Supply and demand imbalances create risk and opportunity for chicken industry
Animal protein markets are being pulled in multiple directions by tight red meat supplies, persistent disease threats, an uneven consumer and a shifting trade landscape, according to Christine McCracken, executive director, animal proteins at Rabobank.
McCracken, who spoke July 28 at the 2026 Chicken Marketing Summit in Palm Harbor, Florida, said supply and demand imbalances across beef, pork and poultry are creating opportunity and risk for the chicken industry heading into next year.
Animal protein production
Cattle supplies in the United States have fallen to their lowest level in decades even as beef availability has declined only modestly, McCracken said.
"We're now sitting at 75-year lows in the availability of cattle here in the U.S.," she said, adding that overall beef supplies are down only about 3.5%.
She attributed the gap to producers holding cattle back from expansion despite high prices, citing drought, disease risk and the multiyear nature of herd rebuilding.
"There is a three-year breeding, feeding and slaughter cycle that takes some time," McCracken said.
Pork production has also plateaued, she said, as the U.S. industry — like China and Europe — has become more efficient and needs fewer sows to produce the same volume of pork. Poultry, meanwhile, has expanded rapidly, with U.S. producers bringing more chicken to market in 2026 than some had anticipated after strong margins in recent years.
Biosecurity and disease concerns
Disease remains one of the largest wild cards across all three species, McCracken said. The beef industry is contending with the spread of New World screwworm, a pest that raises the risk of animal movement restrictions and added surveillance costs for cattle producers. The pork industry continues to manage porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS).