Poultry Times November 21 Issue

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Since 1954, the nation’s only poultry industry newspaper

November 21, 2011

Poultry Times

November 21, 2011 Volume 58, Number 24 www.poultrytimes.net

USDA revises poultry classifications

By Barbara Olejnik Poultry Times Staff

bolejnik@poultrytimes.net

WASHINGTON — USDA has issued a final rule lowering the age definition for five classifications of poultry and adding a ready-to-cook weight for roasters, effective Jan. 1, 2014.

The department’s Food Safety & Inspection Service said it is amending the definitions and standards for the official U.S. classes of poultry “so that they more accurately and clearly de-

scribe the characteristics of poultry in the market today.”

FSIS noted that genetic improvements and poultry management techniques have reduced the growout period for some

poultry classes, and extensive cross breeding has produced poultry with higher meat yields but blurred breed distinctions.

“FSIS is taking this action to ensure that the labeling of poultry products is truthful and not misleading,” the agency said.

The five new age classifications are (1) “broiler” or “fryer” from under 13 weeks to less than 20 weeks; (2) “roaster” or “roasting chicken” from 3 to 5 months

See Labeling, Page 8

U.S. industry groups applaud USTR for WTO negotiations on Russia WASHINGTON — The National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation and USA Poultry & Egg Export Council applauded U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk and his team of negotiators for concluding negotiations on Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization.

Russia signed an agreement Nov. 9 with its neighbor and one-time foe Georgia at the WTO headquarters in Geneva.

The agreement, which comes after 18 years of talks. removes the last major obstacle to Moscow’s membership of the global trade body. The deal foresees a neutral company monitoring all trade between the two nations, including the breakaway Geor-

gian provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The three U.S. poultry groups released the following statement about the historical development: “We appreciate Ambassador Kirk and his team of negotiators for their tireless and determined work in settling the issues that have blocked Russia’s accession to the WTO. We recognize that the conclusion of Russia’s membership involved tough negotiations over the past 18 years, including negotiations about poultry issues. The agreement that was reached will continue to allow Russia to remain one of the top export markets for U.S. poultry products.”

For U.S. companies to benefit

from Russia’s accession, it will be necessary for Congress to lift the Jackson-Vanik amendment with respect to Russia and authorize the president to extend Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) to Russia.

The groups concluded: “We will continue to work with USTR, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Congress to help ensure the negotiated access for our products to Russia.”

The American Farm Bureau Federation also applauded the work of the USTR office and said that Russia’s successful accession into the WTO will lead to increased trade between the U.S. and Russia.

See USTR, Page 8

Special

Poultry health: Dr. Phil Stayer, corporate veterinarian for Sanderson Farms, addressed the topic of infectious laryngotracheitis at the recent 2011 Poultry Production & Health Seminar, sponsored by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association.

USPOULTRYseminar focuses on health and performance CHARLOTTE, N.C. — “LT (infectious laryngotracheitis) is a respiratory virus of chickens and pheasants that does not affect humans or other animals. LT reveals weak areas in biosecurity practice as the virus is easily transported on people and things. It is a community disease and must be approached with a community mindset,” said Dr. Phil Stayer, corporate veterinarian for Sanderson Farms.

Stayer addressed live production managers and service techs from throughout the poultry industry who had gathered at the recent 2011 Poultry Production and Health seminar here. The annual conference is sponsored by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association’s Poultry & Egg Institute.

Stayer provided “one person’s perspective” on attempts to control the LT outbreak in Mississippi in the first half of this year. He mentioned that initial efforts to control the outbreak were through extensive biosecurity measures. When these efforts failed, the poultry producers began using recombinant

See Seminar, Page 9

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POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

Symposium noted ‘benchmarks’ in antibiotic use COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Researchers and experts in animal health and human health shared scientific and thought-provoking information that elicited numerous “a-hah’s” from participants of the recent “Antibiotic Use in Food Animals: A Dialogue for a Common Purpose” symposium, held in Chicago.

The symposium was sponsored by the National Institute for Animal Agriculture.

“The symposium established a new benchmark of valuable information and science that can be used to further communicate valid and essential facts to animal agriculture producers as well as consumers regarding the use of antibiotics in food animal production,” said Dr. Leonard Bull, who served as planning committee chairman for the symposium. “Divergent opinions were openly expressed, and areas of consensus were developed.

“If the symposium was summarized in just two words, those words would probably be ‘dynamic’ and ‘eye-opening.’ I can’t remember when I obtained so much good information in a 24-hour period.”

Human health and animal health experts agreed that the judicious use of antibiotics in food animals is sometimes required to provide safe, nutritious food at a reasonable price, and that the prevention of infectious disease improves animal health and human health, organizers noted.

“Antibiotics is one of the technological tools that can be used to ensure affordable food,” said Dr. Tom Shryock, senior research advisor of microbiology, Elanco Animal Health.

In his “Initiatives to Ensure Public Health, Food Safety, Animal Health and Welfare of Antibiotic Use in Food Animals” presentation, Shryock pointed out that the public’s concern regarding anti-

biotic use in food animals has presented a conundrum to veterinarians. After all, every graduate entering the veterinary profession swears an oath not only to protect animal health but also welfare and to not only relieve animal suffering but to prevent it. And that today can require the use of antibiotics in food animals.

Several speakers noted that the use of antibiotics in food animal production is a complex issue that is often over-simplified by consumer media trying to make the topic understandable to readers and listeners. Unfortunately, this simplified presentation of a complex issue often results in the public being misled and misperceptions take root, NIAA noted, adding that, numerous messages delivered by the 13 animal health and human health experts centered on the hot topic of antibiotic resistance.

Highlights of the information presented

includes: l Using an antibiotic — or using more of it — will not necessarily cause resistance to that antibiotic to appear or to increase from current levels. Likewise, ceasing to use an antibiotic — or using less of it — will not necessarily cause resistance to that antibiotic to disappear or decrease from current levels. l Concern about resistance is used as ammunition for other agendas, and the arguments assume a vacuum in which no new drugs are developed. l There’s much the human health community doesn’t know about why antibiotic resistance occurs. As such, antibiotics should be used appropriately — and as little as possible — not only in animal agriculture but also in the human population.

See Symposium, Page 12

Scabs on chickens’ combs and wattles explained BATON ROUGE, La. — Have your chickens ever had white lesions that developed into wartlike nodules and then formed dark scabs on their combs and wattles? If so, your chickens had fowl pox, according to LSU AgCenter poultry professor Dr. Theresia Lavergne.

Fowl pox is not new; it has been around since recorded time.

Fowl pox is a slow-spreading, viral disease in birds. Fowl pox can affect birds of any age, and is transmitted by direct or indirect contact.

“Fowl pox virus can be transmitted by several species of mosquitoes, and that is why we see fowl pox in chickens in Louisiana,” the poultry professor says.

There are two types of fowl pox: dry and wet. The dry pox is the type that forms nodules, and

eventually scabs, on the comb, wattles, ear lobes, eyes and sometimes feet of chickens. The wet pox occurs in the oral cavity and upper respiratory tract. Fowl pox is usually easily diagnosed based on flock history and the presence of the typical lesions.

There is no treatment for fowl pox, but mortality is not significant unless the respiratory tract is severely affected. Once a flock is infected, the disease spreads slowly, and the flock will be infected for several months.

The course of the disease in the individual bird takes three to five weeks. Most birds will continue to eat and drink normally while affected by the disease.

Young birds may have retarded growth, however, and layers may decrease egg production. Also, birds that are affected by the wet

type of fowl pox may have difficulty eating and breathing.

Lavergne says disease con-

See Scabs, Page 12

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POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

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Global trends in animal ag antimicrobial use

By S. Clark, S. Flick, J. Mathers & F. Somers Special to Poultry Times

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The animal agriculture industry continues to reaffirm its commitment Steven Clark is senior technical services manager-poultry; Sondra Flick is director, government & industry affairs; Jeremy Mathers is senior manager-product support microbiologist; and Frederika Somers is junior marketing manager; all with Alpharma LLC. This article is drawn from a presentation given at the 2011 Midwest Poultry Federation Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

Disease CONTROL to providing its customers safe, affordable and high quality food.

The foundation of this commitment is the priority on animal/bird health and welfare, husbanded in modern, science-based production systems.

The cornerstone of this commitment is the appropriate use of all animal health products to ensure our animals are healthy throughout their lives. Veterinarians, nutritionists, feed manufacturers and technicians are dedicated to ensuring we maintain this commitment,

complying with U.S. Food & Drug Administration and state rules and regulations regarding the use of animal medications in feed.

Individual company policies on the use of animal medications extend to the judicious use of antibiotics with importance in human medicine. There is no conclusive scientific evidence linking the use of antibiotics in feed to human resistance, and while these animal medicines are vital to preventing disease, they are used only as needed and only in professionally formulated feeds under state and federal regulation and inspection.

If necessary to treat disease, these products, like all medications used to maintain animal health and well-being, are used according to federal regulation on their use.

APHIS notes its customer-driven improvements in processing timeline WASHINGTON — As part of its commitment to transform USDA into a customer-focused, highperforming organization, the department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has unveiled plans aimed to decrease the time it takes for certain processes and procedures.

These improvements, which could achieve reductions in various agency processing times ranging from 20 percent to 76 percent, will expedite and improve the delivery of products and services, the department noted.

“APHIS approached this effort with the American people’s best interests in mind,” said Gregory Parham, APHIS administrator. “We listened to our customers and committed to making serious changes that help to put our customers first and deliver services not only efficiently and effectively, but also as cost effectively and quickly as possible.”

APHIS began its review process in August 2010, by analyzing and documenting current external and

internal processes to determine where improvements could be made, and worked toward developing streamlined solutions. Throughout the year, APHIS specifically focused on making improvements to the following processes: l Veterinary biologics licensing — With the goal of reducing the processing time involved in reviewing product license applications from veterinary biologic firms and increasing transparency; l Granting nonregulated status to genetically engineered (GE) organisms — With the goal of reducing the overall length and variability of the time it takes for the petition process. l Risk assessment and rulemaking regarding petitions to allow imports of animal and plant products — With the goal of improving and streamlining the risk assessment and rulemaking processes for imported animal and plant products. lThe enforcement process — With the goal of streamlining the enforcement process against those who jeopardize plant and animal health and animal welfare. Improvements will allow APHIS to focus on the most serious violators, more quickly apply

See APHIS, Page 14

Timeline The U.S. animal agriculture industry has been continually challenged with numerous attempts to ban the use of antibiotics in livestock and poultry. One of the latest attempts at the federal level was with the (111th Congress) Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2009, introduced into both the House and Senate (H.R.1549.IH; S.619.

IS), otherwise known as PAMTA 2009. PAMTA type legislation has been introduced since 1999.

The 2009 bill would “deny an application for a new animal drug that is a critical antimicrobial animal drug unless the applicant demonstrates that there is a reasonable certainty of no harm to human health due to the development of antimicrobial resistance attributable to the nontherapeutic use of the drug” (emphasis added by authors).

In addition it would require the withdrawal of current “approvals of a nontherapeutic use of such drugs in food-producing animals

two years after the date of enactment of this Act unless certain safety requirements are met.” History suggests legislative efforts will continue in the future. No federal action may increase the likelihood of state legislation.

In addition to federal attempts, since 2002, individual states have introduced legislation to limit or ban the use of animal agriculture antibiotics and antimicrobials. All of these bills have failed to make it out of respective committees or have been withdrawn by the author, as support dwindles.

Most recently California (S.B. 416) attempted to ban use of “nontherapeutic” antibiotics by California livestock producers by 2015.

Very quickly the bill was amended (S.B. 562) to mandate a warning on the label of any animal product derived from an animal that was administered a non-therapeutic dosage of an antibiotic. Pennsylvania also attempted similar “ban legislation” in 2008, 2009 and

See Trends, Page 13

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POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

Viewpoint Compiled by Barbara Olejnik, Associate Editor 770-718-3440 bolejnik@poultrytimes.net

Agriculture raises a collective voice

By Mike Giles

Special to Poultry Times

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — How often have you had conversations with colleagues and partners in other sectors of agriculture about how we need to do a better job of telling the amazing story of modern poultry production and agriculture in general? Maybe it was about Mike Giles is president of the Georgia Poultry Federation with offices in Gainesville, Ga.

the need to educate our youth, or perhaps it was about trying to reverse myths among consumers about how poultry and other food Giles products are produced.

There appears to be a revolution happening that could have a dramatic impact on poultry producers and our partners in agricultural

“

Consumers have questions about the food they eat . . . Farmers across the nation are stepping up to the challenge . . . talking about their everyday activities . . . demystifying what it means to be a family farmer.

”

food production. I’m not talking about technological advances that will enable farmers and food producers to provide even safer and more healthy foods or ones that will allow us to continue to make efficiency improvements which will make our poultry operations even more sustainable in the future — though these advancements are sure to happen in the coming years. I’m talking about the ways in

Turkey prices soar as corporations gobble pork in ethanol subsidies

By Dennis Wyatt

Special to Poultry Times

MANTECA, Calif. — Having turkey sticker shock?

You can thank Al Gore.

Actually you can thank Gore and the Midwest ethanol subsidy lobby consisting of Republican and Democrat lawmakers alike.

Gore was the leading cheerleader for ethanol as the elixir for all that ails America when it comes to energy.

He led the charge to put in place ethanol subsidies.

Dennis Wyatt is managing editor of the Manteca Bulletin newspaper in Manteca, Calif.

The end result: Ethanol gas that is not cost effective and has created a shortage of corn that in turn has sent food prices climbing.

The hardest hit is Third World countries that rely partially on buying grain from American farmers to feed poor people.

It is also hitting American consumers in the pocketbook. It is particularly noticeable as Thanksgiving approaches. Corn is the primary feed for turkeys. Ethanol subsidies have diverted much of the crop into fuel production essentially tripling the price of feed for turkeys. That puts the squeeze on turkey growers and ultimately you the consumer.

It’s the classic lose-lose scenario from the government meddling with the marketplace believing they know better than the private sector. Not only

See Prices, Page 15

which farmers and food producers respond to consumers’ insatiable curiosity about the food they purchase and feed to their families.

Conversations are happening at the dinner table, among neighbors and friends and perhaps most significantly online in the social media space. Those who are critical of modern farming practices have been actively engaged in these conversations for some time, in many cases driving the discussions. There are millions of consumers though that simply have questions about the food they eat — where it was

produced and how it was raised. As they should be, consumers are curious and are looking for answers.

