Kansas Corn Commission Cries Fowl Play by National Chicken Council

Media Hype of Chicken Wing Shortage Did Not Have Potential to Happen

It turns out there were plenty of wings, said Kansas Corn Commissioner Dennis McNinch.

In the run-up to the Super Bowl, national news media grabbed onto a National Chicken Council news release that blamed ethanol for a shortage of chicken wings. Wings are a favorite food at Super Bowl parties and in recent weeks, media headlines became prominent touting a potential shortage. The Council also claimed high corn prices were due to 40-percent of the corn crop going towards ethanol-blended fuel.

As consumers began to remove chicken wings from their Super Bowl snack menus, the Chicken Council recently reappeared with a new line stating its previous claims of a wing shortage were unfounded.

"The Chicken Council's story never made sense," McNinch said. "The Council saw a one-percent drop in chicken production and led media to believe there could be a shortage of the popular chicken wings, just in time for the Super Bowl. When the council also blamed ethanol for the production drop, it quickly became a publicity grab that went wrong. They didn't have their facts right."

The Kansas Corn Commission, along with National Corn Growers Association, is now pointing to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) information that shows the Chicken Council was simply playing the part of Chicken Little. USDA Cold Storage data showed 68-percent more chicken wings in storage than last year, meaning the Chicken Council had no legs to stand on.

McNinch, who also serves on the NCGA ethanol committee, said the Council did not mention the fact that one-third of every bushel of corn used for ethanol returns as DDGS, which is a nutritious and efficient livestock feed. It also conveniently forgets to mention the real drivers of higher consumer food prices, like energy, marketing costs and higher profits.

The National Corn Growers Association said strong demand for corn means more corn is planted for all users. And strong demand means continued innovation in seed technologies and increased productivity while protecting the environment with less inputs and modern farming practices.

For additional information, go to

foodandfuelamerica.com/2013/02/super-bowl-chicken-crap.html.