Eagle Observer LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

— Editor,

Thanks for sharing the article (on the poultry producers' meeting). From an outsider's perspective, the one comment that I'd make is that poultry companies don't intentionally ship unhealthy birds or bad feed. Their profits are based on bird weights, so they obviously want the bird to perform optimally.

They also place between 600,000 to 2 million chicks per week, depending on the company. The logistics of intentionally sending a bad batch of chicks would be nearly impossible.

Chicks hatched from pullets or very old hens tend to perform less optimally. On average, a grower may receive one placement of birds from one of these sets of hens per year.

Profits are also based on feed conversion ratios, so high quality feed and high quality birds are imperative.

If you're interested in learning more about contract production, you might skim over this OSU fact sheet. It provides an unbiased examination of contract production while weighing the pros and cons for the potential grower: http://www.poultrywaste.okstate.edu/ files/AGEC-202.pdf.

Josh Payne, Ph.D. Area Animal Waste Management Specialist Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Service

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Editor,

There’s great news for allyou Social Security recipients in Arkansas! Perhaps you read recently in the Democrat-Gazette that there has been a 2 percent rise in our cost of living.

The Jan. 12 edition of the Democrat-Gazette reported that “a 2 percent costof-living raise is boosting Arkansas lottery director Ernie Passailaigue’s $324,000 annual salary.”

A 2 percent rise in the cost of living will mean a much-needed automatic increase in the checks of retired workers receiving monthly Social Security checks. This is excellent news for Social Security recipients, since the average yearly Social Security benefit to retired workers is only about $14,000.

Oh, but wait! The Bureau of Labor Statistics has determined that there has been no increase in the Consumer Price Index, so there will be no cost-of-living increase for 2011, just as there was no increase in 2010.

Apparently, anyone earning over $300,000 a year has experienced a 2 percent increase in his cost of living, but those receiving $14,000 per year have seen no such increase.

This makes absolutely no sense to me. I would ask one of you readers to help me understand this, but I think this may be too difficult for you as well. We must ask someone much smarter than you and I for help - perhaps one of our brilliant Arkansas politicians.

Wayne Garman Gravette

News, Pages 7 on 01/19/2011