The question remains whether their questions will be answered by those who know the most about agriculture and food production, farmers and food processors, or whether they will be answered by critics with a bias against modern agricultural practices.

Farmers across the nation are stepping up to the challenge. There are farmers speaking out on Twitter

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See Giles, Page 14

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POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

5

Classic Thanksgiving dinner costing more WASHINGTON — The retail cost of menu items for a classic Thanksgiving dinner including turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and all the basic trimmings increased about 13 percent this year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

AFBF’s 26th annual informal price survey of classic items found on the Thanksgiving Day dinner table indicates the average cost of this year’s feast for 10 is $49.20, a $5.73 price increase from last year’s average of $43.47.

“The cost of this year’s meal remains a bargain, at just under $5 per person,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman, a rice and cattle producer from Texas. “The quality and variety of food produced for our dinner tables on America’s diverse farms and ranches sets us apart from our contemporaries around the world. It is an honor for our farm and ranch families to produce the food from our nation’s land for family

Thanksgiving celebrations.”

The AFBF survey shopping list includes turkey, bread stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a relish tray of carrots and celery, pumpkin pie with whipped cream and beverages of coffee and milk, all in quantities sufficient to serve a family of 10.

There is also plenty for leftovers.

The big ticket item — a 16-pound turkey — came in at $21.57 this year. That was roughly $1.35 per pound, an increase of about 25 cents per pound, or a total of $3.91 per whole turkey, compared to 2010. The whole bird was the biggest contributor to the final total, showing the largest price increase compared to last year.

“Turkey prices are higher this year primarily due to strong consumer demand both here in the U.S. and globally,” said John Anderson, an AFBF senior economist.

The 13 percent increase in

the national average cost reported this year by Farm Bureau for a classic Thanksgiving dinner is somewhat higher but still tracks closely with the organization’s 2011 quarterly marketbasket food surveys and the federal government’s Consumer Price Index for food.

Farm Bureau volunteer shoppers are asked to look for the best possible prices, without taking advantage of special promotional coupons or purchase deals, such as spending $50 and receiving a free turkey. Shoppers with an eye for bargains in all areas of the country should be able to purchase individual menu items at prices comparable to the Farm Bureau survey averages. Another option for busy families without a lot of time to cook is ready-to-eat Thanksgiving meals for up to 10 people, with all the trimmings, which are available at many supermarkets and take-out restaurants for around $50 to $75.

The AFBF survey was first

Tom Super named NCC vice president, communications

Super

WASHINGTON — National Chicken Council President Mike Brown has announced the appointment of Tom Super as vice president of communications. Super brings more than 12 years of combined experience in strategic communications, public policy, politics and meat and poultry issues management to NCC’s senior management team.

Super spent the last three and a half years at the American Meat Institute, most recently as vice president of public affairs, where he handled press relations and media outreach, planned and executed communications strategies around the institute’s legislative and regulatory priorities and supervised social media efforts. He also managed the day-to-day operation of the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council. Prior to being appointed vice president, Super served AMI as senior director of media outreach.

See Super, Page 12

National Turkey Federation

conducted in 1986. A total of 141 volunteer shoppers from 35 states participated in this year’s survey. Farm Bureau’s

survey menu has remained unchanged since 1986 to allow for consistent price comparisons.

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POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

Business Compiled by David B. Strickland, Editor 770-718-3442 dstrickland@poultrytimes.net

Sanofi chooses Lyon as headquarters for Merial division LYON, France — Merial, the animal health division of the Sanofi Group, is establishing its global business headquarters here in Lyon. Merial is historically well-established there, with 1,400 employees and six sites in Lyon and the surrounding region, the company said.

The economy and the key plans of Greater Lyon in the life sciences, health and biotechnology were undeniably trump cards behind this decision, company officials said.

“Sanofi today is the leading private sector employer in Greater Lyon, with 6,700 employees among 11 sites; it plays a major role in the region and across our different entities: Sanofi, Merial, SanofiPasteur and Genzyme,” said Christian Lajoux, president of Sanofi France.

“The presence of our global headquarters at Lyon illustrates and reinforces the involvement of Merial within the scientific community of Greater Lyon, notably Lyonbiopôle and LyonBiotech, where Merial is already involved,” said José Barella, senior vice president, Merial.

The company adds that Merial’s global headquarters will be housed at Gerland — the historic birthplace of biological vaccine production — on the Avenue Tony Garnier site. Currently, this site is the base for the president of Merial France, the management of commercial activities for Europe, Middle East and Africa, the management of worldwide industrial affairs and a number of other global functions.

Global research and development activities and the U.S. commercial operations will remain in Duluth, Ga., the company said.

Research award Merial has also announced its Eighth Annual Veterinary Research Award for Graduate Veterinarians. This award is open to graduate veterinarians who will soon complete or have recently completed a doctorate program in the biomedical sciences, or who are in the final one to two years of residency training in the field of veterinary pathology, medicine, surgery, radiology/imaging or laboratory animal medicine.

The recipient(s) of the research award will be invited to present their research at the Merial NIH National Veterinary Scholars Sym-

See Sanofi, Page 7

In other Business news:

Bachoco completes O.K. Ind. acquisition CELAYA, Mexico — Industrias Bachoco S.A.B. de C.V., Mexico’s leading producer and processor of poultry and other food products, has announced that the company has successfully concluded the process of acquiring the American poultry company, O.K. Industries Inc. In a release issued on Oct. 28, 2011, Bachoco announced it had reached an agreement to acquire O.K. Now that all requirements have been met, the acquisition of O.K. is complete, the company said.

The total amount paid for O.K. was approximately $95 million, taking into account primary working capital needs. The amount was paid in cash, part of which came from utilizing one of Bachoco’s credit lines and the remainder from Bachoco’s own resources.

In its third quarter 2011 results, Bachoco announced cash and cash equivalents of $236 million as of Sept. 30, 2011. No debt was assumed from O.K. whose normalized EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amoritization) is estimated to be approximately $20 million per year.

Bachoco also noted that O.K. will continue operating under the same name and brands, with basically the same management team while maintaining its nearly 4,000 local workers.

“We are very pleased to complete this acquisition and extend a warm welcome to all our new staff members and suppliers,” said Rodolfo Ramos, CEO of Bachoco.

“I am very confident that working together, we will provide excellent service and quality products to all of our current and new customers.”

IDEXX acquires lab for diagnostic research WESTBROOK, Maine — IDEXX Laboratories Inc. has announced that it has acquired the research and diagnostic laboratory (RADIL) business of the College of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Missouri for $43 million in cash.

Based in Columbia, Mo., RADIL provides health monitoring and diagnostic testing services to bioresearch customers.

“The bioresearch market is an excellent strategic fit for IDEXX, allowing us to leverage our expertise in veterinary diagnostics, as well as our integrated offering of reference laboratory and in-clinic testing solutions,” said Jonathan Ayers, IDEXX chairman and CEO. “The acquisition of RADIL, with its international reputation, track record of innovation, and solid relationships with key bioresearch customers, will create a strong foundation for our further participation in this market.”

RADIL serves the biomedical research community with veterinary laboratory diagnostics including serology, pathology, molecular diagnostics, microbiology and parasitology. All RADIL employees will join IDEXX and continue operations in Columbia, the company said.

“The acquisition of RADIL represents a natural extension of our business strategy and aligns well with our overall corporate purpose — to create long-term value for our shareholders while enhancing the health and well-being of pets, people and livestock,” Ayers added.

IDEXX expects future growth of the RADIL business to be augmented by the opportunity to leverage IDEXX technologies and international expansion supported

by IDEXX’s global infrastructure.

IDEXX is a provider of diagnostic tests and information for

livestock and poultry. Headquartered in Maine, IDEXX Laboratories employs more than 4,900 people and offers products to customers in more than 100 countries.

More information can be obtained at http://www.idexx.com.

Pfizer invites students to apply for scholarships MADISON, N.J. — For the third consecutive year, Pfizer Animal Health and the American Veterinary Medical Foundation invite second- and third-year students of veterinary medicine to apply for the Pfizer Animal Health Scholarship. In an effort to help address rising school debt, up to 300 scholarships of $2,500 each will be awarded to assist students in all areas of veterinary medicine, the company said.

In addition to traditional scholarship selection criteria — academic excellence and financial need — Pfizer Animal Health’s scholarship will focus on meeting the ongoing needs of the veterinary profession: increasing diversity among practitioners in ethnic heritage, gender, socioeconomic background, professional aspirations and improving the availability of veterinarians to serve in mixed or rural practices.

Pfizer Animal Health recognizes that veterinary students need financial assistance to help fund their education, take advantage of opportunities for practical in-field experience and explore an array of veterinary career paths, the company said.

“This scholarship is one way that Pfizer is helping to meet the needs of the veterinary profession and ensure a successful, vibrant future,” said Dr. J. Michael McFarland, group director of veterinary medical services & corporate citizenship for Pfizer Animal Health.

In 2012, Pfizer Animal Health will provide up to $750,000 in student scholarships to eligible (Continued on next page)

POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011 (Continued from previous page)

students in colleges of veterinary medicine in the U.S. and the Caribbean. Scholarships will be awarded to students in all areas, including food animal medicine, equine and small animal medicine, research, academia and government services, among others.

Award eligibility is subject to the guidelines established by individual schools.

“The first two years of this program have been a huge success. We awarded scholarships to students from a myriad of socioeconomic backgrounds studying across a diverse array of species and veterinary disciplines,” McFarland said.

“We intend to continue to build on this successful experience, which has allowed us to support students of veterinary medicine more effectively than ever.”

In 2011, the program awarded 300 students with a total of $750,000. The group included: 32 percent from diverse backgrounds; 50 percent studying to practice food and mixed animal veterinary medicine; 35 percent going into small animal practice; remaining students going in to academia, research and public practice.

“Learning that I was awarded the scholarship brought me peace of mind because of all the expenses I was facing while trying to focus on my veterinary education,” said 2011 scholarship recipient Joe Esch, a fourth-year student at Ohio State and current president of the Student American Veterinary Medical Association. “The scholarship was beneficial in covering the living expenses and educational opportunities not accounted for by student loans.”

More information can be obtained at http://www.vetstudentconnect.com; or http://www.avmf. org/pfizer.

Novartis appoints Wright pharm. develop. head BASEL, Switzerland — Novar-

tis has announced the appointment of Dr. Timothy Wright as global head, development, Novartis Pharmaceuticals.

Wright joined Novartis in 2004 and most recently served as senior vice president and global head of translational sciences at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. His group included translational medicine, biomarker development, preclinical safety (toxicology), and drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics.

Previously, he worked for Pfizer Global Research and Development as the exploratory therapy area leader for inflammation. He also served as chief of the Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology and an endowed professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

Wright received a bachelor of arts degree in biology from the University of Delaware and a medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Lohmann Animal Health presents sales award WINSLOW, Maine — Seth

7 Elrod has been named Lohmann Animal Health International’s President’s Award winner for 2011.

The annual award goes to the sales manager with the largest percentage increase in sales from the previous year in their territory. Dave Zacek, Lohmann Animal Health CEO, recently presented Elrod with a ring as recognition of his achievement.

“Seth has only been with us a short time but has made his mark on Lohmann Animal Health International’s sales,” Zacek said. “His hard work, knowledge of the AviPro® product line and knowledge of the industry has been a great asset to our customers.”

Elrod joined Lohmann Animal Health International two years ago. He is the Mid-Atlantic area manager serving Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and northern Georgia.

Lohmann Animal Health International is a division of its Cuxhaven, Germany-based parent company, Lohmann Ani-

•Sanofi (Continued from page 6)

posium. Award recipients will also receive a $2,500 honorarium.

Applications for the Merial Research Award should include: cover letter; curriculum vitae; scientific manuscript or detailed written description of your research in journal format; and two letters of recommendation in support of submission.

Applications will be evaluated based upon the scientific merit of the research performed, the quality of the manuscript or written description, the qualifications of the applicant including participation in scientific meetings, committees or other research related activities and the strength of the supporting recommendations, the company said. Cover letters should include a brief statement describing how this award and a visit to Merial would benefit the applicant or help them further promote veterinarians in biomedical research.

The application deadline is Feb. 14, 2012. More information about the award can be obtained by e-mail from Dr. Diane L. Larsen at diane.larsen@merial.com.

Business mal Health. More information can be obtained at http://www. lahinternational.com.

Kraft Foods employees work to help fight hunger

NORTHFIELD, Ill. — Kraft Foods employees signed up in record numbers to volunteer during the recent Delicious Difference Week, the culmination of the company’s ongoing commitment to improve communities around the world. During the third-annual week of volunteer service (Oct. 3-8, 2011), approximately 30,000 employees rolled up their sleeves to fight hunger and promote healthy lifestyles.

“We’re unleashing the power of our global workforce to make a real difference in the communities where we live and work,” said Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld, who worked shoul-

der-to-shoulder with her colleagues packing meals for families facing hunger in Chicago.

“Our employees play a vital role in their communities all year long — serving lunch at local soup kitchens, teaching children about health and nutrition, building playgrounds, planting community gardens and in so many other ways,” Rosenfeld said.

“And with more than 700 volunteer events in 60 countries this year, it will undoubtedly be our biggest and most impactful week of volunteer service ever!”

Last year, Kraft Foods employees contributed nearly 155,000 volunteer hours — a number that has more than tripled since 2008.

For 2011, the company expects upwards of 200,000 volunteer hours. During the past 25 years, Kraft Foods and the Kraft Foods Foundation have donated more than $1 billion in cash, food and humanitarian aid globally.

8

POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

Encephalitis unlikely in domestic poultry BATON ROUGE, La. — The chances of poultry and other domestic birds acquiring mosquito-transmitted encephalitis viruses are relatively low, according to an LSU AgCenter expert.

Dr. Theresia K. Lavergne, a poultry science specialist with the LSU AgCenter, says concern about problems with West Nile Virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis and Western Equine Encephalitis always increases during the summer — when mosquito populations generally are up and more cases are reported.

But Lavergne also says the incidence of these viruses in chickens, turkeys, ducks, pheasants, chukars, ostriches and emus in Louisiana are relatively limited. Natural immunity in chickens and turkeys protects them from West Nile, and a vaccine is available to protect domestic poultry from Eastern Equine Encephalitis.

“There is no animal-to-animal, animal-to-person or person-to-person transmission of the encephalitis viruses,” Lavergne explains. “Thus, people cannot be infected by touching and caring for other people or animals that have the disease.

