February 2011 Articles

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Extreme Vertical Integration in the Broiler Industry

Extreme Vertical Integration in the Broiler Industry
The poultry industry has become increasingly concentrated over the past 20 years as larger companies acquired smaller regional processors and cooperatives. The percentage of the market controlled by the four largest broiler companies has increased by nearly 50 percent in the past decade and has tripled since the 1980’s as the results of mergers and acquisitions. In 2006, four processors controlled nearly three out of five (58.5 percent) broilers. Even though there are fewer companies processing chicken, the volume of chicken production and processing has increased sharply. Over the past 50 years, U.S. Broiler processing rose from 1.5 billion birds in 1960 to 8.8 billion in 2006.