Monthly Broiler Production and Prices, April 25th 2024.

Broiler Chick Placements.

According to the April 17th 2024 USDA Broiler Hatchery Reports, 982.02 million eggs were set over four weeks extending from the week ending March 23rd 2024 through April 13th 2024 inclusive. This quantity was two percent higher compared to the corresponding period in 2023.

Total chick placements for the U.S. over the four-week period amounted to 756.06 million chicks. Claimed hatchability for the period averaged 78.9 percent for eggs set three weeks earlier, down from 79.7 percent for the preceding four-week period. Each 1.0 percent change in hatchability represents approximately 1.89 million chicks placed per week and 1.80 million broilers processed, assuming five percent culls and mortality and with the current range of weekly settings.

Cumulative chick placements for the period January 7th through December 30th 2023 amounted to 9.67 billion chicks. For January 6th through April 13th 2024 chick placements attained 2.81 billion

According to the April 22nd 2024 edition of the USDA Chickens and Eggs pullet breeder chicks hatched and intended for U.S. placement during March 2024 amounted to 9.42 million, up 4.8 percent (428,000 pullet chicks) from March 2023 and 14.9 percent (1.22 million pullet chicks) more than the previous month of February 2024. Broiler breeder hen complement attained 62.6 million on March 1st 2024, 2.6 percent more (1.6 million hens) than on March 1st 2023.

Broiler Production

As documented in the April 19th 2024 USDA Broiler Market News Reports for the processing week ending April 13th 2024, 162.2 million broilers were processed at 6.44 lbs. live. This was 1.0 percent more than the 160.6 million broilers processed during the corresponding week in the previous month of March 2024 and 3.2 percent less than the 167.6 million processed during the corresponding week in April 2023. Broilers processed in 2024 to date amounted to 2,420 million, 2.7 percent lower than for the corresponding period in 2023.

Ready to cook (RTC) weight for the most recent week in April was 793.6 million lbs. (360.72 metric tons). This was 1.4 percent more than the 782.3 million lbs. processed during the corresponding week in March 2024 and 1.6 percent less than the 806.1 million lbs. during the corresponding week in April 2023. Dressing percentage was a nominal 76.0 percent. For 2024 to date RTC broiler production attained 11,883 million lbs. (5.40 million metric tons). This quantity was 1.1 percent less than the corresponding period in 2023.

Broiler Prices

The USDA National Composite Weighted Wholesale price compared over a four-week period was up 0.9 cents per lb. or 0.7 percent to 132.1 cents per lb. compared to the corresponding week in March 2024. The attached USDA figures denote average prices over three-years.

Leading QSRs are using increasing quantities of breast meat for sandwiches, strips and nuggets. Inflation is increasing consumer awareness of value with chicken benefitting at the expense of beef and pork.

The USDA National benchmark prices in cents per lb. (rounded to nearest cent) are tabulated from the USDA Weekly National Chicken Report released on April 19th.

Monthly Turkey Production and Prices, April 26th 2024

Poult Production and Placement:

The April 12th 2024 edition of the USDA Turkey Hatchery Report, issued monthly, documented 24.14 million eggs in incubators on April 1st 2024 compared to 26.39 million eggs on April 1st 2023* The April 2024 set was down 2.25 million eggs (8.5 percent) from April 2023 and 0.55 million eggs (2.2 percent) less than the previous month of March 2024.

A total of 21.67 million poults were hatched during March 2024 down 1.95 million poults (8.3 percent) compared to 23.62 million in March 2023*. The March 2024 hatch was up 1.40 million poults (6.9 percent) from the previous month of February.

A total of 20.15 million poults were placed on farms in the U.S. in March 2024, compared to 21.91 million in March 2023*. The March 2024 placement was 1.60 million poults (8.6 percent) less than in March 2023* 2023. This data confirms disposal of 1.53 million poults during the month. Approximately 7.0 percent of the March 2024 hatch was not placed.

For the twelve-month period April 2023 through March 2024 inclusive, 265.79 million poults were hatched and 248.14 million were placed. This confirms disposal of 17.65 million poults over the 12-month period, corresponding to 6.6 percent of all poults hatched.

* USDA revision from previous monthly report.

