Chicken Stocks Are Getting Whacked

Shares of U.S. poultry producers are down today after Russia announced sanctions targeting Western meat products including chicken from the U.S.

Arkansas-based Tyson Foods is down 2.3% and Colorado-based Pilgrim's Pride is down 3.0%.

Russia imported $303 million worth of American chicken last year, according to the National Chicken Council. It's the second-largest destination for U.S. poultry.

The NCC said any impact on U.S. industry would be minimal.

"As its domestic poultry industry has expanded, Russia has in recent years become less important as an export market," they said. "Russia currently accounts for only about 7% of total U.S. poultry export volume. In the mid-1990s, exports to Russia were as much as 40 percent of that total."

Instead, they said, ordinary Russians are likely to suffer the most.

"The biggest impact, we believe, will be on Russian citizens who will be burdened by higher prices for all food products, especially meat and poultry," the NCC said in its statement. "The price of poultry in Russia is already rising and has recently been increasing at a rate of 2% percent to 3% per week."

Russia's RIA Novosti is reporting Brazil has offered to replace lost volumes.