28.01.2017

The National Chicken Council recently released a report on the environmental and economic impact of converting to slow-growing strains. Converting only one-third of U.S. broiler production, estimated to attain 41,550 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken in 2017, to slow-growing strains would require an additional 1.5 billion birds annually to produce the same quantity currently produced with highly selected broiler strains.  
The environmental impacts of the additional birds with inferior genetic potential for growth and feed conversion include:
- An additional 13.4 million tons of feed to be consumed
- An area approaching 7 million acres will be required to grow the additional feed
- Production of an additional 28.5 billion pounds of manure annually
- Consumption of an extra 5.1 billion additional gallons of water annually to rear the slow-growing strains.
The additional cost of even 1/3 of the industry switching to slower growing birds would be $9 billion, which could have a notable financial impact on food service companies, retailers, restaurants and ultimately – consumers.  
This will put a considerable percentage of the population at risk and increase food instability for those who can least afford to have changes in food prices.