A New Opportunity
When you pull up to the Ahmad Family Farm in Greenwood, Delaware, new chicken houses greet you at the entry. An open field is to the left, and a sandy vacant strip to the right. At first glance, you would never know that a catastrophic weather event took place in the same spot less than a year ago.
Mohammed Ahmad is a contractor who was looking for an opportunity. In Pakistan — his former home country —livestock farming runs deep in his family’s roots. Mohammed wanted to continue the family tradition in America, so he sought out land and searched for years trying to find the right location. A friend suggested he look at a 27-acre poultry farm that already had two chicken houses on it. From the moment he set foot on the land, Mohammed knew it was the farm for him.
In 2014, he purchased the land and started working with Farm Credit to build additional chicken houses. Over the years, his poultry operation expanded to eight houses and more than 240,000 chickens.
On a frightening day in April 2023, when out of nowhere, a tornado touched down in his community and demolished six of his chicken houses.
“It was horrible,” Mohammed said. “My brother, who works here, started crying when we saw the damage.”
Only two chicken houses remained — the two original structures from when he bought the land. Luckily, those were the two housing chickens in them at the time. A new delivery of chickens was scheduled for the following day to replenish the other houses.
Building Back with Strength and Gratitude
Despite the devastating loss, there was a silver lining — not one animal or person was injured during this terrifying event.
With feed bins toppled over and propane tanks flipped, the destruction caused many issues, including a propane leak. The propane company responded immediately and was fortunately able to shut everything down before more damage could occur.
“God was on our side,” said Hasnain Hamid, Mohammed’s nephew. He also owns a poultry farm in Delaware and started his operation after being inspired by his uncle.
Knowing he wanted to rebuild, Mohammed called Farm Credit, and they came out to his farm the next day.
“I told them I wanted to build my operation back up again,” Mohammed said. “So, we started the process.”
Mohammed secured a construction loan and started the process from the beginning, again. It took three months to clear the debris from the farm. Since then, the chicken houses have been under construction, and new flocks have been added over the past few months.
“We are very satisfied with how things are going,” said Hasnain. “Everyone is very helpful and collaborative at Farm Credit. They are one of the best lenders out there because they are so easy to work with.”
Since Mohammed is going through the construction process once more, he decided to add another chicken house on that sandy strip of land. When everything is complete, he will have nine houses total.
A lot has taken place at Ahmad Family Farm over the past year. Devastation and destruction were a big part of it. But, what really stands out is the resilience that Mohammed and his family have shown. They are grateful, rebuilding and giving the kind of support to one another that only family can.
