News

March poultry production 3% higher

The USDA says poultry production for March was up 3% on the year.

Out of the monthly total of 4.579 billion pounds, 4.046 billion pounds of that was chicken, an increase of 3% on the year, with turkey at 521.899 million pounds, 3% higher.

The chicken slaughter was up 2%  at 840.514 million head and the turkey slaughter was 1% faster at 19.557 million head, with average live weights mostly steady to higher than a year ago.

For the year to date, production is 12.431 billion pounds, 3% less than during the first quarter of 2020.

The USDA’s most recent cold storage report showed solid overall demand for U.S. poultry.