Chicken Supplies To Tighten
December 1, 2011 | 1 min to read
Chicken has been a relative bargain in recent months, at least compared to pork and beef, but that might not last long according to U.S. Department of Agriculture reports showing an 8 percent drop in broiler chick placements for the week ending Nov. 19 from a week earlier, and down 2 percent from the same week last year.
The USDA said “placements were down 8 percent from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from January 2, 2011 through November 12, 2011 were 7.61 billion, down 2 percent from the same period a year earlier.”
The nation’s largest chicken producer, Tyson Foods of Springdale, Ark., said last week that a surplus of chicken and poultry products will erode in 2012.
“We expect industry (chicken) production will decrease approximately 4 percent from fiscal 2011, which should gradually improve market pricing conditions.”
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