FREMONT, NEB. – Lincoln Premium Poultry announced on Nov. 29 that it would recognize its top growers in its supply chain. 

The company shared that three families would be honored as top producers in Nebraska and Iowa, along with another family winning an environmental stewardship award. 

“This is the first year we are giving out awards,” said Jessica Kolterman, director of administration for Lincoln Premium Poultry. “With the pandemic behind us and with most of our grower partners having several years of experience, we thought this was the opportune time to recognize their work. We hope to give these awards each year going forward.”   

Family producers recognized for 2022 include the Oster Family, which runs County Line Growers LLC in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, as the top pullet producer. Next, Lincoln recognized the Fehlhafer family from 2JF Poultry LLC in Seward County as top breeder producers. Finally, the Borchers Farm LLC from Seward County was named the top broiler producer.

The environmental award was given to RC Chicken Ranch of Butler County, Neb., run by the Schmid Family.  

“We are proud of the work our grower families have done the past few years,” said Mike Ellington, complex manager for Lincoln Premium Poultry. “They have shown great resilience with a steep learning curve, supply chain issues, and weather challenges, all while continuing to produce food to feed American families during an unprecedented time in our world with a global pandemic disrupting the food supply.”

The company said farm families were selected using varying criteria. Pullet producers were evaluated on the average uniformity of the birds and their farm audits, and breeder producers were evaluated on the number of chicks produced per hen and their farm audits. 

Broiler producers were assessed on the produced product cost per pound and their farm audits. 

“The environmental award was determined using the best average on farm audits over the course of a year,” the company added. “All farm audits score on measures relating to animal welfare, facility management with an environmental emphasis, biosecurity, and overall best practice use on the farm.”

Lincoln Premium Poultry stated that it uses approximately 100 farm families involved with the company since 2018 and 2019. The last grower added was in 2022.