Kentucky Meat Processing Statistics

• Kentucky ranks 8th in the nation in beef cattle inventory and has the most beef cattle of any state east of the Mississippi River.
• Kentucky has 907,000 beef cows. Adding calves, bulls, and dairy cows, and Kentucky has about 2 million cattle at any given time.  In 2024, gross receipts from cattle production totaled over $1 billion, ranking it in the top five of all commodities. 

Top beef cattle counties in Kentucky

1. Barren

2. Pulaski

3. Madison

4. Breckenridge

5. Bourbon

Source: National Agriculture Statistics Service and Economic Research Commission

• Kentucky ranks 18th in the nation for total swine production, with more than 1,8000 swine operations across the commonwealth. 

• The value of swine production in Kentucky was $181 million in 2022. 

• In 2021, Kentucky had approximately 435,000 total head of swine, with 863,000 marketed annually.   

• The Kentucky pork industry supports 8,882 jobs. 
  
  Source: National Agriculture Statistics Service and Economic Research Commission

• Nearly 300 million broilers (meat type chickens) were raised on Kentucky farms last year. Broiler production brought $1.4 billion to Kentucky in 2022.

• There are 850 large-scale poultry farms in 44 counties.T
  

• The number of turkey farms in Kentucky are growing. Cash receipts for turkey sales in 2022 were $30 million.

• Kentucky ranks 15th in the nation for poultry and egg sales. The commonwealth ranks 8th in the nation for broiler production. 

Source: National Agriculture Statistics Service and Economic Research Commission

• Kentucky also has 59,000 goats, which ranks the state 6th nationally for goat inventory. In 2024, the goat industry is expected to contribute over $3.5 million in revenue to Kentucky's agricultural economy. 
• As of January 31, 2024, Kentucky had about 75,000 sheep and lambs, which is a 21% increase from 2021. The state also has 4,500 farms that raise sheep, which ranks Kentucky 23rd in the country for sheep inventory.
  

$3,576,653
Total Retail Sales (in thousands) in Kentucky Animal slaughtering and processing

Source: 2017 Economic Census Core Statistics

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