Animal Production NAICS 112

Apr 23, 2026 - Bird Flu Squeezing Poultry & Egg Supply

• The USDA’s reduced 2026 poultry production forecast signals tightening supply and increased volatility for egg and poultry producers. Persistent avian flu outbreaks and weak hatchery data, including a 4% drop in pullet placements, are limiting flock expansion and creating a production bottleneck that could extend through the year. For producers, this environment supports higher wholesale prices for chicken, turkey, and eggs, improving revenue potential. However, gains are offset by heightened operational risks, including ongoing disease threats, flock losses, and rising biosecurity costs. Egg producers in particular may benefit from elevated prices if they avoid outbreaks, while turkey and broiler operations face supply disruptions and input cost pressures. Overall, the industry is shifting toward a lower growth, higher risk model, where maintaining production stability is more critical than expansion, and profitability depends on managing disease exposure and input costs.
• US meat sales reached a record $112 billion in 2025, with volume rising 2% as consumers increasingly adopt protein-rich diets, Consumer Affairs reports. Nearly 98% of households purchase meat, and about 90% of home-cooked dinners include it, underscoring its role as a staple food. Demand remains strong despite high prices, supported by shifting dietary guidelines that emphasize protein as part of a healthy diet. Younger shoppers, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, are driving much of the growth and are more likely to center meals around meat. Perceptions of meat as healthy have also improved significantly, with 77% of consumers now viewing it as part of a balanced diet. While meat demand is strong, consumers are also supplementing with lower cost protein sources such as eggs, dairy, and canned fish. Overall, the trend reflects sustained demand for protein, with meat maintaining a dominant but increasingly competitive position.

• According to Dairy Herd Management, historically high beef prices continue to play heavily in the dairy market, with high beef prices reshaping herd management decisions across both the beef and dairy cattle sectors. With heifer inventories falling for the eighth straight year and now at their lowest level since 1978, dairy producers are increasingly breeding cows to beef sires to capture record‑high calf values. Crossbred beef‑on‑dairy calves, which sell for up to $1,700 at auction, are providing critical cash flow at a time of weak milk margins, incentivizing producers to delay culling and keep older cows in the milking string. For beef producers, historically tight heifer supplies and delayed dairy culling mean slower rebuilding of the national cattle herd, prolonging the period of constrained feeder and fed‑cattle availability. High beef prices are likely to persist until inventories recover, but rebuilding will take time.
• The FDA’s conditional approval of Merck’s EXZOLT CATTLE‑CA1 provides cattle producers with a critically needed tool to combat New World Screwworm (NWS), a parasite contributing to historically low US herd levels, CNBC reported in December. With the US-Mexico border closed to live‑animal imports due to the NWS outbreak, ranchers have lost access to more than one million calves annually, tightening supply and raising production costs. The topical treatment offers 21 days of protection and also targets fever ticks, helping producers limit losses and avoid further herd decline. However, the drug’s 98‑day meat withholding period and multi‑year timeline for parasite control mean producers will still face elevated biological and financial risk in the near term. As cattle shortages drive plant closures and volatile beef prices, the treatment provides ranchers with a valuable defensive tool, but not an immediate solution to supply pressures or market instability.