HDR1012000150061213961500Turkey Hatchery

Released December 13, 1996, 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.  For assistance with general agricultural
statistics, information about NASS, its products or services, contact the
Agricultural Statistics Hotline at 1-800-727-9540 or E-mail:
NASS@NASS.USDA.GOV.


           Eggs in Incubators on December 1 Up 9 Percent

Turkey eggs in incubators on December 1, 1996, in the United States totaled
34.5 million, up 9 percent from December 1 a year ago.  Eggs in incubators
were up 9 percent from the revised November 1 total of 31.7 million.  Regional
percent changes from the previous year were:  E N Central, up 2; W N Central,
up 13; N & S Atlantic, up 13; S Central, up 8; and West, down 8.



           Poults Placed During November Down 4 Percent

The 23.8 million poults placed during November 1996 in the United States were
down 4 percent from the placements during the same month a year ago.
Placements were down 6 percent from the revised October 1996 total of 25.4
million.  Regional percent changes from the previous year were:  E N Central,
down 7; W N Central, down 11; N & S Atlantic, down 2; S Central,
up 3; and West, up 8.



     Notice: This release includes 1995 and January through August 1996
     revisions by Region and U.S.
      Turkey Hatchery Production:  Monthly Poult Placements,
                    United States, 1995-97 1/ 2/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        :      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     24,208     104       23,371      24,208         104
Oct     :   25,158     25,354     101       48,529      49,562         102
Nov     :   24,619     23,750      96       73,148      73,312         100
Dec     :   25,269                          98,417
Jan     :   27,391                         125,808
Feb     :   27,596                         153,404
Mar     :   27,932                         181,336
Apr     :   29,725                         211,061
May     :   29,668                         240,729
Jun     :   27,987                         268,716
Jul     :   28,913                         297,629
Aug     :   27,746                         325,375
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/  January 1995 through August 1996 revised.
2/  Excludes exported poults.



                Eggs in Incubators:  First of Month by Region
            and United States, Nov 1996 with Comparisons
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               :          :          :          :  Percent of  :   Percent of
   Geographic  :   Dec 1  :   Nov 1  :   Dec 1  :   Previous   :    Previous
    Division   :   1995   :   1996   :   1996   :     Year     :      Month
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               :     -------- 1,000 -------             ---- Percent ----
               :
E N Central    :   4,604      4,854      4,710          102             97
W N Central    :   8,675      8,664      9,784          113            113
N & S Atlantic :  11,587     11,199     13,108          113            117
S Central      :   3,763     *4,190      4,066          108             97
West           :   3,140      2,761      2,874           92            104
               :
US             :  31,769    *31,668     34,542          109            109
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------



             Poult Placements:  Entire Month by Region
          and United States, Nov 1996 with Comparisons 1/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               :          :          :          :  Percent of :   Percent of
  Geographic   :   Nov    :   Oct    :   Nov    :   Previous  :    Previous
   Division    :   1995   :   1996   :   1996   :     Year    :      Month
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               :     -------- 1,000 -------             ---- Percent ----
               :
E N Central    :   3,397      3,667      3,164          93            86
W N Central    :   6,944      6,382      6,212          89            97
N & S Atlantic :   9,041      9,908      8,878          98            90
S Central      :   3,223      3,230      3,318         103           103
West           :   2,014      2,167      2,178         108           101
               :
US             :  24,619     25,354     23,750          96            94
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*   Revised
1/  Regional placements refer to poults placed from hatcheries located in that
    region, and not the actual location of the birds after placement.


