Poultry company George's Inc. names new co-CEOs

George's Inc., one of the nation's largest privately held poultry companies, announced Carl George and Charles George as co-CEOs/presidents, effective April 5. Previous CEO/President Gary George will continue as the company's Chairman. Executive responsibilities will continue to be shared, with Carl leading all areas of live production and processing and Charles leading sales, accounting, human resources, quality assurance and purchasing.
"Our family built this company with an uncompromising dedication to quality," said Gary George. "We have always been committed to treating our customers, employees, and independent contract growers with respect, honesty and loyalty. Those same values will continue to guide our company as the fourth generation leads George's."
With the company since 1997, Carl George and Charles George have devoted time to learning all areas of the business, from live production to sales.  In 2006, they joined the executive team, and in 2009, they were both named Senior Vice President with executive responsibilities for the areas they now lead.
"We have an amazing team of dedicated people and committed contract growers who work hard to offer our customers the best service and products," said Carl George.  "I look forward to continuing the work of growing our company and maintaining our commitment to providing these quality products."
"It is a privilege to work alongside my brother and the excellent team here at George's," said Charles George. "Providing our customers with the highest quality poultry products is a legacy that we will continue for years to come."
Charles George serves on the board of directors for both the Arkansas Poultry Federation and the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, and he is a member of the National Chicken Council.  Carl George serves on the board of directors for the National Chicken Council and is a member of the U.S Poultry & Egg Association. He also serves on the Crystal Bridges Young Patrons Steering Committee and the Downtown Springdale Alliance, and he is vice chairman of the Springdale Athletic Foundation Board. Both Carl George and Charles George received their B.S. and B.A. from Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.

Animal welfare a product in itself, professor says

A key to success for people in the meat and poultry industry is to understand the consumer and to meet their needs — even if those consumers are members of the animal welfare community.
Jayson Lusk, professor and Willard Sparks Endowed Chair at the Oklahoma State University Department of Agriculture Economics, shared that philosophy January 31 at the 2013 International Production and Processing Expo in Atlanta, Ga.
Lusk asked: “Can you sell what the activists are wanting? Will they buy it?”
In animal agriculture, a farmer takes animals and feed inputs to produce meat, which is sold to consumers. But Lusk said poultry and livestock growers also produce another product: animal welfare.
Lusk told IPPE attendees that bad news about the industry resonates with consumers more than good news, and risks often get over-stated. But producers can also spread the news of the good things they have done in animal care, or the bad things they prevented from happening to the animals. “That’s a product like anything else," said Lusk. "Can it be sold separately? I think it’s possible."
Lusk added he realizes there are extremists who will not support animal agriculture, no matter how well the stock is treated. But there are others who can see the good. “They’re not necessarily abolitionists," he said. "They really are concerned in increasing the well-being of animals that exist."

Poultry industry can grow amid tough times

The poultry industry has done well to sustain itself while saddled with low grain supplies, high feed costs and a global recession, but it still hasn’t tapped its full potential, said FarmEcon president Thomas Elam.
“What we have done with meat production in the face of these limits in feed supply is nothing short of remarkable,” Elam said during a presentation January 31 at the 2013 International Production and Processing Expo in Atlanta. “We may have to continue that over the next 12 or 24 months.”
While all sectors of animal agriculture are waiting to see if the Midwestern drought will lift, Elam said that the odds of the price of corn being $5 a bushel in November are about equal to the odds that the price will be $10. And $5 corn will be very appealing to the feed industry’s biggest rival, ethanol producers. Elam gave ethanol at least part of the blame for the bankruptcy filings of eight poultry companies since 2008, though most of those facilities are now operating under new ownership.
But along with the uncertainty comes optimism.
“Where’s all the opportunity? There will be more distressed assets for sale. There have been great opportunities for companies to pick up production facilities at really, really reasonable costs,” Elam said.
He also noted there were opportunities in flexible-price contracts based off a feed-price formula, in product innovation, in export markets and in continued improved efficiency.

Poultry trade organizations sign agreement outlining collaborative efforts

From left to right: Paul Hill, past chairman, National Turkey Federation; Mike Brown, president, National Chicken Council; James Sumner, president, USA Poultry & Egg Export Council; and John Starkey, president, U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, signing collaboration agreement while at the 2013 International Production & Processing Expo.

