Pou 2-1 (11-99) Poultry Slaughter National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released November 4, 1999, 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 or Mike Barker (202)720-3243, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Ready-to-Cook Weight Up 7 Percent Poultry certified wholesome during September (ready-to-cook weight), totaled 3.01 billion pounds, up 7 percent from the amount certified in September 1998. Updated totals for August 1999 show that 3.04 billion pounds were certified. The preliminary total live weight of poultry inspected during September 1999 was 4.07 billion pounds, up 7 percent from a year ago. Inspections included 3.39 billion pounds of young chickens, up 7 percent; 74.6 million pounds of mature chickens, up 6 percent; 581 million pounds of turkeys, up 6 percent; and 13.2 million pounds of ducks, down 3 percent from September 1998. Young chickens slaughtered during September 1999 averaged 4.97 pounds per bird, up 3 percent from September 1998. The average live weight of mature chickens was 5.45 pounds per bird, up 5 percent from a year ago. Turkeys slaughtered during September 1999 averaged 25.1 pounds per bird, up 5 percent from September 1998. Ante-mortem condemnations during September 1999 totaled 16.0 million pounds. Condemnations were 0.39 percent of the live weight inspected, compared with 0.47 percent a year earlier. Post-mortem condemnations, at 62.1 million pounds (N.Y. dressed weight), were 1.70 percent of quantities inspected, compared with 1.88 percent a year earlier. September 1999 contained 22 weekdays (including one holiday)and four Saturdays, the same as September 1998. Poultry Slaughter: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight by Type, United States, September 1999 with Comparisons 1/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : Chickens : : Other :---------------------------------------: Ducks : Poultry : Young : Mature 2/ : Total : : :---------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Head Number Inspected : : Aug 1999 : 708,119 14,211 722,331 1,988 ----- Sep 1998 : 656,130 13,501 669,631 2,051 ----- Sep 1999 : 682,349 13,680 696,029 1,994 ----- : Jan-Sep 1998 : 5,887,748 129,225 6,016,973 17,448 ----- Jan-Sep 1999 : 6,128,838 134,002 6,262,840 17,313 ----- : : 1,000 Pounds Live Weight : : Aug 1999 : 3,412,248 77,169 3,489,417 12,694 1,898 Sep 1998 : 3,176,068 70,349 3,246,417 13,557 1,955 Sep 1999 : 3,394,530 74,571 3,469,102 13,167 1,915 : Jan-Sep 1998 : 28,375,654 658,640 29,034,294 114,897 10,862 Jan-Sep 1999 : 30,468,037 694,063 31,162,100 114,072 10,141 : : Pounds Average Live Weight : : Aug 1999 : 4.82 5.43 4.83 6.38 ----- Sep 1998 : 4.84 5.21 4.85 6.61 ----- Sep 1999 : 4.97 5.45 4.98 6.60 ----- : Jan-Sep 1998 : 4.82 5.10 4.83 6.58 ----- Jan-Sep 1999 : 4.97 5.18 4.98 6.59 ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See footnotes at end of table. -- continued Poultry Slaughter: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight by Type, United States, September 1999 with Comparisons 1/ (continued) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Turkeys : :--------------------------------------------: Total : Fryer- : : : Total : Poultry : Roasters : Young 3/ : Old : Turkeys : :---------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Head Number Inspected : : Aug 1999 : --- 23,842 235 24,077 ----- Sep 1998 : --- 22,833 213 23,047 ----- Sep 1999 : --- 22,949 185 23,133 ----- : Jan-Sep 1998 : 40 200,275 1,448 201,763 ----- Jan-Sep 1999 : 56 193,797 1,409 195,261 ----- : : 1,000 Pounds Live Weight : : Aug 1999 : --- 589,965 6,020 595,984 4,099,994 Sep 1998 : --- 543,748 5,342 549,089 3,811,018 Sep 1999 : --- 576,284 4,875 581,159 4,065,344 : Jan-Sep 1998 : 356 4,949,882 37,754 4,987,992 34,148,046 Jan-Sep 1999 : 491 4,924,015 37,240 4,961,746 36,248,060 : : Pounds Average Live Weight : : Aug 1999 : --- 24.74 25.57 24.75 ----- Sep 1998 : --- 23.81 25.05 23.83 ----- Sep 1999 : --- 25.11 26.40 25.12 ----- : Jan-Sep 1998 : 8.96 24.72 26.07 24.72 ----- Jan-Sep 1999 : 8.85 25.41 26.44 25.41 ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: September 1998: 5,469, September 1999: 6,231. 