Meat&Poultry - July 2011 - 26

NATURE’S FURY

far as we are aware, none of our family farmers were affected directly by flooding or fi re.” “I have not heard of much in the way of problems other than at our Nebraska City, Neb., value-added meats facility in,” Mike Martin, Cargill director of communications, tells Meat&Poultry regarding weather damage at his company’s beef and pork operations. “That involved employee homes being flooded and roads being closed and restricting access to the facility, but not problems at the actual facility.”

What’s going on?
Tyson team members cook for disaster relief in Joplin, Mo. (Photo courtesy of Tyson Foods)

incurred extensive damage to one company-owned finishing farm, two contract nurseries and one contract finishing farm when a funnel touched down in Northern Bladen County, NC, says Don Butler, director of government relations with Murphy-Brown. While the Bruce Butler nursery contract farm was able to relocate and save 3,400 animals while losing just 20 pigs, the company-owned Foxfi re finishing farm lost 400 hogs, suffered complete destruction of four hog houses and further damage to small offices and outbuildings near those houses. Foxfi re endured a direct hit. The Twisted Hickory nursery and Stony Fork Farm near Pink Hill also experienced structural damage, Butler says. Several Tyson Foods plants experienced several days of down time due to flooding in Mississippi and Missouri. “Our northern Alabama plants were down a short time due to disruption of electric service caused by tornadoes and we closed our Dakota City, Neb., beef plant for two days so our team members could prepare for f looding,” says Worth Sparkman, spokesman with Tyson Foods. “A few of our poultry farmers had houses that were destroyed by tornadoes, but it was a very small percentage of our overall business. We helped those farmers recover and relocate their flocks. As

Opinions differ widely among weather experts as to what’s behind these weather disasters, but meteorologist Salmon’s opinion is unwavering. “Ultimately, these events are being pushed by a warmer planet and the warmer planet is a result of human activity, be that deforestation, other de-vegetation, increased carbon dioxide, soot in the arctic and most importantly what our collective activities have done to the oceans,” Salmon insists. When asked if global warming is totally man’s doing or merely a continuation of nature’s never-ending ebband-flow pattern of going back and forth from warmer to colder temperatures, Salmon responds, “We will not know the answer to that with complete certainty until decades from now, but all of these events are lining up with the predicted consequences of a warmer world. The weather machine is a steam turbine. The tropical oceans are the boiler, the poles are the condenser and the jet stream is the turbine. Add energy to the steam engine and the turbine cranks up faster. A faster jet stream will tend to lock into more persistent seasonal patterns and yield greater extremes in local and regional weather.”

Lending a hand
Meat and poultry companies have pitched in to aid thousands of Americans who have suffered at the hands of Mother Nature this year. Tyson

Foods donated more than 270,000 lbs. of food in the Southeast as part of disaster relief efforts in several states ravaged by tornadoes and storms. For weeks, six Tyson cooking teams were stationed in northern Alabama to help feed disaster relief workers as well as employees, contract poultry growers and local residents who have been affected by storms in that area. In addition to delivering four truckloads of meat, poultry and tortillas, the company also delivered ice and 27,000 bottles of water. Tyson also donated a truckload of chicken and a truckload of tortillas in central North Carolina to the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army and the Christian United Outreach Center to help with relief efforts. Thousands of North Carolina residents were recently affected by tornadoes, including people in Sanford, where Tyson operates a tortilla plant. Tyson’s Sanford facility was not damaged; but a tornado touched down nearby. Plant employees raised $1,750 and donated clothing and household items to help a co-worker whose home was destroyed in the storm. Tyson additionally shipped a truckload of food to the Arkansas Food Bank Network of Little Rock after tornadoes hit that central region of the state. Iowa was also recently endured tornado damage. Employees of Tyson Fresh Meats in Dakota Dunes, SD, and in Storm Lake, Iowa, collected more than $2,000 to help with disaster relief there. Most of the money was donated to the Siouxland Area Chapter of the American Red Cross, some was used to support employees who experienced storm damage and other funds went to help feed relief workers who were removing debris from farm fields. Ground beef was donated to two local food pantries. Food, ice and cooking teams were sent by Tyson Foods to Joplin, Mo., and Reading, Kan., to help in the aftermath of deadly tornadoes that hit both communities in May.

26 • Meat&Poultry • July 2011 • www.MeatPoultry.com

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Meat&Poultry - July 2011

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