Terrence O'KeefeTerrence O'Keefe is content director at WATT Global Media. www.wattglobalmedia.com/contact-usFrom the Author - Page 27Egg ProductionAEB tests if premium packaging designs can increase egg salesThe American Egg Board’s (AEB) packaging task force is looking for ways that packaging and point-of-sale marketing can be employed to rev up retail egg sales.HomeSingle-cell organisms could provide alternatives to fishmeal, oilAlltech Inc. is producing and marketing an alga, which contains 70 percent oil on dry weight basis, as a source of omega-3 fatty acids in animal diets.Processing & SlaughterSanderson caught in struggle between tax incentives and NIMBYIt isn’t impossible to build a new poultry complex in North Carolina; Sanderson Farms proved it could get the job done earlier this decade in Kinston, North Carolina.BroilersImproving broiler welfare can improve profitabilityAnimalwelfare programs for the broiler industry and the audits that measureperformance to these standards were adopted to address consumers and activist’sconcerns regarding how the birds are raised and handled, according to Dr. KarenChristensen, associate professor and extension specialist, University ofArkansas. She told the audience of the webinar, Responding to consumer demand with nutrition solutions, sponsored byNovus, that as the National Chicken Council’s animal welfare program has hadits measurable standards raised or tightened, that the industry’s performancehas improved.Egg ProductionUndercover animal rights activists bothered by hard work, not deceitI would havea really hard time lying about who I was, my work history and why I aminterested in working on a livestock or poultry farm or processing facility. Itjust isn’t in my makeup, even as a kid, I was never a good liar. So, I was alittle surprised that when two veteran animal rights undercover video activiststold the audience at Farm Animal Rights’ NationalAnimal Rights Conference this summer about their “exploits” they didn’tmention any stress or strain to their consciences brought about by theirdeception, instead they complained about the hard work on the farm.Processing & SlaughterFoster Farms shouldn’t be evaluated just on noncompliance reportsIf you can’t require a recall or force a shutdown because of a possible link to a Salmonellosis outbreak, then there are other ways to “influence” the outcome, and this is why I don’t think that counting noncompliance reports at Foster Farms’ processing plants is a good way to evaluate the company’s food safety efforts.Egg ProductionNestle decision brings egg breakers into hen welfare discussionNestle, one of the world’s largest food processing companies, has identified “cage systems,” “particularly barren battery cages,” for attention in its efforts to ensure that animal welfare is improved and enhanced across its global supply chain.Egg ProductionAddition of cage-free capacity leads industry changes in the USWith the Egg Bill off the table and the clock ticking down on the January 1, 2015, implementation date for California’s Proposition 2, one might expect there to be a building boom in the U.S. layer industry, but there is just a slight increase.Broilers & TurkeysPerdue’s sale of Heritage Breeders ends an eraWith the sale of Heritage Breeders, Perdue Farms exits the primary breeding business entirely.Broilers & TurkeysUS egg consumption rising because of health benefitsJoanne Ivy,president, American Egg Board said, “We are in the beginning stage of one ofthe most positive long term growth eras for eggs that we have seen in decades.”She told the audience at the joint United Egg Producers and American Egg Boardarea meeting in Atlanta, “The primary reason for this is we are seeing a shiftin how we eat in our country. Perhaps the most important part of this for eggsis the huge sustained growth and interest in protein.”Egg ProductionCSES egg layer housing research answers and raises questionsThe initialfindings report for the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply was releasedrecently and it presents preliminary results for some of the measurements takenfrom the two flock study. The research tracts animal well-being, environmental,food safety, worker safety and affordability measurements for eggs produced fromhens housed in conventional cages, enriched colonies and aviaries on acommercial farm. This three year project will provide a comparison of thesethree housing alternatives for hens in these five areas of sustainability usingthe best available science to measure indicators such as ammonia concentrationin the house, feather condition, egg production and a myriad of others.Egg ProductionProp 2 provides egg producers with a research opportunityIf California’s efforts to prevent shell eggs that are not Proposition 2 compliant from entering commerce in the state are successful, then a separate market will exist for Proposition 2-compliant eggs.Previous PagePage 27 of 59Next Page