Michigan State University Extension
Ag Experiment Station Special Reports - SR469201
07/28/98
The importance of the poultry industry in providing
meat and egg protein products for U.S. and Michigan
consumers continues to increase. The tangible growth in
both the broiler (i.e., young chicken) and turkey meat-
producing industries in the United States since 1970 is
in sharp contrast to the flat production trend exhibited
in the table egg industry (Figures 1 through 6).(Figures
don't translate into databases, please refer to the
original bulletin.) A primary reason for the rapid growth
in the poultry meat-producing industries has been
technological and product form progressiveness.
Significant changes in organizational characteristics
(i.e., both vertical and horizontal integration) have
greatly improved business coordination. This is
reflected in enhanced market performance.
Consumers presently have a wide variety of poultry
meat products with desirable (i.e., demanded) attributes.
The real price of the raw products produced by these
industries continues on its downward trend (Figures 7 and
8).(Figures don't translate into databases, please refer
to the original bulletin.) Although future firm
organizational changes will be more constrained because
of current industry consolidation, technological and
product form progressiveness will perpetuate robust
positive growth trends in these industries. Improvements
in global economic integration will further enhance
growth opportunities.
The table egg industry has not enjoyed poultry meat
products' desirable profile. Eggs firms have also
experienced revolutionary changes in organization and
size because of competitive pressures. But negative
dietary concerns have affected egg demand, hindering
product innovation initiatives, particularly in egg
breaking production stage where the potential for
innoviation is the greatest. Nevertheless, consumers
have benefited substantially from the dramatic
restructuring of the industry as the real price of table
eggs has declined 53 percent over the past 21 years
(Figure 9).(Figures don't translate into databases,
please refer to the original bulletin.)
Cash receipts from poultry marketing in Michigan in
1990 were 8.7 percent of the livestock and products
state total. The largest poultry production- related
activity in Michigan is the table egg or commercial egg
laying industry. Egg receipts account for 4.9 percent of
Michigan's 1990 livestock and products total. The number
of hens and pullets of laying age on Michigan farms
(Figure 10)(Figures don't translate into databases,
please refer to the original bulletin.) has averaged 6.45
million birds over the past 21 years. Michigan layer
numbers exhibited a slight downward trend from 1970
through 1983. After a rapid increase from 1984 to 1986,
the flock size decline in recent years reflects a
nationwide retrenchment. The gradual increase in the
number of eggs produced in Michigan over the past two
decades --in contrast to the flock size trend-- primarily
reflects the layer productivity realized from both
genetic and husbandry improvements. Michigan's
production relative to the rest of the nation has
remained within a 2 - 2 1/2 percent range during the past
decade (Figure 12).(Figures don't translate into
databases, please refer to the original bulletin.) In
1991, Michigan residents consumed the equivalent of 151
percent of the table eggs produced in the state (Figure
13). (Figures don't translate into databases, please
refer to the original bulletin.)
The turkey industry in Michigan has grown rapidly
over the past 21 years. In 1991, 4.7 million turkeys
were raised in the state, a three and one-half fold
increase from the early 1970s (Figure 11).(Figures don't
translate into databases, please refer to the original
bulletin.) Cash receipts from turkeys accounted for 3.7
percent of the state's livestock and products total in
1990. The number of pounds of turkey meat produced
increased an even greater amount during this period, as
emphasis shifted to producing heavy breed toms. These
birds have better meat-to-bone ratios and are
economically more desirable for the deboning and other
processing operations that have become the focal activity
of the state's turkey industry. The average live
slaughter weights of turkeys raised in Michigan during
1991 was approximately 29 pounds and compares with an
average of 21.9 pounds during 1970. Turkey production in
the state expanded its national relative share from 1.2
percent in 1980 to 2.1 percent in 1991 (Figure
12).(Figures don't translate into databases, please refer
to the original bulletin.) Michigan's turkey meat
production was equivalent to 64 percent of the turkey
meat consumed by the state's residents in 1991 (Figure
13).(Figures don't translate into databases, please refer
to the original bulletin.)
The Michigan broiler industry is minuscule from a
national perspective. The Michigan Agricultural
Statistics Service estimated that 780 thousand broilers
were raised in the state during 1990. These young
chickens are primarily grown in small-enterprise settings
that have household consumption production objectives.
Michigan has not been able to attract entrepreneurs
adequate to surmont the high entry barriers inherent in
an economically viable broiler production complex.
