Apparently you’ve never had Royal Farms fried chicken in Maryland. fresh fried chicken masquerading as a gas station. By the way, hats off to your lady friend.
Arkansas was (closely) third in broiler production 2021 behind Georgia and Alabama, but I had to go to Memphis for the best fried chicken. There are two broiler companies here in town, one used to be Towsend which was Maryland based 7# plus birds I grew up raising and did so with mom and dad for 20 years.
USDA - National Agricultural Statistics Service - Charts and Maps - Broilers: Inventory by State, US
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service Information. NASS publications cover a wide range of subjects, from traditional crops, such as corn and wheat, to specialties, such as mushrooms and flowers; from calves born to hogs slaughtered; from agricultural prices to land in farms. The agency...
www.nass.usda.gov