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Statistics
During the last three decades, the turkey industry has come from a single-product, holiday-oriented business into a fully integrated industry with a diversified product line that competes with other protein products on a year-round basis. The following information provides an overview of the turkey industry's growth.

Turkey Consumption
Turkey consumption has increased 102 percent since 1970, due to consumers' recognition of turkey's good taste and nutritional value.

In 2010, U.S. consumption of turkey was 16.4 pounds per person.


More and more Americans are realizing that turkey is not just for the holidays. Although 50 percent of all turkey consumed in 1970 was during the holidays, today that number is around 31 percent as more people enjoy delicious turkey year-round.


* Figures Rounded

In 2010, Turkey was the #4 protein choice for American consumers. Consumption of turkeys for 2010 is approximately 5 billion pounds.

2010 Per Capita Consumption in Pounds

Chicken
Beef
Pork
Turkey
Lamb & Mutton

82.2
59.6
47.7
16.4
  0.9

Turkey Production
Turkey production in the United States has increased nearly 110 percent since 1970, meeting consumers' demand as more people choose turkey. With the value added to turkey through processing into a wide variety of cuts, parts and further processed products, the total value of turkey processors' production in 2009 was more than $16 billion.

    An estimated 244 million turkeys will be raised in 2011.

The following are America's top turkey producing states.

Turkeys: Number Raised 2009-2010*

State

2009

2010

% of 2009

Minnesota

45.0

47.0

104

North Carolina

35.5

30.0

84

Arkansas

29.0

28.0

96

Missouri

18.5

18.0

97

Virginia

17.0

17.0

100

Indiana

15.0

16.0

106

California

15.0

15.2

101

South Carolina

11.9

11.9

100

Pennsylvania

9.0

7.4

82

Ohio

5.2

4.6

88

Other States

46.3

49.1

106

US Total

247.4

244.2

98

*Numbers raised in millions

Top Turkey Processors, 2010 *
Top U.S. Turkey Processors

Live Weight Processed (Million Pounds) *

Butterball, LLC

Jennie-O Turkey Store, Inc.

Cargill Value Added Meats

Farbest Foods, Inc.

Sara Lee

Kraft Foods, Inc./Oscar Mayer

Perdue Farms, Inc.

Foster Farms

House of Raeford Farms, Inc.

Virginia Poultry Growers Coop.

Dakota Provisions

Cooper Farms

Hain Pure Protein Corp.

Michigan Turkey Producers

West Liberty Foods, LLC

Turkey Valley Farms

Zacky Farms, LLC

Prestage Foods

Norbest, Inc. (Moroni Feed Co.)

Northern Pride Turkey

White Water Processing Co.

 

1,300.0

1,286.0

1,095.0

374.0

330.0

290.0

271.0

256.6

247.5

224.0

200.0

195.0

182.0

170.0

164.5

132.0

131.3

131.0

102.8

40.0

30.3

 

*Estimates for 2010 from February 2011 Watt Poultry USA

Total Pounds of Turkey Produced
Live Weight and Ready to Cook (RTC)


Year

Number of Turkeys*

Live Weight**

RTC** (Inspected)

dot

1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

261
282
285
290
288
287
293
303
301
286
270
270
273
275
270
256
250
256
267
273
247
244

5.468
6.043
6.115
6.355
6.433
6.541
6.779
7.233
7.225
7.062
6.877
6.960
7.173
7.495
7.231
6.949
6.991
7.224
7.562
7.922
7.149
7.107

4.175
4.561
4.652
4.829
4.848
4.992
5.129
5.446
5.478
5.281
5.297
5.402
5.562
5.713
5.650
5.454
5.504
5.686
5.958
6.246
5.662
5.644

*In millions **In billions of pounds


Turkey Production Gross Farm Income*

1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998

1999
2000

2.35
2.40
2.51
2.64
2.78
3.13
2.88
2.68
2.81
2.83

2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006

2007
2008
2009
2010

2.80
2.73
2.50
2.89
3.11
3.47
3.95
4.48
3.57
4.37

*In billions of dollars


Exports
Like domestic turkey consumption, turkey exports continued to grow throughout the last decade. The following information shows the worldwide popularity of American turkey products.

Total Export Value*

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000  

$151.4

$173.5

$197.4

$199.7

$254.6

$327.8

$241.9

$198.0

$225.6  
 

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

 2007

2008

2009

2010

$257.1

$201.8

$265.3

$299.2

$388.7

$359.2

 $399.7

$481.9

$394.6

$464.1


*In millions of dollars

Turkey exports are an increasingly important aspect of U.S. turkey production, especially for turkey parts and dark meat products.

U.S. Turkey Exports*

Year

Whole Body

Parts & Cut-Up

Total

dot

1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

16.6
20.3
19.5
24.1
24.8
34.7
40.8
36.6
41.9
33.3
20.3
15.2
26.2
22.8
31.2
33.5
53.1
53.8
61.7
50.9

105.4
181.5
224.2
256.3
323.2
403.3
565.1
409.6
337.1
412.0
466.7
423.3
456.6
419.7
538.4
513.0
493.4
622.5
472.0
531.9

122.0
201.8
243.7
280.4
348.0
438.0
605.9
466.2
379.0
445.3
487.0
438.5
482.8
442.5
569.6
546.5
546.5
676.3
533.7
582.8

*In millions of pounds

Top Five Export Markets for U.S. Turkey Meat, 2010*

Mexico
China
Hong Kong
Canada
Dominican Republic


321,032
74,450
24,821
21,098
19,160

*Thousand pounds

 

Top Five Turkey Consuming Countries, 2009
Per Capita Consumption (KG)

United States
Canada
EU-27
Mexico
Brazil

7.70
4.70
3.70
1.70
1.40

Source: Foreign Agricultural Service, Official USDA Estimates

 








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