Broiler production during December 1, 2011 through November 30, 2012 totaled 8,437,900,000 birds weighing 49,529,700,000 pounds, liveweight, compared with the previous 12 month’s production of 8,607,600,000 birds weighing 50,082,400,000 pounds, liveweight, a decrease of 2.0 percent in number of birds and a 1.1 percent decrease in pounds produced, according to “Poultry – Production and Value 2012 Summary” from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) this week. The top five producing states in terms of pounds last year were Georgia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi. Together these five states accounted for 59 percent of total pounds of broiler production in 2012.
Of the 20 individually listed states, eight states had increases in pounds produced when 2012 is compared with 2011 while 12 states had reduced production. States experiencing the largest increases in production were Wisconsin and West Virginia with gains in both states over 10 percent.
The 19 states in NASS’s weekly egg sets-chicks-placed estimating program accounted for 96.6 percent of total U.S. broiler numbers and 96.9 percent of total bird pounds produced in 2012.
Broiler production by state for 2011 and 2012 were as follows:
| Broiler Production by State, 2011 and 2012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State | 2011 | 2012 | Change |
| -1,000 pounds- | -1,000 pounds- | -percent- | |
| Georgia | 7,426,100 | 7,625,500 | 2.7 |
| Arkansas | 5,855,600 | 5,764,900 | -1.5 |
| North Carolina | 5,587,000 | 5,677,900 | 1.6 |
| Alabama | 5,820,300 | 5,620,200 | -3.4 |
| Mississippi | 4,625,600 | 4,507,800 | -2.5 |
| Texas | 3,656,900 | 3,494,500 | -4.4 |
| Kentucky | 1,705,000 | 1,733,200 | 1.7 |
| Maryland | 1,648,800 | 1,611,200 | -2.3 |
| South Carolina | 1,541,500 | 1,537,300 | -0.3 |
| Delaware | 1,524,600 | 1,505,200 | -1.3 |
| Oklahoma | 1,588,800 | 1,419,100 | -10.7 |
| Missouri | 1,369,000 | 1,303,700 | -4.8 |
| Virginia | 1,292,100 | 1,298,700 | 0.5 |
| Tennessee | 989,600 | 871,500 | -11.9 |
| Pennsylvania | 871,400 | 865,200 | -0.7 |
| Ohio | 375,500 | 379,200 | 1.0 |
| West Virginia | 341,600 | 376,000 | 10.1 |
| Florida | 383,200 | 357,000 | -6.8 |
| Minnesota | 241,300 | 263,900 | 9.4 |
| Wisconsin | 195,300 | 217,100 | 11.2 |
| Other States1 | 3,043,200 | 3,100,600 | 1.9 |
| Total |
50,082,400 | 49,529,700 | -1.1 |
| 19 Weekly States2 |
48,664,100 | 47,971,300 | -1.4 |
1 California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, and Washington combined to avoid disclosing individual operations.
2 States in the 19 states 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.
Note: 2011 data are for December 1, 2010 through November 30, 2011 and 2012 data are for December 1, 2011 through November 30, 2012.
Also, in the report were NASS’ estimates for “chickens” sold for slaughter. These chickens are primarily from egg laying flocks. In 2012 there were 178,313,000 chickens sold for slaughter weighing 897,514,000 pounds, liveweight, compared with 2011 when 181,585,000 chickens weighing 941,415,000 pounds, liveweight, were sold, a 1.8 percent decrease in number of chickens and a 4.7 percent decrease in pounds sold.
Combining broilers “chicken,” and turkey production for 2012 there were 8,669,713,000 birds produced weighing 57,973,909,000 pounds, liveweight, compared with 9,037,685,000 birds weighing 58,297,41,000 pounds, liveweight in 2011, a 1.9 percent decrease in number of birds and a 0.6 percent decline in pounds.
