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MANAGEMENT
ALTERNATIVES
52
FARM PROFILE • Industrial: Confinement
How Cooperation Saved Turkey Farms
from Death by Dis-integration
Joel Bussis
In most large poultry operations, farmer-producers are “integrated”
into larger systems in which most management decisions are made by
others. Those in charge, the integrators, might be feed or equipment
supply companies, processing companies, or marketing companies. For
10 years, John and Joel Bussis were part of a system like that, growing
turkeys for Bil-Mar Foods, a division of Sara Lee. John and Joel owned
the buildings and provided the labor, and they could earn bonuses if
the birds performed well. But the kind of birds they fed, when and
what they fed them, and what they would be paid for them were all
part of the contract written by Bil-Mar. In 1997, Bil-Mar management
decided the real money in the turkey business lay in marketing a
brand name product—not in its actual production or processing. They
told their growers there would be no future production contracts, that
existing contracts would be terminated at the end of 1999 and growers
paid off, and that turkey processing operations in Zeeland, Michigan,
would be phased down in 1998 and ended the next year.
The Bil-Mar decision to “dis-integrate” gave real meaning to the word, for it left the growers disconnected, without
a market, and without the coordinating services Bil-Mar provided along with the market. The Bussises suddenly
faced the extinction of their farm. They owned only 58 acres, more than half of it devoted to specialized buildings
and a manure composting area. What do you do with facilities dedicated to the production of 100,000 tom turkeys
a year? Luckily (it turned out), about 15 other turkey growers faced the same problem. And because it was a
broad problem—the future of an entire regional industry—the state of Michigan saw an economic and social
interest as well. With help of the state, the work of poultry scientists at the land grant university, the desire of
growers to continue growing turkeys, and the skills and needs of former Bil-Mar employees also facing loss of jobs
and careers, the industry was saved within a new structure.
Today, growers and workers within the Michigan Turkey Producers’
Cooperative are producing about 4.5 million heavy tom turkeys a year,
processing them through their own plant, and selling turkey meat to end
users. A brand name, “Golden Legacy,” has been developed for, as Bil-Mar aptly
perceived, the real money is in marketing branded products.
The new structure is no less integrated than it was under Bil-Mar. But now,
the 15 growers sit on a board of directors and make decisions once made by
Bil-Mar. These decisions affect the strains of birds the growers produce, the
size the birds will be at slaughter weight, feed, and the kind of products the
cooperative will sell. The members also attempt to keep antibiotic use low,
but antibiotic use is not proscribed. “It’s been six months since we’ve used any
medication in the brooder barns and more than two years since we’ve used
them in the grower barns,” Joel said. “But not many producers can say that.”
Joel Bussis, Trestle Town Turkeys
Hamilton, Michigan
These turkeys are close to market
weight of 40 pounds.
Joel’s father, John, was an important driver in formation of the cooperative. As his work was starting to pay off,
he died of cancer at age 61. So Joel is now the sole proprietor of Trestle Town Turkeys, Hamilton, Michigan. He is
production-oriented, he said, and is pleased that his dad’s legacy includes a friendly marketing structure in which
his skill and experience growing turkeys can pay off.