Magnolia Beef and Poultry Expo Well Attended, Farmers Ready to Get to Work
Despite many outside influences surrounding agriculture to start 2025 from trade uncertainties to high input costs to low commodity pricing, the Magnolia Beef and Poultry Expo in Laurel attracted one of its largest attended shows to date…from producers and exhibitors. This way farmers can cut through the rumors and find out what’s really going on around the state.
“Seeing people in my industry, talking to people, maybe learn something, bump into somebody that may save me some money, may sell me something, maybe I can sell something too,” said Taylor Hickman, Forrest County poultry farmer.
“Just the way Americans feel about American beef and buying American products over the last year really solidified that in a lot of ways,” said Carl Davis Parker, Covington County cattle producer. “I think every time I get an opportunity I try and reassure people about just how solid the market is underneath their foot.”
Its opportunities farmers don’t always get, and that’s reassurance, a little peace of mind from people who have the same worries you do. On the beef cattle side, extreme drought less than two years ago led to many producers selling off their herd. For poultry, combating disease has led to many environment measures surrounding the poultry house. Still, at the end of the day, a farmer’s going to farm.
“The only thing worrying me about farming? I don’t see a lot of young people get into it, and I don’t see a lot of our government stuff supporting the young farmers,” said William Taylor, Wayne County poultry farmer. “It’s very hard to get into the poultry side. It’s very hard to get in the row cropping side when you’re 20‑25 years old trying to go out to borrow $3 or $4 million dollars.”
“At the end of the day, I still have to raise chickens, and I still have to raise cattle to stay in business,” said Gene Boone, Smith County cattle and poultry producer. “There’s days when we worry about those negative influences, but at the end of the day, I still need to bring a product to market.”
That should put consumers’ minds at ease as well. The food will be there because the farmers are still growing it.
“A person raising the chicken you eat or the beef, no other country is going to provide the meat or the beef or the quality you’re going to get from the United States. That’s just plain and simple facts,” said Taylor. “We’re creating the healthiest most consistent product we possibly can, but there’s also plenty of opportunity if you want to go buy grass fed beef. That’s available to you,” said Parker. “If you want to buy a home raised, but not grass-fed product, that’s available to you. All of these are very good products and try to make sure you’re buying an American product as often as you can because that’s where the money comes back to your local farmer.”