Challenges for Chickens It’s not easy being in the chicken business these days. The chart below shows our estimated gross feeding margin for broiler companies since the beginning of 2019.
First, there’s been a glut of protein on the market. Second, exporting has been a challenge. Third, the domestic market is shifting away from what the industry has been building infrastructure for over the years – big bird deboning. Wholesale breast meat prices averaged $1.07/pound the first quarter of 2019; last week they were about $0.91/pound and have spent about half of 2020 so far under $0.90/lb. Weak prices early this year have been counter seasonal. Meanwhile, production is up. Low feed costs and the opening of the...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