                    Turkey Hatchery Production
         Revised 1995 and Revised January-August 1996 1/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         :           :    East   :    West   :  North &  :           :
         :   United  :   North   :   North   :   South   :   South   :   West
  Month  :   States  :  Central  :  Central  :  Atlantic :  Central  :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         :                            1,000
         :
All      :          Revised Eggs in Incubators, First of Month - 1995
Breeds   :
 Jan     :    34,881       5,300       9,415      12,843       3,993      3,330
 Feb     :    35,095       5,268       9,884      12,032       4,142      3,769
 Mar     :    35,172       5,251      10,461      11,568       3,920      3,972
 Apr     :    36,890       5,424      10,201      12,715       4,099      4,451
 May     :    37,323       5,297      11,253      12,537       4,071      4,165
 Jun     :    38,399       5,029      11,603      13,279       4,090      4,398
 Jul     :    39,010       5,382      11,259      13,595       4,001      4,773
 Aug     :    35,561       4,844      10,052      12,987       3,701      3,977
 Sep     :    31,589       4,650       8,574      11,906       3,422      3,037
 Oct     :    32,409       4,667       9,330      11,973       3,526      2,913
 Nov     :    31,962       4,590       9,164      11,698       3,977      2,533
 Dec     :    31,769       4,604       8,675      11,587       3,763      3,140
         :
All      :                 Revised Poults Placed - 1995 2/
Breeds   :
 Jan     :    27,024       3,777       7,143      10,083       3,352      2,669
 Feb     :    25,907       3,533       7,184       8,996       3,153      3,041
 Mar     :    28,530       4,046       8,210       9,842       3,248      3,184
 Apr     :    26,736       3,692       7,640       9,180       3,092      3,132
 May     :    29,497       3,852       8,652      10,306       3,387      3,300
 Jun     :    29,965       3,727       8,718      10,918       3,237      3,365
 Jul     :    28,983       4,000       8,102      10,002       3,111      3,768
 Aug     :    26,592       3,541       7,566       9,536       3,036      2,913
 Sep     :    23,371       3,233       6,244       8,914       2,605      2,375
 Oct     :    25,158       3,580       7,015       9,212       2,890      2,461
 Nov     :    24,619       3,397       6,944       9,041       3,223      2,014
 Dec     :    25,269       3,291       6,604       9,853       3,107      2,414
         :
Total    :   321,651      43,669      90,022     115,883      37,441     34,636
         :
         :
All      :          Revised Eggs in Incubators, First of Month - 1996
Breeds   :
 Jan     :    35,618       5,055       9,597      13,399       3,897      3,670
 Feb     :    36,343       5,225      10,166      12,651       4,276      4,025
 Mar     :    36,180       4,875      10,081      13,162       4,006      4,056
 Apr     :    39,218       5,242      11,738      13,852       4,061      4,325
 May     :    37,082       5,235      10,182      13,332       4,208      4,125
 Jun     :    38,128       5,134      10,908      13,434       4,182      4,470
 Jul     :    37,685       5,043      10,907      13,103       4,034      4,598
 Aug     :    36,157       5,059       9,883      12,937       4,066      4,212
         :
All      :                 Revised Poults Placed - 1996 2/
Breeds   :
 Jan     :    27,391       3,651       7,375      10,143       3,281      2,941
 Feb     :    27,596       3,641       7,802       9,668       3,380      3,105
 Mar     :    27,932       3,684       7,590      10,427       3,160      3,071
 Apr     :    29,725       3,869       8,800      10,506       3,228      3,322
 May     :    29,668       3,814       8,460      10,621       3,428      3,345
 Jun     :    27,987       3,468       7,760      10,296       3,211      3,252
 Jul     :    28,913       3,850       8,121      10,065       3,242      3,635
 Aug     :    27,746       3,893       7,375      10,088       3,281      3,109
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/       See next page for a listing of States by Region.
2/       Regional placements refer to poults placed from hatcheries located in
         the region, and not the actual location of the birds after placement.
         Excludes exported poults.


                     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 19 States.  An attempt is made to collect hatchery information from all
known hatcheries in these 19 monthly States.  Approximately 64 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, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio,
Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia,
and Wisconsin.





          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.

The next "Turkey Hatchery" report will be released at 3 P.M. ET on
January 13, 1997.

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To file a complaint, write the Secretary of Agriculture, USDA, Washington,
D.C., 20250, or call (202) 720-7327 (voice) or (202) 720-1127 (TDD).  USDA is
an equal employment opportunity employer.


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          USDA Announces Agricultural Outlook Forum  97
                    February 24 and 25, 1997
              Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C.

An era of freer markets under the 1996 Farm Bill has begun. For an expert
assessment of the impact, attend the Outlook Forum.  Top speakers will discuss
the 1997 farm outlook, prospects to 2005, risk management, concentration issues,
market stability, world food security, marketing high-valued exports and more.
Plan now to attend.  For program and registration details, check Forum home
page, call (202) 720-3050 or dial (202) 219-0296 from your fax machine and
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