“The only mode of transfer of West Nile Virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis or Western Equine Encephalitis is through infected mosquitoes, and only a small number of certain species of mosquitoes carry the viruses. The viruses are transferred when mosquitoes bite an infected wild bird, and then the same mosquito must bite a person or animal

Disease CONTROL to transfer the virus.”

West Nile Virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis and Western Equine Encephalitis are types of encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain, caused by the individual viruses.

“Since West Nile Virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis and Western Equine Encephalitis infect wild birds such as crows and blue jays, I am frequently asked if poultry such as chickens and turkeys can become infected,” Lavergne said. “The answer is that the chances are very unlikely.”

Lavergne said chickens and turkeys can develop antibodies to WNV. “Therefore, any infection chickens or turkeys may sustain would be very mild and brief — and very unlikely to infect mosquitoes,” she said.

In addition, the LSU AgCenter expert said Eastern Equine Encephalitis is rarely diagnosed in confinement-reared domestic poultry. While she cautions that chickens, turkeys, ducks, pheasants, chukars and ratites (ostrich and emu) are susceptible to this virus, she also adds that there is a vaccine available for domestic poultry.

“Furthermore, since the majority of Western Equine Encephalitis cases occur in the central and western plains of the United States, it is unlikely that chickens and turkeys in

Louisiana will be infected with that virus,” Lavergne said.

Although the chances of your poultry being infected with these viruses are low in Louisiana, Lavergne and other LSU AgCenter experts stress it is still important to take precautions that will protect your poultry and yourself.

“Cases of encephalitis usually occur in the hot weather of late summer to early fall, but mosquitoes can be active all year in Louisiana,” Lavergne said. “Therefore, we should take precautions all year.”

Among the suggested precautions are to reduce the number of mosquitoes around your home and neighborhood.

“The number of mosquitoes can be reduced by reducing the amount of standing water available for mosquito breeding,” Lavergne said.

This is done by disposing of all water-holding containers (including discarded tires); cleaning clogged roof gutters; emptying water from wheelbarrows, boats, trailers, toys and pots; turning over plastic wading pools when not in use; not allowing water to stagnate in bird baths, ornamental pools, water gardens and swimming pools or their covers; and by altering the landscape of your property to eliminate standing water.

In addition, to protect yourself from being bitten by mosquitoes, you can stay inside at dawn, dusk and in the early evening; make sure window and

door screens are “bug-tight”; use the proper type of lighting outside; wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants; use electric fans at outdoor events; and use insect repellents.

“It is unlikely that your poultry will become infected with West Nile Virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis or Western Equine Encephalitis,” Lavergne said.

“And the chance of infection can be reduced even more with the implementation of measures to reduce mosquito populations.

“On the other hand, if you do find a dead wild bird that may be infected with any of these viruses, report it to your parish health unit’s Environmental Heath Services office.”

•USTR (Continued from page 1)

AFBF President Bob Stallman said, “Farm Bureau looks forward to our continued work with the Russian government in expanding U.S. agricultural exports to this valuable and important trading partner and we appreciate the responsibility Russia has accepted as a WTO member.”

WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell said, “We are delighted that the differences between Georgia and the Russian Federation have been resolved.” He added that the deal had benefited from the work of Swiss diplomats, who have mediated between the two sides since their brief war over the separatist provinces in 2008.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

•Labeling (Continued from page 1)

to 8 to 12 weeks of age; (3) capon from under 8 months to less than 4 months; (4) “Rock Cornish game hen” or “cornish game hen” from 5 to 6 weeks to less than 5 weeks; (5) fryer-roaster turkey from under 16 weeks to less than 12 weeks.

In addition to lowering the age definition of for the “roaster” class, the rule also defines a “roaster” based on a ready-to-cook carcass weight of 5 pounds or more.

The agency decided not to lower the age definition for a sixth class of poultry — young turkey — which will remain at less than 8 months of age.

These new definitions follow more than a decade of rule-making. USDA originally proposed changes in 2003 for poultry class definitions, with a supplemental proposal in 2009 on how to define roasters.

The final rule was published in the Federal Register on Nov. 3 and is available at http://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2011/11/03/201128525/classes-of-poultry.

POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

9

Biosecurity steps to keep birds healthy WASHINGTON — USDA’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service offers the following steps to take to protect birds, and maintain biosecurity practices — following the basic three-step guideline to look, report and protect. l Keep your distance.

Restrict access to your property and your birds.

Consider fencing off the area where you keep your birds and make a barrier area if possible.

Allow only people who take care of your birds to come into contact with them.

Do not let visitors bring any of their birds near your flock.

Game birds and migratory waterfowl should not have contact with your flock because they can carry germs and disease. l Keep it clean.

Wear clean clothes. Scrub your shoes with disinfectant.

Wash your hands thoroughly before entering your bird area.

Clean and disinfect equipment that comes in contact with your birds or their droppings, including cages and tools.

Remove manure before disinfecting.

Properly dispose of dead

birds. l Don’t haul disease.

Car and truck tires, poultry cages and equipment can all harbor germs. If you travel to a location where other birds are present, or even to a feed store, be sure to clean and disinfect these items before you return to your property.

To prevent, don’t mix young and old birds or birds from different species or different sources. l Don’t borrow disease from your neighbor.

Do not share equipment, tools or supplies with your neighbors or other bird owners.

And never share items such as wooden pallets or cardboard egg cartons because they are porous and cannot be adequately cleaned and disinfected.

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l Know the warning signs of infectious bird disease.

Many bird diseases can be difficult to diagnose. The list below includes some of the things to look for that signal something might be wrong with your birds.

1. Sudden increase in bird deaths in your flock.

2. Sneezing, gasping for air, coughing and nasal discharge.

3. Watery and green diarrhea.

4. Lack of energy and poor appetite.

5. Drop in egg production or

soft-or thin-shelled misshapen eggs.

6. Swelling around the eyes, neck and head.

7. Purple discoloration of the wattles, combs and legs.

8. Tremors, drooping wings, circling, twisting of the head and neck, or lack of movement.

Early detection of signs is very important to prevent the spread of disease. l Report sick birds.

Don’t wait to report unusual signs of disease or unexpected

deaths among your birds. Contact your local Cooperative Extension agent, veterinarian, poultry diagnostic lab, or USDA Veterinary Service office (which can be reached at 866-536-7593). This toll-free hotline has veterinarians on hand to help.

More information can be obtained at http://healthybirds. aphis.usda.gov. Biosecurity tips can also be accessed at the department’s Twitter site at http://www.twitter.com/ APHISgov.

•Seminar (Continued from page 1)

LT vaccines to protect the flocks, and these vaccines appeared to alleviate some of the effects of LT but did not fulfill the goal of “eradicating LT.” The poultry producers then went to CEO vaccines, which appeared to decrease unplanned LT challenges with the last known case of LT processed in mid-June.

“We will know if Mississippi was successful in eradicating LT in 2011 by the spring of 2012. Hot weather may have been the barrier to the spread of LT more so than the disjointed LT vaccination effort,” Stayer said.

Dr. Karen Christensen, director of technical services for OK Farms, gave a presentation on “Animal Welfare Audits: Lighting Programs and Gait Scoring.” She described auditing as a snapshot

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matching observations to the audit check list and remarked that “auditing prevents bad from becoming normal.” Christensen’s presentation also provided a framework for the basics of auditing, lighting programs and gait scoring in relation to broiler welfare audits.

Other sessions included: “Disease Updates on Campylobacter and SE in Broilers and Gangrenous Dermatitis;” “The Economics of Windrowing;” “Pest Control;” “Environmental Concerns for Live Production;” “How Virus Variation in Arkansas IBV Vaccines Affects Reactions and Immunity;” “Brooding for Optimum 7-Day Weights;” “A Case Study on Lighting Technology for Broiler Performance;” and “Energy Smart Improvements in Housing.”

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10

POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

USDA surveys Chesapeake Bay conservation WASHINGTON — USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service announced on Nov. 9 that it will begin conducting a survey for the 2011 National Resources Inventory (NRI) — Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP).

The survey will collect information from producers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed about farming and conservation practices on cultivated cropland. CEAP is a multi-agency effort to quantify the environmental effects of conservation practices and programs and develop the science base for managing the agricultural landscape for environmental quality.

A CEAP study for the Great Lakes and their associated waterways released in October 2011 estimates that the use of conservation tillage and other conservation

practices has resulted in a 50 percent decline in sediment entering rivers and streams, along with 36 percent and 37 percent declines, respectively, in phosphorus and nitrogen loading.

“CEAP is one on of the strongest and most advanced conservation tools used in American agriculture because it helps farmers and ranchers understand how to improve farming and management activities that help protect soil and water resources,” said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “The information gathered on conservation practices in the Chesapeake Bay watershed will help contribute to the region’s sustainability, supporting those who rely on the land and water for livelihoods and recreation.”

Conservation practices help

farmers and rural communities in the Chesapeake Bay watershed maintain productive farmland, protect the environment and restore the health of the bay, USDA said, adding that, since the CEAP survey was last conducted in the region, farmers have adopted many agricultural best management practices using publicly available technical and financial assistance from conservation programs and through their own initiative and at their own expense. This survey will capture all of those on-farm conservation accomplishments.

The information gathered from the survey will help USDA improve and strengthen technical and financial programs that help private landowners plan and adopt on-farm conservation practices, the department noted.

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NASS representatives will visit more than 1,500 farms throughout Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia from November 2011 through January 2012. Producers will be asked to provide information on farm production practices; chemical, fertilizer and manure applications; integrated pest management; and adopted conservation practices. As with all NASS surveys, respondents are guaranteed by law that their individual infor-

mation is kept confidential.

The CEAP cropland studies are designed to assess the effects of conservation practices on the nation’s cropland, grazing lands, wetlands, wildlife and watersheds.

CEAP is led by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

More information or questions about the CEAP survey can be obtained by contacting a local NASS Field Office, or at http:// www.nass.usda.gov or http:// www.nrcs.usda.gov.

Schreiber recalls chicken liver products WASHINGTON — Schreiber Processing Corp., a Maspeth, N.Y. company, is recalling an undetermined amount of broiled chicken liver products that are linked to a cluster of Salmonellosis illnesses in New Jersey and New York, the USDA’s Food Safety & Inspection Service announced on Nov. 8. FSIS is continuing to work with states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration during this ongoing investigation.

The illnesses are linked to the consumption of broiled chicken livers which appear to be ready-to-eat, but are in fact partially cooked and need to be fully cooked before consumption. Illnesses are also linked to chopped liver made from this product at retail stores. The outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg was isolated by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets from samples of broiled chicken livers from the establishment, and chopped chicken livers produced at retail from these livers. These products would have been repackaged and will not bear the original packaging information, the department noted.

The outbreak strain PFGE pattern does not match another strain of Salmonella Heidelberg associated with ground turkey recalled earlier this year. It is not known at this time if this outbreak strain has any drug resistance, but any finding of drug resistance will be made public by FSIS once it becomes available.

The products subject to recall include: l 10 pound boxes with two, 5 pound bags of “Meal Mart Broiled Chicken Liver; Made for Further Thermal Processing.” l 10 pound boxes of loose packed “Chicken Liver Broiled.”

Each bag or box bears the establishment number “P-787” inside the USDA mark of inspection. The product was distributed to retail stores and institutional users in Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. When available, the retail distribution list(s) will be posted on the FSIS web site at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov.

FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers, the department said. Individuals concerned about an illness should contact a healthcare provider. Consumers with questions about the recall can obtain more information from Schreiber Processing at 718-894-2000.

POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

Calendar Compiled by Barbara Olejnik, Associate Editor 770-718-3440 bolejnik@poultrytimes.net

NOV 28-30 — ITF WINTER CONV., West Des Moines Marriott, West Des Moines, Iowa. Contact: Iowa Turkey Federation, 535 E. Lincoln Way, P.O. Box 825, Ames, Iowa 50010. Ph: 515-232-7492; info@iowaturkey,org; h t t p : / / w w w. i o w a t u r k e y. o r g .

DEC 6-8 — ASA BOARD MTNG., Hilton at the Ballpark Hotel, St. Louis, Mo. Contact: American Soybean Association, 12125 Woodcrest Executive Drive, Suite 100, St. Louis, Mo. 63141. Ph: 314-5761770; http://www.soygrowers.com.

DEC 6-8 — USAPEEC WINTER MTNG., Four Seasons Hotel, Washington, D.C. Contact: USA Poultry & Egg Export Council, 2300 W. Park Place Blvd., Suite 100, Stone Mountain, Ga. 30087. Ph: 770-413-0006; usapeec@ usapeec.org; http://www.usapeec.org.

DEC 11-13 — NGFA FEED INDUSTRY CONF. & TRADE SHOW, Chicago Marriott Magnificent Mile Hotel, Chicago, Ill. Contact: National Grain & Feed Association, 1250 I St., N.W., Suite 1003, Washington, D.C. 20005. Ph: 202-289-0873; ngfa@ngfa.org; http://www.ngfa.org.

2012

JAN 8-11 — AFBF ANNUAL MTNG., Honolulu, Hawaii. Contact: American Farm Bureau Federation, 600 Maryland Ave., S.W., Suite 1000 W, Washington, D.C. 20024. Ph: 202-406-3600; http://www.fb.org.

JAN 23-24 — UEP BOARD MTNG., Omni Hotel & CNN Center, Atlanta, Ga. Contact: United Egg Producers, 1720 Windward Concourse, Suite 230, Alpharetta, Ga. 30005. Ph: 770-360-9220; gene@unitedegg. com; http://www.unitedegg.com.

JAN 23-24 — ANIMAL AGRICULTURE SUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Contact: U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, 1530 Cooledge Road, Tucker, Ga. 30084-7303, Ph:

770-493-9401, info@poultryegg. org, http://www.poultryegg.org, or American Feed Industry Association, 2101 Wilson Blvd., Suite 916, Arlington, Va. 22201, 703-524-0810, afia@afia.org, http://www.afia.org.

JAN 23-27 — NPFDA ANNUAL CONV. & POULTRY SUPPLIERS SHOWCASE, Hyatt Regency, Atlanta, Ga. Contact: National Poultry & Food Distributors Association, 2014 Osborne Road, St. Marys, Ga. 31558. Ph: 770-535-9901, kkm@ npfda.org, http://www.npfda.org.

