That month marks the most recent for which we have full data, including imports and exports, the authors write. A chart of the demand indexes for the three species appears below. Note that observations through 2010 were for full calendar years. The 2011 observation is for the 12-month period from April 2010 through March 2011. All three indexes were higher for that time period, with chicken leading the way at 2.7 per cent. How does that square with low chicken prices?

It does so because domestic per capita consumption for the period was even higher than those low prices would have suggested. It is believed that a key question for the next few years is whether these demand measures have bottomed out from their post- Adkins diet downtrend. The peaks for all three occurred at the height of interest in low-carb, high-protein diets. There has not been a year since 2004 in which all three indexes moved upward in the same year.