Turkey Production:

The April 19th 2024 edition of the Turkey Market News Reports documented the following provisional data for turkeys slaughtered under Federal inspection:-

• For the processing week ending April 13th 2024, 1,744 million hens were processed at 16.2 lbs. live. This was 5.5 percent more than the 1.653 million hens processed during the corresponding week in March 2024 and 8.3 percent less than the 1.903 million processed during the corresponding week in April 2023. Hen slaughter year-to-date has attained 24.45 million, 4.3 percent less than for the corresponding period in 2023.
• Ready to cook (RTC) weight for hens over the most recent week was 22.74 million lbs. (10,336 metric tons). This quantity was 2.7 percent more than the 22.14 million lbs. for corresponding week in March 2024 and 12.9 percent less than the 26.12 million lbs. during the corresponding week in April 2023. Dressing percentage was a nominal 80.5 percent. For 2024 to date RTC hen production attained 329.0 million lbs. (149,545 metric tons). This quantity is 10.1 percent less than for the corresponding period in 2023.

• For the processing week ending April 13th 2024, 2.049 million toms were processed at 45.4 lbs. live. This was 1.2 percent more than the 2.025 million toms processed during the corresponding week in March 2024 and 0.3 percent more than the 2.043 million during the corresponding week in March 2023. Year-to-date 29.24 million toms have been processed, 0.8 percent more than for the corresponding period in 2023.
• Ready to cook (RTC) weight for toms during the most recent week was 74.8 million lbs. (34,016 metric tons). This quantity was 2.9 percent more than the 72.7 million lbs. processed during the corresponding week in April 2024 and 1.3 percent more than the 73.8 million lbs. during the corresponding week in March 2023. Dressing percentage was a nominal 80.5 percent. For 2024 to date RTC tom production attained 1,059.8 million lbs. (481,727 metric tons). This quantity is 2.0 percent more than the corresponding period in 2022.

Wholesale Prices

The National average frozen hen price (8 to 16 lbs) for conventional birds during the past week was 91.0 cents per lb., down 12 cents per lb. (11.7 percent) from the corresponding week in March 2024 and down 50 cents per lb. from the three-year average of approximately 140 cents per lb. The following prices rounded to the nearest cent were documented in the new format report for domestic and export trading on April 19th 2024:-

The Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ); the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the USDA Office of General Counsel have issued a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on civil and judicial implementation of the Animal Welfare Act. In the event of an overlap among federal agencies, MOUs designate the relative jurisdiction and responsibilities and coordination of activities including the sharing of information and enforcement.  

Following an infraction of the Animal Welfare Act the Federal government can implement civil action through the DOJ requiring federal district court action.  In most cases, the APHIS can pursue administrative enforcement that can involve a warning with a settlement agreement with or without imposing a monetary penalty.  APHIS has the authority to suspend or revoke licenses, issue cease-and-desist orders and impose civil penalties through the administrative law process.

The MOU establishes a priority for repeat offenders and egregious violators.  Plants that will receive attention include facilities with a history of multiple citations or involving noncompliance.  Licensees considered for suspension will have previously denied inspectors access or operate with defective records or exhibit a pattern of interference with inspectors. The MOU will facilitate coordinated action by the agencies involved.

The MOU is probably a response to a petition by animal rights and welfare organizations to allow local law enforcement and judicial agencies to intervene in cases of alleged deviations from the Animal Welfare Act.

Additional information can be obtained from the APHIS website www.aphis.usda.gov/awa/enforcement

In September 2023, animal welfare association Animal Partisan filed a petition with FSIS urging local and state investigation and prosecution of overt abuse of livestock in abattoirs.  The Veterinary Association of Farm Animal Welfare (VAFAW) supports the petition but deviates from Animal Partisan in maintaining that states do not have the right to supersede federal officials with respect to oversight of welfare.  The VAFAW has requested the FSIS to interact with local and state agencies in the event of any deviations from the Federal Meat and Poultry Inspection Acts.

USDA inspectors are empowered to close plants by suspending inspection in the event of abuse.  Referring cases to local or state officials is a reasonable action and could serve to strengthen welfare by focusing management attention on this aspect of plant operations.

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed for a temporary restraining order on Fayette Janitorial Services, LLC to prevent employment of minors in plant-cleaning operations.  According to documents submitted to the U.S. District Court for the northern district of Iowa, the company has employed minors in sanitation activities at plants in Iowa and Virginia.

A spokesperson for Perdue Farms that terminated the contract with Fayette prior to the Department of Labor action, stated, “Underage labor has no place in our business or in our industry.  Perdue has strong safeguards in place to ensure that all associates are legally eligible to work in our facilities and we expect the same of our vendors.”

The Department of Labor is intent on enforcing federal law relating to employment of children in dangerous occupations and generally safeguarding workers.

Fayette Janitorial Services, LLC, based in Somerville, TN, operates in 30 states with 600 employees.

In addition to contravention of child labor laws, the investigation will also include possible trafficking and exploitation. If documented, cases will be referred to the Department of Justice.