JAN 24 — NCC TECHNICAL & REGULATORY COMMITTEE, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Contact: National Chicken Council, 1015 15th St., N.W., Suite 930, Washington, D.C. 20005. Ph: 202-296-2622; http:// w w w. n a t i o n a l c h i c k e n c o u n c i l . cm; http://www.eatchicken.com.

JAN 25 — NCC MARKETING Georgia World COMMITTEE, Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Contact: National Chicken Council, 1015 15th St., N.W., Suite 930, Washington, D.C. 20005. Ph: 202-296-2622; http://www.nationalchickencouncil. cm; http://www.eatchicken.com.

JAN 24-25 — HATCHERY-BREEDER CLINIC, Atlanta, Ga. Contact: U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, 1530 Cooledge Road, Tucker, Ga. 300847303, Ph: 770-493-9401; info@poultryegg.org; http://www.poultryegg.org, JAN 24-26 — INTERNATIONAL POULTRY EXPO - INTERNATIONAL FEED EXPO,Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Contact: U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, 1530 Cooledge Road, Tucker, Ga. 30084-7303, Ph: 770-493-9401, info@poultryegg. org, http://www.poultryegg.org, or American Feed Industry Association, 2101 Wilson Blvd., Suite 916, Arlington, Va. 22201, 703-524-0810, afia@afia.org, http://www.afia.org.

JAN 26 — NCC BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Visit

www.poultrytimes.net for daily industry updates

11 MTNG., Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Contact: National Chicken Council, 1015 15th St., N.W., Suite 930, Washington, D.C. 20005. Ph: 202-296-2622; http://www.nationalchickencouncil. cm; http://www.eatchicken.com.

JAN 29-31 — FMI MIDWINTER EXECUTIVE CONF., Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek, Orlando, Fla. Contact: Food Marketng Institute, 2345 Crystal Drive, Suite 800, Arlington, Va. 22202-4813. Ph: 202-452-8444; fmi@fmi.org; http://www.fmi.org.

FEB 8-10 — POULTRY FOCUS ASIA 2012, Queen Sirikit Center, Bangkok, Thailand. Contact: Positive Action Publications Ltd., P.O. Box 4, Driffield, East Yorkshire YO25 9DJ, England. Ph: +44 1377 241724; http://www.positiveaction.co.uk or http://www.nccexhibition.com.

FEB 15-18 — NTF ANNUAL CONV., Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina, Tampa, Fla. Contact: National Turkey Federation, 1225 New York Ave., N.W., Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20005. Ph: 202-898-0100; info@turkeyfed. org; http://www.eatturkey.com.

FEB 19-21 — ANNUAL MEAT CONF., Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando, Fla. Contact: American Meat Institute, 1150 Connecticut Ave., N.W., 12th Floor, Washington, D.C. Ph: 202-5874200; http://www.meatami.com.

FEB 22-23 — NPI ANNUAL CONV., Norfolk Lodge & Suites, Divots Conference Center, Norfolk, Neb. Contact: Nebraska Poultry Industries Inc., University of Nebraska, 102 Mussehl Hall, P.O. Box 830721, Lincoln, Neb. 68583-0721. Ph: 402472-2051; egg-turkey@unl.edu.

FEB 23-24 — USDA AGRICULTURAL

OUTLOOK FORUM, Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel, Arlington, Va. Contact: h t t p : / / w w w. g o v / o c e / f o r u m .

FEB 23-25 — SGFA AND GFGA ANNUAL CONV., Hyatt Regency Savannah, Savannah, Ga. Contact: Bonnie Holloman, Southeastern Grain & Feed Association and Georgia Feed & Grain Association, P.O. Box 58220, Raleigh, N.C. 27658. Ph: 919-8558981; bonnieholloman@yahoo.com.

FEB 27-29 — PEPA ANNUAL CONV., Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa, Maui, Hawaii. Contact: Pacific Egg & Poultry Association, 1521 I St., Sacramento, Calif. 95814. Ph: 916-441-0801; dmurdock@cgfa. org; http://www.pacificegg.org.

FEB 28-March 18 — HOUSTON LIVESTOCK SHOW & RODEO, Houston, Texas. Contact: Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, P.O. Box 20070, Houston, Texas 77225-0070.

Ph: 832-6671000; questions@rodeohouston.com; http://www.hlrs.com.

MAR 1-3 —ASA COMMODITY CLASSIC CONV., Gaylord Opryland Resort, Nashville, Tenn. Contact: American Soybean Association, 12125 Woodcrest Executive Drive, Suite 100, St. Louis, Mo. 63141. Ph: 800-688-7692; membership@soy. org; http://www.soygrowers.com MAR 4-7 — FMI ANNUAL BUSINESS CONF., Orlando, Fla. Contact: Food Marketng Institute, 2345 Crystal Drive, Suite 800, Arlington, Va. 22202-4813. Ph: 202-452-8444; fmi@fmi.org; http://www.fmi.org.

MAR 6-8 — AEB MTNG., Chicago, Ill. Ariz. Contact: American Egg Board, 1460 Renaissance Drive, Park Ridge, Ill. 60068. Ph: 847-296-7043;

aeb@aeb.org; http://www.aeb.org.

MAR 7-8 — ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SMNR., Nashville, Tenn. Contact: U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, 1530 Cooledge Road, Tucker, Ga. 30084-7303, Ph: 770-493-9401; info@poultryegg. org; http://www.poultryegg.org, MAR 12 — CPF WINTER BOARD MTNG., Doubletree Hotel, Modesto, Calif. Contact: California Poultry Federation, 4640 Spyres Way, Suite 4, Modesto, Calif. 95356.

Ph: 209-576-6355; califpoultry@ cs.com; http://www.cpif.org.

MAR 12-15 — AFIA SPRING COMMITTEE MTNGS./ PURCHASING & INGREDIENT SUPPLIERS CONF., Omni Orlando Resort at Champions Gate, Orlando, Fla. Contact: American Feed Industry Association, 2101 Wilson Blvd., Suite 916. Arlington, Va. 22201. Ph: 703-524-0810; afia@afia.org; http://www.afia.org.

MAR 13-14 - MPF ANNUAL CONV., Saint Paul River Centre, St. Paul, Minn. Contact: Midwest Poultry Federation, 108 Marty Drive, Buffalo, Minn. 55313. Ph: 763682-5546l steve@midwestpoultry. com; http://www.midwestpoultry.com.

MAR 14 — BEAM ANNUAL MTNG., Saint Paul River Centre, St. Paul, Minn.

Contact: Broiler & Egg Association of Minnesota, 108 Marty Drive, Buffalo, Minn. 55313. Ph: 763-6825546l steve@midwestpoultry.com; http://www.mid w e s t p o u l t r y. c o m .

MAR 14 — MTGA ANNUAL MTNG., Saint Paul River Centre, St. Paul, Minn.

Contact: Minnesota Turkey Growers Association, 108 Marty Drive, Buffalo, Minn. 55313. Ph: 763-6825546l steve@midwestpoultry.com; http://www.midwestpoultry.com.

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12

POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

Chicken meal and poultry fat deemed important to pet food NASHVILLE, Tenn. — “The pet food world is very reliant on poultry byproducts.

Chicken meal and poultry fat are important ingredients in pet food,” said Jim Eastin, supplier quality assurance scientist for Nutro Co. He was speaking to professionals from the poultry rendering industry who had gathered at the recent 2011 Poultry Protein and Fat Seminar here. The annual conference is sponsored by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association and the Poultry Protein and Fat Council.

Eastin provided an overview of the dry pet food process and examined the benefits of chicken meal and poultry fat in pet’s diets as part of his presentation, “The Importance of Rendered Ingredients in Pet Foods.”

“Chicken fat is more than just an energy source,” Eastin said. “It also provides healthy skin and coats, enhances the aroma of the pet food, provides a nice sheen, and seals and shields dry kib-

ble to increase shelf life.”

He referred to poultry byproducts as value-added ingredients and described rendering as environmentally responsible by converting byproducts into ingredients Nutro uses every day in its products.

Kent Swisher, vice president of international programs for the National Renderers Association, gave a presentation on “Emerging Markets: Exports and Domestic.”

Swisher noted that production statistics for animal protein meal in the U.S. is about 4 million metric tons, comprised of 56 percent meat and bone meal, 15 percent feather meal and 25 percent poultry byproduct meal. He provided information from an Informa Economics report which showed that the two biggest U.S. markets for rendered products are poultry and pets, with pets being the larger growth market.

Swisher also provided information on the countries

that are importing animal protein meal and the growth for each market. Some of the top markets include Indonesia, Thailand (500 percent growth in last five years), China (177 percent growth) and Bangladesh (155 percent growth). Swisher went on to describe some emerging opportunities/markets, such as feeding with fish meal and the use of animal fat in biofuels, and ended with a discussion on some of the constraints faced by the industry.

Other sessions included an “Environmental Regulations Update, Arc Flash Hazards and Other New Safety Regulations;” “Mechanical Maintenance: Pumps vs. Conveyors;” “The Science of Thermal Processing in Continuous Rendering Cookers;” “New Technology, Boiler Efficiencies, and Costs Savings in the Rendering Process.”

More information can be obtained from USPOULTRY at http://poultryegg.org.

•Scabs (Continued from page 2)

trol is accomplished best by preventive vaccination. Normal management and sanitation will not prevent fowl pox. Chicks can be vaccinated at one day of age, and replacement chickens can be vaccinated at six to 10 weeks of age. Once chickens are vaccinated for fowl pox, they have permanent immu-

nity.

If fowl pox occurs in your exhibition show birds, remember that they will not be admitted to shows while they are exhibiting signs of the virus. This policy is intended to protect your flock, as well as the flocks of the other exhibitors.

The LSU AgCenter poultry expert says if your chickens have or have had fowl pox, you

are not alone. The disease will run its course, and your flock will recover. This is just one more reason to practice strict biosecurity procedures for your flock.

Lavergne also suggests contacting an Extension agent to learn more about fowl pox. In addition, visit the LSU AgCenter web site: www.lsuagcenter. com.

•Super (Continued from page 5)

“Tom brings with him tremendous enthusiasm for the industry and more than a dozen years of communications experience in policy, politics and animal protein advocacy,” said Brown. “He is an outstanding addition to the NCC team, and with his experience, Tom will quickly become a valued resource to NCC members.”

Prior to joining AMI, Super spent six years at Greener and Hook LLC, a Washington-based strategic communications consulting firm where his focus was on planning and executing communications strategies and delivering strategic communications and media relations counsel to corporations, trade associations, ad-hoc organizations, non-profits and political candidates at the local, state and federal levels.

Previously he served three years on Capitol Hill as a press assistant and legislative aide for U.S. Senator John W. Warner (R-Va.).

A graduate of Washington & Lee University, in Lexington, Va., Super earned his bachelor of arts degree in public policy.

•Symposium (Continued from page 2)

“Antibiotic use in animal agriculture is not a black-and-white issue. If it was an easy issue to understand and explain, we would have solved it a long time ago. That said, we in animal agriculture need to get in the same boat and row together — across species,” said Mike Lormore, director of dairy veterinary operations for Pfizer Animal Health, in the symposium’s final presentation “Reaching Out to Consumers.”

Lormore underscored the importance of the animal agriculture industry building trust with consumers by consistently and effectively communicating and demonstrating its food safety commitment to the food chain. He stressed that consumers want and deserve information regarding on-farm production practices, NIAA noted. Emphasizing that “no one cares what you know until they know that you care,” he advised individuals to provide friends, family and other consumers with information that pairs science with true compassion.

Lormore said messages to consumers should center on four key facts: l Farm animals are under the care of licensed veterinarians. l Vaccines are used to protect animals from various illnesses. l Sick animals are treated with medicines, such as antibiotics, to restore their health, and protections are in place to ensure that their meat and milk is safe for people. l If medicine such as an antibiotic is administered to help sick animals, then their meat or dairy products are not allowed to enter the food supply until the medicine has sufficiently cleared the animal’s system.

More information can be obtained from the National Institute for Animal Agriculture at http://www.animalagriculture.org.

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•Trends (Continued from page 3)

2010.

In addition to state attempts at banning antibiotics, efforts to ban arsenical-based drugs in chicken feed have surfaced in Tennessee, Maryland, Minnesota and in the U.S. House of Representatives (Rep. Steve Israel D-NY) in September 2009 (H.R. 3624). In December 2009 a Citizen Petition demanding FDA withdraw approvals of all arseniccontaining compounds in animal feed was filed by the Center for Food Safety and Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

On June 28, 2010, FDA solicited public comments on a broad policy statement entitled “Draft Guidance For Industry #209, The Judicious Use of Medically Important Antimicrobial Drugs in Food-Producing Animals” (Docket FDA-2010-D0094). The Draft Guidance is the agency’s current thinking about the use antibiotics in food animals and how it possibly relates to antibiotic resistance in humans.

The agency’s intent is to define what constitutes judicious use and provide veterinary oversight of antimicrobial drugs in food-producing, particularly those with deemed medically important in human medicine.

Europe In Europe where bans on antibiotic growth promoters in animal agriculture have been adopted to limit on farm antibiotic use, there has been little evidence of improvements in public health. While the bans have had no impact on improving antibiotic resistance in people, they have had adverse effects on poultry health and productivity and have resulted in a significant increase in the use of antibiotics for therapeutic purposes.

In Denmark alone, antibiotic use for treatment of food-producing animals has increased 167 percent following the bans, from 48,000 kilograms in 1996 to 128,300 kilograms in 2009.

Antibiotics Prevention, control and growth promotion uses of antibiotics minimize the therapeutic use of antibiotics in livestock and poultry.

When prevention and control (lower) dosages are permitted, veterinarians are less compelled to use more of the antibiotics used in human medicine at higher dosages to treat

13

disease. Such negative outcomes are demonstrated by the experience in Europe, where bans on low-level uses have been adopted.

Prevention and control of disease are critical to humane animal care and welfare.

There would be a significant decrease in animal care and welfare by eliminating the use of antibiotics to prevent and control disease.

Farm animal sickness, suffering and mortality would unnecessarily increase if antibiotic bans of these uses are implemented.

Judicious use of antibiotics in animal agriculture can benefit human health. Several published studies in recent years show the use of antibiotics to keep animals healthy leads to reduced levels of pathogens on meat, leading to reduced foodborne illness.