3/ Of the Young Turkeys inspected, the number reported in thousands as young breeders was: September 1998: 56, September 1999: 62. Poultry Slaughter: Chilled and Frozen, Pounds Certified by Type, United States, September 1999 with Comparisons 1/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : Chickens : : Other :---------------------------------------------: Ducks : Poultry : Young : Mature : Total : : :---------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds Aug 1999 : Chilled : 2,299,426 43,528 2,342,954 3,395 425 Frozen : 216,967 3,173 220,139 5,506 655 : Total : 2,516,392 46,700 2,563,093 8,901 1,081 : Sep 1998 : Chilled : 2,108,020 39,213 2,147,233 3,341 476 Frozen : 214,054 2,942 216,996 6,083 660 : Total : 2,322,074 42,155 2,364,229 9,425 1,136 : Sep 1999 : Chilled : 2,290,490 42,188 2,332,677 3,550 353 Frozen : 206,817 3,121 209,938 5,555 766 : Total : 2,497,307 45,309 2,542,616 9,105 1,119 : : Jan-Sep 1998 : Chilled : 18,919,784 363,580 19,283,364 28,127 3,637 Frozen : 1,858,211 32,188 1,890,399 53,720 2,498 : Total : 20,777,995 395,768 21,173,763 81,846 6,135 : Jan-Sep 1999 : Chilled : 20,432,177 388,106 20,820,283 30,799 3,029 Frozen : 1,941,512 30,105 1,971,617 49,121 2,801 : Total : 22,373,688 418,211 22,791,900 79,921 5,830 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See footnotes at end of table. -- continued Poultry Slaughter: Chilled and Frozen, Pounds Certified by Type, United States, September 1999 with Comparisons 1/ (continued) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Turkeys : :------------------------------------------------: Total : Fryer- : : : Total : Poultry : Roasters : Young : Old : Turkeys : :---------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds Aug 1999 : Chilled : --- 205,236 2,596 207,832 2,554,606 Frozen : --- 259,074 1,877 260,951 487,251 : Total : --- 464,310 4,473 468,783 3,041,857 : Sep 1998 : Chilled : --- 192,616 2,712 195,328 2,346,378 Frozen : --- 232,727 1,463 234,190 457,930 : Total : --- 425,344 4,174 429,518 2,804,308 : Sep 1999 : Chilled : --- 202,042 1,905 203,947 2,540,527 Frozen : --- 249,287 1,660 250,947 467,207 : Total : --- 451,329 3,564 454,894 3,007,733 : : Jan-Sep 1998 : Chilled : 30 1,823,694 20,083 1,843,808 21,158,935 Frozen : 215 2,060,917 8,601 2,069,733 4,016,350 : Total : 245 3,884,612 28,684 3,913,541 25,175,285 : Jan-Sep 1999 : Chilled : 35 1,752,792 18,000 1,770,827 22,624,938 Frozen : 313 2,122,985 9,758 2,133,056 4,156,595 : Total : 348 3,875,777 27,758 3,903,883 26,781,533 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Ready-to-cook weights. Totals may not add due to rounding. Poultry Slaughter: Ante-Mortem and Post-Mortem Condemnations by Type, United States, September 1999 with Comparisons 1/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : Chickens : : Other :------------------------------------: Ducks : Poultry : Young : Mature : Total : : :------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds Ante-Mortem : (Live Weight) : : Aug 1999 : 17,244 1,935 19,179 26 8 Sep 1998 : 15,155 1,243 16,398 20 6 Sep 1999 : 13,551 952 14,503 44 8 : Jan-Sep 1998 : 126,134 12,868 139,003 132 43 Jan-Sep 1999 : 135,127 13,375 148,501 188 55 : Percent 2/ : : Sep 1998 : 0.48 1.77 0.51 0.15 0.32 Sep 1999 : 0.40 1.28 0.42 0.34 0.43 : : 1,000 Pounds Post-Mortem : (N.Y. Dressed Weight) : : Aug 1999 : 49,242 4,702 53,943 275 16 Sep 1998 : 48,669 4,242 52,911 285 15 Sep 1999 : 45,503 4,237 49,739 262 27 : Jan-Sep 1998 : 451,059 38,369 489,428 2,386 105 Jan-Sep 1999 : 455,444 42,589 498,033 2,565 92 : Percent 3/ : : Sep 1998 : 1.70 6.70 1.81 2.33 0.83 Sep 1999 : 1.49 6.31 1.59 2.21 1.56 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See footnotes at end of table. -- continued Poultry Slaughter: Ante-Mortem and Post-Mortem Condemnations by Type, United States, September 1999 with Comparisons 1/ (continued) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Turkeys : :--------------------------------------------: Total : Fryer- : : : Total : Poultry : Roasters : Young : Old : Turkeys : :------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds Ante-Mortem : (Live Weight) : : Aug 1999 : --- 1,701 55 1,756 20,969 Sep 1998 : --- 1,636 40 1,676 18,101 Sep 1999 : --- 1,419 27 1,447 16,003 : Jan-Sep 1998 : 1 14,716 340 15,057 154,235 Jan-Sep 1999 : 1 13,867 378 14,246 