To prevent overproduction and to limit the importation of feed grains and soybeans, the Agricultural Ministry of China will place a cap on the number of sows in the national herd and the expansion of farms producing pork. Overproduction has reduced prices resulting in a sharp decline in imports.

The Ministry statement included, “the normal retention and fluctuation in the range of fertile sows in production, capacity reduction and other measures set in the previous regulatory plan are no longer well adapted to ensure stable feed production under the new situation.”  The national target for breeding sows will be reduced from 41 million to 39 million.

Overproduction of pork, the preferred animal protein in China, with correspondingly low prices is deleterious to domestic broiler production and imports. Rationalizing production should level the playing field to the benefit of processors and exporters.

The Attorney General of Georgia, Chris Carr, has joined 26 other Attorneys General to oppose the Effluent Limitations Guidelines proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Opposition to the proposed guidelines is based on the high cost of compliance that would increase the price of meat, poultry and egg products to consumers.  It is estimated that with the more stringent guidelines, EPA jurisdiction over 150 processing plants would be increased to 3,000 facilities.

The letter submitted by the AGs noted “Evident escalation in the intensity of regulations issued by federal agencies, harms the integrity of our judicial system and this Administration should stop abusing the legal system to achieve results it otherwise cannot get”.  Legality of the Effluent Limitations Guidelines is questioned since the proposed rule would extend the statutory authority of the Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Water Act.

The U.S. District Court for the Western district of Missouri ruled as constitutional the 2018 statute relating to potential misrepresentation of vegetable-based products as meat.

The Missouri statute, according to the court, did not prohibit commercial speech and was in accordance with the First Amendment.  Turtle Island Foods, manufacturer of Tofurky, clearly labels its product as being ‘plant-origin’.

Missouri Attorney General, Andrew Bailey, stated, “Ensuring that the truth of products sold within the state of Missouri is of importance to both consumers and the farmers and ranchers that produce food.”  The Missouri Cattlemen’s Association welcomed the judgment, noting “The legislation in no way prohibited the sale of consumption of these imitation products but it did require truthful and accurate labeling.  Misleading consumers is unacceptable.”

Opponents of restricted legislation maintain that consumers are not confused by meat substitutes with labels that clearly indicate plant-based origin. These products are usually placed in display areas separate from animal-derived meat and with clear labeling of packages.

Legislation banning the sale of cell-cultured meat in Florida, will take effect on July 1st, 2024.  This legislation is essentially a “feel-good” measure in response to political pressure since there will not be any commercially available cell-cultured meat on July 1st, 2024, or for that matter, in the foreseeable future.

Vegan advocates consider that cell-cultured meat would be an improvement over conventional beef, pork and chicken based on welfare and environmental criteria.  Organizations opposing animal agriculture are also pushing the health aspects of non-meat diets citing an unproven scientific relationship between intake of dietary cholesterol and cardiovascular disease in otherwise healthy consumers.

Freirich Foods, a family-owned enterprise established in 1921, recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.  This action was taken following a $7 million loss arising from 1.2 million pounds of product that was mishandled by a third-party cold storage company. 

The filing will allow the company to restructure finances, maintain solvency and to restore profitability for the benefit of the owners, creditors and indirectly, 100 workers.

In a statement, the CEO noted, “Bankruptcy protection will enable our company to safeguard our business, employees, customers, and partners while we seek to recover our financial loss and propose a plan to restructure debt and renegotiate contracts. We will emerge from this process with a stronger balance sheet”.

It is questioned whether the company can recover the loss through insurance or a lawsuit alleging negligence.

A July 2022 lawsuit filed in Federal court in Georgia against Perdue Farms was recently dismissed. Roger Parker the Plaintiff, claimed misclassification as an “independent contractor” and that the Company retaliated by terminating his contract for registering  complaints under the Packers’ and Stockyards Act. The Plaintiff, also claimed improper compensation due to under-weighing of broilers delivered.

Parker held that since contractors are “treated like employees” they should receive employee benefits including overtime. This is a somewhat fallacious characterization given the nature of the relationship between the contractor who supplies housing, labor and utilities and the integrator providing chicks and feed and extending service as defined in the contract.

Parker was unable to establish a Class for the lawsuit as he faced understandable lack of interest among contractors willing to participate in the litigation.

Cody Easterday currently serving an 11-year prison sentence for defrauding Tyson Foods of $144 million has filed suit against the Company.  At issue, is a claim that Easterday was offered a share of the profits from sales of meat products designated “Cody’s Beef” marketed in Japan.

