Meat + Poultry - October 2004 - 8

Worlds apart...kind of

elcoming visitors to Louisburg, Kan. is a sign in front of the local grocery store
that says: "City of Louisburg - Where people live by choice." Mike Martin made
the entrepreneurial choice to live there in 1993. After working for the U.S. Post
Office for more than 35 years and living in a Kansas City suburb, Martin set his sights on a
patch of land about an hour south of K.C., where he'd go on to raise chickens and sell freerange poultry to local supermarkets and a health food store. Martin's operation, 4D Acres,
had carnal beginnings. "I always wanted to raise and eat fresh chickens," he says.
A visit to a farm like Martin's is refreshing proof that the disparity between the earnings of
top firms and the small guys leaves plenty of opportunity for guys like him. At the same time
it gives you an idea of the headaches and importance of the decisions made at the top and
how much impact it can have on the bottom line - regardless of size.
He deals with some of the same issues as the Tysons, Perdues and Gold Kists of the
world, but on a scale that is microscopic by comparison. Keeping his birds healthy, disposing of litter, maximizing yields and R.O.I. are of paramount importance to any size company
in the poultry industry.
Martin also tries to keep his ear to the ground when it comes to consumer demand. Lucky
for him, today's consumers don't hesitate paying a premium for anything that is farm-raised,
natural or free-range. Martin never intended to consciously raise politically correct birds and he
didn't conduct any consumer research to find out the profitability of doing so. It's the only way he
knows how to raise them and fortunately, he can get about $9 each from his retail customers.
Martin has no aspirations of seeing his label in grocery chains throughout the country.
"We're focusing on specialty markets only," he says. "We're not looking at a market that buys
on price." Instead, he says he's able to capitalize on his claim that his chickens taste better because they get fresh air, green grass and plenty of bugs. People don't mind paying a little more
because the products remind them of chickens that were raised on Grandma's farm, he says.
"They're free to come and go," he says of the 300 or so chicks that he keeps in a makeshift chicken coop in an old barn. The chicks come to Martin in a manner that is familiar to
him: the local Post Office. "They'll call me and say, 'Your chicks are here.'"
After about four months, the chickens are loaded in a truck and taken on their last ride,
to a slaughtering plant about an hour south of the farm. The birds are slaughtered at a
state inspected plant, frozen and packaged with a 4D Acres label. Then the cycle starts
all over again.
Like his Goliath counterparts Martin advertises. "We put an ad in the barber shop. And
one in the feed store," he says. John Tyson might call that test marketing. "We're still testing
the waters. We're going slow."
Martin doesn't dress like Cliff Clavin anymore. Nowadays his work attire doesn't get much
more formal than a pair of slightly faded blue overalls. Martin's day starts at about 6 a.m.
He raises a few dozen emus on the same property as the chickens throughout the year. Up
until about two years ago he used to raise and slaughter geese. He also made a go of raising cattle and selling the beef. And pigs. He had a go at pig farming too. "I was trying to find
something that would be sustainable on small acreage."
What he found is that raising emus for their oil is a profit center. A 16 month-old emu will
generate about $1,000, three-fourths of which comes from the two gallons of oil it produces.
The oil sells like hotcakes on the web, at crafts shows, tradeshows and at specialty retailers. The oil is reportedly a remedy for everything from rheumatoid arthritis to sciriosis. At
$24.95 for four ounces it better be. The chicken operation is just for cashflow, says Martin,
and doesn't come close to paying the bills. "That's what the big birds are for."
4D Acres will not likely make Louisburg, Kan. the poultry capital of the world anytime
soon. In fact, a lot of area farmers think Martin has it all wrong. "What kind of idiot is going
to come out in the middle of cattle country and raise birds," he's heard them say. Fortunately
the naysayers aren't calling the shots. And, by choice, Mike Martin will keep his eye on his
prize, which isn't such a far cry from John Tyson's, Jim Perdue's or John Bekker's.
- Joel Crews, Managing Editor
jcrews@sosland.com

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OCTOBER 2004

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Meat + Poultry - October 2004

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