HDR1012000150060911971500Turkey Hatchery                                        
                                                                                
Turkey                                                                          
Hatchery                                                                        
                                                                                
National                                                                        
Agricultural                                                                    
Statistics                                                                      
Service                                                                         
                                                                                
USDA                                                                            
Washington, D.C.                                                                
                                                                                
Released September 11, 1997, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service    
(NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture.  For     
information on "Turkey Hatchery" call Jim Brewster at (202) 720-8784, office    
hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET.                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
          Eggs in Incubators on September 1 Down 6 Percent                      
                                                                                
Turkey eggs in incubators on September 1, 1997, in the United States totaled    
30.1 million, down 6 percent from September 1 a year ago.  Eggs in incubators   
were down 14 percent from the August 1 total of 35.0 million.  Regional         
percent changes from the previous year were:  E N Central, down 9; W N          
Central, up 7; N & S Atlantic, down 11; S Central, down 10; and West, down 11.  
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
             Poults Placed During August Down 4 Percent                         
                                                                                
The 26.4 million poults placed during August 1997 in the United States were     
down 4 percent from the placements during the same month a year ago.            
Placements were down 12 percent from the July 1997 total of 30.1 million.       
Regional percent changes from the previous year were:  E N Central, down 12; W  
N Central, up 9; N & S Atlantic, down 10; S Central, down 4; and West, down 7.  
                                                                                
                                                                                
Pou 3 (9-97)                                                                    
             Turkey Hatchery Production:  Monthly Poult Placements,             
                            United States, 1995-97 1/                           
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        :      Total All      : Percent :      Cumulative       :    Percent    
        :       Breeds        :   of    :         Total         :      of       
  Month :---------------------:Previous :-----------------------:   Previous    
        :  1995-96  : 1996-97 :  Year   :  1995-96  :  1996-97  :     Year      
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        :  ----- 1,000 -----    Percent    ------ 1,000 ------       Percent    
        :                                                                       
Sep     :  23,371     24,154      103       23,371      24,154         103      
Oct     :  25,158     25,354      101       48,529      49,508         102      
Nov     :  24,619     23,830       97       73,148      73,338         100      
Dec     :  25,269     27,119      107       98,417     100,457         102      
Jan     :  27,391     27,121       99      125,808     127,578         101      
Feb     :  27,596     27,145       98      153,404     154,723         101      
Mar     :  27,932     27,610       99      181,336     182,333         101      
Apr     :  29,725     28,220       95      211,061     210,553         100      
May     :  29,668     29,120       98      240,729     239,673         100      
Jun     :  27,987     28,380      101      268,716     268,053         100      
Jul     :  28,913     30,092      104      297,629     298,145         100      
Aug     :  27,496     26,377       96      325,125     324,522         100      
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/  Excludes exported poults.                                                   
                                                                                
                  Eggs in Incubators:  First of Month by Region                 
               and United States, September 1997 with Comparisons               
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               :          :          :          :  Percent of  :   Percent of   
   Geographic  :  Sep 1   :  Aug 1   :  Sep 1   :   Previous   :    Previous    
    Division   :   1996   :   1997   :   1997   :     Year     :     Month      
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               :                                                                
               :  ----------- 1,000 ----------        ----- Percent -----       
               :                                                                
E N Central    :   4,920      4,885      4,454         91              91       
W N Central    :   8,421     10,716      9,013        107              84       
N & S Atlantic :  11,984     11,523     10,617         89              92       
S Central      :   3,708      3,974      3,355         90              84       
West           :   3,015      3,858      2,687         89              70       
               :                                                                
US             :  32,048     34,956     30,126         94              86       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Revised.                                                                      
                                                                                
                                                                                
          Poults Placements:  Entire Month by Region and United States,         
                         August 1997 with Comparisons 1/                        
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               :          :          :          :  Percent of  :   Percent of   
   Geographic  :   Aug    :   Jul    :   Aug    :   Previous   :    Previous    
    Division   :   1996   :   1997   :   1997   :     Year     :     Month      
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               :  ----------- 1,000 ----------        ----- Percent -----       
               :                                                                
E N Central    :   3,893      3,893      3,426         88              88       
W N Central    :   7,375      9,104      8,069        109              89       
N & S Atlantic :   9,838     10,005      8,825         90              88       
S Central      :   3,281      3,320      3,162         96              95       
West           :   3,109      3,770      2,895         93              77       
               :                                                                
US             :  27,496     30,092     26,377         96              88       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*   Revised.                                                                    
1/  Regional placements refer to poults placed from hatcheries located in that  
    region, and not the actual location of the birds after placement.           
                                                                                
                                                                                
    Regional Listing:                                                           
     North Atlantic  = CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT.                      
     E North Central = IL, IN, MI, OH, WI.                                      
     W North Central = IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD.                              
     South Atlantic  = DE, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV.                          
     South Central   = AL, AR, KY, LA, MS, OK, TN, TX.                          
     West            = AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY.      
                                                                                