The relative importance of the poultry industry in
the United States in 1990 is shown in Figure 13.(Figures
don't translate into databases, please refer to the
original bulletin.) Using a value of production
criterion, the poultry industry accounted for
approximately 27 percent of the meat animals and poultry
total during 1990. The value of broiler chicken
production is by far the largest poultry commodity
category, being roughly twice the production value of
eggs and four times the production value of turkeys. In
Michigan, the production value of all poultry accounted
for 19 percent of the meat animals and poultry total
during 1990 (Figure 14).(Figures don't translate into
databases, please refer to the original bulletin.) The
production value of broilers in Michigan is small. The
production value of eggs accounted for slightly over half
of the total poultry value and turkeys for most of the
remaining amount.
Technological Advancements Anticipated During the 1990s
Stock Improvement:
Gene identification, mapping and cloning at the DNA
level will provide breeders with molecular probes for
selecting superior breeding stock at an early age. This
will increase selection precision and enhance genetic
progress. Selection criteria will focus on specific
genes that influence traits such as disease resistance,
immune response and fat deposition. While primary
breeders will begin to use this technology by the end of
the decade, resultant improved poultry will just begin to
be available to producers. The large research and
development investments needed to realize many of these
innovations are likely to have proprietary rights
associated with them and may not be broadly disseminated.
They will be initially adopted and used by integrated
operators, but the improved stock will probably not be
freely available to all producers.
Methods for producing transgenic chickens carrying
and expressing cloned genes developed by mapping and
molecular cloning technology will be improved and adopted
by some primary breeders. This approach, however, will
not likely impact the industry before the year 2000
because such methods will not be technically available or
approved by regulatory agencies until after that time.
Nutrition and Growth Promotants:
Improvements in nutrition will result primarily from
the utilization of techniques that foster better nutrient
utilization and not from new nutrient discoveries.
Somatotrophins and beta agonists are not anticipated to
be applicable to poultry. Some examples of techniques
that will enhance nutrient utilization are: 1) treatment
of feed components with phytase to transform plant
phosphorus (phytate phosphorus) into a form that is
digestible by poultry; 2) treatments to increase the
digestibility and absorption of carbohydrates in feed
ingredients such as wheat; 3) rapid and relatively
inexpensive identification and inactivation or removal of
mycotoxins from feedstuffs; and 4) enhanced control of
enteric microflora by utilizing friendly or beneficial
bacteria such as Lactobacillus, which compete in the gut
with harmful microbes for receptor cells (competitive
exclusion) or act in other ways to enhance nutrient
availability and absorption.
Health Maintenance and Disease Treatment:
Primary emphasis will remain on
biosecurity/sanitation techniques that protect poultry
from exposure or harmful effects from any type of toxic
or infectious agents (viral, bacterial, fungal or
parasitic). Improvements in health monitoring techniques
will permit more rapid problem-situation diagnoses.
Information technology coupled with mechanization control
advances will reduce disease incidence by monitoring and
regulating environmental factors such as air, water and
litter quality.
Molecular approaches will have an impact on
infectious disease diagnosis in at least two areas.
Specific DNA probes will make it possible to definitively
identify the pathogen and then classify it by strain or
serotype. These methods, which will have an impact on
disease control in Michigan, will be available for some
major pathogens and will speed diagnosis and the
application of control procedures. Recombinant vaccines
of the live or killed types are also being developed for
poultry and should be available for commercial use in
less than ten years. It is probable that these vaccines
will be able to immunize for several diseases with a
single administration. Their widespread use will depend
on their cost and regulatory agency approval.
Waste Handling and Disposal:
Practices that reduce environmental degradation,
reduce handling costs or add alternative use value will
be actively pursued. The treatment (e.g.bacterial) of
waste products to transform them into alternative
utilization forms will receive increased attention. Some
examples are: 1) treatment of feathers to enhance their
digestibility, 2) reducing the phosphate content of
poultry manure by increasing the digestibility of plant
phosphorus, and 3) composting of manure, dead animals,
hatchery waste, etc. to reduce their mass and potential
for undesirable environmental consequences.
Approximately 50% of the soils in Michigan are
classified as being either high or very high in
phosphorous. The phosphorous produced by livestock in
Michigan will replace approximately 60% of the
phosphorous removed by field crops. We have strong
evidence that when phosphorous in soils reaches high
levels it will enter surface waters and accelerate
eutrophication of surface water courses and water bodies.
Where this is likely to accur soil samples routinely
reveal excess phosphorus content. These samples are
often associated with areas where soil is used for manure
disposal rather than utilization. Manure can no longer
be disposed of but must be utilized. One of the lowest
cost alternatives has been to use the manure nutrients
for crop production. The land area required to utilize
manure nutrients from 100,000 laying hens is
approximately 2,000 acres of corn grown (assumes .0023
lbs. of P205 per layer per day and that a 125 bu. corn
for grain yield would utilize 42 lbs. of P205 per acre).
This ratio of land area to numbers of layers is rarely
under the control of the production organization.
