Delmarva’s chicken has $4.8 billion sales a year

 By Linda Cicoira

Delmarva Peninsula chicken growers raised 613 million chickens, produced 4.6 billion pounds of shelf- and table-ready chicken, and generated $4.8 billion in sales in 2024.

The figures were compiled by Delmarva Chicken Association and “measure the broad, stabilizing contribution” made to the local economy.

The companies spent $1.3 billion on corn, wheat, soybeans and other feed ingredients last year. They paid their employees $902 million in wages, excluding benefits. The family farmers who contract with the companies to raise chickens earned $327 million in contract payments, or 1.8 percent more than in 2023 on an inflation-adjusted basis.

Altogether, 1,206 farm families and 17,947 chicken company employees “worked hand-in-hand to produce delicious Delmarva chicken,” an association spokesperson said.

On the Eastern Shore of Virginia, companies that produce and process chicken employ more than 4,730 workers and generate an additional 2,588 jobs in supplier and ancillary industries. In 2024, the industry was responsible for as much as $2.52 billion in total economic activity.

“These are good jobs paying an average of $61,700 in wages and benefits,” the spokesperson said.

“Delmarva’s five chicken companies – Amick Farms, Allen Harim, Mountaire Farms, Perdue Farms and Tyson have a direct and induced economic impact of $17.4 billion on Delmarva,” according to the National Chicken Council. “They pay $1.1 billion in state and local taxes. Real people working in industries as varied as banking, real estate, accounting, veterinary science and printing all depend on the chicken industry for their livelihood.”

“Delmarva’s chicken growers and companies have been able to produce more food today than in the past for a rapidly growing region, even while farmland is lost to development, and we’re doing it in an environmentally responsible way,” said Holly Porter, DCA’s executive director. “Last year, growers and businesses overcame multiple challenges to keep feeding America and the world, including inflation that made energy and farm equipment more expensive and the expense and hard work needed to keep our flocks safe from avian influenza. As a result, Delmarva continues to be a leader in the U.S. chicken industry.”

“As a family farmer, raising chicken is one of the most important things I do in my community,” said Mary Lou Brown, DCA’s president. “It’s heartening to know the more than 1,200 chicken growers like myself here on Delmarva make this much of an impact on our economy.”

Chicken companies also spent $187 million on capital improvements to processing plants, hatcheries, and wastewater treatment systems in 2024. The companies also invested $392 million in packaging and processing supplies. On farms, many growers invested in conservation practices to protect water quality, including vegetative environmental buffers, stormwater management, and pollinator-friendly areas.