Economic aspects of poultry meat production in Germany

The production of poultry meat continues to expand in Germany as in most other countries. Apart from aquaculture, it is the only sector of the farm animal industry with significant growth rates. Per capita consumption of poultry meat was 18.6 kg in 2009, compared to 23.1 kg of the 27 EU countries and 48.8 kg in the USA. While the total demand for poultry meat is predicted to increase in the foreseeable future, producers need to study local limitations and opportunities to benefit from this market. In this context, it is of interest to compare the production cost and margins for different poultry species. The expansion during the past decade has been essentially due to increased broiler production, whereas turkey meat and duck meat consumption appear to have reached limits near 6.0 and 1.0 kg respectively.