Addressing this situation will require a combination of
approaches, from improving animals' nutrient retention to
developing processing systems for useful residues and
managing the soil plant system to retain nutrients and
generate useful materials. Judgments about cost
effectiveness will involve comparisons against ownership
of adequate land area and the risk of environment-related
law-suits. Environmental concerns are increasing nation-
wide and all areas of the U.S. will be addressing these
issues.
Some 42% of Michigan's population resides in towns
of less than 5,000 people. The population density is one
of the highest in the Midwest. The ability to manage
manure in an environmentally safe manner represents a
major challenge to the continued vitality of the poultry
industry and to its potential for growth in Michigan.
This challenge has strong social as well as technical
challenges. The technology and management must be
appropriate, but priority for effort required to
influence the attitudes and decisions made by local
neighbors, local units of government, state and federal
law-makers and agencies of government will need to be
increased.
Information Systems:
Many of the efficiencies realized in the poultry
industry are predicated on business coordination
enhancements accomplished through organizational
arrangements that have more direct communication channels
and facilitate a high degree of process control.
Technical advancements in sensor devices and computer and
related electronic hardware coupled with rapidly
declining functionality costs will stimulate the
development of increasingly sophisticated management
action support system software. Object oriented database
technologies integrated with expert system techniques
will greatly enhance the scope, quality and timeliness of
management decisions. Some examples include: 1) closed
systems that will maintain optimal house environments and
2) software that will filter physical and financial
records with rules that can be used to identify, call
attention to undesirable variances and propose
technically and economically sound action alternatives.
Products Enhancement:
Success in the next 10 years depends on the poultry
processing industry's response to increased consumer
demands for high-quality, convenient and "environmentally
friendly" food products; the necessity to reduce energy
costs associated with processing and distribution, and an
expected labor shortage in the fast food industry. The
need for engineered convenience foods for retail and food
service markets will continue to increase. Technological
innovations will be implemented to overcome the stresses
of precooking and freezing which decrease food quality.
A trend toward minimally processed refrigerated foods is
expected to improve the quality of convenience foods.
More designer foods will be developed to meet the needs
of specific population groups such as the elderly, health
conscious or young. The development of designer foods
requires an increased understanding of the relationship
between the structure and function of food ingredients to
achieve maximum quality, a better understanding of the
nutritional needs of the population, and techniques to
modify the composition of foods. Composition
modification may include such technologies as
supercritical fluid extraction or use of cyclodextrins to
reduce cholesterol and lipid content of egg products,
Technologies will be developed to reduce energy costs,
including the expanded use of aseptic packaging which
eliminates the need for frozen storage. Researchers are
learning how to aseptically package particulate foods,
which should expand the use of this technology by the
poultry industry. Researchers are looking at the use of
ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis to remove water and
reduce weight of poultry products during shipping.
Technologies to enhance the recovery and use of
underutilized byproducts, such as the growing supply of
bony byproducts from boneless meat production, will be
introduced. Finally, new packaging technologies to
reduce spoilage waste will be implemented.
Food Safety:
The incidence of microorganisms and chemical
residues from drugs and hormones, and the presence of
natural toxicants in our food and feed supply, are some
of the major food safety problems in the United States
today. Most current procedures to detect and quantify
these compounds are time-consuming, expensive, and
require sophisticated scientific equipment. Rapid assays
are be developed using immunological techniques such as
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Recent advances and
further research should allow rapid, simultaneous
detection of multiple compounds of feed safety concern.
Other technological innovations should allow for major
reductions in microbiological contamination of poultry
and egg products, perhaps leading to the production of
pathogen-free food products. Many new technological
innovations are being explored to reduce or eliminate
microorganisms from poultry during production, processing
and distribution.
Projections for the year 2000
Given that Michigan poultry industry firms have
access to inexpensive primary raw material inputs and
good proximity to affluent final goods consumers,
anticipations of future growth are warranted.
The Michigan egg industry is likely to undergo
further organizational changes driven by pressures for
increased economic efficiencies, rapidly changing
husbandry and information management technologies, and
consumer desires. Several firms in the Michigan egg
industry are positioned to thrive in this highly
competitive environment. Their growth is expected to
increase the number of layers located in Michigan from
its 1991 inventory level of 5.4 million hens and pullets
of laying age to 6.0 million --an eleven percent
increase-- by the year 2000.
Much faster growth in the Michigan turkey industry
is anticipated because of the enviable consumer demand
and processing capacities that are not fully utilized.
It is anticipated that the number of turkeys raised in
Michigan will increase from a 1991 level of 4.7 million
to 12 million --a 155 percent increase-- and that
liveweight production will increase from 136.3 million
pounds to 372.0 million pounds --a 173 percent increase--
by the year 2000.