Video: Clay County Farmers get help from Customers to Build Facility and Change the Law

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CEDAR BLUFF, Miss. (WCBI) — Poultry regulations in Mississippi are causing one family farm in Clay County to stop chicken deliveries to their customers. WCBI’s Heather Black finds out how the farm plans to overcome legal obstacles:

With a “cluck cluck” here, and a “cluck  cluck” there, everywhere a “cluck cluck” at the  Beaverdam Fresh Farm in Cedar Bluff, but this isn’t your typical farm.

“As we rotate our live stock just like in nature they are constantly moving and this allows us to have a healthy product and then we don’t have to give them antibiotics or added hormone or vaccination,” said chicken farmer, Ali Fratesi.

With pasture-raised chickens, pigs, and other livestock, these Clay County farmers believe in the basics.

“Kind of really reminds people of their past and their grandparents they were always saying you know this reminds me of my grandparents chicken and they were really excited and happy to see the way that we raise our animals,” said Fratesi.

And their customers could taste the difference. Beaverdam Farm was delivering eggs, milk, and vegetables to customers as far away as Jackson, and chicken was on the top of the menu. That was until the state put a hold on poultry delivery.

“Ag Commerce came in and told me that there is a retail regulation that prevents any birds that don’t go through bird by bird inspection to be sold off the farm, said farmer Dustin Pinion. “So now it leaves us with our customers have to come to us to the farm to buy poultry.”

They are now in the process of a new $30,000.00 processing facility. Their customers, who have helped fund the project, have vowed to wait patiently until it opens July 1st.

“Customers joined together and created a kick starter campaign and allowed us to keep farming, said Pinion. “It has really blown us away we never realized that we would have this much customer support out there for what we do and it’s community driven farm that we are it really shows community is stepping up and showing their support for us.”

They may be $5,000.00 short on funding, but for Ali Fratesi, setting the bar for the rest of the state is worth every penny.

Ali Fratesi said, “Basically we want to teach other people and having this processing facility will allow us to grow more chickens and serve people as an example for others in our state.”