Duck farm to close plant. YAY!

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Poultry NewsMaple Leaf Farms closing plant By Alicia Karapetian on 3/25/2008 for Meatingplace.com Milford, Ind.-based duck processor Maple Leaf Farms announced on Tuesday that it will permanently close its Franksville, Wis., duck farm and processing facility in an effort to respond to rising feed ingredient and operating costs.The move is part of a plan to consolidate and centralize its operations in the Midwest, the company said.The closings, which will take place over the next few months, will result in the elimination of approximately175 positions."We struggled to make this decision, because it is a difficult time to displace any employees," said Co-President Scott Tucker. "Unfortunately, we have analyzed the situation, and the only way we can cope

with skyrocketing feed costs brought on by the government's misguided ethanol policies is to cut our own production and consolidate some of our operations."Maple Leaf spokeswoman Nora Macon told Meatingplace.com that the company had been "slowly reducing production [in Wisconsin] for a while." She added that while the company ran 5 million ducks through the Wisconsin facility in 2007, the Indiana plant would absorb only some of that production, but that "at this point, we're still working through the numbers," she said."Feed ingredients represent nearly half of our annual operating costs. In the last year, every single feed ingredient we use has gone up in price, and many have doubled or tripled," Tucker said. "Although we initially tried to absorb these costs, we realized we

needed to cut production and consolidate operations to try to offset the costs."The company will have open positions at its Indiana facility that will be available to interested employees. For employees who want to stay in the Franksville area, the company will provide job counseling to help them find new employment or file for unemployment and related benefits.Maple Leaf Farms is the nation's leading duck processor and serves both foodservice and retailers worldwide. http://pets.Fortheanimals7/join