New Anthoney’s Farms is navigating a volatile year for Sri Lanka’s poultry industry with a sourcing model designed to distribute market risks more sustainably. Its long-standing relationships with smallholder farmers offer greater predictability as feed costs and supply conditions continue to shift.
New Anthoney’s Farms relies on farmer partnerships to navigate poultry market volatility
Sri Lanka’s poultry industry has faced an unusually fluid operating environment through 2026, with global feed costs, shipping conditions and import volumes influencing local production economics. Movements in international corn and soy markets have fed into domestic costs, while egg and chicken prices have adjusted as producers respond to changing supply conditions.
For an industry in which feed represents a substantial share of production costs, such movements can quickly affect the economics of farms of every size. Sri Lanka’s reliance on imported feed ingredients means local poultry producers remain exposed to international commodity cycles, even when the products ultimately sold to consumers are produced entirely within the country.
Changes in global shipping costs, harvest conditions or regional supply chains can therefore reach the local market within a relatively short period. For producers, the challenge is not simply managing today’s costs but maintaining enough predictability to plan production, investment and purchasing decisions when key inputs remain vulnerable to external shocks.
That exposure is particularly significant for the country’s smallholder farmers. Small-scale operators account for the majority of poultry farms in Sri Lanka but represent a comparatively smaller proportion of overall production. Many operate family-run businesses alongside other sources of household income, leaving them with limited room to absorb sudden increases in feed and other operating costs.
Individual farmers can also face challenges in negotiating feed prices or securing dependable buyers for their production. When input costs change rapidly, the absence of predictable purchasing arrangements can make production planning increasingly difficult.
This highlights an important structural difference between farmers operating independently in the open market and those participating in formal supply relationships. A guaranteed buyer, agreed purchasing terms and access to technical knowledge can provide a degree of stability that is difficult for an individual smallholder to achieve alone.
It is within this environment that New Anthoney’s Farms has developed a sourcing approach centred on contract farming and outgrower partnerships. Rather than relying exclusively on open-market purchasing, the company works directly with independent farmers and integrates them into a more structured production network.
Smallholders account for around 40 percent of New Anthoney’s total production, according to the information provided by the company. The proportion reflects a deliberate effort to bring smaller producers into the formal poultry value chain rather than leaving them to operate entirely outside established supply relationships.
The arrangement provides benefits on both sides. For New Anthoney’s Farms, working closely with farmers can support a more predictable and traceable supply of birds produced according to the company’s standards. For farmers, the relationship provides a known buyer, agreed terms and access to technical support that can help improve productivity and flock management.
The support extends beyond simply purchasing birds. Guidance covering areas such as biosecurity, feeding practices and flock management can help farmers strengthen their operations over time. For smallholders, this type of knowledge transfer can have a more lasting effect than the benefit of a single favourable production cycle.
Such relationships do not eliminate the underlying pressures created by international feed markets. Instead, they can change how those pressures are managed across the supply chain. Rather than leaving individual farmers to absorb every movement in input costs and market demand, a structured relationship provides mechanisms through which production and purchasing decisions can be managed more consistently.
The approach also reflects a wider pattern seen in poultry industries across South Asia and other emerging markets. Producers in many countries remain exposed to imported feed ingredients and international commodity prices. The difference between supply chains is often determined by how effectively companies and farmers coordinate their production and manage that exposure.
Contract farming and long-term grower relationships have consequently become important features of poultry production in several markets. Large integrators in parts of Southeast Asia and Latin America, for example, have developed networks of independent farmers through which production, technical support and purchasing are more closely coordinated.
The underlying principle is relatively straightforward: smallholders can become more resilient when they operate as long-term partners within a structured value chain rather than as suppliers competing transaction by transaction. For companies, closer relationships can also improve visibility over supply, quality and production standards.
For consumers, the implications are less visible but potentially important. A more coordinated supply chain can support greater consistency in product quality and availability, particularly during periods when production costs or market conditions are changing quickly.
New Anthoney’s Farms is therefore not insulated from the volatility affecting Sri Lanka’s poultry industry. Feed costs, import dynamics and international commodity markets continue to influence the broader sector. What distinguishes the model is the way relationships with smallholder farmers are structured to create greater predictability within that environment.
The company’s continued emphasis on contract farming and farmer integration also suggests that supply-chain resilience is not necessarily built only through scale or purchasing power. It can also come from the strength of relationships connecting producers, farmers and consumers.
As 2026 progresses, the poultry sector will continue to face the influence of global commodity markets and domestic supply conditions. For producers and farmers alike, the experience reinforces the importance of supply chains capable of absorbing volatility rather than transferring every shock to the smallest participant.
In that context, New Anthoney’s Farms’ long-standing focus on smallholder integration represents a business model built around stability as much as production. Its value becomes particularly visible during uncertain periods, when predictable relationships, technical support and coordinated supply can help farmers and businesses navigate conditions that neither can control individually.