Chicken slaughtering and processing is big business in Arkansas, home to Tyson Foods—the world’s top company in this highly consolidated industry.
Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) analysis shows that many Arkansas farmers, workers, and communities suffer from Tyson’s monopoly-like power in the state. Chicken farmers are paid through a complex and competitive contract system that gives Tyson immense power over their operations. As this system has developed over the past several decades, thousands of farms have gone out of business or been forced to consolidate.
Meanwhile, Tyson’s processing plants endanger their workers and outsource the management of billions of pounds of chicken waste, some of which contaminates waterways and threatens public health, particularly in Arkansas’s Hispanic and Native American communities. Equitable, science-based federal and state policies are needed to curb Tyson’s power, return fairness to the industry, protect workers, and ensure clean air and water for communities.
On this topic
Figure 1. Concentration in the Arkansas Poultry Industry Is on the Rise, with Tyson on Top
Figure 2. Tyson Has the Poultry Market Cornered in Many Parts of Arkansas
Figure 3. Arkansas Has Been Losing Poultry and Contract Farms, But Broiler Production Has Risen Significantly
Figure 4. Arkansas Poultry Waste Has Increased and Is Now Heavily Concentrated in Native American and Hispanic Communities
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