Source: MEATINGPLACE, 4/28/15

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday asked China to drop a ban on imports of U.S. poultry imposed because of an outbreak of bird flu in chickens and turkeys.

The United States wants China to limit trade only from states or regions that have had cases of the flu, which is deadly to poultry, Vilsack told reporters, according to Reuters.

So far, the outbreak has mostly affected commercial turkey operations. The highly publicized case in Iowa that affected 5 million chickens was an egg layer production facility, so the commercial impact would be more on eggs than on chicken meat.    

At a recent poultry outlook conference by Express Markets Inc., industry analysts predicted chicken industry profitability to remain well above historic averages in 2015 and 2016 as demand remains high for chicken meat, despite China's import ban. 

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