Poultry and livestock veterinarians at the antibiotics symposium sponsored by the National Institute of Animal Agriculture advocated a one health approach to dealing with antimicrobial resistance.

If the grain harvest is good, there are tantalizingly supportive economic signs for poultry producers.

Conventional wisdom points the finger of blame at the use of antibiotics in poultry and livestock production in the development of antimicrobial resistance in humans. That is an oversimplification of a complex problem.

There’s room for both pessimism and optimism about the U.S. poultry industry’s economic future headed into 2013. It all depends on a poultry company’s cost structure, balance sheet and planning horizon.

After focusing on grain markets and high feed costs in 2012, the world’s poultry industry is turning its attention to new trade opportunities in 2013, especially in Ukraine and China.

Tyson Foods has a new strategic plan that includes a greater focus on value-added products and international markets, the purchase of significant quantities of supplemental chicken on the open market, and a migration away from fixed-pricing of Tyson products.

The National Geographic Greendex survey ranks people based on the environmental impact of their consumer behavior, including the Mexicans, Argentineans, Australians, Hungarians, Spanish and Americans, who lead the world in at-least-weekly chicken consumption.

One ship headed north to the U.S. is loaded with Brazilian ethanol made from sugar cane. The other ship headed south to Brazil is loaded with U.S.-produced corn ethanol. Unfortunately, it is no joke but an example of how government’s intervention in economic markets seldom turns out well. The facts about this trade are not new but surfaced recently in a question to Purdue University’s Dr. Wallace Tyner, who was speaking at the National Chicken Council meeting about EPA’s pending decision concerning a possible waiver of the Renewable Fuel Standard for corn ethanol in 2013.

The concern and confusion that exist among the general public and policymakers about antibiotic use on farms represent a threat not only to the future of poultry and livestock production but to the health of humans and food-producing animals globally. 

Industry economists and consultants are saying that Africa might soon become an important destination for U.S. poultry products. Africa’s growth accelerated after 2000, making it the world’s third-fastest growing region behind emerging Asia and the Middle East. Growing disposable incomes on the continent, as people begin to move upward on the economic ladder, make this region of the world a prime market for inexpensive poultry protein. By 2020 more than half of African households will have discretionary spending power.