Senate Ag Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) told Politico this week he thinks including hot rotisserie chicken in the SNAP program has a “good chance” of being included in the final farm bill. “It was very popular in the House,” said Boozman. “A lot of our members favor it, so we’ll have to wait and see.”
Senate Ag Committee Chairman John Boozman speaks with farm broadcasters at the NAFB’s 2026 Washington Watch (Photo by Brent Barnett/Brownfield)
Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), who co-sponsored the bipartisan Senate bill, said he’s pushing to include the language in the Senate farm bill. “Why in the world wouldn’t we want to have children and families to be able to have warm meals if we can?” Justice said. “And I just hope to goodness that we can secure it over here on this side.”
Senator Jim Justice (Official U.S. Senate photo by Ryan Donnell)
U.S. total broiler slaughter data for the week ending May 23, 2026, is estimated by USDA’s Poultry Market News Service to be 174,103,000 broilers, a 1-percent increase from the same week a year earlier.
The 1-percent increase in slaughter compares with a 2-percent increase in eggs set in the United States, 10 weeks earlier, and a 3-percent increase in chicks placed 7 weeks earlier in the United States. USDA’s latest Broiler Hatchery report can be viewed here.
| U.S. Eggs Set, Chicks Placed, Broiler Slaughter Report | ||||||||||
| Week ending | Eggs set | Chicks placed | Eggs set | Chicks placed | Broilers slaughtered | |||||
| change from | change from | 10 weeks previous | 7 weeks previous | |||||||
| 1 year | 1 year | 1 year | 1 year | 1 year | ||||||
| -000- | % | -000- | % | -000- | % | -000- | % | -000- | % | |
| Apr | ||||||||||
| 18 | 256,143 | 102 | 198,480 | 104 |
254,036 | 102 | 193,098 | 101 | 168,744 | 103 |
| 25 | 256,545 | 102 | 195,753 | 102 |
254,580 | 102 | 195,286 | 102 | 170,854 | 103 |
| May | ||||||||||
| 2 | 256,910 | 103 | 198,686 | 104 |
254,948 | 102 | 196,241 | 102 | 171,230 | 103 |
| 9 | 255,922 | 102 | 198,076 | 103 |
254,423 | 102 | 196,001 | 102 | 171,765 | 102 |
| 16 | 255,778 | 102 | 198,363 | 102 |
253,644 | 102 | 195,765 | 102 | 170,711 | 101 |
| 23* | 255,715 | 102 | 198,416 | 103 |
253,754 | 102 | 196,663 | 103 | 174,103 | 101 |
| 30 | — | — | — | — |
255,241 | 103 | 197,285 | 100 | — | — |
*Memorial Day Weekend
Two past chairmen of the National Broiler Council board received special awards recognizing their service to NBC and the broiler industry at the 23rd annual NBC conference in Washington (December, 1977). Incumbent chairman Edward Covell (L) presented the awards to Jess Merkle (C), who retired from the presidency of J-M Poultry Packing Company (and then Country Pride Foods) in El Dorado, Ark., and Ed Reynolds (R) who retired from his position as corporate vice president of Cargill in Minneapolis. 
WHAT HAPPENED: USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has updated its China export restrictions webpage to reflect that China has lifted HPAI-related poultry export restrictions for 17 states, effective May 15, 2026. The states are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia. Only products produced on or after May 15, 2026 are eligible for export to China from these states.
BACKGROUND: China had been blocking raw poultry imports from U.S. states affected by HPAI outbreaks. Under a Regionalization Agreement, HPAI restrictions by state are meant to be lifted 90 days after cleaning and disinfection, but China had not been abiding by that provision.
THE 2020 REGIONALIZATION AGREEMENT: It has been reported that APHIS has confirmed that China has agreed to resume the terms of the 2020 Regionalization Agreement. Under that framework, APHIS may submit state closeout reports 90 days after cleaning and disinfection is completed, and China then has 5 days to review and lift restrictions as applicable — providing a more timely and predictable path to restoring access.
WHAT’S NEXT: Twenty-seven states remain under restriction by China. The key broiler-producing states of Georgia, Mississippi, and Missouri have all recently reached the 90-day post-cleaning and disinfection milestone, meaning APHIS closeout reports for those states could be expected soon.
NCC’s TAKE: “China is a major market for U.S. chicken, especially paws, and the lifting of export restrictions and the reinstatement of the regionalization framework is a significant development,” said NCC President Harrison Kircher. “I want to thank the Trump administration, USTR and APHIS in particular, for their work in holding China to the terms it agreed to. Restoration of access would have a meaningful impact on export volumes of American chicken.”
Source: Magnific
