Turkey Meat Production Up in the U.S.

By CnAgri2012-10-23 19:21:30 Print

Turkey meat production in August 2012 was 530 million pounds, up 5.7 percent from a year earlier. The number of turkeys slaughtered totaled 22.9 million, up 3.8 percent higher than a year earlier, and the average liveweight at slaughter was 1.3 percent higher.

Year-over-year turkey production increased through the first half of 2012, and continued growth is expected in the second half of the year. However, the most recent turkey hatchery data point to a possible change in this pattern.

In August, the number of net poult placements for growout totaled 23.5 million birds, down 1.7 percent from the previous year. This is the first monthly year-over-year decline in 2012. Also the number of turkey eggs in incubators at the beginning of September totaled 26.3 million, down 6.3 percent from a year earlier.

At the end of August, cold storage holdings of turkey products totaled 555 million pounds, 5 percent higher than the previous year. Compared with 2011, strong growth in production during the first 8 months of 2012 has led to a buildup of stocks.

Overall turkey stocks were above those of the previous year for 14 of the last 15 months. Increases in turkey stocks over the last several months were due primarily to seasonally larger holdings of whole birds.