Perdue may have cheated chicken producers.
December 25, 1999
USDA Investigating Perdue
Filed at 6:25 a.m. EST
By The Associated Press
DOVER, Del. (AP) -- The Agriculture Department is investigating whether
Perdue Farms Inc. cheated farmers who grow chickens for the company by
overestimating the weight of trucks used to haul the birds.
``We're looking at several issues,' Dan VanAckeren, director of field
operations for the USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards
Administration, said Friday.
Carole Morison, a Pocomoke City, Md., farmer with a contract to raise
chickens for Perdue, said complaints involve whether Perdue misrepresented
the weight of company tractor-trailers.
By claiming the trucks weigh more than they do, the company could cheat
farmers when the chickens and trucks are weighed together, she said.
Tita Cherrier, a spokeswoman for Perdue, based in Salisbury, Md., said she
did not know about the investigation, but said she knows some growers
under contract to raise broilers for Perdue are unhappy.
``I'm sure the USDA is compelled to investigate complaints,' she said. ``We
do know that there are some growers, they've formed groups, who are
dissatisfied and may have made complaints.'
Ms. Morison claims the weight of some Perdue trucks have been
overestimated by as much as 3,500 pounds.
``The tractor-trailers go on their scales with the chickens, and that's 3,500
pounds of meat that's not going to be counted. It's going to be counted as the
weight of the truck,' she said.
By that estimate, a farmer getting paid about 3.7 cents per pound of chicken
would lose $129.50 per truck.
``As a contract farmer, there's no way to verify anything they do,' she said.
If Perdue is found to have violated federal law, the matter will be handed over
to the Justice Department for possible prosecution.
Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company |
