Poultry Slaughter National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released October 2, 1998, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on "Poultry Slaughter" call John Lange (202) 720-0585, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Ready-to-Cook Weight Down 2 Percent Poultry Certified Wholesome during August (ready-to-cook weight), totaled 2.72 billion pounds, down 2 percent from the amount certified in August 1997. Updated totals for July 1998 show that 2.87 billion pounds were certified. The preliminary total Live Weight of Poultry Inspected during August 1998 was 3.71 billion pounds. Inspections included 3.08 billion pounds of young chickens, 69.5 million pounds of mature chickens, 540 million pounds of turkeys, and 12.5 million pounds of ducks. Young chickens slaughtered during August 1998 averaged 4.76 pounds per bird, up 2 percent from last year. The average live weight of mature chickens was 5.06 pounds per bird, down 1 percent form a year ago. Turkeys slaughtered during August 1998 averaged 24.0 pounds per bird, up 3 percent from August 1997. Ante-mortem condemnations during August 1998 totaled 20.4 million pounds. Condemnations were 0.55 percent of the live weight inspected, compared with 0.41 percent a year earlier. Post-mortem condemnations, at 65.5 million pounds (N.Y. dressed weight), were 1.96 percent of quantities inspected, compared with 1.87 percent a year earlier. August 1998 contained 21 weekdays and five Saturdays, the same as August 1997. Pou 2-1 (10-98) Poultry Slaughter: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight by Type, United States, August 1998 with Comparisons 1/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : Chickens : : Other :---------------------------------------: Ducks : Poultry : Young : Mature 2/ : Total : : :---------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Head Number Inspected : : Jul 1998 : 684,967 14,950 699,917 2,009 ----- Aug 1997 : 655,008 12,586 667,594 1,881 ----- Aug 1998 : 648,319 13,737 662,056 1,962 ----- : Jan-Aug 1997 : 5,172,380 115,120 5,287,500 14,411 ----- Jan-Aug 1998 : 5,227,663 115,241 5,342,904 15,288 ----- : : 1,000 Pounds Live Weight : : Jul 1998 : 3,206,837 76,438 3,283,274 12,978 1,074 Aug 1997 : 3,060,803 64,342 3,125,145 12,338 1,987 Aug 1998 : 3,082,820 69,508 3,152,328 12,547 1,481 : Jan-Aug 1997 : 24,787,998 570,870 25,358,868 96,049 10,487 Jan-Aug 1998 : 25,184,254 584,459 25,768,713 100,671 8,900 : : Pounds Average Live Weight : : Jul 1998 : 4.68 5.11 4.69 6.46 ----- Aug 1997 : 4.67 5.11 4.68 6.56 ----- Aug 1998 : 4.76 5.06 4.76 6.40 ----- : Jan-Aug 1997 : 4.79 4.96 4.80 6.66 ----- Jan-Aug 1998 : 4.82 5.07 4.82 6.58 ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See footnotes at end of table. -- continued Poultry Slaughter: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight by Type, United States, August 1998 with Comparisons 1/ (continued) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Turkeys : :--------------------------------------------: Total : Fryer- : : : Total : Poultry : Roasters : Young 3/ : Old : Turkeys : :---------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Head Number Inspected : : Jul 1998 : --- 24,174 168 24,342 ----- Aug 1997 : --- 24,727 172 24,899 ----- Aug 1998 : 40 22,292 158 22,490 ----- : Jan-Aug 1997 : 66 188,197 1,050 189,313 ----- Jan-Aug 1998 : 40 177,571 1,235 178,846 ----- : : 1,000 Pounds Live Weight : : Jul 1998 : --- 579,867 4,251 584,119 3,881,445 Aug 1997 : --- 575,390 4,306 579,696 3,719,165 Aug 1998 : 356 535,940 4,040 540,336 3,706,692 : Jan-Aug 1997 : 640 4,521,672 27,273 4,549,585 30,014,989 Jan-Aug 1998 : 356 4,407,458 32,412 4,440,226 30,318,510 : : Pounds Average Live Weight : : Jul 1998 : --- 23.99 25.24 24.00 ----- Aug 1997 : --- 23.27 25.03 23.28 ----- Aug 1998 : 8.96 24.04 25.53 24.03 ----- : Jan-Aug 1997 : 9.69 24.03 25.98 24.03 ----- Jan-Aug 1998 : 8.96 24.82 26.25 24.83 ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Federally inspected only. Totals may not add due to rounding. 