Chicken sausage products recalled

CHELSEA, Mass. (AP) — About 35,600 pounds of raw chicken sausage products are being recalled by Kayem Foods Inc. of Chelsea, because they contain wheat, a potential allergen, without listing it as an ingredient.

The products were sold under the brand name, ``al fresco Mango Chipotle, sweet and spicy Chicken Sausage,’’ in Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.
No illnesses have been reported. For details, call 888-674-6854 or visit www.AskKaren.gov


Chicks suffocate after gas theft

JASPER, Ind. (AP) — Nearly 1,000 turkey chicks suffocated while huddling together to keep warm after a man stole gas lines heating a turkey farm, police said.

David M. Howard, 49, of Jasper, Ind., was arrested May 14 on preliminary charges of theft and criminal mischief, both misdemeanors.

Police say Howard stole the gas lines from Denu Brothers Turkey Farm on Saturday to sell as scrap metal. About 960 turkeys died as a result. Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Todd Ringle told the Evansville Courier and Press many of the chicks were younger than five days old.

Indiana State Police Trooper Mark Green said a tip phoned in shortly after the second theft led officials to Howard. Police searched his apartment, finding items commonly used to cut through gas lines, including a pipe cutter, a saw and pliers. Howard was being held at the Dubois County Jail on a $6,000 cash bond.


Perdue plant shut down after inspection

CROMWELL, Ky. (AP) — Work was suspended after a recent inspection at a western Kentucky chicken-processing facility.

The suspension happened after a USDA inspection raised an unspecified concern at Perdue Farms’ plant in Ohio County, the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer reported. The plant was allowed to resume production Thursday to process chickens remaining in the plant, but had to shut down once the job was finished.

“To not have processed those birds would have been a poultry welfare issue,” said Julie DeYoung, vice president for corporate communications in Perdue’s headquarters in Salisbury, Md.

Amanda Eamich, a spokeswoman for USDA Food Safety Inspection Service, said an inspector in the plant “did raise a concern about (the facility’s) ability to consistently produce a safe and wholesome product.” Perdue was given 72 hours to submit a plan to address the concern.

“They submitted their plan, which wasn’t entirely sufficient, and that’s when the suspension was (ordered),” Eamich said. She did not have specifics of the problem.

The company hoped to resume processing chickens at the plant this past Sunday or Monday. The plant, which opened in 1995, recently provided specialty-cut chicken breasts for a meal served to Queen Elizabeth II in Louisville, the newspaper reported.

The company employs about 1,250 workers. In 2006, the plant processed 50 million live chickens into 255 million pounds of fresh meat.


Deere & Co. quarterly profit slips 16 percent, though operations rise

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Farm equipment maker Deere & Co. beat Wall Street’s expectations for its second quarter May 16, though profits were down by 16 percent compared with a year ago.

The company reported improved earnings from continuing operations as strong international demand for farm machinery offset weaker results in North America. Deere, which has five plants in Iowa, also boosted its full-year outlook, predicting growth of biofuel will help boost farm equipment sales.

Deere’s shares fell $2.26 to $118.40 May 16 after reaching a 52-week high of $121.76 the previous day, and were down to $116.51 May 18. Analysts say shares likely slipped because Deere’s revised forecast could be seen as conservative amid a robust farm economy that is riding high on strong demand for corn-based ethanol.

The world’s largest farm equipment manufacturer reported earnings for the three months ended April 30 fell to $623.6 million, or $2.72 per share, compared with $744.6 million, or $3.13 per share, during the same period in 2006.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a profit of $2.41 per share. The year-ago results included $227.6 million in profit from the sale of Deere’s health care business. Excluding that sale from the comparison, Deere’s profit grew almost 21 percent.

Second-quarter revenue rose five percent to $6.88 billion, from $6.56 billion. Analysts expected revenue of $6.46 billion.

While equipment sales in the U.S. and Canada fell three percent, sales elsewhere rose 22 percent, with higher volumes for ag equipment offsetting lower sales for construction equipment.

Robust demand for renewable fuels also helped boost sales.
The company reported a larger provision for credit losses in its equipment financing segment.

Deere boosted its full-year earnings outlook, saying stronger-than-expected farm machinery sales will offset an ongoing lag in construction equipment sales. The company projects fiscal-year revenue growth of around six percent, compared to just a slight gain in earlier forecasts. Earnings for the year are now expected to top $1.5 billion, up from $1.4 billion earlier.

Deere forecast third-quarter earnings in the range of $400 million to $425 million on revenue growth of about five percent. The company says farm equipment sales will rise 13 percent in 2007, up from earlier estimates that projected an increase of up to five percent.