Young Chicken Production Federally-Inspected in 2012 Totaled 49.35 Billion Pounds, Liveweight, 0.4 Percent Less Than in 2011

On March 1, 2013, in Production, by Debra Newman

Production of federally-inspected young meat chicken last year was 49,349,564,000 pounds, liveweight, 0.4 percent less than the 49,559,126,000 pounds in 2011, a decline of 0.4 percent, according to “Poultry Slaughter 2012 Summary” issued this week by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Georgia was the top producing state with 6,799,424,000 pounds, 1.1 percent above 2011. Three states topped the 5 billion pounds mark–Alabama 5,604,804,000 pounds, down 3.4 percent; North Carolina 5,282,361,000 pounds, up 1.9 percent; and Arkansas, 5,191,860,000 pounds, down 1.7 percent. The top five states accounted for over 55 percent of the total U.S. quantity produced in 2012. Eighteen (69 percent) of the 26 reporting states registered gains in production over 2011. On a percentage basis, Ohio experienced the largest gain, 11.1 percent, while the sharpest decline in production was Florida with a 6.2 percent drop.

Production of federally-inspected young chicken by state for 2011 and 2012 was as follows:

Federally-Inspected Young Chicken Production, Liveweight, 2011 and 2012
State           2011           2012 Change
-1,000 pounds- -1,000 pounds- -percent-
     Georgia 6,726,569 6,799,424 1.1
     Alabama 5,804,344 5,604,804 -3.4
     North Carolina 5,181,680 5,282,361 1.9
     Arkansas  5,282,548  5,191,860 -1.7
     Mississippi 4,508,523  4,402,349  -2.4
     Texas  3,794,378  3,585,089  -5.5
     Delaware  2,119,087  2,194,460  3.6
     Missouri  2,060,179  2,053,032  -1.2
     South Carolina  1,994,782 1,918,749  -3.9
     Virginia  1,650,100 1,690,024  2.4
     Kentucky 1,629,721 1,680,928  3.1
     Tennessee 1,525,570  1,584,897  3.9
     California  1,496,432  1,522,915  1.8
     Louisiana  1,135,778 1,141,346  0.5
     Oklahoma  794,612 818,673 3.0
     Pennsylvania  753,182  730,437  -3.0
     Maryland  678,762 682,516  0.6
     West Virginia  443,370 453,154  2.2
     Ohio  331,125  367,723  11.1
     Florida  379,217  355,561  -6.2
     Washington  302,212 314,143  3.9
     Minnesota  263,645 264,907  0.5
     Indiana  253,201  261,582 3.3
     Wisconsin 212,576  214,010  0.7
     New York  101,047 104,431  3.3
     New Jersey  7,973 8,244 3.4
     United States  49,559,126 49,349,564  -0.4

In 2012 there were 8,428,847,000 young meat chicken slaughtered under federal inspection, 1.3 percent less than the 8,537,636,000 chickens in 2011. At the same time, the average weight per chicken last year was 5.85 pounds, liveweight, 0.9 percent heavier than the 5.80 pounds in 2011.

Ante-mortem condemnation of young chicken in 2012 was 0.19 percent, measured as pounds condemned as a percent of liveweight pounds inspected. In 2011 the comparable percentage was 0.21. Post mortem condemnation also showed a slight year-to-year improvement in 2012 with 0.79 percent, measured as pounds condemned as a percent of pounds certified plus post-mortem condemnations, compared with 0.80 percent in 2011.
Total production for all poultry (chicken, turkeys, ducks, geese, guineas, ostriches, emus, rheas, and squab), under federal-inspection in 2012 was 57,797,096,000 pounds,  liveweight, compared with 57,830,103,000 pounds in 2011, a 0.1 percent decline.
 



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