Former Perdue Farmer Leads Fight Against Contract Poultry System
A former Perdue contract farmer who raised 30,000 chicks at a time now leads a national movement to reform what critics call a rigged poultry system.
FAIRMONT, NORTH CAROLINA — Craig Watts spent 20 years raising chickens on a factory farm for Perdue Farms. His experience with the poultry giant over contract provisions and animal welfare has turned him into an advocate for reforming the industry’s business practices.
The nearly 60-year-old farmer, who lives in a house built by his great-grandfather near the South Carolina border, now serves as director of the Contract Grower Transition program for the Socially Responsible Agriculture Project. His organization recently launched Growers Unite, a national group that educates potential farmers about factory farming risks and assists existing farmers facing unfair business practices.
Life on the Factory Farm
During his time with Perdue in the mid-2000s, Watts managed flocks of 30,000 chicks packed tightly in barns. He was paid only for healthy birds that reached the ideal weight of 4.25 pounds over six weeks. Perdue would collect those chickens and transport them to slaughterhouses, while Watts had to kill the sick, weak, or undersized birds by hand.
Despite having a business degree, Watts chose farming over office work, motivated by providing for his children whose photos he kept taped to the fuse box in his plywood equipment room. Like five generations before him, he considered himself fundamentally a farmer at his core.
Recognition and Advocacy
Watts has gained national attention through profiles in documentaries, newspapers and magazines. Farm Aid honored him with a “Spirit of Farm Aid” award in 2022 for his advocacy work.
His transition from contract farmer to industry critic represents a growing movement among agricultural producers who question the current poultry farming system. Critics argue the contract system creates unfair conditions for farmers while concentrating power among large corporations like Perdue.
Current Mission
Through his work with the Socially Responsible Agriculture Project, Watts focuses on helping farmers navigate and challenge what he views as problematic industry practices. The newly launched Growers Unite organization aims to provide resources and support for both prospective and current farmers dealing with contract disputes or unfair treatment.
Watts continues to live on his family’s historic property in Fairmont, where his great-grandfather is buried in a family cemetery in the back field. His dark eyes and graying beard reflect the years of experience that now fuel his advocacy for agricultural reform.
The former Perdue contractor’s story illustrates broader tensions within industrial agriculture, where individual farmers often struggle against corporate control while trying to maintain family farming traditions that span generations.
