Turkeys National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released August 26, 1998, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on "Turkeys" call Jim Brewster at (202) 720-8784, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Turkeys Raised Down 5 Percent from 1997 The preliminary estimate of turkeys raised in the United States during 1998 is 285 million, down 5 percent from the 301 million raised during 1997. The following six States are expected to account for about two-thirds of the turkeys produced in the United States during 1998: North Carolina is forecast to continue as the nation's leader in turkey production with 49.5 million birds, 7 percent less than 1997. Minnesota ranks second with 44.5 million, down 2 percent from last year. Arkansas is in third place by producing 27.0 million birds, 10 percent less than a year ago. Virginia is now the nations's fourth largest producing State with 26.0 million birds, up 4 percent from a year ago. Missouri is in fifth place with 23.0 million birds, a 5 percent increase from last year's production. California expects to raise 19.0 million turkeys, 10 percent below a year earlier. Pou 3-2 (8-98) Turkeys: Number Raised by Selected States and United States, 1997-98 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : 1998 State :-------------------------------------------------: as % of : 1997 1/ : 1998 : 1997 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ---------- 1,000 Head ---------- Percent : AR : 30,000 27,000 90 CA : 21,000 19,000 90 CO : 3,900 4,200 108 CT : 5 5 100 IL : 3,500 3,000 86 IN : 14,500 14,300 99 MD 2/ : 740 740 100 MA : 81 80 99 MN : 45,500 44,500 98 MO : 22,000 23,000 105 NH : 15 15 100 NJ : 74 71 96 NY : 510 500 98 NC : 53,500 49,500 93 ND : 2,600 1,800 69 OH : 6,700 6,500 97 PA : 11,600 10,700 92 SC : 11,200 9,800 88 SD : 3,200 3,200 100 VT : 39 42 108 VA : 25,000 26,000 104 WV : 4,500 4,300 96 : Oth Sts 3/ : 40,486 36,386 90 : US : *300,650 284,639 95 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Revised. 2/ Includes DE. 3/ GA, IA, KS, MI, NE, OK, OR, TX, UT, and WI combined to avoid disclosure of individual operations. Turkeys Raised Estimates Data Sources: The Turkey Hatchery Survey provides the basis for the preliminary Turkeys Raised estimate published in August. Turkey hatchery estimates are made in 23 States each month and provide the number of eggs in incubators and poults placed in production. Another State surveys hatcheries periodically to collect data for the Turkey Raised estimates and for the "Annual Hatchery Summary". Data on poults placed into the United States from Canadian hatcheries are also included in the preliminary estimate. Estimation Procedures: Turkeys Raised preliminary estimates include young turkeys intended for meat production,as well as breeder turkeys which reached maturity during the calendar year. These estimates exclude turkeys lost to disease or those destroyed. Placement of turkey poults from the monthly "Turkey Hatchery" survey provide the basis for the preliminary estimates published in August. Final estimates, published in January, use indications from the December Growers Survey in addition to updated hatchery data. Other indications for the final estimates are obtained from monthly slaughter totals and check-off data provided by individual State turkey or poultry associations. Generally, individual State data are not published if there are less than three operations in a State, or if any one operation has 60 percent or more of the total turkeys in the State. These data are combined into the "Other States" category. Reliability: Turkeys raised preliminary estimates are based on a census of known active hatcheries and, therefore, have no sampling variability. However, estimates may be subject to errors such as omissions, duplication, and mistakes in reporting, recording, and processing of 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. Revision Policy: Estimates for the previous year are subject to revision when preliminary raised estimates are made in August. Revisions are primarily based on updated hatchery and slaughter data, and at the U.S. level, are usually less than one-half of one percent of the final estimate published in January. Estimates are also reviewed after data from the Census of Agriculture are available. No revisions are made after that date. The next "Turkeys" report will be released at 3 p.m. ET on January 15, 1999. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) 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