings can be returned as a patronage.

This year, the board approved 100 percent of patronage eligible earnings to be allocated in the form of 55 percent cash and 45 percent allocated equities. Borrowers are only taxed on the cash distribution.

Southern AgCredit is a full-service cooperative lender specializing in financing rural land and agricultural operations in Mississippi and Louisiana. It is a member of the nationwide Farm Credit System, the nation’s single largest source of loans for agriculture, agribusiness, rural real estate and country homes. For more information, visit www.southernagcredit.com.

For more information, call Joe Hayman, Southern AgCredit CEO, at (601) 499-2820.

Southern AgCredit promotes Clayton Davis to Senior Relationship Manager

Greenville native Clayton Davis always knew that he would have a hand in farming and be involved in the agriculture industry. As a boy and teenager, he spent his summers working on the family farm in Avon. Today, as the newly promoted senior relationship manager and branch manager of Southern AgCredit’s Greenville office, he is dedicated to helping meet the financial needs of farmers and rural Mississippians in the Delta region.

“Both my mother’s and father’s side of the family farm for a living, so farming has always been a way of life and a desire of mine,” Davis says. “However, seeing my folks go through hard times and knowing I had brothers and cousins who would stay on the farm made me realize early on that there were too many hands in the cookie jar and I needed to pursue another career path.”

Davis began his agricultural lending career in 2006 with Southern AgCredit, continuing a Farm Credit family legacy. His maternal grandfather, C.G. Steele Jr., was employed by the Federal Land Bank Association from which he retired in the early 1970s.

“Southern AgCredit has been an awesome opportunity for me,” says Davis. “My coworkers are some of the best and brightest in the industry, and I’ve had the privilege of helping people grow their farming operation, buy their weekend getaway in the hills, and even work through the tough times of the catfish industry. The ability to spend time with my customers and do business from the seat of a pickup, cab of a combine, or in a duck hole is pretty neat.”

Davis is a graduate of Mississippi State University (MSU), where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. While at MSU, he was an active member of the university’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity chapter.