The poultry industry will need to become more intensive to make the best use of scarce energy resources, according to a new report.
The report, which has been produced by Mike Tyers, a renewable energy consultant with Countrywide Farmers, is the latest piece of work to be funded through the Temperton Fellowship, which is run by Harper Adams Agricultural College. Mike Tyers was awarded funding to look into the implications for egg and broiler production of dwindling conventional energy supplies, and the report sets out his view of the way ahead for the poultry sector. His stated belief is that “society will have to learn to live with ever more intensive means of production.”
The report, entitled ‘The challenge for the poultry sector in meeting the demand for protein when energy is limited’, was presented at the Farmers’ Club in London. Speaking at the event, Mike Tyers said he was pleased to have been given the opportunity through the fellowship to investigate the subject. He said there was “no doubt that the availability of energy is the determinant of the future.”
In his report, he says, “The world faces some very substantial challenges as populations expand, resources become depleted and demands on energy change.” He says that oil stocks are depleting at the rate of six per cent each year based on current estimates of reserves. Current known stocks of oil could run out in 20 to 25 years, he says, and in the United Kingdom, where several outdated power stations are being decommissioned and new plants are being delayed, he warns of electricity shortages as early as 2015.
At the same time as energy sources are coming under pressure, demands on food production will continue to increase, he says. The population of the world is expected to increase from its current seven billion to nine billion by 2042 and 10 billion by 2100. “Not only do we find ourselves facing the daunting prospect of having to feed an extra two billion people within the next 30 years, but the individual demands of many of these new inhabitants on the earth are likely to be substantially different to their predecessors,” he says. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute, he says, nine billion people will consume enough food for 12 billion people. Individuals will also eat more protein, sugars and processed foods, putting more demands on energy.
“Our ability to produce food has become so dependent on input of energy that energy has become the commodity of necessity rather than the food itself,” says Mike. And he says that energy demands are unlikely to ease. “In an increasingly mechanised world, and with a global economy, we have created ever increasing demands for energy to power our industries, transport and homes,” he says. “Energy demand has risen at just over two per cent per year for the past 25 years and has risen globally by over 90 per cent since 1971. There is no expectation that this rate of increase will slow. Despite growth rates slowing in the more mature industrialised countries, demand in emerging economies may well exceed three per cent,” says Mike in his report.
He says that the poultry sector is already recognised as one of the most efficient livestock sectors in terms of converting vegetable matter into meat protein and has the greatest potential to “rise to the challenge” but says that this is “provided there is an acceptance of the methods of production.” He says, “The industry will need to demonstrate how it can deliver protein from increasingly intensive production systems while maintaining public confidence in standards of animal welfare and food quality. There is, of course, no direct correlation between intensive systems and poor welfare and it is largely a matter of perception but direct policies such as slow growing strains and reduced stocking densities are unlikely to be justifiable,” he says in his conclusions.
He says that intensification has been used since the start of agriculture to improve efficiency, but he says that today general ignorance of the methods and means by which chicken or eggs are delivered to the customer’s plate make it very difficult for the industry to overcome negative perceptions of welfare or environmental impact. “We know that animal welfare need not be sacrificed in favour of efficiency. Extensive systems that purport to display higher welfare credentials often can expose the livestock to greater or different welfare issues.”
He says that “society will have to learn to live with ever more intensive means of production” and believes that the industry will need to “work with the public in demonstrating that it can deliver its product ethically and environmentally and, especially in the case of poultry, demonstrate that the industry is already the most efficient means of producing meat protein and is constantly improving.”
Mike Tyers points to genetic selection and breeding as way of improving efficiency – something that the industry has already used to deliver enormous improvements, and he says the poultry sector has to exploit all techniques available, including GM, novel feed and health products that could “unlock potential” as long as there is no risk to human or animal health.
He also raises the prospect of integration. “Technology may allow production and or processing to be incorporated alongside other agriculture and industrial sectors which could share resources. The traditional division of operations such as hatcheries, production sites and processing could become even more integrated providing issues such as biosecurity can be overcome.”
The report presented by Mike Tyers is the 21st to be produced as a result of the Temperton Fellowship, which was established to commemorate the contribution of Dr Harold Temperton, director of the National Institute of Poultry Husbandry at Harper Adams University from 1951 -1974. The fellowship is financed by the accrued annual interest from the Temperton Trust investments, which are derived from contributions and donations, as well as proceeds from sales of the book, the History of the National Institute of Poultry Husbandry by ME Telford, PH Holroyd and RG Wells, which was published by Harper Adams University in September 1986.
Following Mark Tyers’ presentation, Temperton Fellowship chairman, Peel Holroyd, revealed that the 22nd Temperton Fellowship would be awarded to Nick Major, sales and marketing director of BOCM Pauls Ltd. He will study global feed sources and supply and his report is due to be presented on June 9 next year.