The National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation, USA Poultry & Egg Export Council, and the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association signed a collaboration agreement while at the 2013 International Production & Processing Expo in Atlanta, Ga., according to a USPOULTRY press release. The agreement defines the organizations’ mission areas and membership, outlines the existing collaborative efforts they all share, and describes future collaborative efforts.
While each of these organizations have their own strengths and focus points, the agreement elaborates on how these strengths are shared among the organizations to effectively and efficiently serve and represent the poultry industry.
“Our four trade associations have a long history of collaborating and supporting each other," stated the group. "In recent years, the scope and breadth of that collaboration has accelerated rapidly. While we each have our own respective mission areas, we recognize and have acted upon multiple opportunities to more efficiently and effectively represent our industry. We pledge to seek out additional opportunities in the future under the guidance and direction of our respective boards.”
The agreement was signed by Paul Hill, past chairman, National Turkey Federation; Mike Brown, president, National Chicken Council; James Sumner, president, USA Poultry & Egg Export Council; and John Starkey, president, U.S. Poultry & Egg Association.

USPOULTRY Foundation receives $1 million towards poultry innovation, education

Chantal and Tommy Bagwell, chairman and CEO, American Proteins, presenting Elton Maddox, president and CEO, Wayne Farms, and treasurer of the USPOULTRY Foundation, with a $1 million check on behalf of the Leland Bagwell Education and Innovation Fund.

The USPOULTRY Foundation has accepted a gift of $1 million, endowed by Tommy and Chantal Bagwell, towards the Leland Bagwell Education and Innovation Fund.
The Fund is in memory of Leland Bagwell, founder of American Proteins and past chairman of Southeastern Poultry & Egg Association (now USPOULTRY), and recognizes the many contributions the former vocational agriculture teacher and visionary leader made to the poultry industry. The $1 million gift will offer young people the opportunity to be a part of the poultry industry with a focus on innovation, education, and providing opportunities to lower income students.
“The endowment will help support the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association Harold E. Ford Foundation’s mission of continuing to attract young leaders to our industry, as well as fund research that will ensure the poultry and egg industry’s sustainability and prosperity in the future,” said Elton Maddox, president and CEO, Wayne Farms, and treasurer of the USPOULTRY Foundation.

Tell us about trends in poultry live production

Participate in the 2010 WATT Live Production Survey and help us identify the top challenges facing the poultry industry in live production. The survey will discover how the industry is responding to key trends involving reduction of pathogens in flocks, investment in housing and equipment, and more.
Survey results will appear in upcoming issues of WATT agribusiness publications including WATT PoultryUSA, Poultry International, Industria Avicola and at www.WATTAgNet.com.
Who should participate? Anyone whose work or responsibility involves poultry live production. This includes live production managers, flock servicemen, corporate managers (CEOs, vice presidents, directors, etc.), veterinarians, nutritionists, etc.
Click here to go to the easy-to-complete survey form that takes only minutes to answer.
Or, paste this link into your browser: http://www.wattresearch.com/se.ashx?s=705E3ED443889651

Joint Poultry Industry Safety and Health Council appoints committee chairman

Brian Rodgers, director of safety and risk management for Butterball LLC, has been appointed committee chairman of the Joint Poultry Industry Safety and Health Council. The council is made up of members from the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, National Chicken Council and National Turkey Federation. As committee chairman, Rodgers will work with the council to continue the development and enforcement of industry safety and health initiatives.
In his work at Butterball, Rodgers helped the company achieve five of the highest recognitions from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Voluntary Protection Program.
“By encouraging safety excellence within our member organizations, we will continue to advance the poultry industry as a whole and tackle the challenges that will help us grow,” says Rodgers. “I am proud to be a part of a committee that is leading the charge to support continuous safety performance throughout our industry.”

