Monthly Archives: May 2015

Avian Influenza and meat markets

The Avian Influenza outbreak continues to grow and leads to more questions about the impact on livestock and meat markets. USDA-APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) reports that the current toll is nearly 34 million birds depopulated. The majority of these are laying hens, followed by turkeys with relatively few broilers at this time. As a result, the biggest and most immediate impact for consumers is in egg markets, especially in the north central part of the country. The reduced supply of table eggs as well as breaking eggs used in food service will impact consumers directly and indirectly.

The direct impact of Avian Influenza on poultry meat supply is minimal and likely to remain that way. The current depopulation total of 33.8 million birds is 0.38 percent of the 2014 poultry slaughter total of 8.9 billion birds. As bad as it is, it is very unlikely that enough birds will be slaughtered to impact domestic poultry production significantly. Even for turkeys, which only represent 2.7 percent of total poultry slaughter, the current turkey depopulation represents less than 3 percent of 2014 U.S turkey slaughter. Both broiler and turkey production are still expected to surpass year ago totals unless the outbreak expands significantly.

While the direct loss of birds is unlikely to materially impact total poultry production, the impact on domestic consumption is more likely to be significant and is counterintuitive. The biggest impact of Avian Influenza on meat markets is the closure of poultry export markets. In 2014, 8.2 billion pounds of poultry were exported from the U.S., which is 18.2 percent of the 45 billion pounds of total poultry production. Both broiler and turkey exports, already struggling in 2015, are forecast to decrease even more in 2015 as result of the outbreak. Broiler exports are expected to be down roughly 9 percent, though the situation is very dynamic and the impact could get larger or smaller depending what happens in the coming weeks.

Decreased broiler exports will add to already expanding broiler production resulting in increased domestic consumption of broilers. The anticipated 5.2 percent year over year increase in broiler production, augmented with decreased broiler exports, is expected to push domestic broiler consumption up by roughly 6.5 percent. Increased broiler production will combine with an expected 6.7 year over year increase in pork production to push total 2015 U.S. meat and poultry production up by 3.5 percent despite a projected 1 to 2 percent year over year decrease in beef production. Per capita beef consumption may show a slight year over year increase in 2015 with increased beef imports and decreased beef exports. Total domestic red meat and poultry consumption is projected to increase by 4.2 percent compared to year ago levels.

By |2015-05-21T15:20:36-05:00May 21st, 2015|Newsletter|0 Comments

AFIA designs broadened biosecurity document

Release Date: 2015-05-19

In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the government asked animal agriculture industries to release guidelines to its manufacturing facilities regarding the protection of the nation’s agriculture assets. The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) developed the 2012 Bioterrorism Awareness Guidelines, which it recently redesigned as a broadened biosecurity document for the feed and ingredient manufacturing industries.

“During the last two years, AFIA discussed the development of a foreign animal disease risk model with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, formed a working group and reevaluated our 2012 bioterrorism guide,” said AFIA President and CEO Joel G. Newman.

“This is a tremendous resource for our members, and I greatly appreciate the leadership of this task force for developing a high-quality guidance document that will assist our members and the industry in the control of biological hazards. I especially appreciate the assistance of the associations that participated to provide insight and recommendations,” Newman added.

The working group — including scientists from the feed industry and representatives from the National Grain and Feed Association, National Pork Board, National Pork Producers Council and National Renderers Association — rewrote the guide with a focus on protecting the feed industry’s assets and ensuring the latest science was considered in order to protect AFIA’s customers’ premises and animals from the spread of animal disease.

The document’s purpose is to provide feed and ingredient manufacturers with recommendations to develop a biosecurity plan to help control the potential spread of animal disease through the manufacturing, transport and use of feed and feed ingredients.

Each facility, location or business should develop a biosecurity plan based on the potential hazards and risks of occurrence within its processes. Procedures should be developed to ensure the plan is implemented and remains effective as situations change. The new guidance document focuses on the development of biosecurity practices for feed and ingredient manufacturers to control biological hazards that may contribute to the spread of animal disease.

“We greatly appreciate the dedication and support of the 14 members and organizations that provided insight and recommendations on updating this document,” said Dr. Henry Turlington, AFIA director of quality and manufacturing regulatory affairs. “We are confident the new guidance will help our industry deal with current animal diseases to become better prepared for the next animal health issue.”

By |2015-05-20T07:44:27-05:00May 20th, 2015|Articles|0 Comments

Ticks should thrive this Spring & Summer

May 18, 2015

Ticks Will Thrive This Spring & Summer, As Will Diseases

If you’re like our family, you’ve seen an increased number of ticks on the dogs this Spring, and from what I hear it looks like it’s going to get worse before it gets better. The lack of extreme cold this past winter in some areas and more heavy snowpack out East helped insulate and protect the tick population. Keep in mind ticks in general have an uncanny ability to survive harsh winter weather – […]

By |2015-05-19T10:10:58-05:00May 18th, 2015|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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