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MODULE #: 14�COMMERCIAL POULTRY INDUSTRY�Meat

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DIETARY PROTEIN:

Legumes
Meat

KOSSA – OA2: Analyze changes in food consumption throughout history:

Source: http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2012/04/global-meat-production-1961-2009.html

Humans require protein in the diet. The cheapest forms of protein are legumes like soybeans, lentils, etc. Meat, however, is an excellent, easily digested source of protein for the human diet. There are lots of options including beef, pork, poultry, fish and small ruminants such as sheep and goats.

Total global meat production per person has steadily increased from 0.13 lb. per day in 1961 to 0.29 lb. per day in 2009, a 120 percent increase over the last half century (currently in the US, average meat consumption is about half a pound per day).

These data come from the Food and Agriculture Organization, via the Earth Policy Institute

Per capita: by or for each individual person

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CURRENT MEAT CONSUMPTION

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Food consumption of meat
	1964/66	1974/76	1984/86	1994/96	1997/99	2015	2030
	kg per capita, carcass weight equivalent
World	24.2	27.4	30.7	34.6	36.4	41.3	45.3
Developing countries	10.2	11.4	15.5	22.7	25.5	31.6	36.7
excl. China	11.0	12.1	14.5	17.5	18.2	22.7	28.0
excl. China and Brazil	10.1	11.0	13.1	14.9	15.5	19.8	25.1
Sub-Saharan Africa	9.9	9.6	10.2	9.3	9.4	10.9	13.4
Near East/North Africa	11.9	13.8	20.4	19.7	21.2	28.6	35.0
Latin America and the Caribbean	31.7	35.6	39.7	50.1	53.8	65.3	76.6
excl. Brazil	34.1	37.5	39.6	42.4	45.4	56.4	67.7
South Asia	3.9	3.9	4.4	5.4	5.3	7.6	11.7
East Asia	8.7	10.0	16.9	31.7	37.7	50.0	58.5
excl. China	9.4	10.9	14.7	21.9	22.7	31.0	40.9
Industrial countries	61.5	73.5	80.7	86.2	88.2	95.7	100.1
Transition countries	42.5	60.0	65.8	50.5	46.2	53.8	60.7

Source: http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/y4252e/y4252e05b.htm

Since meat consumption in the US and Europe has only increased modestly over time, the world increase in meat consumption mostly reflects greatly increased meat consumption over the last half century in developing countries in Asia, Africa and South America. In 1961, it's likely that most of the 0.13 pounds per day of meat was consumed in affluent countries such as the US, with not much consumed elsewhere (with some exceptions). Historically, meat has always been expensive relative to other food sources in agricultural societies, so it's eaten by those who can afford it.��The trend has been driven mostly by large increases in poultry, pork and farmed fish, while beef has declined slightly. The doubling of pork consumption is mostly driven by Asia, because pork is the meat of choice in much of Asia, and pork intake hasn't changed much in affluent nations. As incomes have increased in much of Asia, and food system industrialization has driven down meat prices, per capita meat consumption has increased greatly, displacing grain/legume/tuber consumption as in many other parts of the world. This trend has not yet run its course-- per capita meat consumption is still increasing in Asia.�

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WHY IS CHICKEN A POPULAR MEAT?

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WHY IS CHICKEN A UNIVERSALLY POPULAR MEAT?

No religious taboos against eating chicken

Pork: Jewish and Muslim prohibition
Beef: Hindu restrictions

Why is chicken a popular meat?

KOSSA – OA3: Describe the relationship between consumer demands and animal production

There are no taboos against eating chicken. Jews and Muslim are prohibited from eating pork. And Hindus don’t eat beef.

Jews:

The Torah (Pentateuch) contains passages in Leviticus that lists the animals that people are permitted to consume. It first notes what qualifies an animal that is absolutely permitted: Any animal that has a cloven hoof that is completely split into double hooves, and which brings up its cud that one you may eat. — Leviticus 11:3

Animals that have cloven hooves and chew their cud are ruminants such as cows, sheep, and deer. This text does not specify every possible animal by name, only their behaviors. The text goes on to describe specific animals that are known and meet one, but not both, of those qualifications, thereby prohibiting their consumption. It does not elaborate on the exact reason for prohibition other than physical characteristics.

