Thirty-six billion pounds of chicken and 5.7 billion pounds of turkey were produced by U.S. meat companies in 2009.
Thirty-six billion pounds of chicken and 5.7 billion pounds of turkey were produced by U.S. meat companies in 2009, according to the American Meat Institute's "The United States Meat Industry at a Glance."
In addition, the poultry industry processed 8.7 billion chickens and 246 million turkeys, contributing to the largest segment of U.S. agriculture. Of the meat consumed in the U.S., 36.8% is poultry, according to the AMI.
Total meat and poultry production in 2010 reached more than 92.1 billion pounds, up 1.2 billion pounds from 2009. The U.S. exported 3.7 million metric tons of poultry and poultry variety meats in 2010, down 4.4% from 2009. The value was also down slightly, .42% at $4.25 billion.
