Making lists of the most significant events of the year and decade is very popular right now, so I decided to prepare my own list of the most significant events and tecnologies of the last decade: the 2000's.
This is a poultry industry perspective, with particular emphasis on Latin America (which explains many of my choices). (There are 11 items because I'd left a very important issue - ethanol - out of my original list)
1) H5N1 Bird Flu: The outbreak that started in late 2003 and early 2004 in 10 Asian countries has yet to leave us. It caused human mortality, poultry mortality, created quite a panic, and negatively impacted poultry exports.
2) Economic Crises: The decade of the 2000's began and ended with major economic crises across the world. Plus there were some rough years in-between. These certainly affected the poultry industry.
3) Ethanol: The food versus fuel debate raged full scale, as the fuel side won in the US, raising corn and soybean prices to record setting levels, and reducing the amount of feed ingredients available to animal agriculture. This also introduced a 'new' feed ingredient, DDGS, into regular use in poultry and pig diets.
4) Single Stage Incubation Systems: The worldwide poultry industry has accepted this technology as the new standard for the industry, because it allows for more control of the incubation process.
5) Early Chick Nutrition: Poultry nutrition received top priority in the industry, and among the very many innovations and improvements, I think the most notable one was the emphasis on nutrition during the first week of a chick's life.
6) Brazilian Power Shift: Perdigao surpassed its arch-rival Sadia to become the #1 poultry and pig producer in late 2007; in 2009 Perdigao and Sadia merged to create mega food processor Brasil Foods. Brazil's JBS buys the US's Pilgrim's Pride, rescuing that company from bankruptcy. Marfrig starts buying Brazilian and European poultry companies and is now the #2 Brazilian poultry producer.
7) Tunnel Ventilation Systems: Certainly not a new technology, but during the decade, tunnel ventilated houses have become the industry standard for both broilers and layers in Latin America.
8) Brazilian Poultry Exports: In 2004 Brazil surpassed the US as the world's top chicken exporter and has held that title for six years running.
9) Emphasis on Biosecurity: A very positive change, from my perspective, is the much greater emphasis on biosecurity, seeing that it is cheaper to prevent disease than to cure it.
10) H1N1 Pandemic Flu: Erroneously blamed on Mexican pigs (and pigs in general), this one did become a pandemic, causing sickness and death in humans across the world, greatly damaging pork consumption and exports across the world and was transmitted from people to pigs and turkeys.
11) Animal Rights: Although not yet an issue in Latin America, it is enormously important in Europe and the US, particularly in the layer sector. California voted to ban layer cages, and the European Union's banning of traditional layer cage systems takes place in 2012.
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