Animal Production
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 935,700 animal production operations in the US include farms that raise livestock (such as beef cattle, poultry, sheep, and hogs); farms that employ animals to produce products (such as dairies, egg farms, and apiaries); and animal specialty farms (such as aquaculture (fish farms)).
Declining Red Meat and Poultry Consumption
Red meat’s share of the American diet has fluctuated over time.
Environmental Impacts Drive Regulation
Livestock production introduces environmental risks that, if not properly managed, can impact human health.
Industry size & Structure
The 935,700 livestock operations in the US include 545,800 cattle operations, 21,800 hog and pig farms, 75,600 poultry and egg farms, 79,400 sheep and goat farms, and 23,100 dairy farms.
- Livestock farms produce about $262 billion in average annual value on 393 million acres. The average livestock operation generates about $280,000 in annual revenue.
- The US Census Bureau defines a farm as an operation that produces or should have reasonably produced over $1,000 in revenue during a given year, including government payments.
- About 90% of livestock farms are owned by farm families in which the family owns and/or operates the farm and has done so for generations.
- More than 268,700 people are hired employees in the livestock industry, but 77% of total livestock labor is family members.
- Farm operations that generate more than $1 million in revenue account for 79% of livestock production value.
Industry Forecast
Animal Production Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Oct 23, 2024 - USDA Relaxed Bird Flu Testing Requirements
- Pushback from states and the dairy cattle industry against more stringent testing requirements to prevent the spread of bird flu among cows led the USDA to take a more lenient approach, Reuters reported in October. Initially, the department considered requiring milk-producing dairy cattle to test negative for bird flu three days before crossing state lines. However, the emergency order released in April requires a negative bird flu test no more than seven days prior to travel and allows non-producing cattle headed to slaughter to cross state lines without being tested. Reuters was told by two veterinarians that relaxing the order may have enabled more spread of the virus. When the USDA issued the April 24 order, 33 herds had tested positive. The outbreak has since spread to more than 330 herds across 14 states and human cases in 17 dairy workers, Reuters reports.
- The rise in retail meat and egg prices is outpacing all-food price inflation, according to new data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. On an annual basis, the July Consumer Price Index (CPI) for meats rose 3.1% and eggs rose 19.1%, while the food CPI rose 2.2%. In recent months, the all-fresh retail beef price has remained in the upper-$7.00 per pound range and topped the $8 per pound mark in July to a record $8.15 per pound. The July retail pork price increased of 4.6% compared to a year ago. Notably, the retail price of bacon was up 10% year over year. Poultry posted more modest price gains, with the July poultry CPI up 0.9%. The retail composite chicken price was $2.42 per pound in July, down 3.6% from last year.
- The food industry is pushing back against Democratic presidential candidate and VP Kamala Harris's calls for a federal ban on “price gouging,” The Wall Street Journal reported in August. Harris called out the meat processing industry, which she claims is highly consolidated and contributes to rising grocery prices – a primary source of concern for voters. So far, she’s declined to detail what her administration would consider “excessive” price gouging and how they would target companies, appearing to leave much of those decisions up to the Federal Trade Commission. The meat industry has rejected Harris’s point that meat and poultry prices are central to food inflation, asserting that prices are based on supply and demand and that the livestock and poultry industries have faced avian influenza and a shortage of cattle, along with higher energy costs and a tight labor market.
- Consumers in five European countries prioritize animal welfare above environmental sustainability when buying meat and dairy products, according to a recent article in Dairy Reporter (DR). More than 3,000 consumers in the UK, Czechia, Sweden, Spain, and Switzerland were asked to rank 18 product attributes in order of importance as drivers of meat and dairy purchases. The top product attributes for meat were freshness, quality/taste, and animal welfare, with sustainability-related claims such as organic, carbon footprint, and food miles ranking lower on consumers’ lists. Organic ranked last on shoppers’ lists for both meat and dairy products. However, in the US, market research by NielsenIQ and McKinsey of five years of US consumer spending data found consumers shifting spending toward products with sustainable claims in two-thirds of food categories, according to DR.
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