U.S. broiler companies mostly increased chicken production in 2013, as grain prices fell following a good corn harvest in the fall. While the five largest broiler firms reported a mix of increases and decreases in chicken production, mid-size companies registered the biggest percentage changes in production.
Top 5 chicken producers with mixed change
There was mixed change in ready-to-cook chicken (RTC) production at the top 5 chicken producers in 2013: No. 3 ranked Sanderson Farms and No. 4 ranked Perdue Farms reported 2.8 percent and 2.7 percent increases in average weekly production. No. 1 ranked Tyson Foods reported increasing RTC production by 0.3 percent, while production was unchanged at No. 5 ranked Koch Foods . No. 2 ranked Pilgrim's Pride reported decreasing weekly RTC production by 7.2 percent in 2013.
Mid-size chicken producers report biggest production increases
The nation's mid-size producers led the industry in percentage increases in RTC production in 2013. Double-digit increases were reported by two firms: No. 6 ranked Wayne Farms raised RTC production by 17 percent, and No. 23 ranked Allen Harim Farms increased production by 20.1 percent. These firms bracketed a group of 18 mid-size producers, 14 of whom reported production increases, three reporting decreases and one with no change.
Production increases for firms ranked No. 6 through 10
Wayne Farms slipped past Mountaire Farms to claim the No. 6 ranking in this year's survey. Wayne Farms reported 42.89 million pounds RTC chicken production on a weekly basis in 2013, an increase of 6.24 million pounds or 17 percent. The company registered increased production from a Dothan, Ala., plant acquired in 2012 from Perdue Farms. It also expanded its processing facility in Laurel, Miss., in 2013, adding a new processing line there.
No. 7 ranked Mountaire Farms reported 41.04 million pounds RTC chicken on a weekly basis in 2013, an increase of 1.78 million pounds or 4.5 percent.
No. 8 ranked Peco Foods reported 23.93 million pounds RTC chicken production on a weekly basis in 2013, an increase of 0.88 million pounds or 3.8 percent.
No. 9 ranked House of Raeford Farms reported 23.48 million pounds RTC chicken production on a weekly basis in 2013, an increase of 1.60 million pounds or 7.3 percent.
Foster Farms , at the No. 10 spot in the rankings, reported 21.03 million pounds RTC chicken production on a weekly basis in 2013, an increase of 0.11 million pounds or 0.5 percent.
Other mid-size producers report ups, downs
No. 11 ranked George's Inc. produced 19.56 million pounds of chicken on a weekly basis in 2013, an increase of 0.43 million pounds or 2.2 percent.
No. 12 ranked Keystone Foods reported 18.40 million pounds RTC chicken production on a weekly basis in 2013, a decrease of 1.57 million pounds or 7.9 percent.
Case Foods , at the No. 13 spot in the rankings, reported 16.73 million pounds RTC chicken production on a weekly basis, an increase of 1.32 million pounds or 8.6 percent.
No. 14 ranked Amick Farms/OSI Group produced 15.50 million pounds RTC chicken production in 2013, an increase of 0.09 million pounds or 0.6 percent.
O.K. Industries , at the No. 15 spot, produced 14.70 million pounds of chicken production on a weekly basis, no change from the previous year.
Other companies reporting changes
Other companies reporting increases in average weekly RTC chicken production included No. 16 ranked Simmons Foods, which reported an increase of 0.76 million pounds or 6.1 percent; No. 18 ranked GNP Company which reported an increase of 0.28 million pounds or 3.6 percent; No. 19 ranked Claxton Poultry Farms, which reported an increase of 0.53 million pounds or 7.2 percent; Mar-Jac Poultry, which reported an increase of 0.05 million pounds or 0.7 percent; Harrison Poultry, which reported an increase of 0.37 million pounds or 7.2 percent; and Gerber's Poultry, which reported an increase of 0.06 million pounds or 4.2 percent.
Two chicken producers reported decreases in average weekly RTC production in 2013: No. 17 ranked Fieldale Farms reduced production by 11 percent, and Marshall Durbin lowered production by 7.9 percent.
Capital improvements in 2013
Peco Foods completed improvements at the Batesville, Ark., processing facility, including the construction of new holding sheds with state-of-the-art thermostat controlled fans and mist foggers. Improvements completed at the Newark, Ark., feed mill included the addition of a new pellet mill, conditioner, cooler and boiler. Dry grain storage concrete silos were constructed there with 1.83 million bushels capacity.
Allen Harim Foods made capital improvements in cut-up operations of the Cordova plant and completed an expansion of the deboning operation at the Harbeson plant.
Gerber's Poultry invested $6.7 million in hatchery and processing operations in 2013.
Capital Improvements planned for 2014
Sanderson Farms is investing $130 million in a feed mill, hatchery, processing plant and wastewater facility in Anderson County and Freestone County, Texas.
Peco Foods plans capital improvements at the Sebastopol, Miss., processing plant, including the addition of 17,800 square feet of processing space, a cooler, shipping dock with six new dock bays, including refrigeration equipment with improved second-processing air flow.
George's Inc . plans to expand the Springdale, Ark., further processing facility to include a third par-fry line, R&D center, ingredient storage and additional office space.
Mar-Jac Poultry plans to add 1.5 million square feet of cooler space.
Farmers Pride is building a 160,000-square-foot further processing facility.
Gerber's Poultry plans to make capital investments of $3.85 million in the shipping and order processing area, refrigeration, tray-pack equipment, automated deboning equipment and inventory and scanning technology.
