GA, AR, NC, and AL were the top four states for broiler production in 2018, according to Poultry Production and Value 2018 Summary, May 2019 issued by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service last week.
Together these four states account for over one-half of total U.S. broiler production. Last year, U.S. production was 56.791 billion pounds, liveweight, 2.2 percent more than the 55.574 billion pounds of broilers in 2017. Number of broilers in 2018 totaled 9.037 billion, 1.4 percent above the 8.914 billion birds in 2017.
The implied average liveweight for 2017 is 6.23 pounds and for 2018 is 6.28 pounds, an 0.8 percent gain. Total U.S. pounds, head count, and average weight per bird are record highs.
States recording the largest increases in pounds from 2017 to 2018 were PA, 10.0 percent; OH, 6.7 percent; NC, 5.2 percent; AR, 4.7 percent; KY, 4.2 percent; VA, 4.0 percent; FL, 3.8 percent; TX, 3.5 percent; and TN, 3.4 percent. Of the 20 states individually reported by NASS, 16 states of 80 percent had increases in pounds produced in 2018. At the same time, 13 states or 65 percent had increases in the number of broilers.
| Number Head | Pounds Produced | Change | ||||
| 2017 | 2018 | 2017 | 2018 | 2018 compared w/2017 | ||
| number head | pounds produced | |||||
| State | — million — | — million — | — percent — | |||
| Georgia | 1,363 | 1,361 | 8,044 | 8,168 | -0.1 | 1.5 |
| Arkansas | 1,059 | 1,092 | 6,989 | 7,316 | 3.1 | 4.7 |
| North Carolina | 831 | 874 | 6,563 | 6,901 | 5.2 | 5.2 |
| Alabama | 1,095 | 1,124 | 6,134 | 6,180 | 2.6 | 0.7 |
| Mississippi | 741 | 748 | 4,743 | 4,711 | 0.9 | -0.7 |
| Texas | 651 | 654 | 4,103 | 4,248 | 0.5 | 3.5 |
| Kentucky | 296 | 303 | 1,893 | 1,972 | 2.4 | 4.2 |
| Delaware | 260 | 264 | 1,871 | 1,924 | 1.5 | 2.8 |
| South Carolina | 243 | 238 | 1,799 | 1,807 | -2.1 | 0.4 |
| Maryland | 307 | 289 | 1,840 | 1,736 | -5.9 | -5.7 |
| Virginia | 277 | 279 | 1,609 | 1,673 | 0.7 | 4.0 |
| Missouri | 291 | 293 | 1,426 | 1,466 | 0.7 | 2.2 |
| Oklahoma | 204 | 197 | 1,370 | 1,319 | -3.4 | -3.7 |
| Pennsylvania | 185 | 200 | 1,037 | 1,141 | 8.1 | 10.0 |
| Tennessee | 172 | 177 | 909 | 940 | 2.9 | 3.4 |
| Ohio | 99 | 108 | 526 | 561 | 9.1 | 6.7 |
| Florida | 65 | 65 | 372 | 386 | 0 | 3.8 |
| Minnesota | 60 | 59 | 358 | 360 | -1.7 | 0.6 |
| West Virginia | 86 | 83 | 336 | 316 | -3.5 | -6.0 |
| Wisconsin | 54 | 56 | 226 | 229 | 3.7 | 1.3 |
| Other States 1/ | 574 | 573 | 3,425 | 3,436 | -0.2 | 0.3 |
| United States | 8,913 | 9,037 | 55,574 | 56,791 | 1.4 | 2.2 |
| 1/ CA, IL, IN, IA, LA, MI, NE, NY, OR, and WA combined to avoid disclosing individual operations. Annual estimates are for December 1, 2016 through November 30, 2017 and December 2017 through November 30, 2018 | ||||||
| Source: USDA/NASS Poultry-Production & Value, May 2019 | ||||||
