It was a year of increased production, higher domestic consumption and increased exports for Canada’s chicken industry.
In late December, Chicken Farmers of Canada reported that by the end of November, the supply of fresh chicken in the Canadian market had already exceeded the 2007 total by 1.7 percent.
Total market supply in 2008 exceeded 1.1 billion kilograms for the first time.
However, those figures were sluggish compared to the United States, where chicken is taking a larger share of the national animal protein market.
U.S. chicken production and slaughter soared last year to more than 14.1 billion kg, almost four percent higher than 2007.
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Meanwhile, chicken imports into Canada, often from the U.S., remained stable last year at 152 million kg to the end of November while exports rose a robust 12 percent to 125 million kg.
Under supply management, chicken producers operate within a system of production controls and import restrictions.
As the year ended, producer prices were much higher than they were at the end of 2007. On the Prairies, chicken producers received prices more than 18 percent higher than the previous year.
However, the industry is predicting prices will fall sharply during the first pricing period in early 2009.
At the consumer level, chicken prices rose much faster than prices for other meat. While the Consumer Price Index compiled by Statistics Canada showed a four percent increase for chicken, beef prices were up only 1.5 percent and pork prices rose 0.84 percent during the first 11 months of the year.
Ontario and Quebec accounted for 60 percent of Canadian chicken production in 2008 with Ontario the largest provincial producer with 32 percent of the national total.
The Prairies accounted for almost 17 percent of national production, led by Alberta.
