Tyson Foods has told poultry growers within the Illinois River watershed that they may not have their contracts renewed next year. That could affect growers in eastern Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas and cause significant economic fallout in the region’s biggest agricultural sector. The watershed covers more than one million acres across both states. Yahoo Finance said that the area includes parts of northwest Arkansas, where poultry production is a pillar supporting the local economy. Poultry actually accounts for over half of Arkansas’s cash receipts and supports over 175,000 direct and indirect jobs statewide. The potential contract reductions are tied to a long-running lawsuit filed by the State of Oklahoma in 2005 against Tyson Foods and other poultry companies over alleged pollution in the Illinois River Watershed. Oklahoma says the phosphorus and bacteria from the land application of poultry litter contaminated rivers, streams, and groundwater.
Welcome