2/ Of the Mature Chickens inspected, the number reported in thousands as heavy fowl (broiler breeding stock) was: August 1997: 5,061, August 1998: 4,876. 3/ Of the Young Turkeys inspected, the number reported in thousands as young breeders was: August 1997: 112, August 1998: 116. Poultry Slaughter: Chilled and Frozen, Pounds Certified by Type, United States, August 1998 with Comparisons 1/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : Chickens : : Other :---------------------------------------------: Ducks : Poultry : Young : Mature : Total : : :---------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds Jul 1998 : Chilled : 2,151,687 41,666 2,193,353 3,012 379 Frozen : 198,983 3,989 202,972 6,315 243 : Total : 2,350,669 45,655 2,396,325 9,327 622 : Aug 1997 : Chilled : 2,068,035 35,328 2,103,363 2,996 530 Frozen : 204,404 2,429 206,833 5,764 627 : Total : 2,272,438 37,758 2,310,196 8,761 1,157 : Aug 1998 : Chilled : 2,053,893 37,798 2,091,690 2,962 449 Frozen : 203,701 3,357 207,059 5,986 401 : Total : 2,257,594 41,155 2,298,749 8,948 850 : : Jan-Aug 1997 : Chilled : 16,543,087 326,931 16,870,019 24,508 3,393 Frozen : 1,612,579 17,045 1,629,624 44,031 2,442 : Total : 18,155,667 343,976 18,499,643 68,539 5,836 : Jan-Aug 1998 : Chilled : 16,802,685 321,965 17,124,651 24,538 3,156 Frozen : 1,641,336 29,246 1,670,582 47,307 1,838 : Total : 18,444,021 351,211 18,795,233 71,845 4,994 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See footnotes at end of table. -- continued Poultry Slaughter: Chilled and Frozen, Pounds Certified by Type, United States, August 1998 with Comparisons 1/ (continued) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Turkeys : :------------------------------------------------: Total : Fryer- : : : Total : Poultry : Roasters : Young : Old : Turkeys : :---------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds Jul 1998 : Chilled : --- 205,084 2,596 207,680 2,404,424 Frozen : --- 250,950 687 251,636 461,165 : Total : --- 456,034 3,283 459,316 2,865,590 : Aug 1997 : Chilled : --- 208,112 1,254 209,365 2,316,255 Frozen : --- 244,928 1,983 246,912 460,136 : Total : --- 453,040 3,237 456,277 2,776,391 : Aug 1998 : Chilled : 30 189,516 2,239 191,785 2,286,886 Frozen : 215 221,446 821 222,482 435,928 : Total : 245 410,962 3,061 414,267 2,722,814 : : Jan-Aug 1997 : Chilled : 73 1,713,422 14,299 1,727,794 18,625,714 Frozen : 395 1,853,232 6,310 1,859,938 3,536,036 : Total : 469 3,566,654 20,609 3,587,732 22,161,750 : Jan-Aug 1998 : Chilled : 30 1,631,372 17,372 1,648,774 18,801,118 Frozen : 215 1,828,979 7,138 1,836,332 3,556,060 : Total : 245 3,460,351 24,510 3,485,106 22,357,178 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Ready-to-cook weights. Totals may not add due to rounding. Poultry Slaughter: Ante-Mortem and Post-Mortem Condemnations by Type, United States, August 1998 with Comparisons 1/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : Chickens : : Other :------------------------------------: Ducks : Poultry : Young : Mature : Total : : :------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds Ante-Mortem : (Live Weight) : : Jul 1998 : 18,544 2,028 20,573 19 3 Aug 1997 : 12,281 1,208 13,489 16 8 Aug 1998 : 16,377 2,064 18,441 19 6 : Jan-Aug 1997 : 88,180 10,128 98,308 90 49 Jan-Aug 1998 : 110,932 11,565 122,497 113 37 : Percent 2/ : : Aug 1997 : 0.40 1.88 0.43 0.13 0.41 Aug 1998 : 0.53 2.97 0.58 0.15 0.39 : : 1,000 Pounds Post-Mortem : (N.Y. Dressed Weight) : : Jul 1998 : 50,796 4,469 55,264 245 12 Aug 1997 : 45,526 4,908 50,434 214 21 Aug 1998 : 49,932 4,127 54,060 268 18 : Jan-Aug 1997 : 385,719 36,039 421,758 1,951 103 Jan-Aug 1998 : 402,166 33,921 436,087 2,098 90 : Percent 