Poultry 101 workshop set for April 20-22 at Auburn University

Poultry 101, a three-day, hands-on workshop that introduces participants to the production and processing factors that impact final product quality, safety and consistency, is scheduled for April 20-22 at Auburn University in Auburn, Ala.
This workshop is designed for personnel in the poultry industry and taught by university professors and industry experts.
Workshop lectures include “Live Production: Impact on Processing”; “Poultry Processing”; “Conversion of Muscle to Meat”; “Poultry Meat Quality/Quality Defects”; “Further Processing”; “Ingredients, Curing & Smoking”; “Coatings: Batter & Breading”; “Cooking Principles & Technology”; “Food Safety & Sanitation”; and “Packaging.”
Lab activities include processing, cut-up and deboning, sensory panel, batter and breading, further processing and production evaluation.
For more information contact Shelly McKee at Auburn University by phone at +1.334.844.2765 or by email. Interested participants may register on the Poultry 101 Web site.
Past participants have been associated with poultry integrators (including plant operation, quality assurance, engineering, research and development and business management), restaurants, grocery chains, suppliers and governmental agencies.
This workshop has been taught 17 times since 2004 and has had approximately 20 to 25 participants in each course taught.

Scientists shed light on chicken development

A group of UK scientists has published research in the scientific journal Nature explaining why one in 10,000 chicks are born gynandromorphous — half male and half female.
The group’s lead researcher told the BBC that the discovery may help the poultry industry breed better birds.
“If we can understand what the differences between the male and female identities are, then we can imagine making female birds with the same growth characteristics as males. That would increase productivity and food security,” said Michael Clinton of the Roslin Institute, who led the research. Scientists from the University of Edinburgh also contributed to the project.
According to their findings, each cell in a chicken’s body is either male or female, and that characteristic is not affected by hormones — unlike in mammals, where hormones are as important as genetics in determining an individual’s sex. As a result, a gynandromorphous chicken is completely female in body structure and coloring on one half, and completely male on the other — right down to wattle and spurs.

Take the ‘Nutrition and Feeding’ survey

Participate in the 2010 WATT Poultry Nutrition & Feeding Survey and help us identify the top challenges facing the poultry industry in nutrition and feeding. The survey will discover how the industry is responding to key trends involving supply chain integrity, composition of rations, sustainability, investment and more.
Survey results will appear in upcoming issues of WATT agribusiness publications including Poultry International, WATT PoultryUSA, Feed International and at www.WATTAgNet.com.
Who should participate? Anyone whose work or responsibility involves producing or using poultry feeds. This includes corporate managers (CEOs, vice presidents, directors, etc.), nutritionists, live production managers, manufacturers and suppliers of feeds or ingredients, purchasing agents, researchers, consultants, etc.
Click here to go to the easy-to-complete survey form that takes only minutes to answer.
The deadline for responses is February 24.

Ivorian poultry producers credit industry revival to import duties

The return of duties on poultry products from Europe and Latin America has revived Cote d’Ivoire’s domestic poultry industry, according to Inter Press Service. From 2005, to 2009, poultry production expanded from 9,000 tonnes to 20,000 tonnes and egg production grew from 435 million to 800 million, according to Philippe Ackah, president of the poultry industry association IPRAVI (Interprofession Avicole de Côte d’Ivoire).
Cote d’Ivoire reinstated poultry duties in 2005, after three years of free import licenses, and the current duty raises the price of imported poultry by about 100%, the Inter Press Service reported.
"This regulation saved the Ivorian poultry industry from ruin," Alain Bouabré, an Ivorian economist, told the news agency.

Moscow may ease poultry import restrictions

Russia may temporarily ease import restrictions on U.S. poultry, provided that U.S. producers move toward meeting Russia’s new standards, according to First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov.
Earlier this year, Moscow implemented restrictions on the use of chlorine in poultry processing, effectively banning imports from the United States, where poultry is routinely cleaned with chlorinated water to reduce pathogenic bacteria.
Talks last month on resuming U.S. imports stalled, but Russia has invited the United States back for a second round of talks about poultry imports, Gennady Onishchenko, head of Russia’s Federal Consumer Protection Service, told Reuters. “Now the ball is in the court of American partners,” he said.

USDA: Turkish biotech rules restrict poultry sector growth

A Turkish ban on genetically modified crops has caused feed prices to spike and is limiting poultry industry growth, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report cited on Agrimoney.com.
Turkey banned the import of genetically modified food and feed crops in October. By November, soybean prices rose 40% to $700 per tonne, according to the USDA report. Prices for corn gluten feed and distiller’s grains also increased.
Russia wants to increase its poultry imports from Turkey to fill a gap created when Moscow banned poultry shipments from the United States. But Turkish producers say they will be able to export only about 100,000 tonnes of poultry this year, falling far short of Russia’s 500,000-tonne order. Turkey exported a total of 115,000 tonnes in 2009, according to Agrimoney.com.
The USDA report said that Turkey will be unable to expand at the rate needed to meet Russia’s import demands as long as biotech crops are restricted. Turkey is expected to enact additional legislation in 2010 that would ban domestic production of genetically modified crops.

