Terrence O'KeefeTerrence O'Keefe is content director at WATT Global Media. www.wattglobalmedia.com/contact-usFrom the Author - Page 16Breeding & GeneticsRapid broiler growth is sustainable and not inhumaneI generally enjoy the Wall Street Journal’s coverage of agriculture and the poultry industry, but I was unpleasantly surprised by some things written in a recent article on the expanding market for “slow-growing” broilers.Egg ProductionCage-free purchase pledges not the egg buyers' faultThe Egg Industry Center Issues Forum in Chicago April 20-21, brought together egg producers, trade association representatives, some researchers and even a few activists and representatives from McDonald's, and, as expected, the hot topic was cage-free egg purchase pledges. It isn't an exaggeration to say that the HSUS representative at the forum was the only person who was smiling throughout the two days of presentations and discussions.Processing & SlaughterRecord red meat and poultry production expected in USThe U.S. financial crisis of 2008 and subsequent economic recession along with the run-up in grain prices triggered by the renewable fuel standards and drought led to a period of decline in U.S. red meat and poultry production. Successive strong grain harvests and ethanol consumption hitting the 10 percent blend wall gave animal producers dramatically lower feed costs for the last two years.Broilers & TurkeysOnline chicken meat trading platform to launch in MayBack in the days of the dot-com boom, it seemed as though online auction models and trading platforms were tried for selling just about everything from hotel rooms to chicken with varying degrees of success. I found an article that I wrote for the December 2000 issue of WATT PoultryUSA that listed five web platforms for trading chicken and other commodity food products; all of the domain names listed in the article are for sale.Cage-Free Laying SystemsCalifornia egg producer transitioning to cage freeJ.S. West Milling Co. was the first egg producer to build, equip and populate an enriched “colony” cage layer house in the U.S. The company became a major proponent of enriched housing as egg producers lobbied for passage of the Egg Bill, which would have mandated a transition from conventional to enriched cages for the entire country.Egg ProductionIowa lab finds no SE-positive eggs in 4 years of testsThe largest egg recalls in U.S. history just happened to coincide with the implementation of the FDA’s Egg Safety rule in summer 2010. While many egg producers were already operating under state or voluntary Salmonella prevention programs prior to 2010, the nationwide implementation of FDA’s rule seems to have had a positive impact on Salmonella enteritidis (SE) incidence in layer houses and in eggs.Egg ProductionHow long will the US conversion to cage-free eggs take?In January 2016, Wired Magazine did a pretty good job of explaining why a conversion of the U.S. egg industry from just over 90 percent cage-housed hens to 100 percent cage-free hens couldn’t happen overnight. Similar articles appeared in several other magazines and newspapers, but I still get inquiries asking why most major cage-free purchase pledges use 2025 as the end date.Broilers & TurkeysDoes Walmart decision signal end for laying hen cages?Any major purchasing decision made by Walmart and Sam's Club, which sell over one quarter of the groceries purchased in the U.S., has major implications throughout the supply chain for any commodity, and eggs are no exception. The cage-free purchase pledge made by Walmart on April 6, 2016 establishes a goal of 100 percent cage-free egg purchases by 2025.Broilers & TurkeysEU antibiotic growth promoter ban not most costly regulationThe ban of antibiotic growth promoters in food producing poultry and livestock in the EU has resulted in a reduction in the total use of antibiotics in animal production in Europe, Dominique Chavette, international poultry market manager, Invivo USA, reported.Cage-Free Laying Systems3 things to consider when choosing a cage-free systemOn my recent visit to the Midwest Poultry Federation Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, I had the opportunity to visit with 12 suppliers of housing systems for laying hens. After hearing about the various types of systems being offered and how they operate, I think there are three questions that U.S. egg producers should ask themselves before they decide which system to choose:Cage-Free Laying SystemsCanadian grocers make cage-free egg purchase pledgeThe grocery arm of the body for Canadian retailers has rolled out a 10-year plan to source the eggs its members sell from laying hens raised in “cage-free environments.” Grocer members of the Retail Council of Canada (RCC) include Loblaw, Sobeys/Safeway, Metro and Wal-Mart Canada.Egg ProductionGemperle Farms to produce only cage-free eggsGemperle Farms will shift all of its egg production to either organic or cage free over the next eight years. Steve Gemperle, president, Gemperle Farms, said the nation’s 21st largest egg producer is making this conversion in response to increased consumer demand for cage-free eggs.Previous PagePage 16 of 59Next Page