North Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama and Texas were the top five states for liveweight broiler production in 2025, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). North Carolina reclaims its position from Georgia as the number one producing state by liveweight.
2025 Production (Liveweight/1,000 lbs)
- N. Carolina: 8,271,500
- Georgia: 8,167,300
- Arkansas: 7,790,000
- Alabama: 6,628,200
- Texas: 5,049,400
- Mississippi: 4,697,400
- Maryland: 2,093,000
- Delaware: 2,025,100
- Kentucky: 1,978,800
- Virginia: 1,564,900
2025 Production (Broilers/1,000 head)
- Georgia: 1,317,300
- Alabama: 1,183,600
- Arkansas: 1,052,700
- N. Carolina: 984,700
- Texas: 731,800
- Mississippi: 701,100
- Maryland: 322,000
- Kentucky: 291,000
- Missouri: 284,200
- Delaware: 263,000
North Carolina edges out Georgia for the top liveweight spot in 2025 (flipping from 2024 when Georgia led), but Georgia still holds the #1 position by head. Louisiana and Florida dropped out of the individually-reported states in 2025 and were folded into the “Other States” combined category. The full report can be found by clicking here.
WHAT HAPPENED: USDA on Thursday published a final rule updating stocking standards for retailers authorized to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Under the new rule, SNAP-authorized retailers must now carry seven varieties of items across four staple food categories: protein, grains, dairy, and fruits and vegetables.
WHY IT MATTERS: The changes more than double current stocking requirements, place a greater emphasis on whole foods, increase the perishable food requirement, and close loopholes that had long allowed retailers to count certain snack foods toward their staple food minimums. Protein, including chicken, is now explicitly required as one of the four staple food categories retailers must stock. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins noted that SNAP-authorized retailers accept over $90 billion a year in taxpayer dollars, and the rule is intended to ensure those dollars go toward actual food.
NCC’s TAKE: The House passed the Farm Bill last week with an amendment — by a sweeping 384-35 margin — that would allow SNAP recipients to purchase hot rotisserie chicken, which is currently prohibited under an outdated technicality. As USDA raises the bar on what SNAP retailers must stock and prioritizes real, nutritious, protein-rich food, hot rotisserie chicken is a natural fit: it is affordable, ready-to-eat, and one of the most practical meals a family can bring to the table.
Source: Juanmonino / Getty Images
WHAT’S NEXT: USDA plans to issue additional guidance to retailers in the coming weeks ahead of the Fall 2026 implementation date. Action on the Farm Bill — and the hot rotisserie chicken provision — now moves to the Senate, with the timing unclear.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “This rule puts real food back at the center of SNAP,” said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “I thank Secretary Rollins for her leadership in advancing these commonsense reforms. It demands more from retailers and delivers better options for the families who depend on this program. This is how we Make America Healthy Again.”
Source: New York Post
“Because of the filibuster, we need 60 votes to get things passed. We have the opportunity to lose some Republicans, and we have the opportunity to lose a bunch of Democrats. We’ve got to get probably nine, ten or more to vote with us on the Farm Bill. What I’d like to do is take the things where I feel like there is support on both sides and maximize our time building a coalition with those things and get them passed. If you remember, during Reconciliation, we passed about 85% of the Farm Bill.” — Senate Ag Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR)
Sen. Boozman speaks with farm broadcasters at the NAFB’s 2026 Washington Watch (Photo by Brent Barnett/Brownfield)
U.S. total broiler slaughter data for the week ending May 2, 2026, is estimated by USDA’s Poultry Market News Service to be 171,230,000 broilers, a 3-percent increase from the same week a year earlier.
The 3-percent increase in slaughter compares with a 2-percent increase in eggs set in the United States, 10 weeks earlier, and a 2-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- | % | |
| Mar | ||||||||||
| 28 | 256,471 | 103 | 195,765 | 102 |
254,388 | 103 | 195,573 | 102 | 168,527 | 101 |
| Apr | ||||||||||
| 4* | 253,609 | 102 | 196,663 | 103 |
253,842 | 102 | 195,378 | 102 | 168,174 | 100 |
| 11 | 256,827 | 103 | 197,285 | 103 |
251,111 | 101 | 192,408 | 101 | 171,173 | 102 |
| 18 | 256,464 | 102 | 198,480 | 104 |
254,036 | 102 | 193,098 | 101 | 168,744 | 103 |
| 25 | 256,968 | 103 | 195,753 | 102 |
254,580 | 102 | 195,286 | 102 | 170,854 | 103 |
| May | ||||||||||
| 2 | 256,758 | 102 | 198,584 | 103 |
254,948 | 102 | 196,241 | 102 | 171,230 | 103 |
| 9 | — | — | — | — |
254,423 | 102 | 196,001 | 102 | — | — |
*Easter Holiday Weekend
WHAT HAPPENED: The House Rules Committee held a hearing on Tuesday on H.R. 7567, the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026 – the Farm Bill — as well as several other pieces of high-priority legislation.
WHY IT MATTERS: Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR) introduced an amendment to the bill that would add hot rotisserie chicken to the list of foods eligible for SNAP recipients to purchase – identical to the two standalone bills introduced last week in the House and Senate. Currently, SNAP participants may only purchase cold rotisserie chicken, which is simply refrigerated hot chicken due to an outdated technicality.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT: The bill advanced out of the Rules Committee, and the full House began consideration of the Farm Bill on Wednesday night. Rep. Crawford’s amendment passed by voice vote, but a recorded vote was requested by House Ag Committee Chairman “GT” Thompson (R-PA). On Thursday morning, Rep. Crawford’s amendment to include hot rotisserie chicken in SNAP passed by a huge, bipartisan margin of 384-35. The House then passed the full Farm Bill 224-200.
