January 27, 2005

 

US poultry focuses on global markets, managing bird flu
 

An eFeedLink Exclusive Report
 

 

Expanding its international market and dealing with bird flu are two issues close to the heart of the US poultry industry, judging from the strong showing at talks at the ongoing International Poultry Expo (IPE) in Georgia, USA.

 

The three-day expo ends Jan 27.

 

Even before IPE's official opening on Jan 25, several talks on export opportunities, targeted mainly at small to medium poultry and egg producers, were already underway. These sessions touched on practical tips like the how-tos of exporting. 

 

The organiser, the US Poultry and Egg Association or USPOULTRY, explained why it was pertinent to include this topic for the first time at IPE.

 

"We see a need to expand our markets globally because that's really the market of the future," said vice-president of communications at USPOULTRY, Sylvia Small, of the global poultry market. "Many companies have expressed interest in this area of expansion, and exporting is one way of growing globally."

 

At the talk, Toby Moore of the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) pointed out that world broiler production is on a rebound. Brazil is now ahead of the US in terms of global market share, at 40 percent compared with the US's 35 percent, revealed the communications vice-president.

 

Brazil is now the world's largest exporter of poultry by volume, even though US exports have risen by more than four times in the past 15 years.

 

"The US poultry industry is committed to meeting demand of its local market, which is why exports are less of a priority for now, whereas Brazil is an export-driven market," Moore explained. With the Brazilian poultry industry already racing ahead, the US industry will have lots of catching up to do.

 

At another seminar, Brazilian consultancy Integral Consultoria's Fabio Nunes explained the factors which had led to the country's poultry industry overtaking the US's in terms of poultry production and exports.

 

Working to Brazil's advantage, said Nunes, are the availability of low-cost land, easy access to affordable local soy and corn feed, and a "southern" climate. These factors, said the consultant, have favoured poultry production by lowering overall production costs and boosting the price-competitiveness of Brazilian poultry in the international market.

 

On top of that, the Brazilian poultry industry has "a tremendous amount of entrepreneurial stubbornness," he added, which was helped by the use of technology and innovation. 

 

All this has worked in Brazil's favour. Poultry production rose by a whopping 2,448 percent cumulatively from 1970 to 2000, compared with pork's 160 percent and 152 percent for beef, so that poultry is the undisputed kingpin of the Brazilian commercial livestock sector. 

 

However, Nunes also pointed out that the country's poultry industry is not without its challenges, which include the appreciation of the Brazilian real against the US dollar, the US and Thai poultry industry gearing up to regain lost ground in exports.

 

Then, there is of course the global bird flu threat, another hot topic at IPE.

 

On this, director of the University of Minnesota's Centre of Animal Health and Food Safety, William Hueston, expressed the need for governments to change their attitudes towards managing bird flu.

 

Trade suspensions are futile and only create a "false sense of security", said Hueston at a bird flu seminar on the second day of the expo.

 

University of Minnesota's William Hueston sharing his radical views on bird flu risk management

 

"Bird flu does not respect borders," Hueston said. "We can't close our borders to illegal drug traders or illegal immigrants, so how are we going to do so to avian influenza?"

 

In fact, poultry production and trade is possible even for bird flu-hit countries. "Our goal should be risk management, not disease eradication. We have built a world that believes in freedom. But in animal diseases, freedom is not the answer," he shared.

 

Also, the "inconsistencies in surveillance and sanitary protection that undercut global control" make it impossible for individual governments to deal with any bird flu pandemic alone.

 

As such, the poultry industry has to work together globally through "innovative partnerships" with governments, non-governmental organisations and academia to achieve the "stable-to-table" situation.

 

"We're only as good as the weakest link," Hueston added.

 

While he admits that much needs to be done before attaining a "stable-to-table" situation, he jokingly points out: "Well, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step!"

 

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