It isn’t impossible to build a new poultry complex in North Carolina; Sanderson Farms proved it could get the job done earlier this decade in Kinston, North Carolina.

I would havea really hard time lying about who I was, my work history and why I aminterested in working on a livestock or poultry farm or processing facility. Itjust isn’t in my makeup, even as a kid, I was never a good liar. So, I was alittle surprised that when two veteran animal rights undercover video activiststold the audience at Farm Animal Rights’ NationalAnimal Rights Conference this summer about their “exploits” they didn’tmention any stress or strain to their consciences brought about by theirdeception, instead they complained about the hard work on the farm.

If you can’t require a recall or force a shutdown because of a possible link to a Salmonellosis outbreak, then there are other ways to “influence” the outcome, and this is why I don’t think that counting noncompliance reports at Foster Farms’ processing plants is a good way to evaluate the company’s food safety efforts.

With the sale of Heritage Breeders, Perdue Farms exits the primary breeding business entirely.

The initialfindings report for the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply was releasedrecently and it presents preliminary results for some of the measurements takenfrom the two flock study. The research tracts animal well-being, environmental,food safety, worker safety and affordability measurements for eggs produced fromhens housed in conventional cages, enriched colonies and aviaries on acommercial farm. This three year project will provide a comparison of thesethree housing alternatives for hens in these five areas of sustainability usingthe best available science to measure indicators such as ammonia concentrationin the house, feather condition, egg production and a myriad of others.

The Obama administration and the USDA’s FSIS deserve credit for not caving in completely to political pressure from activist groups and going forward with its modernization of poultry inspection.

Activist groups should be happy with USDA's proposed rule for modernization of poultry inspection, because it will make the U.S. system more like Europe.

The once highly profitable Franconia, Pennsylvania, Pilgrim's Pride further processing plant was shutdown by a listeria outbreak.

The National and North Carolina Wildlife Federations support climate change regulations and legislation.

About 30 seconds into the latest Mercy for Animals “undercover video” of a Butterball turkey hatchery in Raeford, North Carolina, the narration attempts to draw a contrast between a poult being hatched in a hatchery versus being brooded by the hen.  “When they hatch, turkeys at this Butterball hatchery are roughly separated from their shells. Instead of the warm and comforting touch of their mothers, these baby birds are greeted with cold metal,” the narrator said.

The questionposed to an international group of broiler producers, nutritionists andveterinarians was, “What needs to be done to get broiler feed conversion ratesdown to 1.0?” This question was sparked by a prediction from a Cobb-Vantressgeneticist that by 2050 it would be possible to raise a broiler to 4.4 pounds(2 kilograms) in 19 days with a feed conversion approaching 1.0. Attendees inthe international poultry discussion group at the Alltech Symposium were askedto participate in what was characterized as a “Yale style debate” and offertheir opinions on the subject.

“Soda is the cigarettes of the 21st century,” according to the documentary film, "Fed Up," and “big sugar” and the soft drink companies are presented as the cause of the “obesity epidemic” that plagues the U.S. and many other parts of the world. I saw this film in its debut weekend and found it a compelling, if one-sided, discussion of the role that the film’s creators believe that added sugar in processed foods is playing in the fattening of America, particularly among children.