1996, location unknown. L-R: John Rogers, NCC Vice Chairman, B.C. Rogers Company; Unknown; Mark Simmons, Simmons Foods, NCC Chairman; Unknown; Jim Perdue, Perdue Farms, NCC Secretary-Treasurer. If you can name the two unidentified individuals, e-mail Tom Super for recognition in next week’s newsletter: [email protected]
U.S. total broiler slaughter data for the week ending September 19, 2026, is estimated by USDA’s Poultry Market News Service to be 168,013,000 broilers, a 4-percent decrease from the same week a year earlier.
The 4-percent decrease in slaughter compares with a 2-percent increase in eggs set in the United States 10 weeks earlier, and a 1-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- | % | |
| Aug | ||||||||||
| 15 | 249,495 | 100 | 196,464 | 102 |
257,097 | 102 | 198,693 | 102 | 172,776 | 101 |
| 22 | 251,894 | 101 | 195,177 | 101 |
254,493 | 101 | 197,202 | 101 | 174,016 | 100 |
| 29 | 250,303 | 101 | 194,414 | 100 |
252,943 | 101 | 195,611 | 100 | 171,708 | 97 |
| Sep | ||||||||||
| 5 * | 248,681 | 99 | 193,557 | 100 |
252,451 | 101 | 195,455 | 101 | 174,775 | 108 |
| 12 | 245,222 | 99 | 194,922 | 100 |
251,737 | 100 | 194,607 | 100 | 158,906 | 91 |
| 19 | 247,786 | 103 | 194,595 | 101 |
251,893 | 102 | 194,575 | 101 | 168,013 | 96 |
| 24 | — | — | — | — |
252,493 | 101 | 195,784 | 101 | — | — |
*Labor Day Holiday Weekend
WHAT HAPPENED: The Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday passed its version of the Farm Bill, the Agricultural Act of 2026, by a vote of 12-11, along partisan lines. The big sticking point is the Democrats’ push for at least a two-year delay for states faced with paying a portion of benefit costs under SNAP, depending on their payment error rates. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) who returned to the Senate this week after an absence since June due to a fall, was present to vote for the bill, giving Republicans a majority present to vote for it.
QUICK RECAP: The committee tried to move the measure in August, but Republican absences hindered GOP efforts. Both Sens. Mitch McConnell and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) were not present at the time.
NCC’s TAKE: “I want to thank Chairman Boozman for his leadership in advancing this important piece of legislation, and Senator Justice for his successful amendment that would add hot rotisserie chicken to the SNAP program,” said NCC President Harrison Kircher. “We are also especially appreciative that no provisions were included that would have negatively impacted the way chicken is contracted or marketed. “There are also several provisions in the bill that would positively impact chicken producers, including poultry health and disease monitoring programs, support for broiler exports, and natural disaster assistance,” Kircher added.
WHAT’s NEXT: The bill moves to the full Senate, where it will need 60 votes to pass. Assuming Senate passage, House and Senate negotiators would then convene a conference committee to reconcile differences with the House-passed Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 before a final compromise bill returns to both chambers for a vote and heads to the President’s desk.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “We’ll get together with the House and the Senate and discuss and figure out a path,” Senate Ag Committee Chaiman John Boozman (R-Ark.) told Bloomberg. “We don’t have time to put it on the floor right now, so we’ll be conferencing until after the election.”
Senate Ag Committee Chairman John Boozman (Photo by Brent Barnett/Brownfield)
WHAT HAPPENED: Speaker Mike Johnson announced Wednesday that he is sending House members home early for their seven-week campaign recess ahead of the midterm elections. House Republicans had planned to stay in session until Thursday but instead took their final votes Wednesday evening — including a Russia sanctions bill — before leaving town. GOP leadership had already shortened the chamber’s September schedule by two weeks earlier in the month.
WHY IT MATTERS: With control of the House up for grabs in November, the early exit gives members extra time on the ground in a large number of competitive races. The map includes dozens of competitive seats, and the extended window lets both parties’ incumbents and challengers put more time into door-knocking, fundraisers, and local media in the final stretch before Election Day. The early adjournment also means any unfinished legislative business will sit until lawmakers return, giving members more to campaign on, or against, once they’re back in their districts.
WHAT’S NEXT: The House is expected to return around Nov. 9, 2026, the week following the Nov. 3 midterm elections. The Senate, by contrast, is scheduled to remain in session for the next two weeks before beginning its own recess. Per the Senate’s 2026 calendar, the chamber will then be out for the month of October and the first week of November ahead of the midterms, returning for a total of seven working days before Thanksgiving, followed by three weeks in December ahead of the Christmas recess.
Source: UVA
WHAT HAPPENED: NCC announced that Dr. Larry J. Sabato, founder and director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics and head of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, will speak on October 29 at the National Chicken Council’s 71st Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.
ABOUT LARRY SABATO: A New York Times best-selling author, four-time Emmy winner, and Rhodes Scholar, Sabato is a regular political commentator on CNN, BBC, and CNN International. He has taught more than 20,000 students at UVA, earning the university’s highest honor, the Thomas Jefferson Award, and has held visiting appointments at Oxford and Cambridge. Sabato has authored or edited more than two dozen books on American politics. Under his leadership, Sabato’s Crystal Ball has become one of the nation’s most trusted political forecasting platforms — ranked #1 in political prediction by the Pew Charitable Trust, named a top political site by The Daily Beast, and recognized by the Harvard Political Review as the most accurate forecaster of the 2020 Electoral College.
HOW TO REGISTER: Join NCC October 28–29, 2026, in Washington, D.C., to gain insights into the legislative, regulatory, political, business, and economic issues shaping the chicken industry’s future — and connect with industry leaders driving that future forward. The conference is open to NCC members, state association representatives, press, government officials, academia, and other interested parties. For more information, questions, sponsorship opportunities, or to register, please contact Polina Burko at [email protected].
THANKING OUR SPONSORS:
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