The U.S. turkey industry is in a bullish business outlook entering 2015, as a majority of turkey producers increased production in 2014 and many are set to do so again in 2015, according to WATTPoultryUSA’s rankings of the largest poultry companies.
The number of turkey producers increasing production in 2014 outnumbered those reporting production decreases by 3-to-1, and turkey producers are signaling continued production increases in 2015.
Twelve of the 23 turkey companies in WATT PoultryUSA’s 2015 poultry rankings increased production in 2014, while only four turkey producers reported reducing turkey production.
Turkey production outlook for 2015
The outlook for U.S. turkey industry expansion is similar for 2015, with 11 of 23 producers reporting plans to increase the production of turkeys this year. Production increases planned for 2015 range from 17.8 percent at No. 4 ranked Farbest Foods to 0.3 percent at No. 10 ranked Perdue Farms . The mean percentage of expansion planned for 2015 is 6.3 percent at No. 6 ranked West Liberty Foods .
Profitable turkey markets contribute to industry growth
U.S.turkey industry production grew more modestly at the nation’s two largest turkey companies than for the turkey industry as a whole. Mirroring a trend among the largest U.S. broiler companies, the turkey industry’s mid-size companies outpaced their largest competitors in production increases in 2014.
Butterball LLC, the largest turkey producer in the U.S., reported no change in production in 2014.
Jennie-O Turkey Store, the second-largest turkey producer in the U.S., reported strong sales growth and profits in 2014, based on strong commodity turkey prices and continued growth in value-added products. Operating profit for Jennie-O Turkey Store, which is a division of Hormel Foods, increased by 22.6 percent in the fiscal year. The company increased the production of live turkeys by 30 million pounds, or 2.4 percent, in 2014, and plans to boost production modestly in 2015 by 1.2 percent.
Cargill Turkey & Cooked Meats, ranked No. 3, reported a decrease of 71 million pounds in production of live turkeys in 2014. The company recently announced steps to “refresh” its retail turkey products lines with the introduction of branded offerings of fresh bone-in turkey breasts and fresh whole turkeys raised without growth-promoting antibiotics.
Who increased turkey production the most in 2014?
Leading the U.S. turkey industry’s expansion of production of live turkeys were No. 4 ranked Farbest Foods, which increased annual production by 83 million pounds, and No. 10 ranked Dakota Provisions, which increased production by 55 million pounds.
In 2014, Farbest Foods and Dakota Provisions provided custom processing of turkeys for Tyson Foods, after its Storm Lake, Iowa, turkey processing plant was out of operation for eight months following a fire. Farbest Foods’ processing for Tyson amounted to 64 million live pounds of turkeys, and Dakota Provisions reported processing 800,000 heavy toms for the out-of-operation turkey plant.
No. 5 ranked Tyson Foods completed a merger in 2014 with The Hillshire Brands Company (Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, State Fair, Ball Park and Sara Lee brands, among others). This puts Tyson deeper into consumer branded foods and also turkey production.Tyson Foods’ Storm Lake turkey processing facility reopened late in 2014, and the company plans to increase turkey production in that expanded facility in 2015.
Biggest increases in turkey production in 2014
The following U.S. turkey producers increased production of live pounds of turkeys in 2014 by more than 5 percent:
- Dakota Provisions increased production by 30.7 percent or 55 million pounds.
- Farbest Foods increased production by 20.2 percent or 83 million pounds.
- Norbest Inc. increased production by 16 percent or 13.1 million pounds.
- Turkey Valley Farms increased production by 13.8 percent or 20 million pounds.
- Northern Pride increased production by 12.5 percent or 5 million pounds.
- Koch’s Turkey Farms increased production by 8.6 percent or 1.31 million pounds.
- Perdue Farms increased production by 7.9 percent or 22 million pounds.
- Michigan Turkey Sales increased production by 5.3 percent or 10 million pounds.
Turkey producers bullish in 2015
The following seven U.S. turkey producers report plans to increase production of live pounds of turkeys in 2015 by more than 5 percent:
- Farbest Foods by 17.8 percent
- Norbest Inc. by 11.5 percent
- Koch’s Turkey Sales by 9.9 percent
- Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative by 8 percent
- West Liberty Foods by 6.3 percent
- Turkey Valley Farms by 6.1 percent
- Michigan Turkey Producers by 5 percent
New investment in turkey production
Dakota Provisions plans capital expenditures of $7 million in 2015 for expansion of processing and value-added production in 2015.