An expert panel report by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) in 2006 said: “There is evidence that there are significant human health benefits from subtherapeutic antibiotic use to prevent subclinical disease in food animals and reduce levels of salmonella and campylobacter contamination of poultry carcasses.” IFT recommended policy makers focus on interventions to reduce foodborne pathogens rather than focusing on resistant pathogens.

Similar findings were presented in a 2004 review conducted by another expert panel.

Key findings of the benefits and risks of growth promotion uses of antimicrobials in food-producing animals were extensively reviewed by Shryock and Page and benefits identified included: inhibition of harmful bacteria, toxin production inhibited, improved energy efficiency and enhanced nutrient uptake due to antimicrobial modulation of intestinal flora.

Several examples are documented in the scientific literature where subtherapeutic feed antimicrobials reduced carcass contamination. Russell studied the campylobacter contamination levels of chicken carcasses from airsacculitis-positive and negative chickens.

Carcasses from diseased birds had significantly higher fecal contamination, with on average 32 percent more processing-related cuts or tears on the digestive tracts. Both E. coli (etiologic agent for the disease) and campylobacter counts were significantly higher in the airsacculitis positive carcass sets. The conclusion was that airsacculitis control in flocks could help reduce campylobacter foodborne disease associated with raw

chicken. There are several disease treatment and control indications for E. coli -associated airsacculitis disease in chickens using tetracyclines.

Hurd found that swine carcasses with higher lesion scores had higher pathogen loads versus carcasses from conventional sources.

Higher shear forces are required to remove adhering lesions during the evisceration and deboning processes. This can lead to greater rates of tissue tearing and intestinal rupture, with resulting spilling of fecal material onto meat surfaces. In cattle, studies have shown how herd health measurements relate to carcass traits and bovine lung lesions.

An experimental challenge feeding trial showed that both chlortetracycline-fed and CTC+sulfamethazine-fed feedlot cattle had substantially fewer total Haemophilus somnus lung lesions, in comparison to untreated controls. Chlortetracycline also has approved indications for reducing liver abscesses in cattle, which are associated with reduced health and increased infection.

Similar studies on chickens fed bacitracin found that carcasses from antibiotic-fed birds were 1 percent heavier with lower variability, had 8 percent greater tensile gut strength, and 19 percent less proventriculitis.

According to these studies, birds fed longer-duration antibiotic (2.4 million birds) present in 63 percent of the total feeds were compared with 5.2 million birds fed antibiotic for shorter durations (in only 31 percent of the feeds). The processing statistics showed an overall 8.4 percent improvement in line efficiency (less stopping due to evisceration and deboning problems) and importantly almost 4 percent reduction in carcass contamination and condemnations in the longer-duration set.

Such data demonstrates the potential consumer health benefits of subtherapeutic uses for reducing carcass contamination due to maintaining healthier animal gastrointestinal tracts.

Healthy animals Antibiotics are needed to keep food animals healthy. There are both food safety and animal welfare benefits from the use of antibiotics in agriculture. Antibiotics used in animals undergo an extensive science-based

review at FDA. The review for antibiotics used in food animals is more rigorous than the review process for antibiotics used in human medicine. Policymakers should make decisions about the use of antibiotics based on proper risk assessment. Decisions made without risk assessment can lead to unintended consequences. Since the European ban on growth promoters, the use of antibiotics to treat animal disease in Denmark has increased 167 percent.

A Roper Public Affairs survey sponsored by Alpharma of 1,001 U.S. consumers in August 2007 found trends suggesting food marketers should cautiously market the “no antibiotic” (a.k.a., raised with antibiotics) food label. Although 54 percent said they were at least somewhat familiar with the issue of farm antibiotic use, once they were read a series of statements about the disagreement over real value in the claim, fully 73 percent came to feel more comfortable serving food from animals treated with antibiotics.

This also suggests that consumer preferences can change with a few minutes of education.

The examples presented show that despite controversies, animal antibiotics continue to have an important role in animal health and welfare, as well as in food safety. One of the problems with hypotheses driving current initiatives aimed at eliminating currently approved antimicrobials used in production animals is the failure to recognize countervailing benefits. Such hypotheses only consider hypothetical resistance concerns, many of which have been specifically addressed by quantitative, data-driven risk assessments.

While antibiotic resistance in human medicine is an important concern, evidence points to very low contributions to important clinical human resistance in pathogens caused by approved uses in food-producing animals and agriculture. Unless society wishes to adopt an extreme precautionary approach rather than using science to assess risks, agricultural antibiotics should continue to be approved as safe and effective tools for both veterinarians and food producers.

14

POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

•Giles (Continued from page 4)

with tens of thousands of followers.

They are talking about their everyday activities associated with raising food and caring for animals, and at the same time they are demystifying what it means to be a family farmer for millions of those curious consumers.

Organizations such as the AgChat Foundation and the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) are among those facilitating these online discussions.

The Alliance is a coalition of more than 50 national, regional and state agricultural groups and their partners. The poultry industry is an active partner in this coalition through the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association and United Egg Producers. USFRA is billed as the first collaboration of such a wide range of groups gathered to lead a dialogue about how food is raised.

USFRA started by listening to people to learn what questions they have about how food is raised and what is most important to them as consumers. It turns out that some of the messages that we in agriculture have used for years, while true and important, might not be what consumers are most interested in. For example, 64 percent of consumers say that keeping food prices low is very important, but they also want to know that the food they feed their families is safe and healthy for them in the long term. On the other hand, they might be less interested in how U.S. agriculture creates jobs and is poised to feed a hungry world over the coming decades.

The poultry industry has a remarkable story to tell when it comes to providing affordable food. According to Dr. Mike Lacy, head of the Poultry Science Department at the University of Georgia, “Chicken and eggs sell today for about one-eighth of the cost they did in 1950, when you consider the value of the dollar

in 1950. Taking into account the change in the value of the dollar, essentially, chicken today is selling for $4.90 less per pound and eggs $13.20 less per dozen.

It is almost impossible to find another commodity that sells for the same price now as it did in the 1950s.” At the same time, the wide variety of poultry products available to consumers has never been safer or more beneficial to the long term health of their families. These are two messages that are at the heart of what consumers say is important about the food they purchase and consume.

Environmental sustainability is another topic that consumers want to know more about.

Large scale agriculture is often painted as being not sustainable, whatever that means. Some say big is bad, and small or locally produced is good. For poultry producers, what is lost in the comparison are the tremendous gains in efficiencies that have occurred over the recent decades.

Breeding programs initiated in the U.S. have provided specialized poultry breeds that produce more eggs and meat with less feed. In 1950, it took 10 weeks and more than 10 pounds of feed to grow a 3.2 pound broiler.

Today, broiler growers produce a 5 pound chicken in about six weeks and only need a little more than 9 pounds of feed to do so. The poultry industry has also made strides in other areas such as conserving water and energy.

Large scale agricultural production and “sustainable” aren’t mutually exclusive, but acknowledging that this is important to consumers and communicating our achievements in this area is the responsibility of these new agricultural voices. There are lively conversations happening

online about how antibiotics are used, how livestock and poultry are cared for and what is the difference between a “family farm” and a “factory farm.” The difference seems to be that agricultural voices are being heard in response to questions from typical consumers who want to know more about how food is raised in our nation.

It is no surprise that hardworking farmers and the innovative people in food processing believe that agriculture is under appreciated and that the positive messages about how food is produced isn’t getting through to consumers. At the same time, we can’t ignore USFRA’s survey result which says that 42 percent of consumers believe that the U.S. is “on the wrong track” in the way we produce food.

Check out the site where USFRA is facilitating this discussion — www.fooddialogues.com — you will find the discussions to be interesting, and you might even find yourself diving into the conversation.

KFC discovers other secret recipes of Colonel Sanders The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Paula Deen, step aside.

Colonel Harland Sanders is about to teach America “real old-time country and farm cooking before it’s forgotten.”

Yes, Colonel Sanders.

On yellowed pages hidden for decades, the whitejacketed man with a special fried chicken recipe and a vision that helped create the modern fast-food industry reveals he saw a future in another lucrative market — celebrity food books.

The recent discovery of an unpublished manuscript written by the founder of KFC shows that while Sanders was helping build Kentucky Fried Chicken into a global brand, he was recording his life and love of food — and recipes — for the world.

No, not THAT recipe.

Sanders’ secret mix of 11 herbs and spices remains locked inside the company’s vault.

But the manuscript from the mid-1960s, found recently by an

See KFC, Page 16

•APHIS (Continued from page 3)

appropriate sanctions, and resolve typical cases in substantially less time.

To analyze and document current processes, determine where improvements could be made, and develop streamlined solutions, APHIS used a variety of formal models, especially Lean Six Sigma — a widely used business process improvement strategy that uses specific proven tools to analyze and identify efficiencies, implement them and measure the results.

“We believe that it is possible to be both regulatory and business minded at the same time, while actually improving our transparency, accountability and the predictability of our processes,” Parham said. “And APHIS will

be providing our customers with valuable savings, something much needed as companies have been increasingly challenged by today’s economy.”

APHIS added that its expectation to shorten the average time it takes for all the processes selected by between 20 percent and 76 percent, will be directly felt by their customers. For instance, by streamlining its GE organism petition process by more than 50 percent, APHIS will reduce timelines down to 13 to 15 months.

APHIS anticipates being able to reduce its veterinary biologics licensing processes by potentially 100 days — or a 20 percent reduction.

More information on APHIS can be obtained at http://www.aphis.usda.gov.

POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

15

Solutions to manage turkey meat quality

By Hans Gerrits

Special to Poultry Times

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Ensuring the quality of turkey meat is a complex matter. Managing an integral production and processing Hans Gerrits is portfolio support manager at Marel Stork Poultry Processing in Boxmeer, The Netherlands. This article is drawn from a presentation given at the 2011 Midwest Poultry Federation Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

chain is essential for this. During the growing period of turkeys, a lot of time and money is invested for 22 weeks, in order to obtain a good result.

Up to that point, the result is measured by assessing the following: l Growth rate and feed conversion. l Mortality and yields. l Leg quality — a lot of attention is paid to leg quality, since the shift in the ratio of breast meat to leg meat and the growth speed are the deciding factors in which the breeding sector mani-

•Prices (Continued from page 4)

are you footing the bill for ethanol subsidies but you are paying more for food because those subsidies are being used to give farmers better prices than the market allows.

Farmers aren’t idiots. If Uncle Sam is willing to dole out bushels of more money at a set price for their corn crop why not go for it?

The tragedy of all of this is the fact ethanol isn’t really cost effective. There are studies that indicate energy consumed to make ethanol has produced a situation where more energy is burned per gallon by the time you factor in production with ethanol than with oil.

Here’s the math on the most cost effective year to date for corn ethanol subsidies.

Corn ethanol subsidies in 2006 hit $7 billion for 4.9 billion gallons produced. That means it cost taxpayers $1.45 per gallon of ethanol produced.

What did we get for that? Based on government research we became 1.1 percent more energy efficient while greenhouse gases were reduced a whopping 1/19 of a percent. It gets better. Once the emissions from the ethanol manufacturing process is factored into the equation, ethanol is actually increasing greenhouse gases By the way, not all of the subsidies in the program go to corn farmers. Oil companies will pocket $31 billion over the next five years to help them produce ethanol.

Given the amount of subsidies needed to make ethanol compete with gas prices, do you think the

fests itself. l Flock uniformity, particular within the same sex.

However, the growing period will not be successfully completed only by ensuring the aspects mentioned above. The processing of turkeys into a consumerready product involves other critical quality factors: meat quality (color, water-binding capacity and texture), carcass quality (bruising, residual blood in the arteries, feathers, epidermis, bone fractures) and microbiological quality (shelf-life and food safety). Animal welfare is a key

oil companies would have gotten into ethanol production on their own? And if they had, do you think whatever long-term contracts they entered into would send corn prices as high as the guaranteed subsidies have from Uncle Sam? Gore, to his credit, admitted that the facts show that ethanol subsidies are a big mistake. And in a refreshing candor for a politician, he admitted at a European conference in December 2010 that the only reason he supported ethanol subsidies was political. He said, “One of the reasons I made that mistake is that I paid particular attention to the farmers in my home state of Tennessee and I had a certain fondness for farmers in the state of Iowa because I was about to run for president.”

Several environmental groups have also urged Congress to drop the subsidies including Friends of the Earth.

But like any government program it has now morphed into an entitlement in the eyes of those receiving it. Good luck finding enough members of Congress willing to go cold turkey by dropping the notion that they should use tax dollars to build loyalty among special issue constituents in their bid to keep getting re-elected.

This Thanksgiving enjoy your artificially plumped up turkey in terms of price thanks to ethanol subsidies.

As you’re forking over more money to eat a slice of turkey rest assured that your tax dollars are making sure oil companies, real Midwest farmers, and corporate farmers will have plenty of pork on their tables.

issue handling the life birds.

Meat quality is determined by numerous factors during growing and processing, and therefore, is complex to manage completely.

Moreover, the question is what are the economic consequences for the turkey sector?

Meat quality Meat quality comprises aspects like the color of and the variation in color among fillets, the capacity of the tissue to retain internal water during storage (water binding capacity, often measured as drip loss), texture. The latter being dependent on the moment of deboning in relation to rigor mortis development and, as well as the extend of degradation of internal meat structures by endogenous proteolytical enzyme systems.

The occurrence of pale, soft and exudative (or PSE) meat is considered to be an emerging quality defects in the processing of turkeys (Barbut, 2009). This syndrome affects all major quality attributes mentioned, color (pale), water binding capacity (exudative) as well as texture (soft). The PSE syndrome has

first been described and well defined in pork. It has well been established that an acceleration of the fall of the pH of the muscle early post mortem, i.e. at relatively high temperatures, leads to the denaturation and precipitation of proteins.

As a result the muscle will bind less water, and the tissue becomes more opaque, giving the meat its pale appearance.

Moreover, denaturation of proteolytical enzymes inhibits enzymatic degradation of internal structures, causing toughening of the meat after cooking. PSE in pigs has a clear genetic origin, associated with the malignant hyperthermia syndrome. Due to a mutation on a gene coding for a calcium release channel in the sarcoplasmic membrane (ryanodine receptor), large amounts of calcium can be released into the cytoplasm of the muscle cells during stress. Consequently, glycolysis is activated and the pH will start to decline rapidly (Klont, 1994).

