Date of Award
12-18-2015
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Heritage Studies, Ph.D.
First Advisor
Brady Banta
Committee Members
Deborah Chappel Traylor; Joseph Key
Call Number
LD 251 .A566d 2015 D62
Abstract
Batesville, Arkansas is home to several local and cross-country trucking firms, many of which transport commodities directly related to the poultry industry that developed in the region. The growth of the trucking businesses, as well as numerous other companies and retail stores, is a direct result of the poultry industry that began there in the mid-1930s and for decades has supplied locally grown product to all parts of the United States. The man primarily responsible for the launch of the trucking firms and the expansion of the poultry trade as a major economic force in North Central Arkansas was Jerome Kee (J.K.) Southerland, a pioneer in the poultry industry. The Great Depression and the state’s weak agricultural economy made it hard for north Arkansas farmers to scratch a living from their land. Southerland was the first in the area to take advantage of the opportunity to raise and sell chickens commercially. He first began hauling his and his neighbors’ birds to markets in Memphis in a pickup truck. Southerland’s growing business stimulated the local economies as he established feed mills, chicken houses, hatcheries, and processing plants in Batesville, Melbourne, Mountain View and Clinton from 1935 until 1969. He became a major force in the creation of the contract poultry industry, working with growers to guarantee them a year-round income that was not tied to seasonal market swings and fluctuations. Through vertical integration, he not only increased the price per pound of chicken that growers received, but also decreased the cost per pound required to raise a chicken to maturity, and reduced the time necessary to grow them off. J.K. Southerland was a leader and innovator in the state’s poultry industry and also the nation’s. He made an impact and left a legacy that is still seen and felt throughout North Central Arkansas. Although many of the vestiges of his enterprise have gone away over time, many remain. The possibility exists to preserve Southerland’s heritage through a variety of means, including museums, oral histories, and a heritage trail. Working with interested individuals and organizations to finalize that work will help complete the history and heritage of Arkansas’s and America’s poultry industry.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Dowdy, Nancy Patrice, "J.K. Southerland: From Check-R-Mix to Fancy Pack, Pioneering the Poultry Industry in North Central Arkansas" (2015). Student Theses and Dissertations. 696.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/696