Pigs are described in this section as prohibited because they have a cloven hoof but don't chew their cud. And the pig, because it has a cloven hoof that is completely split, but will not regurgitate its cud; it is unclean for you. You shall not eat of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you. — Leviticus 11:7-8

Deuteronomy expands on the list of permitted animals. “ You shall not eat any abomination. These are the animals that you may eat: ox, lamb, and kid, gazelle, deer, and antelope, ibex, chamois, bison, and giraffe. And every animal that has a split hoof and has a hoof cloven into two hoof sections, [and] chews the cud among the animals that you may eat. — Deuteronomy 14:3-6

Deuteronomy reiterates what Leviticus states on pigs.

And the pig, because it has a split hoof, but does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You shall neither eat of their flesh nor touch their carcass. — Deuteronomy 14:8

Muslims:

One example of verses from the Quran on pig consumption: He has made unlawful for you that which dies of itself the blood and the flesh of the swine and that on which the name of any other than God has been invoked. But he who is driven by necessity, being neither disobedient nor exceeding the limit, then surely, God is Most Forgiving, Merciful

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WHY IS CHICKEN A POPULAR MEAT?

No religious taboos against eating chicken

Pork: Jewish and Muslim prohibition
Beef: Hindu restrictions

Low fat content

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WHY IS CHICKEN A POPULAR MEAT?

No religious taboos against eating chicken

Pork: Jewish and Muslim prohibition
Beef: Hindu restrictions

Low fat content
Low cost

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The meat chickens are known as broilers.

TIDBIT: Where did the term 'broiler' come from? The term 'broiler' comes from the main method that was used at that time for cooking chicken. Additional terms that came into use, such as 'fryer' and 'roaster,' also reflect the most common method used to cook a chicken of the specific market weight.

Chicken meat production has steadily increased since 1965. Much of the growth is due to exports and the development of value added products like chicken nuggets and chicken fingers. The main countries we export chicken meat to is Mexico and Canada. The United States also exports a lot of dark meat to Russia and China.

https://www.uspoultry.org/economic_data/

The chicken industry in the United States is one of the most successful sectors in agriculture. In a little over 50 years, the U.S. broiler industry has evolved from fragmented, locally oriented businesses into a highly efficient, vertically integrated, progressive success story increasingly supplying customers nationwide and around the globe. The modern chicken industry produces nutritious, wholesome, high quality products that became more affordable year after year. Much of the success of the industry can be attributed to a more efficient structural organization, improved production and processing technologies, and a continuing responsiveness to consumer demands.

KOSSA – OA1: Discuss the interrelationships between agriculture commodities based on economic, geographic, and production factors

Approximately thirty-five companies are involved in the business of raising, processing and marketing chickens on a “vertically integrated” basis – that is, the company is able to ensure quality at each step of the process.
About 25,000 family farmers have production contracts with the companies. Approximately 95 percent of broiler chickens are produced on these farms, with the remaining 5 percent raised on company-owned farms.
In 2015, almost 9 billion broiler chickens, weighing 53 billion pounds, live weight, were produced. More than 40 billion pounds of chicken product was marketed, measured on a ready-to-cook basis.
The United States has the largest broiler chicken industry in the world, and about 19 percent of production was exported to other countries in 2015.
The top 3 export destinations (value) in 2015 were Mexico, Canada and Hong Kong.
Americans consume more chicken than anyone else in the world – more than 90 pounds per capita in 2015 – the number one protein consumed in the United States.
The top 5 broiler producing states are: Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, North Carolina and Mississippi.

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*Does NOT include feet/paws

KOSSA – OA7: Evaluate the impact of world trade issues (e.g., diseases, imports/exports, drought, trade agreements) on animal science

Over the decades the growth of the poultry industry has depended on exports. But exports are influenced by a number of different factors. One is politics. This is what has been effecting poultry exports to Russia at this moment. Russia used to be a major importer of US chicken – when Russia started expanding its control over neighboring counties, like Ukraine, sanctions were applied against them. They retaliated by banning some imports. That included chicken from the US.

Other causes of interruption of exports of chicken include Avian Influenza. There have been three incidences that have been a problem to the US exports of chicken. There was an AI outbreak in Northeast United States in 1983-84. This accounts for the drop in exports during this time period. There was another one in 2004 in the Southern states. Again, a drop in exports. There also was one in 2014.

