The farm gods have thrown a lot at the U.S. poultry industry over the past six years. Yet despite the effects of a global pandemic, rising input costs, avian flu and, more locally, a freak winter storm, Arkansas’ industry finds itself with a lot to feel good about.
“As you look at Arkansas’s agricultural economy, obviously, agriculture’s the No. 1 industry in the state, and poultry’s the No. 1 commodity in Arkansas,” said Blake Rollins, president of The Poultry Federation. “The way I would think of poultry is we’re an engine of opportunity.”
Blake Rollins
According to The Poultry Federation’s statistics, Arkansas’ poultry industry, represented by broilers, eggs and turkeys, generated $6.7 billion in agriculture cash receipts in 2024, or 53 percent of all the state’s ag receipts combined. Broilers make up the vast majority of that economic impact, representing 44 percent of the state’s total agricultural cash receipts by themselves.
The figure is the latest chapter in an unqualified success story. In 2017, cash farm receipts for poultry totaled about $4.6 billion, according to statistics compiled by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Research and Extension. In the COVID-19-impacted year of 2020, that number slipped to $3.7 billion.
In 2018, Arkansas ranked second in the nation in broiler production at 7.3 billion pounds, fifth in turkeys at 595 million pounds and 10th in chicken eggs at 3.5 billion. In 2024, both broilers and eggs are up, to 7.6 billion pounds of meat and 3.9 billion eggs, to rank third and eighth in the country, respectively. Turkey production climbed two spots to third nationally thanks to 512 pounds produced.
The impact can also be seen in the number of jobs related to the industry. More than 6,500 Arkansas farms raise some kind of poultry, and the industry supports a total of 175,000 jobs statewide compared to 151,000 jobs in 2020. Benton County was the No. 1 poultry-producing county in 2024, The Poultry Federation states, followed in rank order by Washington, Howard, Yell, Madison, Sevier, Hempstead, Logan and Carroll counties.
More than that is the ripple impact that the poultry industry has on other segments of the ag industry in Arkansas. Row-crop growers benefit from the additional need for their grain for chicken feed, and with major food processing companies in the state, headlined by behemoth Tyson Foods, demand for other expertise is also on the rise.
“From a row-crop perspective, about 70 percent of the corn grown in the state goes directly into poultry feed,” said Keith Smith, managing director at Keith Smith Co. in Hot Springs and chairman of The Poultry Federation board of directors. “Poultry production and row-crop agriculture are tightly connected in the overall state economy.”
Keith Smith
“I think a hidden piece in that story is how we have a very broad industry in the sense of needing all kinds of different careers,” Rollins said. “It’s a very impactful industry.”
Those ancillary poultry roles include the important work of The Poultry Federation itself. Based in Little Rock, the federation represents the industry in Arkansas, Oklahoma — where poultry represents $1.23 billion worth of agricultural cash receipts — and Missouri, which boasts 95,000 farms and just more than $2 billion of that state’s total ag cash receipts.
The Poultry Federation’s membership runs the gamut of producers to processors of all sizes plus allied members made up of companies serving the industry. The federation’s primary purpose is to serve industry interests through government affairs, producing events that include the forthcoming Poultry Festival in Rogers in June and promoting the industry to new generations through such things as its scholarship program.
“The Poultry Federation plays a key role in building strong relationships with state government that help achieve common goals — that is, Arkansans with good-paying jobs which make for good taxpayers,” said Smith. “State-level policy and investments in education/workforce capability are at the forefront of The Poultry Federation’s broader mission to encourage and support the next generation of our industry.”
The organization not only maintains a healthy working relationship with lawmakers but serves as a unifying element that unites its members in the common cause of growing and promoting the industry. Rollins said The Poultry Federation seeks to serve all members through its programming, from small producers just starting out to large processing companies.
“A great example is our food safety conference,” he said. “Everyone from our larger members to our smaller members are working together on the same goal: to make sure that the food our industry produces is safe and nutritious for Americans. I think you see that shared spirit of working together, sharing insights and lessons learned. We also bring in different regulators, whether that’s [the U.S. Department of Agriculture] or the state, for our members to learn from, as well. There’s a tremendous amount of communication going on with these shared goals.”
The industry is not without its challenges, however, issues shared by the industry nationwide. The highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, cropped up last year, and the first case of 2026 was discovered in Clay County in April. However, the impact of the disease has been lighter in Arkansas than in other states, a fact Smith attributes to the attention being paid to it by producers, equipped with information by the federation.
“In recent years, avian influenza has been a major challenge, impacting exports and creating supply chain disruptions,” he said. “The industry has responded by reinforcing biosecurity measures and focusing on efficiencies. Poultry and eggs continue to be one of the most efficient, affordable, healthy protein options available in the marketplace.
“Other challenges include changes in tariff structures that affect global demand and can lead to volatility in commodity prices. On top of that, broader factors like oil prices influence discretionary income at the consumer level, which can impact spending on poultry products.”
Despite the challenges, Rollins said the long-term future looks bright for U.S. poultry thanks to forecasts that hold great potential for Arkansas’ producers and processors.
“The World Economic Forum, which is not traditionally known to support protein production, is estimating that the protein demand is going to double by 2050,” he said. “When you think about the efficiency of the poultry industry, I think there’s tremendous opportunity for growth, and I think that that growth will benefit more than the poultry industry itself. Others in agriculture will also gain a greater domestic level of demand for corn and soybeans. That’s a tremendous opportunity, and we’re interested in figuring out ways to better capture that.”
While much remains to be done on these macroissues, a more immediate focus is being placed on the 66th Poultry Festival, a celebration of the industry that serves as a major fundraiser for the federation and its scholarship program. Both Rollins and Smith said the event is an important rallying point for members from all three states, reinforcing the vital role they play in keeping America fed.
“There’s a tremendous amount of camaraderie and enjoyment of coming together, supporting the industry,” Rollins said. “It’s this great culmination of a lot of hard work as we start the summer to socialize, to celebrate and to team build. There’s not really another event quite like it around the country, and we’re proud of that. It’s a special opportunity for the industry to come together.”
“On the surface, the Poultry Festival looks like a lot of fun, and it is,” Smith said, “but behind the scenes, it’s about building relationships, strengthening partnerships and moving the industry forward.”
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