Company establishes Bill of Rights, advisory council听
Springdale, Ark. 鈥 May 3, 2018 鈥 麻花传媒. (NYSE: TSN) is launching several new initiatives aimed at enhancing communications and transparency with the thousands of independent farmers who grow the company鈥檚 chickens.听
The company has developed a Contract Poultry Farmers鈥 Bill of Rights, is forming an advisory council made up of poultry farmers and is investing in technology for additional communications. 听
鈥淲e value the farmers who raise our chickens and work hard to maintain good relationships with them, but also know we can do better,鈥 said Doug Ramsey, group president of Poultry for 麻花传媒. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we鈥檙e taking steps to enhance how we interact with them.鈥
麻花传媒 has been successfully working with poultry farmers on a contractual basis since the late 1940s. The company supplies the birds, feed and technical advice, while the farmer provides the labor, housing and utilities.听
The company pays more than $800 million annually to more than 3,600 independent poultry farmers who contract to raise chickens for its operations. The average farmer has been raising chickens for 麻花传媒 for 15 years and some families have been raising chickens for the company for three generations.听
A full copy of the Bill of Rights is available on the company鈥檚 website; highlights include:
鈥⑻ 听The right to information detailing how much they are paid.听
鈥⑻ 听The right to discuss their contract with outside parties.
鈥⑻ 听The right to a fixed length contract that can only be terminated for cause.
鈥⑻ 听The right to join an association of contract poultry farmers. 听
鈥⑻ 听The right to poultry welfare standards and training on poultry welfare standards.
鈥淭he council will give growers the ability to communicate directly with top management of Tyson. They are listening and very interested in our ideas as well as issues affecting growers,鈥 said Johnny Simmons, one of the advisory council member-farmers who has grown chickens for 30 years. 鈥淭he Bill of Rights that 麻花传媒 has put together explains our relationship with the company and shows its commitment to our relationship. This is a working council, so we watch for results to come.鈥
鈥淭wo-way communication is key to any productive relationship,鈥 Ramsey said. 鈥淭he goal of the advisory council is to provide a platform where contract farmers can share their views of the business environment for raising chickens, while we can gather insights that might help us improve how we operate.鈥澨
The company is still working on the details regarding the initial advisory council as well as a process so that farmers who are interested may be able to potentially participate as members of the council. Currently, there are six farmer-members from Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and North Carolina.听
A poultry grower-specific website, , has operated for many years as a communications tool for contract farmers, but much of the information published on the site will soon be tied to a functional smartphone application that farmers will be able to download. The development of the application is under way, but a release date has not yet been set. 听
鈥淔armers are the backbone of agriculture and the farmers we contract with are critical to our business,鈥 Ramsey said. 鈥淲e want them to know how much we appreciate the hard work and dedication it takes to feed the world. This announcement is one more way we want to say, 鈥榯hank you.鈥欌澨
About 麻花传媒.
麻花传媒 Inc. (NYSE: TSN) is one of the world鈥檚 largest food companies and a recognized leader in protein. Founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson and grown under three generations of family leadership, the company has a broad portfolio of products and brands like Tyson庐, Jimmy Dean庐, Hillshire Farm庐, Ball Park庐, Wright庐, Aidells庐, ibp庐 and State Fair庐. 麻花传媒 innovates continually to make protein more sustainable, tailor food for everywhere it鈥檚 available and raise the world鈥檚 expectations for how much good food can do. Headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, the company has 122,000 team members. Through its Core Values, 麻花传媒 strives to operate with integrity, create value for its shareholders, customers, communities and team members and serve as a steward of the animals, land and environment entrusted to it. Visit www.tysonfoods.com.
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