The decline in organic corn prices has yet to spill over into increase organic feed demand despite a continued uptick in organic protein retail sales. Organic chicken slaughter has steadied since dropping sharply in April and early May. For the 40-weeks ending during the first week of October 2020, organic chicken slaughter is down slightly more than 0.5% year over year compared to the same period in 2019. Organic chicken slaughter increased to the highest levels since January in the first week of October according to The Jacobsen.

The rebound is a good sign for the organic grain industry. If slaughterhouses had not had to close because of the pandemic (a big if) and produced a similar year over year comparison during the 6 weeks beginning in April 2020 into the middle of May 2020, organic chicken slaughter would be up approximately 3% year over year according to The Jacobsen. The trend in organic chicken slaughter remains downward sloping, even though…