Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
first flock sold for 62 cents per pound. Later in 1924, the birds sold for 57 cents per pound,
which is the equivalent today of close to $15 per pound. Homemakers and restaurant owners
discovered the versatility of preparing chicken (frying, broiling, roasting, and as stew meat),
causing demand to increase.
By 1926, Steele's flock increased to 10,000, and less than ten years later, the prospering
Steeles owned seven farms. Even today, Delaware, the birthplace of the broiler chicken in-
dustry, remains one of the country's biggest chicken producers; the state delivers millions of
birds each year.
The 1940s saw the integration of the chicken industry. Before that time, feed mills, farms,
processing operations, and hatcheries worked independently of each other, according to the
National Chicken Council. The integration of these made the chicken industry more efficient
and streamlined — the feed mills loaned money to the farms to buy chicks from the hatcher-
ies. When farmers sold the flock to the processors, they used the money they received from
the processors to pay back the feed mills. This practice became more common and regulated
as chicken consumption increased. Refrigeration also helped the industry because it allowed
consumers to store their meat longer. Factory farming produced more products for less money,
and raising chickens that scratched around in the backyard became less popular and not as
lucrative.
In the 1950s, production increased to meet the needs of the baby boom. Vertical integration —
when one company controls all processes from marketing to production in an effort to reduce
costs — helped manufacturers afford new technology, which increased sales and profits. En-
trepreneurs with vertical integration systems controlled most of the chicken industry at this
time. In the 1960s, marketing expanded to television and print, which made poultry brand
names more recognized and popular than ever.
Automation technologies of the 1970s helped producers meet consumer demands. Regula-
tions and laws became more focused on production as people became more educated on the
poultry's nutritional values, diseases associated with chickens, and the process of speeding up
chicken growth. The government and the public scrutinized the cleanliness of chicken plants,
the environments the chickens lived in, and the way the birds were killed. Poultry was not the
only industry with stricter regulations; the United States overall was setting higher standards
and fine-tuning its food markets. Regulators' eyes were open to the potential harm of unsafe
practices, and they closely monitored the progress of food production. Demand was steadily
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