With almost one of five pounds of chicken being exported, a robust and expanding overseas market is critically important to the economic health and well-being of the U.S. chicken industry. Importantly, chicken exports consist largely of leg quarters and other back-of-bird parts. Unlike North American consumers who overwhelmingly prefer breast meat, world consumers greatly prefer dark meat. This circumstance means that exports are very necessary to achieve a better balance of supply and demand for all parts of the chicken. A wide variety of non-tariff trade barriers and issues, usually not based on good science, confront U.S. chicken exporters as they work diligently to build their business.

In 1991, the U.S. government helped sponsor the first shipments of frozen poultry leg quarters to the Soviet Union. Russian consumers called them “Bush legs” in honor of the first President George Bush. As the Soviet Union disintegrated, the Russian market opened to international commerce and U.S. poultry exports skyrocketed. By 2001, chicken exports to Russia and other foreign markets accounted for approximately 20 percent of total American production, worth more than $2 billion.

US Chicken Industry Statement on Russian Ban on US Chicken Imports

August 6, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Russian President Vladimir Putin today signed a decree to establish restrictions on imports of agricultural products from countries that have imposed economic sanctions on Russia as a result of the ongoing situation in Ukraine.

Although the decree did not specify the products that would be affected, it instructs the Russian government to establish a list of commodities to be restricted, and states that restrictions would be effective for one year. The decree also instructs officials to ensure that restrictions prevent price increases and to establish market-control measures to increase supplies of domestic goods. The National Chicken Council and USA Poultry & Egg Export Council released the following statement:

“We have learned that poultry is one of the commodities to be included on the list. Russia is the second-leading market for U.S. chicken, in terms of volume. In 2013 the U.S. exported about 267,000 metric tons of chicken to Russia valued at $303 million. As its domestic poultry industry has expanded, Russia has in recent years become less important as an export market. Russia currently accounts for only about 7 percent of total U.S. poultry export volume. In the mid-1990s, exports to Russia were as much as 40 percent of that total.

“As a result, we do not expect that a Russian ban on U.S. poultry imports will have a great impact on our industry. The biggest impact, we believe, will be on Russian citizens who will be burdened by higher prices for all food products, especially meat and poultry. The price of poultry in Russia is already rising and has recently been increasing at a rate of 2 percent to 3 percent per week.

“Our industry believes that free and fair trade – particularly with food – should never be used as a political bargaining chip. We look forward to working with the U.S. government to resolve this issue and resume normal trade relations with Russia as soon as possible.”

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CHICKEN FEET/PAWS

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HISTORY

Past – Most of the US population were farmers and most farmers raised chickens
Today – Very few people are farmers and only a few of those have chickens

More than a century ago most of our nation’s inhabitants were farmers and most farmers owned chickens. Our country has changed in many ways since those early years. Today a very small minority are farmers, few of whom own chickens. Not surprisingly, the American chicken industry has undergone dramatic change.

Early poultry production consisted of many households having backyard flocks of dual-purpose chickens. These chickens supplied eggs and an occasional chicken for Sunday or holiday dinner. By the turn of the century, a few entrepreneurs began selling young chickens during the summer for meat as a sideline activity on their family farms. Year-round production was limited because vitamin D had not yet been discovered and the importance of the photoperiod (cycle of sunlight and darkness) and its impact on production was not understood.

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SOURCE: Zuidhof et al., 2014 J. Appl. Poult. Res. 93(12):2970-2982

Today’s broiler chicken has changed dramatically from the barnyard variety of years past, too, and has been specifically bred for meat production.

The initial breeds used in modern broiler hybrids were Cornish and Plymouth Rocks. Today’s broiler can achieve a 5-pound market weight in five weeks. Forty years ago, it took 10 weeks to achieve a 4-pound market weight. These advances are the result of scientific progress in genetic, nutritional, and environmental research.

Chicken meat production, previously a subsidiary of the egg industry, began with the development of the broiler – a chicken raised specifically for its meat. Broiler production was initiated in locations such as the Delmarva Peninsula, Georgia, Arkansas, and New England. Factors in the geographic expansion of the industry were favorable weather conditions, adequate land and water, and access to supplies of corn and soybeans, which are the major components of poultry feed.

Mrs. Wilmer Steele of Sussex County, Delaware, is often cited as the pioneer of the commercial broiler industry. In 1923, she raised a flock of 500 chicks intended to be sold for meat. Her little business was so profitable that, by 1926, Mrs. Steele was able to build a broiler house with a capacity of 10,000 birds.

