July 12

7/12 – While chicken prices have backed off a bit, supplies remain tight. Chicken in cold storage on June 1st was down 15% from a year ago. Wings in storage are nearly 20% lower. Total broilers (head) slaughtered for the first 5 months of 2021 are down 2.0% from a year ago and are 0.6% below 2019. That’s not helping wing supplies. However, average bird weights continue to recover, up 0.7% (Jan-May) vs 2020 and 2.7% above 2019. Chicks placed into incubators for the first half of 2021 are up 0.8% from 2020 and 0.3% above 2019. It all points to broiler production growth of a half-percent or less this year, which is not enough to keep pace with demand. Boneless, skinless breast at $1.82/lb is down from $2.14/lb a month ago and looks to be roughly $1.50 by Sept. The USDA whole wing market remains sky-high at $3.16/lb and will likely stay above $3.00 through summer.