Bord Bia's pigmeat and poultry specialist Peter Duggan told Friday's meat outlook conference that although poultry production in Ireland is relatively small, 2016 was another year of strong performance for the sector.

Irish production reached a record 91m birds and production continued to grow across the EU, while it was down in Brazil and the US.

Demand continues to grow as well, with poultry now well established as the most popular protein with consumers. Irish consumers consumed 32kg per person of chicken in 2016 on average, and overall consumption increased by 8% to 52,000t.

Listen to an interview with Duggan in our podcast below:

Listen to "Pig and poultry prospects from Bord Bia seminar" on Spreaker.

The sector benefits from stable feed and energy prices at present, but the big concern for the industry in 2017 in Ireland and throughout Europe is avian influenza, which has the potential to decimate the industry.

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