Last year (December 2010 through November 2011) 8,607,600,000 broilers were produced in the United States with a liveweight of 49,702,300,000 pounds, 0.2 percent fewer broilers than the 8,623,600,000 broilers grown during the comparable 12 months earlier, but 1.1 percent more weight than the 49,152,600,000 pounds, liveweight, during the previous 12 months, according to “Poultry-Production and Value 2011 Summary” report this week from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).The 19 states in the NASS weekly estimating program accounted in 2011 for 96.8 percent of the total U.S. broilers and 97.1 percent of the total U.S. pounds.
Georgia was the top broiler producing state in 2011 with 1,375,200,000 broilers weighing 7,426,100,000 pounds, 16.0 percent of total U.S. broilers produced and 14.9 percent of total U.S. broiler pounds. Following Georgia, other top states in terms of pounds produced were Arkansas, Alabama, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Texas.
Of the 20 individually listed states, there were 10 states in 2011 that produced more pounds in 2011 than in 2010. States with the largest percentage increases were Florida, 21.9 percent; Maryland, 8.5 percent; and Georgia, 7.9 percent.
Broiler production in 2010 and 2011 was as follows:
| State | 2010 | 2011 | Change |
| ——000 pounds liveweight—— | -percent- | ||
| Georgia | 6,882,700 | 7,426,100 | 7.9 |
| Arkansas | 5,937,500 | 5,855,600 | -1.4 |
| Alabama | 5,787,000 | 5,718,200 | -1.2 |
| North Carolina | 5,419,200 | 5,587,000 | 3.1 |
| Mississippi | 4,766,000 | 4,625,600 | -2.9 |
| Texas | 3,645,400 | 3,593,900 | -1.4 |
| Kentucky | 1,672,900 | 1,705,000 | 1.9 |
| Maryland | 1,433,400 | 1,555,500 | 8.5 |
| Delaware | 1,625,300 | 1,524,600 | -6.2 |
| Oklahoma | 1,503,000 | 1,524,400 | 1.4 |
| South Carolina | 1,556,900 | 1,496,800 | -3.9 |
| Missouri 1 | * | 1,369,000 | – |
| Virginia | 1,292,100 | 1,292,100 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 986,700 | 989,600 | 0.3 |
| Pennsylvania | 839,100 | 871,400 | 3.8 |
| Florida | 314,300 | 383,200 | 21.9 |
| Ohio | 376,800 | 375,500 | -0.3 |
| West Virginia | 346,000 | 341,600 | -1.3 |
| Minnesota | 231,100 | 235,000 | 1.7 |
| Wisconsin | 197,600 | 200,000 | 1.2 |
| Other States 2 | 4,339,600 | 3,032,200 | -30.1 |
| Total | 49,152,600 | 49,702,300 | 1.1 |
| 19 Weekly States 3 | 47,739,700 | 48,281,800 | 1.1 |
1 Included in other states in 2010.
2 California, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, and Washington combined to avoid disclosing individual operations. Missouri was included in “other states” in 2010.
3 States in the 19 Weekly estimating program include Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Also, NASS reported that in 2011 there were 180,593,000 “chickens (spent fowl) sold for slaughter with a liveweight of 939,323,000 pounds compared with 173,087,000 chickens weighing 902,682,000 pounds in 2010, a 4.3 percent increase in the number of chickens and a 4.1 percent increase in the pounds.
