How will COVID-19 affect broiler breeder flock size?

The size of the U.S. broiler breeder flock in the coming months will largely depend on the staffing situation at poultry processing plants, Joe F. Sanderson Jr., CEO of Sanderson Farms, said.

Roy Graber Headshot
(Roy Graber)
(Roy Graber)

The size of the U.S. broiler breeder flock in the coming months will largely depend on the staffing situation at poultry processing plants, Joe F. Sanderson Jr., CEO of Sanderson Farms, said.

While participating in the Goldman Sachs Global Staples Forum on May 18, Sanderson was asked by Goldman Sachs agribusiness analyst Adam Samuelson, who moderated the forum, about the current trajectory of the size of the breeder flock.

Sanderson said he didn’t believe there would be much of a change in the near term, because there is still optimism in the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Sanderson added that if poultry plants continue to have to deal with staffing shortages and absenteeism because of the pandemic, there could be some changes.

“It depends on what the labor situation turns out to be over the next three or four or five months. I think there is a very good possibility that people are going to have real labor issues in the plants. If that happens, that could change pullet placements,” said Sanderson. “If they are able to staff back up, that won’t change the trajectory of the bird flock.”

While some companies are faced with current staffing shortages, Sanderson Farms, the third largest poultry company in the United States, has been more fortunate.

“All of our plants, particularly the new ones, were built in areas where there is an ample supply of labor. Today, we’re not concerned about that. We’ve been able to hire as many people as we needed to staff our plants,” said Sanderson, adding that the company hired 400 new workers two weeks ago.

The Goldman Sachs forum was the second investor conference in which Sanderson Farms participated during the past week. On May 13, Sanderson Farms presented at the BMO Capital Markets Global Farm to Market Conference.

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