Broiler Chicken Industry Key Facts
- Approximately forty companies are involved in the business of raising, processing and marketing chickens on a “vertically integrated” basis – that is, the company is able to ensure quality at each step of the process.
- About 29,500 family farmers have production contracts with the companies. Approximately 95 percent of broiler chickens are produced on these farms, with the remaining 5 percent raised on company-owned farms.
- In 2011, approximately 9 billion broiler chickens, weighing 50 billion pounds, liveweight, will be produced. Almost 37 billion pounds of chicken product will be marketed, measured on a ready-to-cook basis.
- The United States has the largest broiler chicken industry in the world, and over 17 percent of production will be exported to other countries in 2011.
- Americans consume more chicken than anyone else in the world – 83.6 pounds per capita – the number one protein consumed in the United States.
| Basic economic measurements include: | |
|---|---|
| Number of slaughter/evisceration plants | 185 |
| Number of workers directly employed | 300,000 |
| Number of workers indirectly employed | 200,000 |
| Number of family farms growing broilers and/or producing hatching eggs | 30,500 |
| Amount of corn used for broiler and breeder feed | 1.2 billion bushels |
| Amount of soybean (meal component) used for Broiler and breeder feed |
500 million bushels |
| Amount of mixed feed used | 55 million tons |
| Wholesale value of shipments of industry | $50 billion |
| Consumer expenditures for chicken | $70 billion |