Cody claimed $100 million for using his name and image on product labels.  His original filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit was dismissed but Easterday is persisting in his litigation.  Tyson Foods categorically rejects the claim based on the absence of any proof relating to any obligation by Tyson Foods to share in profits.

Costco is undertaking a five-year action plan to reduce the use of plastic packaging.  The company markets close to 150 million rotisserie chickens annually, currently presented in two-part PET containers.  Following test in Canada, the Company has introduced a flexible plastic bag with insulating capability for their chickens.  The change will reduce plastic use for this application by 75 percent, representing a saving of 17 billion pounds of resin annually and a reduction of 4,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide released.  This, according to a Company claim will be equivalent to the output of 1,000 trucks annually when fully implemented across 850 warehouses globally.

Tim Wahlquist responsible for Costco packaging stated, “The goal is to reduce packaging waste while still protecting products, ensuring food safety and complying with laws and regulations. As a corporate policy, Costco will replace plastic packaging with potentially recyclable content as feasible alternatives become available.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has requested the EPA to allow California to issue regulations to limit emissions by locomotives.  The proposed requirements would include:-

• Decommissioning of locomotives older than 23 years at the beginning of 2030,
• Impose reporting requirements and administrative fees
• Require railroads to shut down other than zero-emission locomotives when transiting in certain areas.

The proposal has resulted in considerable opposition including the National Chicken Council and ninety federal and state agencies and infrastructure associations.  A joint letter to the Director of the EPA stated, “If the CARB regulations are authorized by EPA, we believe freight rail carriers and their customers would be significantly hindered financially and operationally”. Clearly the proposed requirements presume technology that is currently unavailable or will be impractical to implement.

The proposed CARB restrictions appear to be preempted by federal law that allows the Surface Transportation Board to exercise jurisdiction over the operation and activities of freight railroads in interstate commerce.

Subscribers will recall the difficulties encountered by Foster Farms in obtaining adequate quantities of corn due to reduced rail transport during COVID and 2023 labor action against railroad operators, resulting in litigation and appeals to the Surface Transportation Board.

According to USDA-FAS GAIN Report, UP2024-0004, released February 22nd, chicken production in 2024 will expand by 3.1 percent to 1.340 million metric tons.  Total imports will attain 52,000 metric tons and exports 440,000 metric tons with net exports representing 29 percent of production.  Of the 952,000 metric tons for domestic use, per capita, will attain 26kg (57 lbs.) assuming a population of 37 million.

Despite the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation in 2022, the chicken industry has survived and expanded.  This, in part, is due to the location of facilities in the central and western regions of the Nation together with the availability of grains at relatively low cost.

Production in Ukraine is dominated by MHP SE, responsible for 70 percent of output.  This public-traded company has received loans through recent critical periods and enjoys the benefits of full integration from cultivation of feed ingredients, oil seed crushing, live production, processing and distribution.  In addition to MHP, medium-sized producers include Agrooven, Dniprovskyi, Volldymyr-volynsk, PTA Hofabryka, Hubyn and Ular.  Collectively, MHP and these companies are responsible for 90 percent of production.

Following the 2022 invasion, supply chains were disrupted and the Black Sea export route was closed.  Labor availability was impacted by workers who volunteered for military service and as a result of conscription.  During late 2022 and through 2023, infrastructure was repaired and the front line in the east of the nation was stabilized.  Following the collapse of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Ukraine established export capability through the coast-hugging Humanitarian Corridor and by rail transport. Currently exports are restrained by a shortage of refrigerated containers.

The E.U. is the main importer of chicken from Ukraine based on tariff-free and quota-free market access granted by the European Commission. Other factors favoring Ukraine include proximity to E.U. markets and a favorable production cost relative to Eastern Europe.

Europe intends to impose tariffs above a level of 160,000 metric tons although below exports to the E.U. in 2023. In the event that Ukraine becomes non-competitive above the free-trade level as a result of tariffs, the nation will explore export opportunities for exports to the Middle East.

The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service has proposed that the presence of Salmonella at a level of 1 CFU per gram in raw breaded stuffed chicken products would constitute adulteration.  This is effectively a zero tolerance for any Salmonella irrespective of pathogenicity in this class of product.

The problem of salmonellosis arises from failure by consumers to read and follow clear label instructions to prepare raw frozen breaded products.  The appearance of frozen chicken Kiev and chicken cordon bleu, with a slight browning, may confuse those who are either negligent or illiterate. This would result in their thawing and heating products in a microwave or for short duration in an oven.  Failure to reach 165 F for at least 30 seconds through the entire product will allow Salmonella that may be present to remain viable.  The number of confirmed cases of salmonellosis attributable to consumption of raw breaded stuffed chicken products in the U.S. is extremely small in relation to the volume of consumption.  It is however likely that infection from breaded chicken products is under-reported.  Through 2022, Canada experienced a disproportionate incidence of salmonellosis attributed to breaded stuffed raw chicken products.

