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ORANGE CITY, Iowa (AP) — A year ago, Mark Fedders stared at the empty chicken barns on his farm after his flock was wiped out by the bird flu and pondered an uncertain future.
A year later, the barns at his Orange City farm remain empty, but Fedders' future may never have been more certain.
The Sioux City Journal (http://bit.ly/2aYZY9U ) reports that within months after losing his 170,000 chickens, Fedders turned to making and marketing leather gun holsters and other products under the Lobo Gun Leather name, a change that has worked out probably better than he could have expected.
"If there was ever a whirlwind thing to do, it's do chickens one day and six months later you're going with leather 90 mph," Fedders said.
Fedders has found a new career in leather after deciding to get out of farming, a development he couldn't have imagined back in April 2015, when the whirlwind was just a slight breeze beginning to blow across Fedders Poultry Farm.
By that time, avian influenza, otherwise known as bird flu, had been detected in chicken and turkey flocks in Iowa and other states. By the end of the summer, more than 31.5 million turkeys and chickens in Iowa, many of them in Northwest Iowa, were lost because of the epidemic.
In late April, Fedders noticed a few chickens on his farm that didn't look right, and tests for bird flu came back positive.
Within two weeks, all of his chickens were gone, the first time since he was 5 years old that there were no chickens on his farm, started by his grandfather with 5,000 birds.
"It was extremely devastating. I didn't know what was going to take place," Fedders said. "Probably the hardest part was not knowing financially am I going to have to declare bankruptcy? Is this going to wipe me out?"
Fortunately, there was a fallback position. Only, Fedders didn't realize it was already in place.
Since 2011, his son, Matt, had operated Sioux Leather, making holsters, belts, chaps and other items. Mark enjoyed working with leather, too, and would work in the shop with Matt in his spare time, usually at night after spending all day working on the farm.
Last summer, Mark saw an ad in a trade publication that Lobo Gun Leather in Pueblo, Colorado, was for sale. Fedders called to ask about buying some of the equipment for Matt. The owner asked Mark about buying the whole business. The suggestion took root.
"We kind of had Sioux Leather going. I enjoy working with leather," Fedders said. "It was one of those situations you stumble into and say here's an opportunity."
Within a couple months, Fedders had a handle on the farm's finances in the wake of the bird flu and decided to take Lobo's owner up on his offer. He bought the Lobo name, patterns and equipment and brought it all back to Iowa. By November, the family was a full-time producer of concealed carry and holsters for handguns, plus purses, belts, chaps and other products. Matt also makes saddles and does saddle repairs. Mark and Matt plan to merge their businesses soon.
For 15 years, Fedders had owned and operated a poultry farm. Now he's dealing with customers from all 50 states and some foreign countries.
"It was a real big leap of faith," Fedders said. "I've gone from raising chickens to direct internet marketing."
He's remodeled a former egg-packing room into the shop in which he, Matt and the family work.
While it probably didn't seem so at the time, the bird flu may have been a blessing in disguise. With aging facilities and market changes that made it harder for small, independent egg producers to make a living, Fedders was thinking about getting out of the egg business anyway.
His decision seems especially prudent given a dip in the egg market this year.
"I would be taking a beating financially if I was in the chicken industry right now," Fedders said.
Facing similar choices, many producers may have chickened out and gone back to raising poultry. Fedders is glad to be free of the round-the-clock demands of a chicken flock.
"I'm happy that we went this route," he said.
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Information from: Sioux City Journal, http://www.siouxcityjournal.com
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