efficient production system dominates worldwide. The hous- ing of layers is criticised in some parts of the world for animal welfare reasons. In terms of sustainability, animal welfare is just one aspect to be considered. Social aspects, as well as en- vironmental and economic factors need to be included as well.” Based on several indicators to quantify sustainability, a comparison was made for cage, barn, free range and organic egg production. Cage production had the highest score for the environmental dimension, whereas free-range produc- tion gave the highest score for the social dimension. For the economic dimension enriched cages had the highest sustain- ability score against a 20% higher cost level for free-range systems. According to Van Horne we cannot go all-in on wel- fare alone. There needs to be a balance as we already see people moving away from expensive chicken now that food prices are rising so sharply.”
Environmental impact As Van Horne already mentioned, poultry meat accounts for most of the growth in meat production, particularly in low and middle income countries. Ermias Kebreab of the depart- ment of Animal Science at the University of California knows that as the demand for poultry products grow substantially, even more pressure will be put on the environment. Kebreab looked at poultry production in intensive systems and mitiga- tion options to reduce its impact on the environment. He investigated the environmental impact of using synthetic amino acids in poultry production through a life-cycle assess- ment in four impact categories, including global warming
potential, eutrophication potential, acidification potential and primary energy demand. Ammonia emissions to air, and nitrate and phosphate emissions to water were the predomi- nant drivers for eutrophication. Most interestingly, Kebreab reported that the eutrophication potential of synthetic AA unsupplemented diets was reduced by up to 49% in broiler production systems compared to AA supplemented alterna- tives. Together with reducing protein levels, poultry produc- tion can indeed make major strides towards becoming more sustainable.
Welfare commitments Committing to sustainability schemes and welfare pro- grammes is not something that poultry producers shy away from. That said, Karen Schwean-Lardner and Anne-Marie Neeteson did advocate for a comprehensive list of out- come-based key welfare indicators (KWIs) with standardised measurement instructions that could be used for different poultry species and at different production stages. They are involved in a multi-stakeholder initiative, a new resource created by the International Poultry Welfare Alliance, the IPWA KWI Guide. This guide is being released to the public to support improvements in poultry welfare and create an opportunity for consistency in the way that poultry welfare is assessed globally. Their message is very clear: “Welfare is overwhelming many of us but it is essential we continue to improve on our welfare KWIs. However, we need KWIs to be able to distinguish between perceived welfare and animal-based welfare.”
▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 6, 2022 33
Projections for 2028 show a further increase in eggs and poultry meat by about 3.5% year-on-year.
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