1. What raising chickens used to look like.

2. Now
What it is today.

3. In a setting like this.
DPI is a trade group that, since the 1950s, has tried to make life easier for growers and for companies – working for the common good of Delmarva’s meat chix industry.
Our work isn’t really advertising chicken as a food. We aim to make the whole industry both more profitable and a better neighbor – and to make sure you’re comfortable with where your chicken comes from.

4. Family farms at the heart
Delmarva’s commercial chicken industry ties together more than 1,700 family farms, five chicken companies with more than 14,500 employees, partnerships with universities and state governments, and hundreds of allied businesses.
The fundamental building block of Delmarva’s chicken industry is a family raising chicken on their farm. That hasn’t changed, since the 1920s when farm families realized they could add chicken coops for some extra income. While farms are larger than they used to be, they remain family-owned, and in almost every case, the farm family lives nearby.

5. NO HORMONES No hormones are EVER fed to chickens raised commercially.
It is illegal to feed hormones to chickens.
Another thing that hasn’t changed: No hormones. That holds true for farming, for meat production, for chicken. How many people have heard friends say about chicken – they’re so big because of the hormones?
Hasn’t been true for generations. We still combat the rumor. Do your part!

6. Delmarva’s Chicken Industry in 2016
595 million birds produced (4.1 billion pounds)
1,700 farm families
14,500 company employees
Nearly $1 billion in feed costs – corn, soybeans, etc.
$94 million in capital improvements
A $3.21 billion piece of our economy
How do I impress upon people the importance of Delmarva’s chicken industry? Facts and figures help. You are part of a major industry – as important economically to the region as Silicon Valley is to California or Wall Street is to New York.

7. The Chicken Industry 70% of Delaware cash farm income 35% of Maryland’s cash farm income 22% of Virginia’s cash farm income
Taking chicken away from our farm economies would be a major loss. Chicken is a job-creator and income provider. This farmer, on the right, is Choudry Asif; that’s him and his son. They moved here from Long Island. He was a cabdriver, looking for something better. He found it here.

8. The five companies in our region
The five companies in our region. Together, they employ more than 14,000 people. Jobs in Delmarva’s chicken plants pay well more than minimum wage, and companies offer employees free on-site health care.

9. Source: Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 2016
But here are some entirely different figures about our industry. This is a part of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s 2016 State of the Bay report. In its dry way, it is reporting a sustainability success: the amt of nitrogen in the bay’s waters is down.
That’s important because farm fields, especially those fed with chicken litter, were long thought to contribute to nitrogen pollution.
All states have had nutrient runoff regulations in place for many years. They may be paying off.
Farmers were asked to change how they worked to protect the bay, they agreed, and it’s working.
Many people don’t know it but ALL of the conservation goals farmers were asked to make for the bay – NMPs, cover crops, planting buffers – we met them ALL, on schedule, and in many cases are ahead of schedule. That’s really important for people to know. We’re NOT behind in this work; we’re out in front.

10. All farmers are environmentalists
Chickens poop, right? Chicken poop, mixed with the wood shavings that line the houses, is chicken litter. Chicken litter has nutrients that help plants grow. Applied to fields, it’s fertilizer – it’s all-organic, slow-release, locally sourced plant food. It’s valuable, and chicken farmers do NOT want its value wasted – that’s leaving money on the table. All farmers, both chicken growers and crop farmers, work to make the most of it, not to waste it. So they use conservation measures to ensure nutrients stay on fields to be useful, not escape into waterways – planting buffers, trucking manure to fields that need it, setting houses back from property lines. We support 200-foot setbacks and applaud counties who require them.

11. All farmers are environmentalists
At DPI, we devote a lot of time and resources to making it easy for chicken growers to plant tree, shrub and tall grass buffers ringing chicken houses. It’s a visual screen; they catch dust and trap odor; they absorb stray nutrients. We are all-in on them, and many companies now require new growers to have them before getting birds.

12. Product Distribution Most Delmarva product sold in Northeast USA
Exports to more than 100 countries; Canada, Mexico receive most
Exports are generally dark meat
Exports account for approximately 20% of Delmarva production
Where’s the chicken go? Mostly domestic. Some exports. Recently, South Africa reopened its doors to us, and that’s good.

13. Growers Corn & soybean farmers Chicken companies
The industry is structured like a three-legged stool. All necessary for support.
Growers
Corn & soybean farmers
Chicken companies

14. Chicken House Construction
When people see construction of any kind, they have questions.

15. Why So Much Construction Now
Regulatory uncertainty, especially in Maryland
Desperate times for chicken industry in USA in 2010/2011/2012
Big housing boom in late 1970s – early 1980s; now, those houses need to be replaced
Low interest rates
Chicken company incentives to build houses
More space per bird becoming standard

16. Number of Chicken Houses on Delmarva
Important context, though.

17. Number of Growers on Delmarva
Nothing is out of control about our industry. If we’ll grow, it’ll be slowly.

18. Annual Feed Bill
Most of this is spent on Delmarva.

19. Soybeans and Corn Used for Feed
Really interdependent with our crop production.

20. Delmarva Birds Produced

21. Pounds of Meat Produced
Here we see evidence of more efficient production; less of the bird wasted. That’s a positive story. Since raising a bird means inputs of feed, propane, electricity. Make more use of those units by wasting less of the bird.

22. US Per Capita Consumption of Broiler Chicken
And never forget: People want to eat chicken, they are willing to seek it out, and you have a good story to tell about how it gets to their plate – it’s made by family farmers who are environmentally conscious.

23. 2015 State Rankings 8th 11th 10th Maryland Delaware Virginia
Meat chickens produced
8th
11th
10th
Pounds of meat chickens
Value of meat chickens