                     Turkey Hatchery Estimates                                  
                                                                                
Data Sources:  Primary data for the "Turkey Hatchery" report are collected from 
               weekly and/or monthly questionnaires sent to turkey hatcheries in
23 States.  An attempt is made to collect hatchery information from all known   
hatcheries in these 23 monthly States.  Approximately 65 hatcheries are         
contacted each month.                                                           
                                                                                
                                                                                
Revisions:  Revisions are generally the result of late or corrected data and are
            usually less than 1 percent at the U.S. level.  Revisions to the    
previous month are published in the monthly "Turkey Hatchery" report, while     
annual revisions are published in the "Hatchery Production - Annual Summary"    
report at the end of the marketing year.  The annual report also includes data  
for six States which report on an annual basis only.                            
                                                                                
                                                                                
Procedures and Reliability:  Hatcheries are mailed a questionnaire and given    
                             adequate time to respond by mail.  Those that do   
not respond by mail are called by phone.  Diligent effort is made to ensure that
all hatcheries are accounted for in the estimate.  An allowance is made for all 
non-reporting hatcheries.                                                       
                                                                                
Accumulated poult placements beginning on September 1 and ending on August 31   
are shown in the monthly "Turkey Hatchery" report.  This time period corresponds
with the placements of poults which will reach maturity and be available for    
slaughter during the calendar year.  Only regional and U.S. level estimates are 
published due to the limited number of hatcheries involved.  Regional placement 
data in the report refer to placement of poults from hatcheries located in that 
region, not the actual location of the birds after placement.  Poults exported  
out of the U.S. and poults imported from outside of the U.S. are not included in
the report.                                                                     
                                                                                
Turkey hatchery estimates are based on a census of operating hatcheries and,    
therefore, have no sampling error.  However, they may be subject to errors such 
as omission, duplication, 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.                                                 
                                                                                
States in the monthly estimating program are:  Arkansas, California, Colorado,  
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New        
Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South    
Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.    
                                                                                
The next "Turkey Hatchery" report will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET on           
October 15, 1997.                                                               
                                                                                
                                                                                
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in  
its programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age,  
disability, political beliefs, and marital or familial status.  Persons with    
disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program         
information (braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact the USDA's   
TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).                                  
                                                                                
To file a complaint, write the Secretary of Agriculture, USDA, Washington, D.C.,
20250, or call 1-800-245-6340  (voice) or 202-720-1127 (TDD).  USDA is an equal 
employment opportunity employer.                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                        ACCESS TO REPORTS!!                                     
                                                                                
                                                                                
For your convenience, there are several ways to obtain NASS reports, data       
products, and services:                                                         
                                                                                
                          INTERNET ACCESS                                       
                                                                                
All NASS reports are available free of charge on the worldwide Internet.  For   
access, connect to the Internet and go to the NASS Home Page at:                
http://www.usda.gov/nass/.  Select "Today's Reports" or Publications and        
then Reports by Calendar or Publications and then Search, by Title or Subject.  
                                                                                
                                                                                
                        E-MAIL SUBSCRIPTION                                     
                                                                                
All NASS reports are available by subscription free of charge direct to your    
e-mail address.  Send an e-mail message to:                                     
usda-reports@usda.mannlib.cornell.edu.  In the body of the message type the     
word:  list.                                                                    
                                                                                
                           AUTOFAX ACCESS                                       
                                                                                
NASSFax service is available for some reports from your fax machine.  Please    
call 202-720-2000, using the handset attached to your fax.  Respond to the      
voice prompts.  Document 0411 is a list of available reports.                   
                                                                                
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                            ASSISTANCE                                          
                                                                                
For assistance with general agricultural statistics or further information      
about NASS or its products or services, contact the Agricultural Statistics     
Hotline at 800-727-9540, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, or e-mail:                  
nass@nass.usda.gov.                                                             
                                                                                
                 USDA to Hold Data Users Meeting                                
                      Holiday Inn Mart Plaza                                    
                        Chicago, Illinois                                       
                         October 20, 1997                                       
                                                                                
The National Agricultural Statistics Service will                               
be organizing an open forum for Data Users.  The                                
purpose will be to provide updates on pending                                   
changes in the USDA statistical and information                                 
programs including the status of the 1997 Census of                             
Agriculture, and to seek comments and input from                                
data users.  Other agencies to be represented will                              
include the Agricultural Marketing Service, the                                 
Economic Research Service, the Foreign Agricultural                             
Service, and the World Agricultural Outlook Board.                              
                                                                                
                                                                                
For registration details, see the NASS home page                                
http://www.usda.gov/nass/ or contact Fred Vogel                                 
(NASS) (202) 720-3896 or fvogel@nass.usda.gov