Chapter 2 - Infrastructure

A survey of 17 major broiler states (listed alphabetically: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia) produced an overview of the infrastructure available for broiler production in the U.S. The results are discussed below. As shown in Table 2.3, in 2006 there were an estimated 17,440 commercial broiler farms in the 17 surveyed states, with at total production of 8.44 billion broilers. Since total nationwide slaughter amounted to 8.84 billion broilers in 2006, the data from this 17-state sample represents about 95% of total U.S. production.

Production contracts dominate the U.S industry, accounting for almost all farms and broilers. The survey did identify a few independent operations (0.4% of broilers produced) and some operations that were owned by processors (about 1% of farms). Respondents were also asked whether they produced certified organic broilers or free-range broilers (‘free-range’ is operator-defined and not necessarily organic). About 1.7% of operations were certified organic (1.4% of broilers) while a smaller fraction (0.44% of operations) reported that they produced free-range broilers.

Table 2.3 - Broiler production in 2006, by type of operation

Notes: 'Obs.' refers to sample observaitons. Three sample farms with production contracts failed to report any birds removed, leaving 1,543 respondents in the removals columns.
Source: 2006 Agricultural Resource Management Survey, version 4, production contracts only

HOUSING

Broiler houses are a major investment for growers. In 2006, a single large house of nearly 30,000 square feet could easily cost $300,000, and most growers had multiple houses. Housing is also an important limiting factor in the industry’s productivity growth, as improvements in housing design and climate control systems can lead to improved feed efficiency, lower bird mortality, and reduced costs of feeding and litter management.

In 2006 there were over 70,000 broiler houses in use for meat production in the 17 surveyed states. Nearly two-thirds of broiler capacity was built in a 15-year period from 1986 through 2000. Investment dropped sharply after 2000, as considerably less capacity was built in the 6-year period from 2001 through 2006 than in any of the three preceding 5-year periods (1986-1990, 1991-95, and 1996-2000).

The diffusion of technologies in the industry can be traced by orting houses according to vintage – that is, the year in which they were built Table 2.4. Houses have become steadily larger over time. Whereas the typical house built in the 1960s was about 12,750 ft², recently built houses average over 20,000 ft², and large houses built in 2005 and 2006 are much larger – up to 36,000 ft². Most houses built before 2000 have side curtains – fabric that can be raised or lowered to help control the climate in a house with natural ventilation. While many recently built houses also have side curtains, they are more likely to have solid walls with equipment added for climate control.

Table 2.4 - Broiler housing, by vintage

¹Column sums may not add to 100 due to rounding 
Source: 2006 Agricultural Resource Management Survey, Version 4, production contracts only

About 75% of the broiler houses surveyed had cooling cells and tunnel ventilation, with newer houses much more likely to have them than the older houses (Table 2.4). Over 90% of houses built after 2000 had those features, compared with 70% of houses from the late 1980s and 50% from the 1970s. Older houses that have cooling cells and tunnel ventilation have probably been retrofitted, with the equipment installed after the houses were originally constructed.