News

April poultry production up 3% on year

The USDA says poultry production during April was 4.124 billion pounds, a 3% increase on the year. Chicken made up most of the total at 3.628 billion pounds, followed by turkey at 483.63 million and duck at 11.933 million pounds.

The preliminary live weight was also up 3% at 5.450 billion pounds and average live weights were steady to higher for chickens, turkeys, and ducks, with faster slaughter paces for chickens and ducks canceled out a decline on turkeys. All chickens averaged 6.29 pounds and ducks averaged 7.06, both up slightly on the year, while turkeys averaged 32.85 pounds, 4% heavier. The chicken slaughter was 767.342 million head, up 3%, the turkey kill was 18.436 million, down 4%, and the duck slaughter was 2.316 million head, 4% higher.

Ante-mortem condemnations were 12.426 million pounds, up 2%, representing 0.23% of the preliminary live weight, while post-mortem condemnations were 35.945 million pounds, down 2%, representing 0.86% of monthly production.

The USDA’s most recent cold storage report showed a year to year rise in poultry stocks, with a record monthly amount of chicken.