NCC’s TAKE: This is a commonsense solution to an unnecessary problem. “I want to thank Rep. Crawford for his leadership on this issue, and congratulate him for the passage of his amendment by such a wide and bipartisan margin,” said NCC President Harrison Kircher. “I also want to congratulate House Ag Committee Chairman GT Thompson (R-PA) and committee staff for getting the Farm Bill over the finish line in the House. The ‘Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act’ is popular because it’s a winner on affordability and nutrition. We urge the Senate as they consider their version of the Farm Bill to build on this momentum and the work of Sens. Justice (R-WV), Bennet (D-CO), Fetterman (D-PA) and Capito (R-WV) who last week introduced the bill in the Senate.”
Source: Juanmonino / Getty Images
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:
“By allowing the purchase of hot rotisserie chicken, we give families the opportunity to use it as a meal or an ingredient in countless recipes such as chicken salad, enchiladas, soups, and casseroles, and the list goes on. This meaningful change will allow families to enjoy a wider variety of wholesome meals, and the governors from my state of Arkansas and seven other states have already requested waivers from USDA to allow their states to make hot rotisserie chicken SNAP eligible. USDA stated that it does not believe it has the legal authority to grant these waivers without congressional input. So, it’s time for us to act.” — Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR)
Rep. Crawford at hearing
“I just want to say I very much support this amendment. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that people cannot buy hot foods with — not just rotisserie chicken, but hot foods with SNAP benefits. They literally can’t buy what I buy for my family to eat at the grocery store, but they can buy candy bars and soda pop. And it just defies logic that we would let them buy candy bars and soda pop, not hot foods, much less rotisserie chicken.” — Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA)
Rep. Scott at hearing
“After raising a pile of kids, I know what a life saver a hot chicken can be when you need to put food on the table at the end of a long day. It’s backwards to stop SNAP families from buying this fast, easy, and affordable meal…time to fix it and give working families a break.” — Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-MI)
WHAT’s NEXT: Action on the Farm Bill now moves over to the Senate, where a bill has yet to be introduced.
WHAT HAPPENED: The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved the fiscal year 2027 appropriations bill covering the Agriculture Department, the Food and Drug Administration and related agencies. The vote was 35 to 25. House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Andy Harris (R-MD) included language in the bill that would allow surplus broiler hatching eggs to be sold into the egg breaker market, at least for one year since this is a one-year spending bill.
OTHER AMENDMENTS: On a side note, an amendment offered by Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez (D-WA), included report language encouraging USDA to expedite an HPAI vaccine in a pilot program. It was defeated in a voice vote.
WHY IT MATTERS: In 2009, FDA finalized a rule to address Salmonella in table eggs. The rule imposed a refrigeration requirement, not just on table eggs, but on all eggs (including broiler industry eggs). As a result, broiler producers can no longer sell those surplus eggs that didn’t hatch to “breakers.” These egg breakers pasteurize them for use in baking products, pastas, etc. This provision would correct that, allowing surplus broiler eggs to be used in the food supply after pasteurization.
Source: NCC
ARE THESE EGGS SAFE? USDA’s publicly available testing data show that Salmonella positives in pasteurized egg products remain nearly zero—confirming that pasteurization at USDA-inspected breakers is an effective, independent food safety control.
NCC’s TAKE: We fully support this provision that would make available nearly 400 million safe, nutritious, and pasteurized eggs each year. NCC has twice petitioned FDA to make this change, and we support two separate bills currently introduced in the House and Senate that address this issue.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “The data that the FDA relied on is old data that actually used modeling data, not a real study. They changed the rule. And subsequent to changing the rule, there was no difference in the number of batches that failed pasteurization. So actually the real world data, actual sampling data shows that rule was not effective at changing anything. Pasteurization in fact works.” — Rep. Harris
Watch a video of Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) speaking out in support of the provision:
WHAT HAPPENED: NCC recently signed onto a letter from the Coalition to Promote U.S. Agricultural Exports urging House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Andy Harris (R-MD) and Ranking Member Sanford Bishop (D-GA) to provide full, mandatory funding for USDA’s Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development Program (FMD) in the fiscal year 2027 appropriations bill.
WHY IT MATTERS: MAP and FMD are the primary federal tools for helping U.S. agricultural exporters — including chicken producers — compete in overseas markets. With an annual value of $4.5 billion, chicken is one of America’s top agricultural exports, and access to foreign markets is critical to the economic health of the entire supply chain, from growers to processors. Exports are especially important to move every part of the bird, especially leg quarters and paws.
NCC’S TAKE: NCC strongly supports full funding for MAP and FMD and is pleased to join more than 100 agricultural organizations in making this request.
BACKGROUND: The programs fund activities such as consumer promotion, market research, and trade servicing in dozens of countries. The U.S. broiler industry has benefited significantly from these programs, which have helped build demand for American chicken in key export markets around the world.
WHAT’S NEXT: The House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee is expected to begin work on the FY 2027 bill in the coming weeks. NCC will continue to engage with members of the subcommittee and advocate for robust funding for MAP and FMD.
Source: NCC