162,991 : Percent 2/ : : Sep 1998 : --- 0.30 0.75 0.31 0.47 Sep 1999 : --- 0.25 0.56 0.25 0.39 : : 1,000 Pounds Post-Mortem : (N.Y. Dressed Weight) : : Aug 1999 : --- 12,242 326 12,568 66,802 Sep 1998 : --- 11,045 225 11,269 64,480 Sep 1999 : --- 11,773 302 12,074 62,102 : Jan-Sep 1998 : 7 98,691 2,363 101,061 592,981 Jan-Sep 1999 : 5 98,834 2,539 101,378 602,069 : Percent 3/ : : Sep 1998 : --- 2.26 4.68 2.28 1.88 Sep 1999 : --- 2.27 6.87 2.31 1.70 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, September 1998-1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Average : Number : Live Weight : Live Weight State : Inspected : Inspected : Inspected 1/ :-----------------------:---------------------------:------------------- : 1998 : 1999 : 1998 : 1999 : 1998 : 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------ 1,000 ------ ---- 1,000 Pounds ---- --- Pounds --- : AL : 71,150 81,300 354,228 421,210 4.98 5.18 AR : 94,588 99,220 450,115 479,313 4.76 4.83 DE : 23,019 23,475 126,524 135,905 5.50 5.79 FL : 10,547 10,093 55,394 53,429 5.25 5.29 GA : 97,958 96,617 473,513 482,888 4.83 5.00 LA : 14,497 13,572 65,168 59,403 4.50 4.38 MD : 17,941 17,390 85,171 85,674 4.75 4.93 MS : 56,303 58,426 271,658 293,022 4.82 5.02 MO : 29,138 30,242 125,782 136,242 4.32 4.51 NC : 54,026 48,754 291,931 273,142 5.40 5.60 PA : 8,943 9,276 45,861 49,265 5.13 5.31 SC : 17,862 16,631 84,271 79,715 4.72 4.79 TN : 15,291 18,580 72,280 86,231 4.73 4.64 TX : 42,508 46,241 189,175 212,529 4.45 4.60 VA : 28,915 31,376 134,863 151,592 4.66 4.83 WA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 656,130 682,349 3,176,068 3,394,530 4.84 4.97 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Average weight based on unrounded data. Young Chickens Slaughtered: Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, Selected States and United States, September 1998-1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : Post-Mortem Condemnations : Total :----------------------------------------- State : Certified 1/ : N.Y. Dressed Weight : Percent 2/ :-----------------------------:----------------------------------------- : 1998 : 1999 : 1998 : 1999 : 1998 : 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------------------ 1,000 Pounds ------------------ -- Percent -- : AL : 261,879 308,475 7,278 7,753 2.28 2.05 AR : 326,234 351,374 5,969 5,643 1.47 1.31 DE : 91,816 98,683 1,877 2,251 1.65 1.84 FL : 38,019 37,635 1,089 1,088 2.18 2.26 GA : 347,536 350,637 7,316 6,224 1.72 1.43 LA : 45,268 41,849 1,412 1,157 2.41 2.16 MD : 60,196 60,597 1,107 1,242 1.44 1.61 MS : 202,388 225,504 3,516 2,833 1.44 1.07 MO : 90,948 100,904 1,207 1,449 1.07 1.18 NC : 217,071 206,134 4,467 3,837 1.70 1.56 PA : 32,207 34,704 1,130 1,100 2.74 2.48 SC : 61,510 57,725 1,807 1,089 2.38 1.52 TN : 52,286 63,438 869 807 1.34 1.04 TX : 145,848 165,827 1,998 2,368 1.17 1.24 VA : 94,996 105,686 1,592 1,262 1.31 0.93 WA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 2,322,074 2,497,307 48,669 45,503 1.70 1.49 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, September 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Tuber- : : : Airsac- : : State : culosis : Leukosis : Septicemia : culitis : Synovitis : Tumors ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : AL : --- 1,584 206,496 278,047 2,690 10,760 AR : --- 2,414 271,932 89,343 13,430 4,827 DE : --- 1,774 134,251 39,906 --- --- FL : --- --- --- --- --- --- GA : --- 1,954 152,300 179,578 1,073 8,804 LA : --- 139 37,137 42,439 --- 1,056 MD : --- 2,672 102,182 23,125 --- 6,846 MS : --- 928 118,798 38,259 1,357 2,077 MO : --- 2,646 71,379 28,157 2,167 1,781 NC : --- --- 136,242 58,390 --- 42,900 PA : --- --- 33,802 15,952 285 --- SC : --- 876 28,692 43,651 --- --- TN : --- --- 51,151 19,171 580 --- TX : --- --- 104,894 26,492 795 2,256 VA : --- --- 76,556 20,866 57 --- WA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : --- 36,352 1,858,787 977,594 34,102 134,742 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Contam- : : : : Bruises : Cadaver : ination : Overscald : Other : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : AL : 13,283 59,124 73,258 15,775 198,041 859,058 AR : 11,483 34,474 47,878 4,192 108,701 588,674 DE : 3,430 16,370 16,464 9,896 43,627 265,718 