Terrence O'KeefeTerrence O'Keefe is content director at WATT Global Media. www.wattglobalmedia.com/contact-usFrom the Author - Page 18Processing & SlaughterPoult placements will constrain turkey output in 2016The USDA’s Turkey Hatchery report, released on November 17, 2015, reports that U.S. turkey poult placements in October of 2015 were 6 percent lower than they were in October of 2014.Cage-Free Laying Systems2015: Prop 2, avian flu and McDonald’s cage-free eggsFor the first few months of 2015, the initial shortages of Proposition 2-compliant eggs in California, and the run-up of egg prices in the Golden State were the biggest news surrounding the U.S. egg industry. But by April, highly pathogenic avian influenza made its way to Iowa, and it wasn’t just California that had a tight egg supply.Cage-Free Laying SystemsUS cage-free egg layer flock is rapidly increasingThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that, in September 2015, the U.S. had 23.6 million hens housed cage free, a 37 percent increase from the agency’s September 2014 estimate. Pledges to purchase eggs from cage-free layers by major restaurant chains and food companies are driving this increase.Avian InfluenzaPoultry euthanasia, disposal methods to control diseaseEradication of a foreign animal disease outbreak, like highly pathogenic avian influenza, requires the depopulation and disposal of all the poultry on infected premises. Quickly euthanizing and disposing of the flock reduces the opportunity for tracking the virus off the infected premise on either people or equipment.Broilers & TurkeysSpecht Ten Elsen founder diesJohannes Ten Elsen, 83, founder of Specht Ten Elsen, died October 8, 2015, in the Netherlands while visiting one of his oldest clients.Egg ProductionRecord egg prices confound egg packaging market testsWhen conducting a test, whether in the laboratory or in the marketplace, you can learn the most if you can control all factors which can impact the outcome you are trying to measure and varying only one factor at a time. As reported last year, the American Egg Board’s packaging task force conducted retail tests in 2015 on egg cartons that are more informative and have better graphics to see if they can increase egg sales and bring higher prices.Avian Influenza3 important biosecurity concepts for your poultry farmThe effectiveness of any biosecurity program is affected by what is in the program and whether the program is being followed. All it takes is one instance of a policy circumvented on a day that an infectious disease is waiting outside the poultry house door. Industry biosecurity practices proved inadequate in stopping the introduction and spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the U.S. Midwest in spring 2015.Avian Influenza40 separate introductions of avian fluUSDA epidemiology surveys and genetic analyses indicate how avian flu was likely introduced onto individual U.S. farms last spring.Avian InfluenzaBiosecurity for poultry without a line of separationEnhancing biosecurity is the talk of the U.S poultry industry this fall with everyone trying to make sure that their farms have perimeter buffer areas around their poultry houses and lines of separation between the outside of the poultry house and where the birds actually live. Everything is focused on reducing the chance for the avian flu virus of getting onto a poultry farm and from getting inside the poultry house. But how do these concepts apply if the birds are raised free range and the birds are brought to market live?Egg ProductionYear-ending US egg prices may return to normal levelsThe number of table egg-laying hens in the U.S. might not fully recover from the losses stemming from the highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak in the Upper Midwest this spring until 2017, but don’t expect the current run of high wholesale egg prices to last that long.HomeActivists say alternative animal agriculture is badI’ve never liked the term “factory farm” and, according to comments made by speakers at the 2015 Animal Rights National Conference, in Alexandria, Virginia, some animal rights activists have soured on the term as well. Hope Bohanec, projects manager, United Poultry Concerns, said, “The term factory farm had its time … we have inadvertently created the alternative animal agriculture industry. All animal agriculture is bad.”BroilersAir velocity at night critical for broiler performanceModern broilers convert 35 percent of the feed energy they consume into useful functions like growth, locomotion and maintenance. The other 65 percent of the energy is converted to waste heat, which is useful for maintaining warm temperatures in the poultry house in the winter, but presents a challenge in the summer months.Previous PagePage 18 of 59Next Page