Broilers: SA vs Argentina

Argentina is, of course, one of the world’s top beef-eating countries, with an annual per capita consumption of about 60kg. However, an increase in red meat prices has opened a gap for Argentina’s a thriving commercial broiler industry.

Broilers: SA vs Argentina
- Advertisement -

At the same time, with the domestic almost saturated, producers are increasing exports. In 2011, Argentina exported 296 103t of chicken meat. Of this, 53 174t went to China, 45 893t to Venezuela, 42 870t to Chile and 36 099t to SA.

Some more stats from Argentina’s booming poultry production – and how they compare with SA:

Production/consumption

- Advertisement -
  • In 2003, Argentina produced 764 000t of chicken meat. By the end of 2008, production stood at 1,5 million tons. In 2012, Argentina’s 5 241 broiler farms produced 2 million tons of chicken meat.
  • About 20kg of chicken meat/person/year was eaten in 2003 by a population of 38,7 million. By 2012, the population had grown to 42,2 million and upped its consumption to 39,9kg/person/year. Currently, chicken is about the quarter of the price of beef.
  • In 2001, SA produced 893 000t of chicken meat for 44,8 million people. Chicken meat production has since increased to 1,5 million tons for a population of 51,8 million.
  • The per capita consumption of poultry meat in South Africa in 2011 was 36,27kg. Beef consumption for the same year was 16,45kg. Chicken is still the cheapest source of meat protein for South Africans. 


Live weight at slaughter

  • The average live weight of Argentina’s broilers at slaughter is 2,7kg, with the average slaughter age 47 to 48 days.
  • In SA, the average live weight of a broiler at slaughter is 1,8 kg. Broilers are often sent to the abattoir at about 35 days old.

Average feed conversion

  • Average feed conversion in Argentina is 2kg of feed to produce 1kg of live broiler. The industry is working on getting the feed conversion ratio below 2kg.
  • In SA, average feed conversion is 1,67kg of feed to produce 1kg of live broiler.

Broiler bedding

  •  Most broiler farms use wood chips as bedding. The bedding is re-used for up to a year before being replaced. It’s ‘rested’ for 10 days between broiler production cycles. During this time, the broiler houses are opened, the lights turned on and the bedding regularly turned to dry it out and get rid of ammonia. The re-used wood chip bedding is sometimes sprayed with disinfectant to kill off parasites or pathogens.
  • In SA, most broiler operations use wood shavings. Bedding is typically replaced after each production cycle.

Extracted from ‘Commercial broiler production’ by Lloyd Phillips (FW, 25 July 2014). Information supplied by Francisco Federico, poultry expert at Argentina’s National Institute of Agricultural Technology; the South African Poultry Association; and Stats SA. Contact Francisco Federico at [email protected].