January 26, 2021

US' December 2020 poultry production 2% higher than same period in 2019

US poultry production in December last year was 4.234 billion pounds, up 2% from December 2019, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Chicken production totaled 3.754 billion pounds, also up 2% on the year, with turkey at 470.304 million pounds, 5% higher.

Slaughter levels rose for both chickens and turkeys, while average live weights were mostly steady when compared to last year. Chicken slaughter was 755.730 million head and turkey slaughter was 17.669 million head, increases of 1% and 5%, respectively. Chickens averaged 6.42 pounds, up 0.02, and turkeys averaged 33.35 pounds.

For the year, US poultry production was 50.982 billion pounds, 1% more than in 2019, with a 2% increase in chicken to 45.122 billion canceling out a 1% decrease in turkey at 5.743 billion pounds.

Despite the year-to-year increases in production, the amount of poultry in cold storage at the end of December 2020 was 10% lower than at the end of December 2019.

- Brownfield Ag News