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Most of the broiler meat production is in the south east. Kentucky is number 7. Number 1 is Georgia.

KOSSA STANDARD- OA1 – Discuss the interrelationships between agriculture commodities based on economic, geographic and production factors.

When the commercial chicken meat production industry started, it was basically a by-product of the egg industry. Producers were growing the non-egg laying male chickens. The industry started to take off with the development of the broiler – a chicken raised specifically for its meat. Broiler production started in the Delmarva Peninsula (Delaware, Maryland and Virginia), Georgia, Arkansas and New England. Several factors played a role in the development of the industry here. The main reason was favorable weather conditions, enough land and water available and easy access to supplies of corn and soybeans, which are major components of poultry feed. There are lots of railroads in the Southeast, because of the large cotton industry that was there. These railways were used to transport the feed components.

When the broiler industry started to grow feed mills, hatcheries, farms and processors were all separate companies. The hatcheries became more involved in coordinating the different industries. This was mainly to protect market share and production. Later the feed mills started extending credit to farmers to purchase chicks and feed. The farmer sold the grown chickens to a processor and paid back the feed mill. Eventually companies were developed that consolidated all these production processes resulting in the beginnings of the integrated chicken meat industry we have today.

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In the early days of the broiler business, the major production staging of producing broiler meat were all separate businesses. There were independent feed mills, hatcheries, farms and processors who each sold their product in a separate market.

In the 1940s, the different stages of production were beginning to be combined by “integrators.” The integrators reduced costs by coordinating the production capacity of each stage of production.

The chicken industry has grown to the magnitude that it is today by combining production stages into large vertically integrated firms able to take advantage of rapidly changing technology. Vertically integrated companies in a supply chain are united through a common owner. Usually each member of the supply chain produces a different product or service, and the products combine to satisfy a common need – in this case, the production of broiler chicken.

The chicken industry in the United States is one of the most successful sectors in agriculture. In a little over 50 years, the U.S. broiler industry has evolved from fragmented, locally oriented businesses into a highly efficient, vertically integrated, progressive success story increasingly supplying customers nationwide and around the globe. The modern chicken industry produces nutritious, wholesome, high quality products that became more affordable year after year. Much of the success of the industry can be attributed to a more efficient structural organization, improved production and processing technologies, and a continuing responsiveness to consumer demands.

Feed mills, hatcheries, farms, and processors were all separate entities in the early industry. The hatcheries were called upon by their customers to become more involved in coordinating the production, processing, and marketing of broilers with their own operations. To a certain extent, hatcheries played this role in order to their protect market share and production. Later, feed mills extended credit to farmers to purchase feed to produce the live chickens. The feed mills would lend farmers the money needed to buy the chicks from the hatcheries, with the debt being secured by a note on the flock. When the flock was market-ready, the farmer sold it to a processor and paid back the feed mill. Eventually entrepreneurs consolidated feed mill, hatchery and processing operations, resulting in the beginnings of the integrated industry.

Chickens were typically sold “New York dressed,” with only the blood and feathers removed. In 1942, an Illinois plant was the first to win government approval of “on-line” evisceration. Evisceration and packing ready-to-cook whole carcasses in ice in wooden crates would eventually become the norm.

By 1949, USDA launched a voluntary program of grading to assure consumers of high quality.

The commercial broiler industry began its economic boom. By 1952, specially bred meat chickens (“broilers”) surpassed farm chickens as the number one source of chicken meat in the United States.

The contract broiler relationship developed in response to a number of farmers losing their farms due to the risks involved in financing chicks and feed.

“Vertical integration” took hold, with a single company involved in every stage of production, processing and marketing. Entrepreneurs started to combine and coordinate different broiler production stages in the 1940s. By the mid-1960s, ninety percent of broilers produced came from integrated operations. Vertical integration would allow the broiler industry to take advantage of new pharmaceutical, biological and production technologies to become more efficient, responsive, and profitable.

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(Broiler breeders}

The poultry breeder companies use specific breeding programs in the development of different strains of chickens. They have different pure lines of chickens that they maintain. These pure lines have been selected for specific traits such as age at sexual maturity, feed efficiency, breast size, leg strength, etc. Males from one pure line are crossed with females from another to create the grandparents. Hens and roosters from these hybrid crosses and then bred together to create the parent stock. The parent stock then produce the eggs that are set in incubators to hatch out the chicks that will eventually become broilers.

