Sanderson Farms Inc. Chief Operating Officer Lampkin Butts said the chicken industry may face “tough headwinds” in 2011 because of rising feed costs and increasing supplies.
“We’re going into next year with much more expensive grain costs and also more chickens, and it could be tough headwinds for the industry for the short term,” Butts said today at a conference hosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. The Laurel, Mississippi-based company is the fourth-largest U.S. chicken processor.
The U.S. government cut its estimate for the corn crop on Nov. 9 for a third straight month and the price of the grain is up 26 percent since Aug. 31. Sanderson is processing more than 8 million birds a week, Chief Executive Officer Joe F. Sanderson Jr. said today. That will jump to more than 9 million when a new plant in Kinston, North Carolina, reaches full capacity in January 2012, he said.
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