price of chicken

perhaps not surprising anyone, is the recent report by Pilgrim's Pride that increases the price of feed ingredients is causing an increase in the price of chicken, and a decline in the profits of poultry companies. PP estimates that:

... it would take a 10 percent increase in chicken prices to offset higher feed costs, which are likely to keep rising. But the company has had a tough time passing along the higher costs to customers, such as grocery stores and restaurant suppliers.

Certainly, this is happening to most chicken producers. Even Tyson Foods has announced higher prices.

while yesterday's egg market report looks stable over the last week or so ... we were shocked to find the price of 1.5 dozen (that's 18 to the math-challenged) large, grade A eggs to be $1.89 at Weis!

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meat in the USA

an interesting article by mark.bittman of the NYTimes regarding meat-eating habits in the US and the effect that meat production has on health, the economy and environment. there is a lot to discuss here; as everything done in the name of 'industry' or 'profit' is not perfect.

Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler - New York Times

Americans are downing close to 200 pounds of meat, poultry and fish per capita per year (dairy and eggs are separate, and hardly insignificant), an increase of 50 pounds per person from 50 years ago. We each consume something like 110 grams of protein a day, about twice the federal government’s recommended allowance; of that, about 75 grams come from animal protein.l

however, as i read these types of articles, i often try to identify the one with the greatest number of logical fallacies. how many can you find?

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we've all heard about the price of corn ...

... but, here is another aspect of the increased cost of oil, and the effect of increased demand on 'other' oils (which are used nationally and globally for BOTH kind of calories!).

A New, Global Oil Quandary: Costly Fuel Means Costly Calories - New York Times

From India to Indiana, shortages and soaring prices for palm oil, soybean oil and many other types of vegetable oils are the latest, most striking example of a developing global problem: costly food.

The food price index of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, based on export prices for 60 internationally traded foodstuffs, climbed 37 percent last year. That was on top of a 14 percent increase in 2006, and the trend has accelerated this winter.

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heritage turkey breeds

here is an interesting video regarding a heritage turkey breeder in kansas! curiously, can you identify the birds behind him during the bulk of the video?? do they sound like turkeys??
here is the original link.

btw -- his breeding suggestions ARE from the 1930's and are incorrect on several levels. depending on male:female ratios (this could be 1:3 or 1:5 (male:female) for naturally mating turkeys; a breeder flock size of 200-300 can have a very small effective population size. we will discuss this in more detail in class.

Clone-burgers, anyone??

in a not-unexpected decision, the

F.D.A. Says Food From Cloned Animals Is Safe - New York Times

After years of debate, the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday declared that food from cloned animals and their progeny is safe, removing the last government hurdle before meat and milk derived from copies of prize dairy cows and superior hogs can be sold at grocery stores.

curiously, within the same week France prohibited the use of genetically modified corn developed by monsanto. there are many of the same concerns among other members of the european union, so don't be surprised if the other countries join in the ban.

is this good news for the chicken biz?? food for thought?

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