3/ : : Aug 1997 : 1.65 8.48 1.79 1.93 1.20 Aug 1998 : 1.80 6.60 1.91 2.38 1.35 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See footnotes at end of table. -- continued Poultry Slaughter: Ante-Mortem and Post-Mortem Condemnations by Type, United States, August 1998 with Comparisons 1/ (continued) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Turkeys : :--------------------------------------------: Total : Fryer- : : : Total : Poultry : Roasters : Young : Old : Turkeys : :------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds Ante-Mortem : (Live Weight) : : Jul 1998 : --- 2,124 38 2,162 22,756 Aug 1997 : --- 1,608 21 1,629 15,142 Aug 1998 : 1 1,836 72 1,908 20,373 : Jan-Aug 1997 : 1 14,686 227 14,914 113,362 Jan-Aug 1998 : 1 13,084 299 13,384 136,030 : Percent 2/ : : Aug 1997 : --- 0.28 0.49 0.28 0.41 Aug 1998 : 0.18 0.34 1.78 0.35 0.55 : : 1,000 Pounds Post-Mortem : (N.Y. Dressed Weight) : : Jul 1998 : --- 11,031 221 11,252 66,773 Aug 1997 : --- 11,765 249 12,014 62,683 Aug 1998 : 7 10,924 229 11,160 65,506 : Jan-Aug 1997 : 19 91,099 1,664 92,783 516,595 Jan-Aug 1998 : 7 87,662 2,139 89,807 528,083 : Percent 3/ : : Aug 1997 : --- 2.27 6.42 2.30 1.87 Aug 1998 : 2.20 2.26 6.30 2.29 1.96 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Federally inspected only. Totals may not add due to rounding. 2/ Pounds condemned as percent of pounds (live weight) inspected. Percentages based on unrounded data. 3/ Pounds condemned as percent of pounds N.Y. dressed weight of quantity inspected. Percentages based on unrounded data. Young Chickens Slaughtered: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, Selected States and United States, August 1997-98 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Average : Number : Live Weight : Live Weight State : Inspected : Inspected : Inspected 1/ :-----------------------:---------------------------:------------------- : 1997 : 1998 : 1997 : 1998 : 1997 : 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------ 1,000 ------ ---- 1,000 Pounds ---- --- Pounds --- : AL : 73,069 71,275 342,829 351,689 4.69 4.93 AR : 98,152 95,391 452,898 440,418 4.61 4.62 CA : 21,604 20,811 111,138 105,651 5.14 5.08 DE : 22,481 22,845 120,472 119,959 5.36 5.25 FL : 11,173 10,403 49,232 53,580 4.41 5.15 GA : 96,233 95,762 457,483 461,383 4.75 4.82 LA : 13,352 14,387 60,085 63,035 4.50 4.38 MD : 17,727 17,282 80,520 80,497 4.54 4.66 MS : 59,571 55,770 263,211 259,766 4.42 4.66 MO : 29,357 29,999 122,620 126,074 4.18 4.20 NC : 52,763 50,240 281,566 268,052 5.34 5.34 PA : 9,324 9,303 46,963 46,975 5.04 5.05 SC : 19,298 18,112 86,022 83,248 4.46 4.60 TN : 14,060 15,167 61,669 71,732 4.39 4.73 TX : 41,016 44,413 181,780 191,136 4.43 4.30 VA : 29,328 30,020 134,649 141,722 4.59 4.72 WA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 655,008 648,319 3,060,803 3,082,820 4.67 4.76 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Average weight based on unrounded data. Young Chickens Slaughtered: Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, Selected States and United States, August 1997-98 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : Post-Mortem Condemnations : Total :----------------------------------------- State : Certified 1/ : N.Y. Dressed Weight : Percent 2/ :-----------------------------:----------------------------------------- : 1997 : 1998 : 1997 : 1998 : 1997 : 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------------------ 1,000 Pounds ------------------ -- Percent -- : AL : 257,817 264,824 7,554 8,039 2.45 2.54 AR : 347,075 318,750 5,792 6,285 1.42 1.59 CA : 81,164 77,329 1,763 1,471 1.76 1.55 DE : 88,802 87,494 1,820 1,934 1.68 1.79 FL : 35,927 37,119 994 1,134 2.24 2.35 GA : 340,832 342,731 6,029 6,703 1.46 1.61 LA : 41,673 43,177 1,332 1,516 2.46 2.67 MD : 57,382 55,299 968 2,269 1.34 3.13 MS : 199,996 195,668 2,920 3,573 1.23 1.53 MO : 89,105 91,037 1,524 1,398 1.38 1.23 NC : 208,692 201,117 4,425 4,320 1.75 1.79 PA : 31,777 32,610 1,077 1,319 2.55 3.12 SC : 63,438 60,614 1,429 1,684 1.85 2.25 TN : 44,808 51,547 596 879 1.07 1.36 TX : 137,954 144,446 2,961 2,220 1.81 1.29 VA : 95,388 98,748 1,359 1,753 1.12 1.37 WA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 2,272,438 2,257,594 45,526 49,932 1.65 1.80 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Ready-to-cook weights. 