You should thank a chicken if:

• You live on the Delmarva Peninsula or in the mid-Atlantic region.
• You or someone in your family work in the banking, building/contracting, fuel, transportation or food industries.
• You drive Delmarva roads, cross Delmarva bridges and send children to Delmarva schools.
• You value the rural quality of life on Delmarva — less traffic, slower pace and wide-open spaces.
• You appreciate how area farmers make sure you’re eating the freshest, safest, highest quality and least expensive food supply.

Did you know chickens help boost our economy?

Agriculture accounts for 68,000 jobs in the mid-Atlantic and more than $919 million in tax revenue, even though farmers make up less than 2 percent of the American population.

It costs about $617 million to feed all the poultry on Delmarva. In fact, these chickens eat over 73 million bushels of corn, more than 27 million bushels of soybeans and over half a million bushels of wheat each year. That’s enough to completely fill the Ravens’ stadium in Baltimore to standing room only!

The wholesale value of all these Delmarva chickens when they are ready for market is $1,720,720,400 — that’s right, they are worth more than $1.7 BILLION!

A typical Delmarva farm may have more than one poultry house — which ranges from $200,000 to $300,000 to build.

Tractors and combines cost $100,000 and more, which is equal to the cost of several lawn mowers.

Did you know chickens spend money and help create jobs?

In 2004, poultry producers spent more than $84 million in improvements — new houses, renovations to old houses, new equipment and more.

The poultry companies spent about $63 million for similar improvements.

Packaging and other processing costs for poultry companies in 2004 totaled $129,862,430.

There are about 2,050 people who grow broilers, roasters, Cornish game hens or breeder stock on the Delmarva Peninsula.

The four major poultry companies have 14,052 employees. Those paychecks add up to almost $337,365,764!

Each job in the poultry processing industry creates 7.2 jobs elsewhere, including in the banking, building, fuel, transportation and supply businesses.

Almost every Delmarva family relies on the poultry industry in one way or another.

Did you know chickens improve the view?

That’s because soybean growers in Delaware, Maryland and all of Virginia (including mainland Virginia) raise beans on more than 1.1 million acres of land. Other crops, and livestock farms such as pork, dairy and cattle farms, account for even more acres.

Whether you live in a farm area or just drive through it to get to the beach, you get to enjoy the view.

More local farms mean fewer traffic jams and less pollution.

All of these farm acres raise more property tax dollars and require less need for public services, which benefits everyone in Delmarva.

Did you know Delmarva chickens are a huge food source?

Delmarva produces a lot of chickens, making the region fourth in the nation in broiler production.

Annual broiler, roaster and Cornish game hen production on Delmarva totals more than 561 million birds! That’s enough for every person who lives in Delaware to eat two whole chickens a day, every day, for a year.

Sussex County, Del., is the top broiler-producing county in the nation. And Maryland is home to five of the Top 100 broiler-producing counties.

Did you know chickens protect our environment?

Farmers help protect the environment with smart solutions and environmentally sound practices, including:

• Using stream buffers of vegetation, to reduce erosion and runoff.
• Storing poultry and livestock manure in covered areas, to reduce nutrient runoff until the fields are ready for fertilizer.
• Incorporating GPS tracking to help locate exactly where to put fertilizer, and how much to use.
• Testing nutrient levels of poultry manure, because it provides an organic fertilizer for farm fields.
• Reducing pollution and compaction from trips across the field with no-till farming practices. This keeps crop residue in place, reducing wind and water erosion and conserving soil moisture.
• Controlling weed growth with no-till farming and minimizing any additional trips across the field to spray — if any spray is needed at all.
• Testing soil to determine how much fertilizer is needed for a crop.
• Composting units to turn farm waste into useful soil amendments.
• Fencing streams to keep larger livestock out of the water.
• Planting trees to improve air quality by reducing dust.
• Keeping equipment well tuned and using cleaner alternatives like biodiesel.