In contrast to pork, the fundamental biochemical mechanisms

See Solutions, Page 17

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POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

AFIA presents Distinguished Service Award

Special

Award: Dr. Dave Downey, center, receives the American Feed Industry Distinguished Service Award from AFIA president and CEO Joel Newman, left, and AFIA chairman Bill Barr.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Dr. Dave Downey, founder and executive director of the Center for Agricultural Business (CAB) at Purdue University, has been named the 2011 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the American Feed Industry Association.

The Distinguished Service Award is the highest honor that AFIA bestows on members. Since 1981, only 27 individuals have received this award for outstanding, long-term support to AFIA and the entire feed industry. It is not necessarily presented annually.

“AFIA is grateful for all Dr. Downey has contributed over the years,” said AFIA president and CEO Joel G. Newman. “He was one of the major forces behind the association’s redesign, focusing on core member values and developing AFIA’s Four Promises to Members.”

In his position as executive director for the CAB, Downey is responsible for the development of executive and management education programs for companies, trade associations and public programs.

Downey is also professor emeritus for Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics, where his area of focus is marketing and sales to farmers, and helping farmers make smart buying decisions.

Purdue’s Agri Sales and Marketing major was the first such program in the U.S. Also an expert in the changing European markets, Downey has taught internationally in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Eastern Europe and China.

Downey received his bachelor’s degree in agronomy, and his master’s and doctorate degrees in agricultural economics from Purdue University.

•KFC (Continued from page 14)

employee rummaging through KFC’s archives, again shows that the man who started the world’s most popular chicken chain from a Social Security check and his secret recipe was a man before his time.

“This is a new kind of book,” Sanders wrote in the first chapter of an approximately 200-page, typewritten manuscript that KFC plans to offer up on the Internet.

“There’s never been another written like it as far as I know.

“It’s the story of a man’s life and the story of the food he’s cooked and eaten, running right along with it.”

The half-inch-thick document is chock full of homespun anecdotes and life lessons from Sanders, who struck it rich late in life. It also includes a heaping helping of his favorite personal recipes.

“To me, my recipes are priceless,” he wrote.

You can say that again.

The secret blend of herbs and spices, one of the most enduring corporate secrets in American food folklore, isn’t revealed in the manuscript, KFC executives say.

But the Colonel proved he was more than a chicken man.

On these pages are preserved his personal recipes for omelets, pancakes, casseroles, pies and many more dishes that he said reflected his affinity for “real old-time country and farm cooking.” It’s a veritable smorgasbord of main dishes, side dishes, desserts and sauces.

And the man who built the KFC chain by cooking up batches of chicken for prospective franchisees promised to offer insights into his culinary style: “I’ll be telling you how to prepare it like a man who’s talking to you right over your kitchen

stove,” he wrote.

The company is treating the manuscript like its own Holy Grail. The manuscript is tucked inside KFC’s electronic safe in a vault at its Louisville headquarters. It sits next to the Colonel’s famous handwritten chicken recipe.

His philosophy on life and cooking spring to life from the pages, 31 years after his death at age 90 in 1980.

“We can’t wait to share its secrets with KFC fans around the globe,” said Roger Eaton, the restaurant chain’s CEO. “Colonel Sanders was a lifelong cook and sage and his life lessons are just as powerful and relevant today as they were 40 years ago.”

The company plans to publish the manuscript online, probably sometime next year, said Laurie Schalow, a spokeswoman for Yum Brands Inc., the parent of KFC. The Colonel’s insights on hard work and giving it your best will be available for free, she said.

KFC plans to share some of the recipes, but others may stay hidden in the vault.

“We’re in the early stages of testing recipes and are excited about the potential to incorporate some of the newly discovered dishes alongside the Colonel’s Original Recipe on menus around the globe,” Eaton said.

The company says it serves more than 12 million customers daily in 109 countries and territories around the world. It still plasters the Colonel’s image on its signs and chicken buckets.

The chain has been struggling in the U.S. while its overseas business has been booming, especially in China, where KFC has become a fast-growing brand.

The company has no idea why the manuscript was never published. Sanders took another crack at an autobiography, titled

“Life As I Have Known It Has Been `Finger Lickin’ Good,”’ which was published in 1974.

But the book didn’t include his recipes.

The unpublished manuscript was unearthed recently by Yum Brands employee Amy Sherwood while she was doing research.

“It was in an envelope,” she said. “I opened it up and immediately recognized that it was a treasure and a significant discovery.”

KFC said it concluded the text was written in 1965 or 1966 through chats with current and former employees who knew or worked with Sanders.

Internal documents also validated that he was working on an autobiography with recipes during that period, it said.

In 1964, Sanders sold his interest in the U.S. company for $2 million to a group of investors, but he remained the company’s pitchman, becoming one of the world’s most recognized faces.

In his manuscript, Sanders offers up lessons on business and life. “I’ve only had two rules,” he wrote. “Do all you can and do it the best you can.

It’s the only way you ever get that feeling of accomplishing something.”

Sanders extolled the virtues of simple, home-style cooking while taking shots at other forms of culinary advice.

“I’ve read hundreds of cookbooks,” he wrote. “For my money they are the bird.”

He said just a few of his recipes “are worth more than all the imported recipes, with names an ordinary man or woman can’t even pronounce, put together.”

“The way I see it, if you’ve bought this book, you’ve bought yourself a bargain,” Sanders said.

POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

17

•Solutions (Continued from page 15)

leading to PSE meat are not well established for poultry, including turkey (Remignon, 2007, Barbut et al., 2008). Pietrzak et al., 1997, found clear effects of the rate of the early pH decline in turkeys on meat color and myofibrillar protein functionality. Breast meat was palest at a relatively low pH at 20 min post mortem. Moreover, decreased protein extractability indicated a lower water holding capacity of fresh meat due to protein denaturation and/or precipitation.

Other studies in contrast failed to show an effect of so called rapid (or fast) glycolysing muscles (showing a relatively low pH at 20 min post mortem) on meat color and more particular the L*value (Molette et al., 2003). They did however, find increased drip, thaw and cook losses, indicative of a lower water binding capacity, as well reduced buffering capacity and a lower protein extractability of the sarcoplasmic protein fraction of the muscle (extracted at low ionic strength). Extractability of the myofibrillar protein fraction was not affected by the rate of the pH decline, indicating that protein denaturation of the structural proteins did not occur.

This is in agreement with fact that the translucency (luminocity) of the muscles, as reflected by the L*value, was not affected. In literature discussing PSE meat, most often only by the paleness aspect is taken into account, using cut off points on basis of the L* value (Petracci et al., 2009). However, like Molette, Northcutt et al., (1994) failed to sort turkey breast meat characterized by a fast pH decline at high temperatures, and hence considered as PSE by Pietrzak et al., (1997), on basis of the L* value.

It indicates that there still is discussion about the exact definition of PSE meat for turkey. Apart from the pH decline, the ultimate pH (24 hours post mortem) determines meat quality attributes as well.

El Rammouz, et al. (2004), found significant correlations between ultimate pH and luminance (L* value), drip loss, and textural aspects. At an ultimate pH close to the isoelectrical point of the myofibrillar proteins, there will be less net charge between them, resulting in less electrostatic

repulsion, and hence less space between these structural elements of the sarcomere (Swatland, 2008).

The result is a denser, less translucent structure, with less space to hold water.

The result will be a paler surface and an increased drip loss. The data presented

by El Rammouz, et al. (2004) indicated that the ultimate pH only poorly correlates with the glycolytic potential, reflecting the glycologen level at slaughter. Apparently, biochemical mechanisms other than the level of glycogen contribute to the regulation of post mortem glycolyis in poultry muscles. Again this indicates that the biochemical mechanisms responsible for meat quality in poultry are multifactorial, and only poorly understood.

Selection for high meat yields is associated with hypertrophy of the muscle fibers, their volume increases. Consequently, the capillary and hence blood supply will be impeded. Moreover, the development of the connective tissue cannot keep up with the muscle growth.

Today, myopathy resulting from (focal) hypoxia is a well know phenomenon.

Muscles, particularly the tenderloin becomes pale and soft, with blood splash around the affected area. In severe cases, necrosis characterized by green discoloration and loss of structure and muscle integrity is observed. In subclinical cases giant fibers are observed. It is not yet clear if subclinical myopathy contributes to the PSE syndrome, or interacts with pre slaughter stresses to cause defects in meat quality.

Consequences To the industry not only the occurrence of PSE but also the high variation in meat color is a problem. To the fresh meat market color is the most important quality attribute.

Measuring consumer reactions to color differences in trays of skinless chicken breast meat Wilkins et al., (2000) note that “extremes are likely to be discriminated against at the point of purchase.”

This includes not only pale but also on the other extreme, dark (firm and dry) meat. To the further processing industry, the water holding capacity, cook loss and texture are more important than color.

Changes in cook loss have been reported to be directly influenced by the (ultimate) pH (Northcutt et al., 1994). Among the consequences of PSE to the meat industry are that product uniformity decreases.

For the fresh meat market an increase in color extremes can lead to the need for grading and selection for meat quality, removing or diverting aberrant products into different production streams (Barbut et al., 2008). Besides, moisture loss from meat reduces overall yields.

For the further processing, variation in water holding capacity, and cook loss and loss of tissue integrity can become major challenges. Loss of functionality of proteolytical enzymes responsible for aging, can result in increased meat toughness.

Regarding the tissue integrity, poor slice ability of certain whole muscle products such as oven-roasted turkey breast is already a problem the industry is facing.

Incidences of PSE reported in the poultry industry range from between 5 percent and 50 percent and 5 percent to 30 percent for broiler and turkey meat, respectively (Barbut, 2009; Petracci et al., 2009). An estimate of the economical loss resulting from PSE in broilers has been given by Lubritz, a Cobb geneticist (2007). For the US processing broiler industry it will be about $200 million a year. Estimates for the turkey industry are not available.

Strategies The aim during turkey processing is to avoid the occurrence of PSE meat and to rule out the conditions in which it manifests itself. To do this, it is necessary to begin right at the beginning of the chain.

The process from farm to portioning and boning offers any number of externally manageable factors.

To ensure this management is effective, it is important to start with healthy, uniform animals. Throughout handling of the living animals, slaughter and processing of the carcasses steps may influence PSE occurrence, starting in the growing house: l Growing l Feed withdrawal, catching and transport l Liarage conditions and time l Stunning method (Controlled Atmo-

spgere Stunning [CAS], electrical) l Slaughtering process l Chilling and maturation process We aim to provide further information on these process steps and the associated factors that influence the formation of PSE in turkey meat. For this, the available literature on the formation of PSE meat in turkeys has been consulted and placed in relationship with the practical observations made of industrial processing in Europe.

Genetics Meat quality starts already with genetics and growing conditions. Seasonal effects on meat quality and PSE prevalence have been reported, as well as differences in breeds for susceptibility. Occurrence of subclinical myopathy, and more in general the health of the birds we believe have their effect on meat characteristics as well.

Another important factor is the treatment of the birds and growth management. They determine the response to the sudden stress the birds experience during catching, transport and slaughter. Growing at high temperatures has been reported to increase paleness and drip loss through accelerated pH decline (McKee and Sams, 1997).

Feed withdrawal Feed withdrawal and (thermal) stress during transport prior to slaughter are important factors determining both the pH decline early post mortem as well as the ultimate pH. The ideal moment of feed withdrawal was extensively identified many years ago by Savage (1998). The objective of this research was to avoid fecal contamination during the slaughter and evisceration. Savage identified two windows of opportunity: the first window is from six to 12 hours off feed, the second one from 18 to 24 hours.

From a viewpoint of meat quality, prolonged feed withdrawal (18 to 24 hours) bears the risk of exhaustion of internal energy stores. Glycogen levels of the muscle may drop, resulting in a relative high ultimate pH and hence darker, denser, and

See Withdrawal, Page 18

18

•Withdrawal (Continued from page 17)

drier (DFD) meat.

This will be particularly so if the animals are exposed to cold stress during transport. On the other hand, transporting fully fed animals may render birds more susceptible to heat stress, probably with higher risk of a fast early post mortem pH drop and lower ultimate pH, prerequisites for PSE meat. Transport as such affects meat quality as well. Compared to non-transported animals, transported ones have higher ultimate pH of the breast meat, and as a result darker product appearance and lower drip and cook loss (Owens and Sams, 2000).

By exposing turkeys to high temperatures before slaughter Babji et al., (1982) found that as a result the pH of the fillet was reduced, the meat became paler and that water holding capacity decreased.

The birds exposed to low temperatures, however, did not differ from the control group kept at moderate temperatures.

In a recent publication, Strasburg and Chiang (2009), suggest that heat stress may alter the expression pattern of splice variants of ryanodine receptors, which in turn could affect calcium homeostasis and hence the rate of the early post mortem pH decline.

The majority of the studies are conducted under controlled, non commercial conditions. Our experience is that effects of pre slaughter stress are often underestimated as a result of this. We think that the extent to which exposure to acute heat or cold stress results in hyperthermia or hypothermia of the body, determines the effect on meat quality.

Under commercial conditions, birds might have more difficulties to adapt to acute thermal stress, increasing the risk of either hypo- or hyperthermia. This can explain that exposure to cold stress combined with low stress levels due to the experimental set up, has no effect on meat quality (dark meat) in the study by Babji et al., (1982).

The design of the transport units is important with respect to control temperature all over the truck. It allows for proper ventilation preventing build up of temperature and humidity in the center of

POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

the transport units. The use of curtains is important at cold conditions, particularly in combination with rain and snow.

Seasonal effects on PSE incidence have been reported, with the highest incidence during summer compared to winter (under Canadian conditions, McCurdy et al., 1996). However, it is not clear whether these effects can be attributed to the growing or transport conditions or both.

In daily practice, managing the feed withdrawal period demands discipline in the planning of the slaughtering process and is influenced by weather and traffic conditions. Council regulation 1/2005 of the EU harmonizes legislation with respect to the protection of animals during transport. It provides standards for transport of slaughter animals. These standards demand much more space per animal (i.e. 105 cm2/kg, for poultry over 5 kg). The standards tend more towards the space the turkeys needed to develop well at growing.

They clearly take too little account of the G-forces and sudden movement that a turkey is subjected to during transport.

The consequence of the space in the container also influences the change in temperature in the container. Standards previously applied in practice endeavor to avoid death during transport and damage by external forces on the products during transport.

Stunning The use of a temperature-controlled lairage just before the slaughtering process offers possibilities for recovery from transport stress, particularly, cold and heat stress. It allows the circulation, respiration, metabolism and body temperature to become normal again. This is a critical factor for high-quality stunning, particularly in case of controlled atmosphere stunning.

