July 6, 2010

 

Russia's poultry decision favours US soy producers

 

 

US soy producers are expected to boost sales as Russia has lifted its ban from the entry of US poultry.

 

A lot of soy meal goes into poultry and a lot of birds will now go again to Russia after the end of a long dispute over bird chlorine baths.

 

Bob Callanan, American Soybean Association Spokesman, says livestock producers are the number one customers for US soy producers. Worth US$331 per tonne, the US poultry industry consumes, more than 6.2 billion dollars worth of soy meal annually.

 

That represents a huge portion of the US crop. US livestock consumes over 75% of the domestic soy meal produced and poultry account for over 48% of the total soy meal produced in this country.

 

Callanan was not sure of the number of birds shipped to Russia before the sanitary dispute, but USDA reports nearly 1.8 billion pounds carcass weight was shipped to Russia on 2007-09.

 

The National Chicken Council says it takes 55 million bushels equal to 21% of Indiana 2009 soy crop to produce that much chicken.

 

US poultry exports to Russia averaged more than 800 million over the last three years, making Russia the single largest US export market. The poultry industry represents over half a million jobs in the US.