U.S. chicken industry facing permanent challenges, including higher feed and input costs, rapid globalization, excess supply, that require changes in how industry operates, Rabobank report says

Andrew Rogers

NEW YORK , December 12, 2011 (press release) – A new report from Rabobank's global Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory (FAR) department examines the challenges faced by the U.S. chicken industry and the implications for necessary change in the industry going forward.

Titled "This is not your grandfather's chicken industry – Thoughts from a banker's perspective," the report is a wake-up call to the U.S. chicken industry by Rabobank's senior poultry sector experts.

"The U.S. chicken industry is encountering permanent rather than cyclical changes which will require significant changes in how the industry operates in the future." Those challenges include:

Structurally higher and more volatile feed input costs
Maturation of the U.S. domestic market
Rapid globalization of the industry, requiring U.S. companies to develop new export products for new export markets
Increasing government regulation which makes it difficult to achieve competitive cost management and efficiency
Excess supply in the industry, which has been made difficult to remedy given recent court rulings which inhibit companies' ability to eliminate capacity or even reduce production

"Rabobank believes the industry will adjust eventually, but those who will survive and thrive in the future will be those who recognize that the operating environment has changed forever, and alter the way they run their business."

Rabobank is a global financial services leader providing wholesale and retail banking for the food and agricultural industry, asset and investment management, leasing, real estate services, and renewable energy project financing. Founded over a century ago, Rabobank today is one of the largest and safest banks in the world, with more than $850 billion in assets and operations in over 40 countries. In North America, Rabobank is a premier financial services provider to the corporate food and agribusiness industry.

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