Kentucky Poultry Industry Facts

RANKINGS
• #1 Agricultural Commodity in Kentucky, #1 Food Commodity
• #8 in the nation in terms of broiler production

ECONOMICS
• $900 million industry
• 15.5% of the product being produced is exported, meaning that $108.5 million per year is coming into Kentucky from international trade.
• 800 poultry farms, with 2,800 poultry houses in 42 counties
• 7,000 industry employees
• Pays out $133.8 million in salaries and wages and over $91 million in grower payments.

FARMS
• Over 50% of poultry farmers are or were tobacco farmers.
• The average poultry farm is owned and managed by a family farmer and consists of less than five poultry houses.
• Many farmers enter the business to diversify their revenue because of their concerns about tobacco’s future.

POULTRY-RELATED AGRIBUSINESS
• Kentucky’s poultry industry uses 29% ($74,709,384) or 35.8 million bushels of Kentucky’s corn crop.
• 32% or 335,000 tons of it’s soybean crop
• Kentucky’s grain farmers realize a 10-15 cent per bushel premium from poultry giving them a $10- $15 million bonus for their grain.

INFRASTRUCTURE
The poultry industry has made a large investment in facilities. This investment includes: 5 broiler hatcheries, 2 primary breeder hatcheries, 6 feed mills, 4 processing plants, 3 layer complexes, protein conversion plant, and 850 poultry farms with 2,800 poultry houses. We also have production from 2 other plants outside of our state in Tennessee and Indiana.