By David Anderson
We ended 2025 examining total meat supplies, so this week we’ll take a closer look at chicken production.
If the reader will forgive the obvious joke about what comes first, 1 percent more eggs for broiler grow-out were set in 2025 compared to 2024. That led to about 1 percent more chicks placed. A few more broilers made it from placement to slaughter, leading to broiler slaughter growing by 2.1 percent over the prior year. Combining more slaughter with 1.2 percent growth in weights generated a 3.3 percent increase in broiler production in 2025.
Increasing broiler production was jump started by profits from the combination of high broiler meat prices and falling feed costs. Broilers have a cutout value calculated, much like beef and pork. The broiler cutout value increased from $0.85 per pound in January 2025 to a peak of $1.07 per pound by May. The peak value was about 12 cents per pound higher than the same point the year before and 62 percent higher than the 5-year average for the same period. High prices in 2025 are built on higher price levels hit in 2024. The cutout dropped rapidly later in 2025. By the end of December, the cutout was down to $0.63 per pound.
The decline in the cutout value is shown in the wholesale cuts that make up the cutout value. Wholesale boneless, skinless breast meat has declined from a mid-year peak of $2.77 per pound to $1.16 per pound at the end of December, well below the almost $1.50 per pound the year before. Legs have declined from about $0.90 per pound to $0.59 per pound over the same period.
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