2/ Pounds condemned as percent of equivalent N.Y. dressed weight of quantity inspected. Percentages based on unrounded data. Young Chickens Slaughtered: Number Condemned Post-Mortem by Cause, Selected States and United States, August 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Tuber- : : : Airsac- : : State : culosis : Leukosis : Septicemia : culitis : Synovitis : Tumors ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : AL : --- 1,221 202,647 180,227 4,217 11,369 AR : --- 2,707 323,529 100,123 24,760 5,939 CA : --- 4,700 101,049 8,934 --- 4,207 DE : --- --- 96,199 38,783 59 17,756 FL : --- --- --- --- --- --- GA : --- 2,827 162,805 196,209 3,772 12,440 LA : --- --- 59,728 50,693 --- 1,853 MD : --- 4,120 76,919 18,986 88 9,156 MS : --- --- 137,062 102,479 5,215 7,754 MO : --- 3,171 65,836 16,782 2,312 1,797 NC : --- 3,389 130,045 68,675 161 46,864 PA : --- 779 25,115 18,975 284 --- SC : --- 1,381 31,496 --- 137 --- TN : --- 554 54,610 10,551 --- --- TX : --- --- 109,836 34,092 867 2,987 VA : --- --- 82,930 48,450 152 --- WA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 33 45,425 1,856,741 1,029,247 63,959 163,178 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Contam- : : : : Bruises : Cadaver : ination : Overscald : Other : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : AL : 16,734 37,739 80,864 12,012 289,363 836,393 AR : 14,470 38,837 60,706 4,559 125,138 700,768 CA : 1,056 6,602 2,770 367 39,359 169,044 DE : 2,750 10,856 17,223 7,631 54,570 245,827 FL : 1,934 3,744 8,001 --- --- 13,679 GA : 14,789 37,947 49,808 12,801 283,009 776,407 LA : --- --- 14,442 --- 32,886 159,602 MD : 1,709 13,680 --- 3,450 22,715 150,823 MS : 8,538 44,756 32,649 2,078 184,890 525,421 MO : 3,273 12,177 21,466 1,433 42,719 170,966 NC : 7,737 26,694 70,551 8,838 140,968 503,922 PA : 3,068 2,810 --- --- 38,623 89,654 SC : 4,558 --- --- --- 84,706 122,278 TN : 3,553 9,660 --- --- 21,045 99,973 TX : 1,952 16,828 16,244 --- 26,170 208,976 VA : 3,825 10,832 21,709 4,721 79,566 252,185 WA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 98,354 341,229 537,257 81,886 1,755,039 5,972,348 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mature Chickens Slaughtered: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, Selected States and United States, August 1997-98 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Average : Number : Live Weight : Live Weight State : Inspected : Inspected : Inspected 1/ :-----------------------:---------------------------:------------------- : 1997 : 1998 : 1997 : 1998 : 1997 : 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------ 1,000 ------ ---- 1,000 Pounds ---- --- Pounds --- : CA : --- --- --- --- --- --- GA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 12,586 13,737 64,342 69,508 5.11 5.06 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Average weight based on unrounded data. Mature Chickens Slaughtered: Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, Selected States and United States, August 1997-98 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : Post-Mortem Condemnations : Total :----------------------------------------- State : Certified 1/ : N.Y. Dressed Weight : Percent 2/ :-----------------------------:----------------------------------------- : 1997 : 1998 : 1997 : 1998 : 1997 : 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------------------ 1,000 Pounds ------------------ -- Percent -- : CA : --- --- --- --- --- --- GA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 37,758 41,155 4,908 4,127 8.48 6.60 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Ready-to-cook weights. 