The number of farms contracted to raise chickens for slaughter dropped by a third from 2002 to 2022. At that same time, the number of chickens raised on these farms grew 6%.
There were more than 20,000 farms in the country that raised broiler chickens, or chickens raised for meat processing, in 2002. Twenty years later, that number declined 32%, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture census data.
Nearly every chicken in the country is raised under a production contract, where major meat processors own the birds and the feed, while farmers are tasked with caring for the animals — and taking on debt to operate the farm.
In the last 20 years, the nation routinely produced more than 8 billion chickens raised under contract, fluctuating little in that time period.
The U.S. is the largest producer of broiler chickens, with Americans eating more chicken than any other country.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print.