Predictably the National Chicken Council is opposed to the FSIS proposal.  In the first instance, declaring Salmonella in any product as an adulterant can be regarded as a slippery slope. This is especially in view of the petitions submitted by William Marler requesting that a range of pathogenic Salmonella serotypes be regarded as adulterants in any chicken product.

The NCC response appears a little extreme noting that, “200 million servings of these products will be lost, and 5,100 people will lose their jobs and that the proposal will drive small producers of this product out of business entirely.”  The NCC response continues, “the Council remains confident that these products can be prepared and consumed safely and NCC member companies will continue to work day-in and day-out to implement sound, science-based safety programs that will continue to make Americas most popular protein even safe.” There are science-based solutions available.  Electron beam irradiation would effectively destroy Salmonella and Campylobacter but the technology analogous to an X-ray, although safe and effective, is considered to be unacceptable by consumer advocacy organizations.   

Since it is evident that precautionary labeling and education are not absolutely protective,

the question arises as to why the industry is marketing a raw product.  If cooked to the critical temperature, foodborne non-spore forming pathogens would be destroyed and all those claimed jobs would be saved!

It is currently a question of conjecture whether the proposed action by USDA-FSIS is justified in relation to the balance between the public good and the financial impact on the industry.  What does stand out is the optics of the NCC, representing the chicken industry, opposing on the basis of financial impact, what consumers may regard as an acceptable regulatory action, irrespective of validity or potential benefit.

In an April 8th release, USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation approved funding amounting to $363,000 for three research projects dealing with poultry meat production. 

These comprised: -

• Necrotic enteritis in chickens: understanding the immunological basis of host immunity North Carolina State University
• Cross-sectional and longitudinal epidemiologic investigations of Ornithobacterium in commercial turkeys.  Iowa State University
• Technology for poultry hatcheries to simultaneously deliver vaccines and prebiotics.  University of Delaware

Superior Farms has operated within the city of Denver for decades.  The company processes  mutton and is the last remaining abattoir in the City that once was the terminal of cattle trails hosting extensive stockyards. A 2024 ballot initiative will determine the fate of the company in its present location.  The proposed ordinance is intended to eliminate slaughtering operations in the City of Denver. The justification is not on the basis of nuisance, odor, pressure on effluent treatment as would be expected but is advanced by the deliberate misnomer of ‘welfare’. It is evident that the proponents of the ballot initiative are appealing to sentiment with the true agenda of veganism obscured by the concept of welfare. This is evidenced by the wording of the ballot that included “to promote community awareness of animal welfare, bolstering the City’s stance against animal cruelty and in turn to foster a more humane environment in Denver.” 

Superior Farms slaughters lambs and processes carcasses through to case presentation.  The plant employs 160, of whom 80 percent are Denver residents. Rick Stott, CEO maintains that despite polls showing even levels of either support or rejection “voters will resonate with a message of saying it’s not fair to target a particular business.”  Superior Farms operates a facility in Dixon, CA.  

Forced closure of the plant in Denver would reduce the supply of domestic lamb to the U.S. market that will simply be substituted by imports from New Zealand and Australia. Even if the ballot initiative fails the proponents will be back in two years. They recognize the vulnerability of Superior Farms and the publicity associated with an eventual victory. Success in pro-vegan ballots generates funding for the organizers and reinforces a feeling of self-satisfaction through aggressively promoting a lifestyle that is opposed to intensive livestock production.

In an eight-week longitudinal study conducted in Singapore, no beneficial effect could be attributed to substitution of an omnivorous animal-based meat diet with plant-based meat analogues.  The study was conducted over eight weeks, and involved 82 participants with an elevated risk of diabetes. 

The trial demonstrated a significant interaction (time x treatment) for dietary trans-fat that was increased with the animal-based diet.  In contrast, fiber, sodium and potassium all increased with the plant-based meat analog diet.  Glycemic homeostasis was better regulated in the subjects consuming the animal-based meat diet.  Substitution of plant-based meat analogues in the diet had no effect on lipoprotein profile including low-density lipoproteins and cholesterol.

Health claims made by proponents of plant-based meat analogs will require careful review by health professionals, the FDA and health conscious consumers.  This is especially important with respect to labels and advertising claims.