Participants indicated light spot trades for the day with some attempting to set pricing levels for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Values for the items were generally flat, though some items were reported in wider ranges with continued unsettled undertones communicated.

For the week ending November 4, 2023, broiler slaughter is anticipated to be 167.309 million head, 3.5 percent below 2022 and 1.2 percent above the previous week (Fig 1). Over the next six weeks, broiler slaughter is projected to average 161.318 million head per week, a drop of 2.8 percent from 2022 but up 2.0 percent compared to 2021.

Based on the Weekly Livestock, Poultry, and Grain market highlights from the USDA, year-to-date broiler production as of October 30 was at 903 billion head, less than a quarter percent down from 2022 for the comparable time. Year-to-date turkey production was at 4.098 billion head, a 4.5-percent gain from 2022 for the similar time period.

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