2/ Pounds condemned as percent of equivalent N.Y. dressed weight of quantity inspected. Percentages based on unrounded data. Mature Chickens Slaughtered: Number Condemned Post-Mortem by Cause, Selected States and United States, August 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Tuber- : : : Airsac- : : State : culosis : Leukosis : Septicemia : culitis : Synovitis : Tumors ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : CA : --- --- --- 48 --- --- GA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : --- 5,129 290,400 19,393 574 130,976 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Contam- : : : : Bruises : Cadaver : ination : Overscald : Other : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : CA : --- 27 --- --- 1,233 1,308 GA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 30,480 33,883 159,713 1,461 52,563 724,572 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Young Turkeys (Mature) Slaughtered: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, Selected States and United States, August 1997-98 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Average : Number : Live Weight : Live Weight State : Inspected : Inspected : Inspected 1/ :-----------------------:---------------------------:------------------- : 1997 : 1998 : 1997 : 1998 : 1997 : 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------ 1,000 ------ ---- 1,000 Pounds ---- --- Pounds --- : AR : 2,261 2,175 38,745 36,929 17.14 16.98 CA : 1,947 1,494 41,562 32,025 21.35 21.43 IA : 1,264 1,255 32,354 33,866 25.59 26.99 MN : 4,201 3,929 90,508 98,960 21.55 25.19 MO : 2,100 1,890 54,704 49,618 26.05 26.25 NC : 3,542 2,964 90,948 71,469 25.67 24.11 PA : --- --- --- --- --- --- VA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 24,727 22,292 575,390 535,940 23.27 24.04 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Average weight based on unrounded data. Young Turkeys (Mature) Slaughtered: Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, Selected States and United States, August 1997-98 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : Post-Mortem Condemnations : Total :----------------------------------------- State : Certified 1/ : N.Y. Dressed Weight : Percent 2/ :-----------------------------:----------------------------------------- : 1997 : 1998 : 1997 : 1998 : 1997 : 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------------------ 1,000 Pounds ------------------ -- Percent -- : AR : 31,693 29,173 694 874 1.99 2.63 CA : 33,405 25,834 539 493 1.44 1.71 IA : 25,093 25,967 727 847 2.50 2.78 MN : 71,487 69,200 2,955 2,109 3.63 2.37 MO : 43,972 39,218 1,105 1,042 2.24 2.33 NC : 68,442 56,483 1,552 1,423 1.90 2.21 PA : --- --- --- --- --- --- VA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 453,040 410,962 11,765 10,924 2.27 2.26 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Ready-to-cook weights. 2/ Pounds condemned as percent of equivalent N.Y. dressed weight of quantity inspected. Percentages based on unrounded data. Young Turkeys (Mature) Slaughtered: Number Condemned Post-Mortem by Cause, Selected States and United States, August 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Tuber- : : : Airsac- : : State : culosis : Leukosis : Septicemia : culitis : Synovitis : Tumors ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : AR : --- --- 5,104 --- --- --- CA : --- 4 7,841 --- --- --- IA : --- --- 5,747 1,467 --- --- MN : --- --- 14,469 2,530 --- 15 MO : --- --- 15,135 3,386 --- --- NC : --- --- 5,990 --- --- --- PA : --- --- --- --- --- --- VA : --- --- 3,944 --- --- --- : US : --- 572 89,423 19,107 5,324 203 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Contam- : : : : Bruises : Cadaver : ination : Overscald : Other : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : AR : --- --- --- --- --- 5,104 CA : 5 --- 176 --- 231 8,257 IA : --- 246 555 --- --- 8,015 MN : 240 995 1,164 629 1,821 21,863 MO : 77 --- 404 --- 2,102 21,104 NC : 85 1,574 3,329 --- 606 11,584 PA : --- --- --- --- --- --- VA : 15 845 --- --- 1,149 5,953 : US : 942 7,612 9,894 4,222 12,691 149,990 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Old Turkeys (Breeders) Slaughtered: Number Condemned Post-Mortem by Cause, United States, August 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Tuber- : : : Airsac- : : State : culosis : Leukosis : Septicemia : culitis : Synovitis : Tumors ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : US : --- --- 3,734 661 --- 40 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Contam- : : : : Bruises : Cadaver : ination : Overscald : Other : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : US : 25 200 130 --- 799 5,589 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Poultry Slaughter Estimates Data Sources: Primary data for commercial poultry slaughter estimates are obtained from the Poultry Inspection Form (FSIS 6000-21) completed by inspectors of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), USDA. This form provides actual counts of birds slaughtered in Federally Inspected (FI) plants. Over 99 percent of the total U.S. slaughter for any species is under FI. The FSIS 6000-21 forms collect number of head slaughtered daily under FI by species and class as well as condemnations and total live and dressed weights. Approximately 350 plants in the U.S. are operated under Federal Inspection. Annual totals of poultry slaughtered under State-administered Non-Federal Inspection (NFI) are published in the April release. Revision Policy: Revisions are generally the result of late reports received by FSIS from plants and are usually less than one-half of 1 percent of the preliminary totals. Revisions for the previous month and year-to-date totals are published in each monthly release. Final data are published in the annual summary released in April and reflect any late reports or corrections which occurred after the monthly revision were published. Procedures and Reliability: Plant inspectors submit forms (FSIS 6000-21) weekly summarizing the plant's activity. When inconsistencies in the data are detected, the reports are returned to the inspectors for correction. Inspectors correct or validate the report and resubmit it. The reports cover weekly activities through Saturday night and reported data are allocated to the appropriate month as it enters the database. A NASS computer program provides a review of current data with historical data for each plant. An edit provides checks for the detection of errors such as invalid plant information, duplication, and erroneous data. The program also generates a missing reports listing for a telephone follow-up. Data are summarized weekly and accumulated to a monthly total for this release. Major slaughter plants with missing reports are adjusted prior to publication to assure that all plants slaughtering a significant portion of a specific class are accounted for each week. Estimates for missing weeks are made only after verifying that the plant was in operation. Adjustments are based on either the previous week's information or a week determined to be similar to the one missing. Late reports replace imputed data as they become available. While there will continue to be a varying degree of incompleteness from month to month, it is expected to have only a minimal impact on the final totals. Poultry slaughter estimates are based on a census of operating plants and, therefore, have no sampling error. However, they may be subject to errors such as omissions, duplications, and mistakes in