A drought in the Midwest coupled with an increased demand for ethanol, led to a shortage in the corn inventory and an increase in the cost producers pay to feed their chickens.
"Poultry producers had to respond by restraining production to stem their losses," said Mike Giles, president of the Georgia Poultry Federation.
The result was that consumers paid an all-time high for chicken at their local super market.
Giles said another drought this year could be extremely harmful to North Georgia's poultry industry.
"Another year of drought could be very problematic for poultry producers and anyone depending on corn," Giles said.
If a drought does hit the Midwest again, Giles said he's hopeful the federal government will provide some relief.
"There are provisions in the law that allow the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to waive the mandate for the amount of corn that would be used to produce ethanol," he said. "They denied that request last year but we're hopeful if we find ourselves in another crisis situation next year, the EPA and the administration would take another look at a waiver."
Georgia is the nation's leading poultry producer with about $4.6 billion in annual sales. According to the federation's web site, the poultry industry also contributes about $18.4 billion annually to Georgia's economy and employs more than 100,000 people.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2013/1/256708