In practice, a recovery period of about two hours is recommended for turkeys.

An ideal lairage area would be equipped with air conditioning and subdued (blue) light to calm down the animals.

Currently, there are two generally accepted methods for stunning for poultry, water bath stunning applying an electri-

cal current from head to feet, and CAS, in which birds are rendered unconscious by introducing them into a modified atmosphere (single and two phase). The consequence of electrical stunning is that the animals have to be manually unloaded and hanged on the slaughtering line while conscious. Besides, ergonomic disadvantages and the stress factor on the animals are also factors here. Being shackled birds may start flapping, already accelerating glycolysis and hence early post mortem pH decline.

Electrical stunning ‘retards’ post mortem glycolysis and hence pH decline (Alvarado and Sams, 2000). In case a deeper electrical stunning is applied, birds are rendered completely motionless while bleeding. This will ‘retard’ post mortem metabolism even further. Studying the effects of stunning current frequency on post mortem metabolism, Sante et al.

(2000) found that at settings at which vigorous wing flapping occurred (the highest frequencies), were associated with accelerated glycolysis, energy depletion and pH decline. Meat color and drip loss were not affected, whereas cooking losses were increased.

Similarly, CAS methods applying mixes that induce convulsions, particularly the ones that are based on creating anoxia, have been shown to significantly lower muscle pH early post mortem in broilers (McKeegan et al., 2007). The two phase approach in which the bird are calmly anaesthetized in a mixture of oxygen and carbon dioxide, before they are irreversibly stunned, assured a moderate pH decline in this study. Fillets of the latter group were somewhat less pale, storage loss was not affected.

In cases turkeys are stunned in the transport units, it can take a long time before they are slaughtered and processed. This will keep their body temperature high at the onset of death, because chilling will be delayed. Effects on meat color however, have never been assessed. Moreover, it is not known if it affects bleeding efficiency and blood residues in the muscle tissue, and hence contributes to color variation.

Besides, it bears the risk of filled pectoral muscle veins, causing blood splash on the meat at portioning and slicing.

Chilling Carcass chilling rate has been reported to affect pH decline, color and protein extractability (Molette, et al., 2006).

As already mentioned, particularly the combination of high temperature (>35 degrees C) and low pH (<6.0), causes protein denaturation affecting color, water binding as well as maturation (proteolytical degradation of myofibrillar structures). Delayed chilling therefore, may bear the risk of meat paleness, increased water losses, decreased processability, and increased toughness.

Considering the above it is important to chill the carcass as fast as possible.

Little information is available on the effect of carcass weight on chilling rates in relation to meat quality. Moreover, it is expected that not only the combination of muscle temperature and pH is important, but the time this situation persists as well. This is because protein denaturation and precipitation is a time dependent process.

Various methods are available for the accelerated chilling of turkey carcasses with air. The difference is the accessibility of the cold air to the product.

The advantage of air is that a larger temperature difference can be achieved than with water. However, the onset of the removal of heat from the product at the beginning of the process will take place more quickly with water chilling.

A combined chilling process, beginning with water chilling followed by (a shortened) air chill therefore provides the fastest drop in core temperature of the product.

Scalding at high temperatures (hard scald) in combination with chilling in chlorinated water for several hours contributes to meat paleness resulting from either thermal protein denaturation or bleaching. Moreover, products and meat may take up water, affecting drip loss results. Effects of scalding and chilling therefore, should be taken into account when investigating PSE in commercial practice.

POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

19

Improving processing plant sanitation

By Drs. M. Singh, J.B. Hess, K.S. Macklin & D.E. Conner Special to Poultry Times

AUBURN, Ala. — For decades, food safety has been a major focus of the poultry industry and ongoing changes in federal food safety regulations are part of the efforts to guarantee that improvements in the production and processing of poultry and eggs will continue as consumers demand better control over food borne pathogens and contaminants.

Efforts to control pathogens in poultry involve interventions in the processing plant, during transport, during growout, in the hatchery, even as far back as the breeder house. Not surprisingly, initial efforts to reduce bacteria were put in place in the processing plant because all birds come through the plant and it is close to the consumer.

Efforts are still being made in the plant, even as efforts extend back into live production. Processing plant additions to reduce bacterial contamination on the final product include inside-outside bird washes, antimicrobial additions to scald and chill water and concrete sealants for floors.

Concrete is present in food processing facilities, especially in flooring, walls and ceilings. During processing, concrete is exposed to a large amount of organic matter.

The organic matter in the poultry industry is a result of usual processing steps such as bleeding, scalding, feather-picking and eviscerating. This organic matter has the potential to serve as an initial source of nutrients to microorganisms, allowing them to colonize on and/or in concrete. Concrete is a micro-porous construction material, and the pores in concrete are randomly sized, arranged and connected. These pores form capillary

systems in concrete allowing water and other substances to move freely in and through concrete structures. When liquids flow freely in concrete, they may serve as carriers in the transport of microorganisms such as food borne bacteria.

Poultry processing facilities have, for some time, been using one of several commercial sources of concrete sealant to, among other things, reduce the amount of organic matter (including bacteria) that move in and out of concrete floors. These sealants help substantially to reduce the ability of bacteria to hide from the sanitation crew when the processing plant is cleaned. Unfortunately, constant wear on the sealant due to heavy processing plant traffic may wear away the surface of the sealant, eventually allowing bacteria access to the pores in the concrete floor once again.

Recent research in the Poultry Science Department at Auburn University has tested the efficacy of a relatively new concrete sealant that has built-in antimicrobial activity to exclude important foodborne pathogenic bacteria.

This product, produced by an Alabama company (Biosealed for Concrete, ATP. LLC), is applied under pressure so that it penetrates the concrete pores in addition to sealing the surface.

This allows poultry processors with older plants to drive water, organic matter and bacteria out of existing concrete floors (and walls as well) and seal the concrete throughout. At Auburn, small blocks of concrete were soaked in cultures of pathogenic bacteria either before or after the blocks had been treated with the sealant. Several strains of salmonella were tested in Dr. Manpreet Singh’s laboratory. Bacterial levels on the outside of the blocks were reduced, indicating that

antibacterial components in the sealant do help reduce pathogen numbers even before sanitation efforts begin. The results also show that adding the sealant to salmonella contaminated cement reduces the salmonella levels even more. Pathogens measured inside the blocks after sealant was applied were reduced, often to non-detectable levels.

Concrete sealants have given

poultry processors an important tool in reducing the ability of pathogenic bacteria to harbor in concrete floors. The new sealant recently tested at Auburn University may enhance this benefit by forcing bacteria out of the pores in existing concrete floors and may extend bacterial control to concrete walls as well.

Drs. Manpreet Singh, as-

sistant professor; Joseph B. Hess, professor; Kenneth S. Macklin, associate professor; and Donald E. Conner, department head, are all with Auburn University’s Poultry Science Department in Auburn, Ala. This article is drawn from one that appeared in the Alabama Poultry Magazine Winter 2010 issue.

California plants plan to make corn-free ethanol McClatchy Newspapers

VISALIA, Calif. — With corn prices up and demand rising, work is under way in California’s Central Valley to develop two biorefineries to make ethanol without using the golden grain.

In Visalia, fast-growing grasses and cornstalks could be the fuel of the future. EdeniQ, a local biofuel technology company, and Virginia-based Logos Technologies are building a plant to demonstrate the commercial promise of fibrous and woody materials.

On the Valley’s west side, it’s all about sugar beets. Engineers are drawing up plans for a plant near Mendota to distill ethanol from sugar beets, and to make methane and electricity from farm waste.

Both efforts are attracting attention — and money — from federal and state agencies eager to boost alternative fuel production.

In late 2009, USDA and the Department of Energy jointly awarded EdeniQ and Logos a grant for more than $20.4 million to help pay for the Visalia project. It was one of 19 plants across the country to receive more than $600 million from the Biorefinery Assistance Program.

The Mendota Advanced Bioenergy Beet Cooperative received a $1.5 million grant from the California Energy Commission last year to test the viability of using sugar beets, as well as farm waste such as almond-orchard prunings, to produce fuel and energy. It was one of six grants awarded at that time to promote biofuel production.

Old fuel, new sources Ethanol is typically made by grinding up grains such as corn or sorghum; the starches and sugars locked inside the grain are then fermented with yeast to produce alcohol, which can be used as a fuel additive.

Ethanol production isn’t new to the Valley. Pacific Ethanol has plants that use corn in Madera and Stockton. Altra Biofuels has such a plant in Goshen, near Visalia.

But the government is now encouraging companies to find and improve ways of making “cellulosic ethanol” from tough, inedible grasses and the woody or pulpy waste from fields and orchards.

“We need all the energy we can get our hands on in this country,” said Brian Thome, EdeniQ’s president and CEO. “And while there will be a little more growth in corn ethanol . . . the next big jump will be from other sources, other materials, and that’s where cellulosic comes in.”

EdeniQ has operated a small-batch pilot plant for several years in Visalia to use switchgrass, corn stalks and cobs, and other types of vegetation. The company is trying to show that its proprietary technology and processes can be profitable on an industrial scale.

The company broke ground on its $25 million demonstration plant last month and expects to finish construction by the end of this year.

After it is operational in early 2012, the facil-

See Ethanol, Page 24

20

POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

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POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

21

Sampling litter helps in managing nutrients

By Casey Ritz, Paul Vendrell & Armando Tasistro Special to Poultry Times

ATHENS, Ga. — Poultry litter is a mixture of poultry manure, feathers, wasted feed and bedding material that contains nitrogen, phosphate, potash and other nutrients essential for plant growth.

Poultry litter can vary considerably in nutrient content due to bird type, feed composition, bedding materials used, clean-out frequency, storage and handling practices, use of litter amendments and other factors. Therefore, sampling poultry litter to obtain a nutrient content Casey W. Ritz is an Extension poultry scientist with the University of Georgia Poultry Science Department and Cooperative Extension Service; and Paul F. Vendrell and Armando Tasistro are with the Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratory.

analysis is an important step for managing manure nutrients appropriately.

Moisture management has perhaps the greatest effect on litter nutrient content. Crusted or caked litter around drinkers and feeders is usually wetter and higher in nitrogen and phosphorous than whole house litter. This caked litter represents approximately 30 percent to 35 percent of the weight of the whole litter and typically has different handling characteristics than the rest of the house litter.

Poultry litter testing determines the fertilizer value of the litter, which can be used to calculate land application rates or market value.

Producers who fail to test poultry litter nutrient sources and the soils to which they are applied are faced with a number of questions they cannot answer. Are they supplying plants with adequate nutrients? Are they building up excess nutrients in the soil that may ultimately move into surface water or groundwater?

Are they applying trace metals at levels that can accumulate and become toxic to plants, permanently altering soil productivity, or creating runoff water that is toxic to aquatic life?

Obtaining nutrient concentration data for poultry litter is a crucial step in developing and using a nutrient management plan (NMP). Measuring the average nutrient concentrations of litter within a poultry house requires sampling procedures that ensure representative samples. Research shows that spatial variability of nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations can be influenced by conditions such as litter moisture content and waste feed.

Book values provide an estimate of the nutrient value of poultry litter for planning purposes. However,

there can be a wide range of nutrient concentration among poultry houses under different management. The unpredictability of nutrient content from farm to farm, even house to house, makes nutrient testing an essential part of using poultry litter to supply plant available nutrients.

The attention to detail in the sampling of litter will determine how well nutrient applications match the nutrient requirements of the crops to which it is applied.

Collecting samples Collecting samples that are representative of the entire litter volume is essential for reliable nutrient analysis and subsequent nutrient management planning efforts.

Sub-sampling is needed to obtain

a composite sample that is representative of the volume of material being land applied.

Samples should be taken as close to application as possible, allowing time for laboratory analysis, house cleanout and litter spreader calibration when needed. l In-House Litter Sampling litter while still in the poultry house has been the standard method of sampling with the advent of nutrient management planning. However, the nutrient content of litter in a poultry house can vary considerably depending on location.

The variability of the nitrogen content of 30 uniformly spaced broiler litter samples from within a

See Sampling, Page 24

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POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

Markets

week business. Prices for wings, breast items and tenders ranged firm to higher with good movement and held with confidence. Dark meat items are steady. Supplies of wings are light, breast items and tenders are light to moderate and dark meat items are moderate. Market activity is moderate to active. In production areas, live supplies are moderate; weights are mixed but noted as desirable.

Compiled by David B. Strickland, Editor 770-718-3442 dstrickland@poultryandeggnews.com

80¢; boneless/skinless thigh meat $1.23½; thighs 72¢; drumsticks 63½¢; leg quarters 53½¢; and wings $1.27.

F owl: Nov. 11: Live spent heavy fowl

Final prices at Farm Buyer Loading (per pound): range 8.5¢-18.5¢

N ational Slaughter: Broiler: Estimated slaugh-

foodservice demand is light to good, P arts: 149,255,000.

N at’l. Broiler Market: mostly moderate to good with sea- Georgia: The f.o.b. dock quot- Actual slaughter for the week end(Nov. 16): Whole broiler/fryer pricter for week ending Nov. 19 is

sonal items taking center stage in the West. Floor stocks are balanced.

The market activity is moderate to active. In the parts structure, movement was moderate to good for mid-

es are firm to higher in the East, steady to firm elsewhere. Offerings are in close balance and well cleared under normal premiums. Retail and

ed prices on ice-pack parts based on truckload and pool truckload lots for the week of Nov. 16: line run tenders $1.81½; skinless/boneless breasts $1.42½; whole breasts

ing Nov. 12 was 155,379,000.

Heavy-type hen: Estimated slaughter for the week ending Nov. 19 is 1,542,000.

Actual slaughter for the week end-

The following chart provides an annual high and a comparison of recent activity of major poultry company stocks.

USDA Shell Eggs

AMS weekly combined region shell egg prices Average prices on sales to volume buyers, Grade A or better, White eggs in cartons, delivered warehouse, cents per dozen.