reporting, recording, and processing the data. These errors are minimized through strict quality controls in the edit and summarization process, and a careful review of all reported data for consistency and reasonableness. Generally, no State data are published if less than three plants operate for a species in a State, or if one plant has 60 percent or more of the total head for that species. These data are included in the U.S. totals. Definitions Used To Report Federally Inspected Slaughter Ante-Mortem Condemnations - Birds condemned prior to their entry into the slaughter plant. Certified Ready-to-Cook - The weight of poultry certified wholesome by inspection after post-mortem condemnation pounds are removed. Ready-to-cook represents poultry meat ready for the marketing channel. Ducks - Includes all ducks regardless of age and weight. Fryer-Roaster Turkeys - Young immature birds, usually under 16 weeks of age. Mature Chickens - Fowl from breeder and market egg flocks and stags and cocks. New York Dressed Weight - Carcass weight after only feathers and blood are removed. This weight is approximately 90% of live weight. Old Turkeys (Breeders) - Fully matured birds held for egg production, usually over 15 months of age. Other Poultry - Includes all other ready-to-cook products which bear the U.S.D.A. Inspected for Wholesomeness legend. Post-Mortem Condemnations - Carcasses or parts condemned by the inspector because of disease or mishandling and removed from the slaughter line and destroyed. Young Chickens - Commercially grown broilers-fryers and other young immature birds such as roasters and capons. Young Turkeys (Mature) - Young birds grown to a matured market age, about 5 months. Index Page Definitions.............................................................. 16 Mature Chickens Number Inspected, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, U.S., August 1997-1998.................................................. 11 Mature Chickens Post-Mortem Condemnations by Cause, Selected States and U.S., August 1997-1998.............................. 11 Mature Chickens Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, U.S., August 1997-1998.................................................. 11 Old Turkeys (Breeders) Post-Mortem Condemnations by Cause, U.S., August 1997-1998.................................................. 14 Poultry Chilled and Frozen Pounds Certified (RTC) by Type, U.S., August 1997....................................................... 4 Poultry Slaughter Ante-Mortem and Post-Mortem Condemnations by Type, U.S., August 1997.............................................. 6 Poultry Slaughter Number Inspected, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight by Type, U.S., August 1997.................................. 2 Reliability Statement.................................................... 15 Young Chickens Number Inspected, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, Selected States and U.S., August 1997-1998.............................. 8 Young Chickens Post-Mortem Condemnations by Cause, Selected States and U.S., August 1997-1998.............................. 10 Young Chickens Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, Selected States and U.S., August 1997-1998.............................. 9 Young Turkeys (Mature) Number Inspected, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, Selected States and U.S., August 1997-1998................. 12 Young Turkeys (Mature) Post-Mortem Condemnations by Cause, Selected States and U.S., August 1997-1998.............................. 13 Young Turkeys (Mature) Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, Selected States and U.S., August 1997-1998.............................. 12 The next "Poultry Slaughter" report will be released at 3 p.m. ET on November 4, 1998. 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