The lead economist for animal protein at CoBank says the U.S. poultry industry is focused on increasing the use of value-add products to help meet rising consumer demand.
Brian Earnest says productivity gains are creating additional availability of pre-cut chicken and other ready-to-eat items.
“The industry is realizing efficiencies that come out of some of the genetic mixes that make a larger size broiler,” he says. “That larger size bird structure fits in very well with the products that processors are producing.”
He expects the industry to continue increasing processing capacity in the future.
“There have been some performance issues in the past, but those actually improved this year. So we’ve got a little bit more chicken than we were expecting,” he says. “We’re looking at a softer expansion occurring in 2027.”
Earnest says more than $2.7 billion has been invested in long-term processing facilities since 2020 with U.S. per-capita chicken consumption expected to increase to over 10.7 pounds by 2030.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
Suffice it to say that the demand for chicken in the U.S. and worldwide is on the increase. This is partially due to availability and pricing, but also to increased processing capability. How long this trend continues is yet to be determined, but such increases in supply and ultimately consumer acceptance appear to be on track for the foreseeable future. Take full advantage of this opportunity by putting your inventory on AgTruckTrader.com®. Farmers/ranchers use this site to find their nearest CAD members and look for the best deals on new and used trucks and SUV’s.
