The initiative has gained support from the ASPCA and Compassion in World Farming. In global egg production, for decades, it is common practice to immediately cull male-born chicks since the males do not lay eggs – 300 million annually in the US and 6+ worldwide. This waste of 50% of chicks being moved into macerators (grinders), instead of grown for food, has been viewed with disdain by many who enjoy eating chicken and eggs.
Commercial egg and chicken industries have not shown interest in raising these male birds for meat, but now, in an innovative shift, Kipster, a Dutch company and newcomer to the US egg market, will be raising these males to roosters and at 15 weeks will process them for human consumption. This Dutch company will open its first U.S. layer farm and visitor center in Indiana in January 2023. The egg producer focuses on better animal welfare, tackling food waste and carbon-neutral eggs, according to its website.  Original article by Tony McDougal
Dairy farmers in the UK are signing up in droves to commit to regenerative interventions, which enhance water, nutrient and carbon cycling and relies less on external inputs across tens of thousands of hectares of land. First Milk members have committed to almost 131,000 field-level interventions across more than 78,000 hectares. More than 90% of members have signed up to the organizations’ regenerative program, representing more than 96% of its members’ milk. Each have submitted plans for their farms, using a unique digital mapping tool with each intervention having to support one of the 5 key regenerative farming principles:
 Even as the US Supreme Court is going to hear arguments in October by the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and the Farm Bureau to deny a female breeding sow the ability to turn around in its crate, here are Dr. Elizabeth Cox’s (Lead on Prop 12 Enforcement) findings on progress the pork industry has made in updating facilities to be compliant to Prop 12.
– Dr. Cox visited 10 sow farms across the US, including Clemens, Hormel, JBS and Premium Iowa Pork for discussions on Prop 12 standards and to see the enormous progress made in building or upgrading facilities to produce Prop 12-compliant pork.  In a first for the German hatchery sector, Lohmann Deutschland will install in-ovo sexing equipment, after entering a partnership with “Free of chick culling” advocate Respeggt.
German genetics company Lohmann Deutschland and hormone-based sexing company Respeggt have teamed up to support Germany’s male chick culling ban. Lohmann announced in a recent press release that Respeggct’s SELEGGT Circuit system will be installed in the hatchery in its Ankum facility in the coming months. According to the partnership, 3-million-layer chicks will be hatched through the system annually. The state’s egg prices continue to trend like other shell egg markets after implementation of its cage-free law Proposition 12 Original article by Meredith Johnson
Because the California egg market is already 100% cage free, the industry continues to look to the state for financial insight. The current state and future prospects of the California egg market were discussed by Economists Andrei Rjedkin and Angel Rubio during the Egg Market Forecast webinar organized by Urner Barry. “Cage-free layers now represent 36% of the U.S. layer population, which is a large increase from 15% in January 2017,” stated Rjedkin. The year-over-year monthly growth rate for cage-free layers in the U.S. was 33.6% in January 2018, then dropped to 9.1% in July 2021. A sharp increase occurred in January 2022 to approximately 40%, most likely due to cage-free mandates going into effect. Since that time, the rate has been decreasing, with May 2022 showing a 23.8% increase.  Data shows that most companies are meeting cage-free pledges.
88% percent global cage-free commitments that had a 2021 deadline or earlier have been met, according to the most recent Cage-free Egg Fulfillment Report. Over 2,300 cage-free pledges have been announced globally. Of the 1,112 companies with 2021 deadlines:
When looking at industries:
The number of companies reporting fulfillment of their cage-free egg commitments has increased significantly over the last seven years. In 2015, approximately 250 companies reported completion. In 2021, that number rose to over 1,000. Read more…  Sustainability goals and animal welfare can, at times, be at odds with each other. It is important to ensure high animal welfare without efforts to meet sustainability goals reducing animal welfare as a consequence.
A global ice cream producer is committing to regenerative agriculture to meet its sustainability goals to reduce methane gas (rather than putting masks on cows or enclosing dairy cows inside). The project will support more and better grazing strategies and give cows a high-quality forage diet. Farmers will put manure through digesters and separators to reduce emissions and create resources, such as energy and fertilizer. Read more…  Original article by Treena Hein
Increasingly, a Californian law on farm animal confinement is leading to legal battles. Because of the large pork market in the coastal state, the implications of California’s Prop 12 law extend beyond its state borders. What is the status of the developments mid-April 2022? It was back in late 2018 that voters in the US state of California approved ‘Proposition 12’ (in the business better known as Prop 12), also known as the Farm Animal Confinement Initiative. The effects of this legislation, however, were always intended to go far beyond California. It was fully implemented in January 2022.  Original article by the office of Congresswoman Nancy Mace
WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (D-TX) released the following statement upon the introduction of the Pigs in Gestation Stalls (PIGS) Act of 2022, bipartisan legislation banning the use of gestation stalls, also known as crates for housing pregnant pigs: “It’s inhumane to force animals to live in such small spaces that they are unable to stand up or turn around. It is also dangerous. Extreme stress causes pregnant pigs to engage in self-mutilating behavior, making them more susceptible to diseases, such as zoonotic disease and swine flu, that can be passed on to humans. I support this bill because it will allow pregnant pigs the space to lie down, stand up, and turn around freely, a freedom that every living creature deserves,” said Rep. Nancy Mace.  Original article by Bridget Goldschmidt
The 17th annual “Power of Meat” report from FMI – The Food Industry Association and The North American Meat Institute, reveals that almost all American households – 98.5% – buy meat, a trend backed by an increase in volume sales by 3.9% for all meat, compared with pre-pandemic levels. According to the report, this rise is attributable in part to several grocery shopper trends stemming from the pandemic, among them increased home cooking, record-high online shopping, and a shift to digital sources for recipe inspiration. “The ‘Power of Meat’ shows Americans continue to count on meat’s taste, quality, convenience and value throughout another unusual and challenging year,” noted Julie Anna Potts, president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based Meat Institute. “The Meat Institute and partners in the Protein PACT for the People, Animals and Climate of Tomorrow will continue to deliver information and innovation for the 98.5% of American households that purchase meat, continuously working to support healthy families, healthy communities, healthy animals and a healthy planet.” |
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