Organizers of the 2025 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) just let us know that 31,000 people attended the event last week in Atlanta. I can’t remember what attendance was in past years, but a rough guess at first glance is that attendance at IPPE was almost normal. Nonetheless, many people I talked to did not think in the same way. They thought there were fewer.
One major issue that impacted that was the avian flu detected a few days before in the state of Georgia. Everybody talked about it during IPPE. Let us not forget that the state of Georgia is the main poultry producer and exporter in the U.S. Although IPPE organizers made the call on time that the show would take place as planned, as they confirmed with health authorities that there would be no live animals on display and the appropriate measures were taken (such as sanitary mats), it seems that there were attendees who did not come because of this.
I learned that people involved in companies such as those in poultry genetics would follow a one-week sanitary gap to avoid the possibility of spreading the disease when returning to their places of origin.
Notwithstanding, there were many companies as well as poultry producers at the exhibition hall. I found poultry producers from many Latin American countries, but the general consent among the booths I visited was that many important poultry producers did not attend.
There were various other topics discussed in the halls. One of them was the impact that tariffs on agricultural products between the U.S. and Latin America may have. There was practically no one who had not mentioned this, and concern was in the air.
This was also linked to immigration. Apparently, there were people who did not want to risk traveling to the U.S., even after having everything in order.
Just like last year, I was able to see the importance of novel products for intestinal integrity, which in very small quantities in feed can have a great impact on productivity.
The other aspect is the importance of sustainability. Companies are increasingly adopting measures and taking great steps, compared to other less scrutinized industries.
Despite the situation, IPPE is still one of the most important events of the poultry industry for Latin America and the world, and it was successfully held.
What do you think?
