Southington Farm Invests $850K in Expansion
SOUTHINGTON, Ohio – A Trumbull County agricultural business is expanding and investing in much more than chicken feed.
James Allen of Allen Way Farm on Helsey Fusselman Road in Southington is investing about $850,000 to build a fourth 36,000-square-foot barn to raise more chickens for Case Farms.
“Starting the first of the year, we’ll have 200,000 chicks,” Allen said. That’s up from the 150,000 he has now.
Work started a few weeks ago, and the goal is to have it under roof by week’s end.
Allen is a contractor for the chicken processor with locations in Canton, Massillon, Winesburg and Strasburg, Ohio, as well as part of North Carolina.
Brad Hobbs, a Case Farms spokesman, said in an email that the company has about 136 contract broiler growers.
With the expansion, Allen Way will be slightly larger than the midpoint of those growers.
A few factors figure into becoming a Case Farms grower.
“Assuming you have the equity to obtain the land/loans to build, you need a good work ethic and desire to care for animals,” Hobbs’ email said. “It tends to work best for those who desire to spend their time close to home. A dedication to checking to make sure that things are operating as expected and environmental conditions are as they should be” also are needed.
More birds equals more income for Allen. The company will pay him more for the additional volume, and he’ll be able to sell more litter. He sells it to farmers who use it for fertilizer.
“It saves them on commercial fertilizer,” Allen said.
He sells about 700 tons of chicken litter each year.
In 2008, Allen was reading Farm and Dairy when he saw an advertisement that Case Farms was looking for growers.
“I was making hay at the time, and this was just a way to supplement my income,” said Allen, who years ago worked as a meat cutter at the former Charlann Farms in the township.
He applied and became an integrated contractor for the company and started with 108,000 of the chicks.
Case Farms brings feed and the chicks to Allen, who cultivates them for between 33 and 39 days. After that, the company returns to pick them up.
“They leave and go to the processing plant,” Allen said.
After about 17 days, he’ll get another load of chicks. Allen does most of the work himself.
“It’s a one-person show most of the time,” he said. “A couple of friends help us unload the birds.”
The heated barns use an automated feeding and watering system.
Pictured at top: Footers for the new barn at Allen Way Farm.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
