Other countries will pay more for poultry

US - Though the Gulf Coast region's poultry industry was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, shoppers in Russia strangely enough may see higher prices in grocery stores than U.S. consumers will, experts said Tuesday.

Much of the chicken produced in the region is exported to other countries, Russia in particular, said Bob Young, chief economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation.

With power down after the hurricane, thousands of tons of chicken leg quarters sitting in cold storage and ready to be shipped abroad were wasted, said Richard Lobb of the National Chicken Council.

Mississippi accounts for about 10 percent of U.S. chicken production. But the industry is so large, and demand for chicken typically starts to wane as the holidays approach, that the loss will be "virtually invisible to [U.S.] consumers," Lobb said.

Source: The SunTimes
calendar icon 21 September 2005
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