Why is chicken so cheap?

Why is chicken so cheap?
Chicken is one of the cheapest meats available at the grocery store, but did you ever wonder why?
Efficient Processing: Labor is often the most expensive input in any product, including food products. Chicken processing is highly automated, but when you talk about quartering or sectioning meat into legs, wings, etc., that is much more manual, even if a machine is doing it. Every time a machine or person touches a chicken, that is adding processing costs to the final product.
It is also well documented that there are safety issues surrounding workers doing chicken processing. Injuries at processing plants adds to the overall expense of producing chicken. Given that labor is the most expensive input, there is pressure to cut corners at the expense of safety.
Economies of Scale: Both Livestock farms and meat processing facilities are highly mechanized and automated. One of the main advantages of economies of scale is being able to distribute fixed costs over many units, chickens in this case. Specialization and division of labor is another concept that has revolutionized society, and chicken processing specifically. You have highly specialized machines and staff that concentrate on just one process. Workers become more skilled at their specific tasks and utilizing the equipment assigned to them. However, its important to note the high rate of burnout and injury associated with doing just one process all day, repeatedly.
In addition to economies of scale in labor and equipment, you also can apply this concept to negotiation when purchasing and selling. The more feed you are buying as a farmer, the cheaper price you can get per unit. For the meat processor, the more chickens you are purchasing from a farmer, the more you can negotiate that price down.
There are also economies of scale regarding logistics. If a truck is going to a destination, it really does not add very much additional cost whether that truck is half full or totally full. It is always best to run trucks that are full of cargo.
Short Growth Time: Chickens can be market ready in the European Union in 42 days and in the United States in 48 days. Let’s talk about this further in the next point which is:
Breeding and Genetics: A broiler chicken is bred and raised specifically for meat production. Selective breeding emphasizes favorable traits like a high growth rate. Broiler chickens grow fast, make efficient use of their feed to produce meat, and have a high meat yield. In the United States, the most common you will come across in the grocery store is the Cornish Cross which is a hybrid of the Cornish and White Plymouth Rock breeds.
Contrary to popular brief, hormone usage is not as widespread as the public believes. The high growth rate of broiler chickens is primarily due to genetic selection and nutrition.
Byproduct Utilizations: While I have been saying “whole chicken,” when you purchase this at the grocery store, it is not in fact, whole. The organs, feathers, blood, beak, neck, and feet have all been removed and sold or repurposed. If you visit an Asian supermarket, and even some Walmart, you can purchase chicken feet and gizzards.
Subsidies: Tax money subsidizes farming, including livestock. In the United States, corn and soybeans are heavily subsidized, and form the bulk of livestock feed, including for chickens. Soybean meal is the primary protein source in chicken feed due to its high quality amino acid profile. The federal government offers crop insurance programs to mitigate weather, pests, and market risks. There are also price support programs whereby the government purchases surplus crops when prices are low and releases them then the market price rises. Direct payments are even made to farmers to provide a stable income.
Looking forward, I believe more and more of our diets will be composed of chicken for the near future as people shift from beef and fish to cheaper meat sources like chicken and pork. We talked about some of the many reasons chicken is so cheap. It is important to have an affordable meat source to feed people. Protein is an important source of any diet. Chicken is delicious and offers a satisfying meal for all classes of society.

Works Cited:
https://www.chickencheck.in/farm-to-table/what-are-broiler-chickens/
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