USDA market read
LIVEas of 2026-10-14 · USDA AMS daily
WOGs are entering the week with a steady tone. Floor stocks remain barely adequate. Bone-in breasts and front halves are fully steady. B/S breasts and tenders continue about steady. Demand for wings are noted as unseasonably light. Dark meat activity continues steady and supplies are moving well. The market is steady.
Export: Export market is moderate to active.
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The readChicken boneless skinless thigh meat has added 14% over 5 weeks without a single lower close.
Weekly wholesale parts
LIVEBSB, wings, tenders, leg quarters, drums, thighs
Source: USDA AMS weekly · as of 2026-10-09
Weekly wholesale parts, FOB plant, fresh / conventional.. Click any cut for its price history.
| Cut | Wtd Avg | WoW | Vol (k lbs) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boneless/Skinless Breast | 118.68¢/lb | +0.1% | 2,046 | |
| Breast (Line Run) | 98.05¢/lb | -4.8% | 151 | |
| Breast with Ribs | 110.81¢/lb | -0.2% | 20 | |
| Drums | 52.95¢/lb | -4.3% | 524 | |
| Leg Quarters | 53.08¢/lb | +0.8% | 1,353 | |
| Legs (Bone-in) | 76.28¢/lb | +1.7% | 672 | |
| Tenders | 113.52¢/lb | +1.0% | 978 | |
| Thigh Meat (Boneless/Skinless) | 167.90¢/lb | +0.8% | 642 | |
| Thighs (Bone-in) | 78.35¢/lb | +0.2% | 4 | |
| Wings (Whole)i | 110.63¢/lb | +1.9% | 441 |
Wholesale parts FOB plant, weekly weighted-average price. Volume column is 1,000-lb units traded for the week. Trades column shows weekly volume in thousands of pounds.
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Split wings at retailUSDA weekly feature data · week of 2026-10-09
Party wings (fresh)
V-cut wings (fresh)
Party wings (IQF)
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Whole bird wholesale
LIVEPlant-gate price for an eviscerated whole chicken
Source: USDA AMS weekly · as of 2026-10-09
What plants charge wholesalers for a packed whole bird. Mostly WOG (without giblets, about 89% of volume), small RTC blend (ready to cook, 11%). The chicken equivalent of beef Choice cutout or pork carcass.
Week ending 2026-10-09 · click for history
116.74¢/lb
-0.80¢/lb vs last week· 6,988k lbs traded across all plants
Volume traded this week: 6,988k lbs. Weekly weighted average across all national whole-bird trades.
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Supply pipeline
LIVEHow much chicken is coming, 6 to 10 weeks out
Source: USDA NASS weekly · as of 2026-10-03
Placements are baby chicks put in grow houses this week. They hit slaughter in 6-7 weeks. Eggs set are eggs put in hatcheries this week. They hatch, get placed, then slaughter 9-10 weeks out. YoY tells you whether more or fewer birds are in the pipeline than the same week last year.
Placements (chicks → market in 6-7 wks)
Eggs set (→ market in 9-10 wks)
Weekly NASS series. Placements set today's broiler supply in 6-7 weeks; eggs-set sets it in 9-10 weeks.
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35-year wholesale history
LIVEWhere wholesale chicken sits vs the long run
Source: ERS Meat Price Spreads + AMS 3646 · as of 2026-10-01
Wholesale chicken prices, charted across 35 years. This is the national broiler composite, the chicken equivalent of the beef cutout or pork carcass: what processors charge wholesalers for whole birds. The series runs from January 1990 to today, so you can read where the market sits now against more than three decades of cycles, spikes, and troughs.
Monthly wholesale broiler composite back to January 1990, built from USDA ERS history and the current AMS weekly report. National composite, not per-cut. Use as a level reference, not a directional signal.
Where it sits
Top 10% richest in 35 years
117.14¢/lb monthly avg · same composite
442 months · since 1990-01
Last 5 years
Range: 85.17¢/lb to 142.34¢/lb
Median: 123.10¢/lb
Median: 123.10¢/lb
Last 10 years
Range: 62.61¢/lb to 142.34¢/lb
Median: 94.48¢/lb
Median: 94.48¢/lb
Full history
Range: 48.63¢/lb to 142.34¢/lb
Median: 70.69¢/lb
Median: 70.69¢/lb
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