Environment

PoultryCast 0289 Show Notes:

• Smithfield Foods, as a major player in the protein production industry, sees better consumer connections and corporate citizenship as keys to profitability.

Independent of the belief in global warming, climate change, or carbon footprints, one of the tangible effects is that consumers and the general public are aware of carbon footprints. Consumers can and do influence purchasing decisions and how food products are marketed. In response to these types of consumer questions, the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association released a carbon footprint estimation toolkit for the poultry and egg industries.

The toolkit is an Excel based program used to assist facilities in evaluating their carbon footprint and was developed in response to the Environmental Protection Agency's greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting requirements and potential GHG regulatory requirements associated with the Greenhouse Gases Tailoring Rule.

The tool kit is free to members of the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association and $200 US for all other parties.

PoultryCast 0272 Show Notes:

• The Pew Environmental Group, part of the Pew Charitable Trust, recently fired a broadside at the broiler industry's production and environmental practices in their report on "Big Chicken: Pollution and Industrial Poultry Productions in America".  We caught up with the National Chicken Council's Richard Lobb for a response on that release as well as a look behind the curtain at how such politically motivated releases are dealt with.
• Poultry Industry Statement On Pew Report
• Big Chicken report from Pew Environmental Group.

Clint Hickman, VP of Sales & Marketing, Hickman's Family Farms, provides a poultry producer perspective on the issues in the industry and how to tackle them head on, not by running and hiding but by being open, proactive, and engaging. From the 2011 Annual Conference of the National Institute for Animal Agriculture, April 11 - 14, San Antonio, TX USA.

PoultryCast 0240 Show Notes:

• From the Leman Swine Conference, Dr. Jon Foley, Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota presents current concerns and long-term prospects in addressing the growth of the world's population and the demands we are placing on the environment.
• Link to the full video presentation courtesy of the University of Minnesota.

PoultryCast 0226 Show Notes:

• Dr. Todd Applegate of Purdue discusses ways producers can impact environmental concerns and if significant affects can be obtained solely by adjusting feeding programs.

PoultryCast 0224 Show Notes:

• USDA Agricultural Research Service Microbiologist Walter Mulby discusses ongoing research into low-cost algae-based systems to reclaim nutrients from manures.

PoultryCast 0210 Show Notes:

• University of Georgia Extension Poultry Scientist Dr. Brian Fairchild reviews an International Poultry Scientific Forum presentation on downstream ammonia levels, looking at dispersal rates and comparisons to benchmark background levels.