FL : 2,496 2,673 9,451 --- --- 14,620 GA : 14,270 53,521 57,242 9,978 290,048 768,768 LA : 1,136 5,003 7,546 --- 17,628 112,084 MD : 2,124 16,513 --- 1,655 21,535 176,652 MS : 5,701 25,963 33,443 1,587 105,408 333,521 MO : 2,399 12,756 19,829 --- --- 141,114 NC : 7,273 31,577 35,483 9,300 92,014 413,179 PA : 2,397 4,874 --- 207 33,680 91,197 SC : 4,235 10,875 12,130 5,570 36,675 142,704 TN : 2,347 7,853 13,823 3,045 28,682 126,652 TX : 2,268 14,511 17,925 834 13,671 183,646 VA : 2,142 13,332 7,753 2,715 52,058 175,479 WA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 83,738 344,287 480,741 74,955 1,352,961 5,378,259 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mature Chickens Slaughtered: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, Selected States and United States, September 1998-1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Average : Number : Live Weight : Live Weight State : Inspected : Inspected : Inspected 1/ :-----------------------:---------------------------:------------------- : 1998 : 1999 : 1998 : 1999 : 1998 : 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------ 1,000 ------ ---- 1,000 Pounds ---- --- Pounds --- : CA : --- --- --- --- --- --- GA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 13,501 13,680 70,349 74,571 5.21 5.45 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Average weight based on unrounded data. Mature Chickens Slaughtered: Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, Selected States and United States, September 1998-1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : Post-Mortem Condemnations : Total :----------------------------------------- State : Certified 1/ : N.Y. Dressed Weight : Percent 2/ :-----------------------------:----------------------------------------- : 1998 : 1999 : 1998 : 1999 : 1998 : 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------------------ 1,000 Pounds ------------------ -- Percent -- : CA : --- --- --- --- --- --- GA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 42,155 45,309 4,242 4,237 6.70 6.31 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, September 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Tuber- : : : Airsac- : : State : culosis : Leukosis : Septicemia : culitis : Synovitis : Tumors ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : CA : --- --- --- --- --- --- GA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : --- 7,433 265,483 13,309 1,118 115,239 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Contam- : : : : Bruises : Cadaver : ination : Overscald : Other : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : CA : --- --- 717 --- --- 717 GA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 41,715 53,267 222,799 2,877 50,655 773,895 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Young Turkeys (Mature) Slaughtered: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, Selected States and United States, September 1998-1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Average : Number : Live Weight : Live Weight State : Inspected : Inspected : Inspected 1/ :-----------------------:---------------------------:------------------- : 1998 : 1999 : 1998 : 1999 : 1998 : 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------ 1,000 ------ ---- 1,000 Pounds ---- --- Pounds --- : AR : 2,040 2,205 34,749 40,067 17.03 18.17 CA : 1,508 1,915 34,451 50,402 22.85 26.32 IA : 1,274 1,466 34,229 42,261 26.87 28.84 MN : 3,931 3,993 85,096 94,804 21.65 23.74 MO : 1,823 2,082 47,036 56,864 25.80 27.32 NC : 2,854 2,572 68,284 61,287 23.93 23.83 PA : --- --- --- --- --- --- VA : 3,062 3,147 65,425 69,692 21.36 22.15 : US : 22,833 22,949 543,748 576,284 23.81 25.11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Average weight based on unrounded data. Young Turkeys (Mature) Slaughtered: Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, Selected States and United States, September 1998-1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : Post-Mortem Condemnations : Total :----------------------------------------- State : Certified 1/ : N.Y. Dressed Weight : Percent 2/ :-----------------------------:----------------------------------------- : 1998 : 1999 : 1998 : 1999 : 1998 : 