Crossing a rooster and hen from the commercial broiler line will not have the same production efficiency as those produced through this selection purpose. As a result, new chicks must be purchased each year rather than breeding your own birds. This is much like the case with hybrid corn and other field crops, where new seed is needed each year.

The primary breeder companies sell parent stock to the broiler companies. The companies than breed these, known as broiler breeders, to create hatching eggs which are incubated to hatch out broiler chicks which will be raised up to provide chicken meat.

Primary Breeders

The primary breeder flocks are owned by an international breeder company. These flocks produce highly efficient breeding lines (parent lines) that are sold to the integrated broiler companies. Chicks are hatched at the breeder’s hatchery and then sold and delivered to the integrated companies’ parent breeding farms.

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BROILER BREEDERS

Parent stock used to produce hatching eggs
Raised in floor pens to allow for natural mating

Replacement breeders
Controlled lighting
Raised for 20 weeks (each will eat 30-35 lb. feed and grow to 6-8 lb.)

Transferred to breeder houses

Start laying around 24 weeks of age and will lay efficiently for 40 weeks
A broiler breeder hen will lay 150-180 eggs/year

Eggs collected for artificial incubation

Parent Stock Breeders

Once the chicks arrive at the integrated company’s breeder growing farm, the birds are raised to 20 weeks of age under environmentally controlled conditions. Controlling the length of daylight is extremely important. Breeders do not receive more than 10 hours of light daily as they are growing so they are not prematurely stimulated to lay eggs. During the 20 weeks of the grow-out, each bird will eat 30-35 pounds of feed and will grow to 6-8 lbs. Once they reach 20 weeks of age, they are transported to the breeder farm.

The parent breeders are the birds that produce the fertile eggs that will become the broiler chickens that are harvested for meat. Breeders are raised in open floor houses with automatic watering, feeding, and egg collection systems. Males and females are allowed to mate naturally. Females begin producing eggs around 24 weeks of age and will lay efficiently for 40 weeks per cycle. An average broiler breeder female will lay 150-180 eggs in a year.

Hatching eggs

When the broiler breeder female reaches 24 weeks of age, she will be laying. It takes a female between 24 and 32 hours to produce a fertile egg. The eggs are automatically collected daily, transported to the hatchery, and stored at 55-65° F and 70% humidity until they are set in the incubator. The eggs are held here for about three to 10 days prior to being placed in an incubator. One fertile hatching egg is worth $.28 each and weighs around 65g.

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HATCHERY

The location where artificial incubation takes place to hatch out broiler chicks
Large, walk-in type incubators are used
Large numbers of chicks are hatched at one time

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GROW OUT

Large poultry houses (600 feet long and 40 feet wide) housing 40,000 broiler chicks

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CONTRACT GROWERS

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FEED MILL

Large storage bins
Computer control mixers
Transport bulk feed to producers

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CHICKEN PROCESSING

Humanely killed (electrical or gas stunning and then bled out)
Almost all automated
Done under USDA inspection
Feathers, offal, head and legs removed and sent to rendering
Result is a whole, dressed carcass ready for sale or to send onto further processing

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CHICKEN PROCESSING

Core temperature of the chicken must reach below 40F in 4 hours

Water immersion
Air chilling

Harvesting

At the processing plant, birds are humanely slaughtered as quickly as possible. After slaughter, the feathers, offal, head, legs, and other items are removed so that they have a whole dressed carcass ready for sale or to send onto further processing. The cost of processing a broiler is about $.18 per pound. The wholesale price for a whole broiler is about $.53 per pound.

After the chicken is killed, plucked, gutted, it must be chilled immediately. The core temperature must reach below 40F in under 4 hours. To achieve this companies use either water immersion or air chilling. Air chilling is more popular in Europe. Most commercial producers use water immersion. Some smaller, organic producers have switched to air chilling. Water chilling tends to be faster, but leads to cross contamination since the carcasses are all in the same water. With air chilling, more space is required since the chickens are hung on individual shackles, and the chicken carcass tends to have a dried out appearance.

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FURTHER PROCESSING

VALUE ADDED: Enhancement a company gives its product or service before offering the product to customers

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