Debentures bring JBS $1.2B

Brazil-based JBS has brought in $1.2B from the transfer of convertible debentures to a Brazilian government bank and may issue additional debentures in early February, according to the Wall Street Journal. The income will help to fund the company’s takeover of Pilgrim’s Pride Corp.
The debentures, which are held by the investment wind of Brazil’s National Development Bank, can be converted into stock in the JBS U.S. unit once the unit makes an initial public offering, the newspaper reported. The company recently announced that the initial public offering is being delayed until market conditions improve.

JBS puts off US IPO to unspecified date

Global beef processing leader JBS SA is holding off on the initial public offering of its U.S. unit, which recently acquired Pilgrim’s Pride. JBS had announced in November that it would set the price for its IPO in mid-January, but recently decided to defer the sale because of poor market conditions, according to Bloomberg News.
The $2 billion IPO may still take place in the first half of 2010 if market conditions improve, said Joesley Batista, the company’s chief executive officer. The company must also complete a request from the Brazilian government to factor the acquisitions of Bertin SA and Pilgrim’s Pride into its fourth-quarter earnings before it can make the share sale. JBS SA is based in Brazil.
The company’s Brazilian stock has nearly doubled in the last year.

Report highlights ergonomic progress in the poultry industry

Musculoskeletal disorders among workers in the poultry industry have declined 75% during the last 25 years, according to a report recently released by the Joint Industry Safety and Health Council, a committee of the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, National Chicken Council and National Turkey Federation.
The study, Ergonomics in the Poultry Industry: A Review of 25 Years of Industry Efforts, describes progress in the prevention and early treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. It also discusses results of cooperation between the industry and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Vietnam’s poultry, pig production up

Vietnam’s poultry and swine output grew in the first nine months of 2009, reported VietnamPlus news daily. The government credited improvements in disease control for the higher output.
According to the country’s General Statistics Office, Vietnam’s count of pigs was 27.6 million in the nine months ending October 1, 2009, an increase of 3.47% from the same period the previous year. Pig meat output increased 4.45% to 2.9 million tonnes.
The poultry count spiked 12.83% to 280 million and poultry meat output rose 12.16% to 502,000 tonnes.

Poultry Federation launches redesigned Web site

The Poultry Federation, a trade organization representing the poultry and egg industries in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, has redesigned its Web site.
The new design is meant to be easier to navigate and includes RSS feeds for poultry and egg industry news, including legislative updates for the federation’s tri-state area. The Web site also incorporates the social networking tools Facebook and Twitter, a searchable membership roster, an event calendar, event registrations, statistics and industry resources.

Philippines to stem chick shortage with egg import

According to reports, a temporary shortfall in Filipino chick production means that 150,000 eggs for hatching will be imported to the country from Malaysia. The import is part of an agreement by the United Broilers and Raisers Association (UBRA) and the Philippine Association of Broiler Integrators.
An UBRA official said chicken supplies remain sufficient with retail prices at approximately P130 per kilogram.

Is California dysfunctional?

The New York Times of Sunday, October 11, reported on a speech by the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, Ronald M. George, to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The thrust of his speech was that the referendum process in California has created anarchy and "rendered our state government dysfunctional."
The legislature cannot amend or repeal specific laws without voter approval, rendering both legislature and the executive impotent. State officials may not raise taxes without a two-thirds approval of the electorate. This "places California lawmakers and the state itself in a fiscal straight jacket," said the Justice.
Justice George indicated that constitutional and legislative action in California is not the end point of "fact-gathering and deliberation, but rather by the approval of voter initiative measures." He emphasized that ballot outcomes are often manipulated by special interests.
Over the past few years it has become evident that states with voter initiatives incorporated in their constitutions are vulnerable to the effects of lobbying by activist groups. Nowhere is this more evident than the initiatives promoted by HSUS and its surrogates. ... Read the full blog.