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------------------ 1,000 Pounds ------------------ -- Percent -- : AR : 28,279 31,560 533 680 1.70 1.89 CA : 27,875 40,022 746 820 2.41 1.81 IA : 26,210 32,732 746 1,028 2.42 2.70 MN : 67,213 75,326 2,271 2,472 2.97 2.90 MO : 36,815 43,803 997 1,343 2.35 2.62 NC : 53,435 48,515 1,285 1,301 2.09 2.36 PA : --- --- --- --- --- --- VA : 49,500 52,994 944 999 1.60 1.59 : US : 425,344 451,329 11,045 11,773 2.26 2.27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, September 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Tuber- : : : Airsac- : : State : culosis : Leukosis : Septicemia : culitis : Synovitis : Tumors ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : AR : --- --- 6,617 822 --- --- CA : --- --- --- --- --- --- IA : --- --- 6,902 3,416 --- --- MN : --- --- 16,636 5,170 1,729 15 MO : --- --- 23,222 6,036 --- --- NC : --- --- 5,440 --- --- 20 PA : --- --- 5,624 2,859 --- --- VA : --- 18 4,235 257 --- --- : US : --- 100 103,525 25,203 6,744 487 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Contam- : : : : Bruises : Cadaver : ination : Overscald : Other : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : AR : --- 398 --- --- --- 7,837 CA : 26 --- --- --- --- 26 IA : 88 --- 989 --- --- 11,395 MN : 187 1,266 1,180 --- 1,719 27,902 MO : 61 --- 618 --- 1,553 31,490 NC : --- 1,602 --- --- 1,231 8,293 PA : 79 --- 579 --- --- 9,141 VA : --- 2,358 312 --- 1,676 8,856 : US : 772 10,447 9,268 1,525 13,841 171,912 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Old Turkeys (Breeders) Slaughtered: Number Condemned Post-Mortem by Cause, United States, September 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Tuber- : : : Airsac- : : State : culosis : Leukosis : Septicemia : culitis : Synovitis : Tumors ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : US : --- --- 4,268 692 22 99 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Contam- : : : : Bruises : Cadaver : ination : Overscald : Other : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : US : 21 213 223 --- 1,142 6,680 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.............................................................. 17 Mature Chickens Number Inspected, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, U.S., September 1998-1999............................................... 11 Mature Chickens Post-Mortem Condemnations by Cause, Selected States and U.S., September 1998-1999........................... 11 Mature Chickens Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, U.S., September 1998-1999............................................... 11 Old Turkeys (Breeders) Post-Mortem Condemnations by Cause, U.S., September 1998-1999............................................... 15 Poultry Chilled and Frozen Pounds Certified (RTC) by Type, U.S., September 1998.................................................... 4 Poultry Slaughter Ante-Mortem and Post-Mortem Condemnations by Type, U.S., September 1998........................................... 6 Poultry Slaughter Number Inspected, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight by Type, U.S., September 1998............................... 2 Reliability Statement.................................................... 16 Young Chickens Number Inspected, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, Selected States and U.S., September 1998-1999........................... 8 Young Chickens Post-Mortem Condemnations by Cause, Selected States and U.S., September 1998-1999........................... 10 Young Chickens Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, Selected States and U.S., September 1998-1999........................... 9 Young Turkeys (Mature) Number Inspected, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, Selected States and U.S., September 1998-1999.............. 13 Young Turkeys (Mature) Post-Mortem Condemnations by Cause, Selected States and U.S., September 1998-1999........................... 14 Young Turkeys (Mature) Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, Selected States and U.S., September 1998-1999........................... 13 The next "Poultry Slaughter" report will be released at 3 p.m. ET on December 6, 1999. 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