Queensland’s poultry production is valued at $588 million and is supplied by approximately 90 farms with 90% of these located in the state’s South East. The industry remains one of the fastest growing in Queensland a 21% increase in value over the past 5 years.
The relatively low cost of chicken comparative to other meats is expected to continue the meats consumption and industry growth.
The consumption of chicken meat increases to 44 kilograms per person, making it the most consumed meat in Australia.
Even though per capita poultry consumption is expected to increase, population growth is expected to be the key driver of total consumption growth in poultry.
Queensland chicken meat production accounts for 21% of overall national production
Australian meat chickens are not kept in cages. They are raised in large sheds that are environmentally controlled.
Australian chickens are not fed hormones. Nor are they administered hormones in any other way. Their rapid growth occurs naturally due to selective breeding and optimal nutrition.
Since 1960, poultry meat prices have fallen by more than 75% and there has been an almost ninefold increase in per capita consumption – Professor Ross Garnaut AO The Garnaut Climate Change Review
Meat chicken growing farms are generally located within 200km of a processing plant, minimising transport stress on the chickens on the day of processing. Growers need to be near a feed mill, with guaranteed water, power and access for trucks, as well as access to labour and services.
QCMC is the peak Queensland body representing the interests of processors and contract growers involved in the chicken meat industry. Their members include the major processors Golden Cockerel, Inghams, and Darwalla.