Annual High

Cal-Maine Campbell Soup ConAgra Hormel Pilgrim’s Pride Sanderson Farms Seaboard Tyson

36.55 35.66 26.60 30.50 8.61 52.67 2705.00 20.12

Nov. 2 32.98 32.69 25.22 29.16 5.45 49.23 2130.01 18.98

Nov. 10

Nov. 16

Extra Large Regions: Northeast 119.50 Southeast 120.50 Midwest 113.50 South Central 125.50 Combined 120.02

33.59 33.36 24.75 29.58 5.32 51.30 2062.04 19.70

Large

Medium

118.00 118.50 111.50 123.50 118.14

103.00 105.00 99.50 106.50 103.62

Computed from simple weekly averages weighted by regional area populations

Grain Prices OHIO COUNTRY ELEV. Nov. 1 Nov. 8 Nov. 15 No. 2 Yellow Corn/bu. $6.45 $6.60 $6.41 Soybeans/bu. $11.72 $11.72 $11.40 (Courtesy: Prospect Farmers Exchange, Prospect, Ohio)

(Courtesy: A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc.)

Broiler Eggs Set/Chicks Placed in 19 States EGGS SET (Thousands)

Ala Ark

Ca,Tn,Wv

Del Fla Ga Ky La Md Miss Mo. N.C. Okla Pa S.C. Tex Va

19 States Total Prev. year % Prev. yr.

CHICKS PLACED (Thousands)

Oct. 22

Oct. 29

Nov. 5

Nov. 12

Oct. 22

Oct. 29

Nov. 5

Nov. 12

26,256 18,395 9,983 3,019 1,347 30,350 6,925 3,349 6,913 16,949 7,153 19,191 6,323 3,928 5,193 13,367 5,650

25,159 19,291 11,139 2,750 1,350 29,497 7,649 3,192 7,697 15,970 6,669 19,433 6,802 3,436 5,119 14,490 5,884

24,378 19,543 11,493 2,895 1,351 30,253 7,589 3,224 7,636 17,458 7,175 19,016 6,439 3,423 5,106 13,482 6,025

27,163 20,366 12,009 2,826 1,352 30,474 7,477 3,349 7,549 17,242 7,882 19,721 6,672 3,717 5,329 14,154 5,975

18,277 17,562 10,066 4,491 1,154 25,656 5,997 2,807 4,468 13,660 5,406 14,728 3,888 2,768 4,439 11,145 4,279

19,686 17,680 9,659 4,271 1,150 25,747 6,253 2,748 4,335 14,305 5,664 13,918 4,574 3,097 4,506 11,258 4,385

19,403 16,039 9,723 3,539 1,182 24,434 5,291 2,793 5,001 14,446 5,000 14,019 4,645 3,143 4,123 10,850 5,002

18,598 17,666 9,898 4,321 1,139 25,931 5,464 3,013 4,334 14,570 4,470 14,875 4,242 3,257 3,974 11,119 4,635

184,291 200,202

185,527 200,781

186,486 199,721

193,257 204,203

150,791 161,719

153,236 165,722

148,633 161,368

151,506 164,476

92

92

93

95

93

92

92

92

1/Current week as percent of same week last year.

Estimates: The estimated number of broiler-fryers available for slaughter the week ending Nov. 19 is 143.4 million head compared to 166 million head slaughtered the same week last year.

The estimated U.S. slaughter for the week of Nov. 16 was 149.6 million head or 6.2 million more than estimated available. For the week of Nov. 26 the estimated available is 143.2 million head, noted USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service.

Broiler/Fryer Markets

Industry Stock Report

Company

ing Nov. 12 was 1,444,000.

Light-type hen: Estimated slaughter for the week ending Nov. 19 is 1,245,000. Actual slaughter for the week ending Nov. 12 was 1,247,000.

Total: Week of Nov. 19: 152,042,000.

Week of Nov. 12: 158,070,000.

USDA Composite Weighted Average For week of: Nov. 14 For week of: Nov. 7 Chi.-Del.-Ga.-L.A.-Miss.-N.Y.--S.F.-South. States For delivery week of: Oct. 31 Chicago majority 63--68¢ Mississippi majority 81--85¢ New York majority 65--68¢ For delivery week of: Nov. 2 Delmarva weighted average 62--87¢ Georgia f.o.b. dock offering 89.00¢ Los Angeles majority price 98.00¢ San Francisco majority price 98.50¢ Southern States f.o.b. average 52.65¢

75.07¢ 73.84¢ Nov. 14 62--66¢ 80--87¢ 67--70¢ Nov. 16 63--89¢ 89.25¢ 98.00¢ 98.50¢ 54.88¢

Turkey Markets Weighted avg. prices for frozen whole young turkeys Weighted average (cents/lb.) F.O.B. shipper dock

Week ending Nov. 10 Hens (8-16 lbs.)

Toms (16-24 lbs.)

Week ending Nov. 4 Hens (8-16 lbs.)

Toms (16-24 lbs.)

National 114.43 114.20 114.81 115.00

Last year 105.25 105.67 Oct. avg.

114.83 111.95

Egg Markets USDA quotations New York cartoned del. store-door: Nov. 2 Nov. 16 Extra large, no change $1.25--$1.29 $1.25--$1.29 Large, no change $1.23--$1.27 $1.23--$1.27 Medium, down 4¢ $1.09--$1.13 $1.05--$1.09 Southeast Regional del. warehouse: Nov. 2 Nov. 16 Extra large, no change $1.17½--$1.25 $1.17½--$1.25 Large, no change $1.16--$1.23 $1.16--$1.23 Medium, no change $1.02½--$1.10 $1.02½--$1.10

POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

AMERICAN EGG BOARD HOTLINE AEB Hotline appears regularly in Poultry Times and provides an update on programs and services provided for egg producers by the American Egg Board. Details on any item mentioned may be obtained by contacting AEB at 1460 Renaissance Dr., Park Ridge, Ill. 60068. Phone: 847296-7043. l AEB partnered with Subway Restaurants in Boston and Central Pennsylvania to conduct a Good Egg Project promotion that culminated on World Egg Day, Oct. 14. In total, more than 320 Subway stores participated in the promotion that ran Sept. 30Oct. 14. During these two weeks, for each egg breakfast sandwich sold at participating Subway restaurants, America’s egg farmers donated an egg to an area food bank. Michael Foods generously provided 50,000 eggs to the four area food banks. The promotion culminated with a Good Egg Project Breakfast in Boston on World Egg Day. To help feed Boston-area veterans in need, a hot egg breakfast was served to residents at the New England Center for Homeless Veterans located in downtown Boston. l Allison Madell joined the American Egg Board on Oct. 10 as vice president of strategic operations. Madell will serve as an integral member of AEB’s senior management team and will be responsible for providing strategic support to the CEO, overseeing organizational goal-setting and accountability measurements and coordinating across departments.

She will have the direct responsibility of industry relations programs and on occasion, serve as

ambassador and representative of AEB at industry events and agricultural-related meetings.

As the architect of the AEB’s Good Egg Project Campaign while employed by Edelman PR agency, Madell will manage and direct its growth to continue to promote, enhance and protect the egg farmers’ reputations. l USA Poultry & Egg Export Council’s Mexico staff coordinated a joint technical seminar with the National Chamber of Bakeries recently in Mexico City, aimed at promoting the use of U.S. processed egg products among Mexican bakeries. Funded by AEB, the seminar targeted the bakery and pre-mix sectors and was coordinated by José Manuel Samperio-Señor Huevo.

The event attracted 60 people from the bakery industry, including large and mid-sized companies, including the Bimbo Group, Latin America’s largest bakery goods company. Samperio also appeared on a popular Dominican Republic TV show where he promoted U.S. pasteurized eggs as well as the importance of using refrigerated shell eggs. l The Egg Nutrition Center attended a total of six health professional-focused shows in 2011, and attendees were most interested in cholesterol information and were overall very engaged.

This year has been successful with spreading ENC’s research messages, as well as continuing to reach attendees after the conference through ENC’s quarterly newsletters. Plans are underway for next year’s applications for speaking engagements and exhibits.

23

Obituary Loyl Stromberg

PINE RIVER, Minn. — Loyl Stromberg, founder of the National Poultry Museum in Bonners Springs, Kan., and author of books on poultry and game birds, died Sept. 30. He was 97.

Mr. Stromberg began his career in the poultry industry working with his parents who owned a large chick hatchery in Fort Dodge, Iowa. That hatchery grew from producing 3,500 chicks a year to 2 million chicks at its peak. In 1933, he went to Minneapolis to operate the branch hatchery until 1940, when he re-

turned to Fort Dodge to be assistant manager.

He later started Stromberg’s Chicks and Game Birds, a mail order Stromberg catalog that is still in operation. He also wrote 14 books on poultry and game birds, including “Poultry of the World,” and promoted six tours for poultry fanciers to Europe.

Mr. Stromberg was a collector of poultry art and poultry antiques, and was instrumental in reorganizing the Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities.

He was a lifetime member of the American Poultry Historical Society and the Crosslake (Minn.) Historical Society Survivors include his sons, Loy Stromberg of Pine River and Kraig Stromberg of Rockville, R.I.; brother Wayne Stromberg of Crosslake; sister Bettie Snyder of Brainerd, Minn.; and three grandchildren.

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24

POULTRY TIMES, November 21, 2011

•Sampling (Continued from page 21)

house is shown in the following data (total nitrogen percent): Average — 3.31, center of house, 4.44, around feeders, 3.49, around drinkers.

Minimum — 2.83, center of house, 4.15, around feeders, 2.35, around drinkers.

Maximum — 3.68, center of house, 4.75, around feeders, 4.50, around drinkers.

The average percent nitrogen of samples taken around feeders was 25 percent higher than samples taken from the center of the house and 21 percent higher than the average around drinkers. Samples taken around drinkers varied as much as 48 percent (range 2.35 percent to 4.50 percent N). Sub-sampling from areas such as feeders and drinkers in proportion to their corresponding surface area within the house can complicate taking an approximate sample.

Based on this data, it is recommended that growers not sample litter when it is still being used as a bedding in the poultry house. Wait until cleanout to obtain samples, when house litter is more mixed.

Then follow the procedures given below for sampling litter from in-house piles, spreader trucks or stable stockpiles. l Spreader Truck Litter To obtain a representative sample at clean-out, collect at least 10 shovels-full from the in-house piles or truck spreader so that the sample represents all of the litter to be removed.

Combine the collected portions in a clean 5-gallon plastic bucket or wheelbarrow, and mix thoroughly. Place a 1-quart portion from this mixture in a

plastic bag, seal it securely, and submit it to the laboratory for analysis. l Stockpiled Litter A stockpile consists of manure or litter stored in a pile for later use. Nitrogen concentrations can change substantially in this material, particularly if the storage site is exposed to fluctuating weather conditions.

If stockpiled manure or litter is not stored under cover on an impervious surface, the material on the weathered exterior may not accurately represent the majority of the material, since rainfall generally moves water-soluble nutrients down into the pile.

Avoid stockpiling poultry litter and manure under such conditions when at all possible. Sample stockpiles using the same method for trucks described above, except collect at a depth of 18 inches from the surface of the pile and as close as possible to its land application date. Material from such piles will typically have higher levels of phosphorus and potash than whole house litter directly from the house. l Handling and Timing of Poultry Litter Samples Just as storage and handling of litter can alter the nutrient content, so can sample handling and sample submission timing. Avoid placing collected samples in a hot spot such as the dashboard or trunk of a vehicle. If samples must be held for longer than 24 hours prior to submission, refrigerate the sample until it is sent to the testing lab.

Litter samples should be sent to the laboratory for nutrient analysis as soon as possible af-

ter collection. It is best to send samples early in the week so that they do not sit in the mail over the weekend. l Interpreting Poultry Litter Test Results Poultry litter is an unbalanced fertilizer, and repeated land applications based on crop nitrogen needs can cause a build-up of phosphorus and potassium in the soil. Excessively high phosphorus in the erosion and runoff from litteramended soil can cause water quality issues in nearby surface water bodies.

Applying nutrients without a litter analysis could cause crop yield reductions due to lack of adequate nutrients, applying nutrients when they are

not needed, or over-applying nutrients that may contribute to water quality impairments.

A basic litter sample submitted to the University of Georgia Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratory should be analyzed for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, manganese, aluminum, zinc and copper.

The lab will report results for solid manures in both percentages and pounds of nutrients per ton on an “as-received” basis.

A pound of manure phosphate or potash has a nutrient value that is equivalent to that of commercial fertilizer. However, only a portion of the nitrogen content is available to crops when first applied.

Approximately 70 percent of the total nitrogen applied is available

to the crop in the first year. County Extension agents or other qualified professionals can assist with the calculation of manure nutrient availability based on when and how poultry litter is land applied.

This information, combined with the soil test report and other crop information, is necessary to develop a nutrient management plan.

The money and effort invested in appropriate litter sampling is small compared to the money that can be saved on commercial fertilizer expenses. With the increased awareness of potential environmental impacts of land application of manures, poultry producers can more effectively use poultry litter within a NMP through improved sampling procedures.

•Ethanol (Continued from page 19)

ity will chew up about 2 tons per day of tough grasses, wood prunings and field waste, and spit out between 40,000 and 50,000 gallons of ethanol a year.

Cranking out ethanol isn’t all that difficult.

“People have been making alcohol for thousands of years,” said Thome. “That’s all we’re doing. It’s a big distillery.”

But compared to corn, it’s much tougher to coax sugars and starches out of high-cellulose vegetation such as grass and wood.

Thome said the technology also could allow existing corn ethanol plants to increase production using less corn, or to become more versatile by adding cellulose to the materials used to run the plant.

Thome said that could help producers level out the swings in corn prices and transportation prices — spikes that dented the profitability of ethanol producers in recent years.

Early in planning As for the Mendota project, the state grant means progress for basic design and engineering work of the sugar beet biorefinery, said John Diener, president of the Mendota Advanced Bioenergy Beet

Cooperative.

The cooperative proposes to grind 840,000 tons of sugar beets and 80,000 tons of almond prunings and other plentiful farm waste. In addition to distilling about 33.5 million gallons of ethanol, a bio-mass line would burn wood waste to generate 6.3 megawatts of electricity, and waste pulp from the beets and other material would be processed to produce 1.6 million cubic feet of biomethane to make compressed natural gas.

The project could fuel a renaissance for sugar beets as a cash crop in western Fresno County, said Diener. Sugar beets were once a thriving commodity in the area, but acreages shrank throughout the 1990s as farmers shifted to more profitable crops.

That eventually prompted the Spreckles Sugar Co. to close its beet processing plant in Mendota in 2008.

But development is moving more slowly than backers had hoped.

When the energy commission awarded the grant in December, construction was expected to begin in late 2011 with operations commencing in late 2012.

Now, Diener said, “we’re probably looking at 2013 or 2014 before we’re projected to be operational.”

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