Commercial Poultry Newsletter OCTOBER 2018 Commercial Poultry Newsletter OCTOBER 2018

Commercial Poultry News

In This Issue:

2 - University of Maryland

Extension Releases Farm

Stress Management Online

Resources

3 - Maryland Farm Succession

Workshops

4 - ‘We Brought the Farm to

Them’ (Choice Voice)

5 - 12 Poultry Farm

Biosecurity Principles

You Should Know

8 - Think About Ag and Vote

Annie’s Project Workshops

9 - Broiler House Ventilation

During Cold Weather

10 - Poultry Farming: The

Robots Are Coming

11 - Poultry Growers

Discussion Group Meeting

12 - Many Links of

Importance Available

Upcoming

Events

Ag and Law Conference

Poultry Farm Mgmt. for

New & Existing Growers

Virulent Newcastle disease (vND) has now been confirmed in four California counties, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Ventura County joins three other California counties to have confirmed cases.

Ventura County was added to the list of counties to have birds affected by the disease, following the August 15 confirmation of vND in a flock of backyard exhibition chickens.

The Ventura County case was one of six cases of vND to be reported in California backyard flocks on August 15. Riverside County and San Bernardino County each had two confirmed cases, while Los Angeles County had one confirmed case.

To date, 106 cases of vND have been reported in the United States since the disease was first discovered in Los Angeles County on May 17. Every case so far has involved backyard exhibition chickens, although one affected flock also included other species.

A complete list of confirmed cases is available on the APHIS website.

APHIS noted that vND, which was previously known as exotic Newcastle disease, has not been found in commercial poultry in the United States since 2003.

Precautions APHIS reminds consumers that no human cases of Newcastle disease have ever occurred from eating poultry products. Properly cooked poultry products are safe to eat. In very rare instances, people working directly with sick birds can become infected. Symptoms are usually very mild and limited to conjunctivitis. Infection is easily prevented by using standard personal protective equipment.

In addition to practicing good biosecurity, all bird owners should report sick birds or unusual bird deaths to State/Federal officials, either through their state veterinarian or USDA’s toll-free number at 866.536.7593.

Virulent Newcastle Disease

Found in Fourth US County Roy Graber, WATT Global Media.

2018 Agricultural and Environmental Law Conference - November 8, 2018

The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Annapolis, MD

Poultry Farm Management for New & Existing Growers - December 14, 2018

Eldorado Brookview Fire Dept, Rhodesdale, MD

2

22 Commercial Poultry Newsletter OCTOBER 2018

COLLEGE PARK, MD ‒ The University of Maryland Extension (UME) announces the release of a new web page devoted to assisting farm families in dealing with stress management through difficult economic times.

“Farm Stress Management,” released in conjunction with National Suicide Prevention week Sept. 9-15, is a set interdisciplinary resources to help farmers navigate the numerous publications online and provide timely, science-based education and information to support prosperous farms and healthy farm families.

Farm families are feeling the stress of an inconsistent and unreliable economy - declining incomes, several years of low commodity prices, and increasing costs have all led to worsening debt issues. Farmers have been forced to parcel off their land, file for bankruptcy, and take secondary jobs off the farm to provide supplemental income.

Access to affordable and effective health insurance and care is one of the top concerns among farmers who are often self-employed. Providing health insurance, disability coverage, and planning for retirement and long-term future care have also proven problematic. In fact, in a USDA-funded study, 45 percent of farmers were concerned that they would have to sell some or all of their farm to address health-related costs.

The new web pages offer resources to manage farm stress through a variety of subject areas including financial management, legal aid, mediation, stress and health management, and crisis resources for families dealing with depression, substance abuse, mental health concerns.

Farms have a special role in American society and are critical to our national and local economies. With world populations expected to increase to a predicted 9 billion by 2050, farmers become even more crucial for feeding our communities. Healthy farms and healthy farm families promote rural community growth, environmental stewardship and cultural legacies.

The new UME online resources can be found at https://extension.umd.edu/FarmStressManagement. For more information, please contact Laura Wormuth, UME Communications Coordinator, at 301-405-6869 or lwormuth@umd.edu.

University of Maryland Extension Releases

Farm Stress Management Online Resources

3

33 Commercial Poultry Newsletter OCTOBER 2018

College Park, MD – This winter, the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics (AREC) is partnering with the Agriculture Law Education Initiative (ALEI), the University of Maryland Extension, the Maryland Department of Agriculture, and Nationwide Insurance to host a series of one-day farm succession workshops around Maryland.

As of 2017, the average age of principal farm operators in Maryland is 59, according to the USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service’s state agriculture overview, illustrating the increasing need for the farming community to understand how to pass on the farm to the next generation.

Seven winter workshops are split into two series designed around the idea that the succession process requires financial planning, communication, and a general understanding of business planning and estate planning tools.

The first series of workshops, Transferring the Farm to the Next Generation, includes five workshop dates and features speakers like Farm Management Specialist Dale Johnson, Craig Highfield with Alliance for the Bay, and Extension Legal Specialist Paul Goeringer. This series will discuss business planning techniques, attached forested land, estate planning, tax basics, and more. For more information on the Transferring the Farm to the Next Generation workshop series, or to register, click here.

The second series of workshops, Investing in your Farm’s Future, includes two workshop dates. These workshops will feature Extension Agent Jesse Ketterman, ALEI Research Associate Mayhah Suri, Professor and Department Chair Dr. Lori Lynch, and Extension Legal Specialist Paul Goeringer. This series will include discussions on the specifics of retirement planning and what individuals can do to fulfill their wishes after the succession process, communication strategies, use of conservation easements, and estate planning case studies illustrating what can happen when the process isn’t properly conducted. For more information on the Investing in your Farm’s Future workshop series, or to register, click here.

Dates and locations for both workshop series are:

Transferring the Farm to the Next Generation Workshop Series Dates and Locations:

Queen Anne’s County – Monday, November 26, 2018, 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Chesapeake College - Eastern Shore Higher Education Center 1000 College Cir, Queenstown, MD 21658 Wicomico County – Wednesday, December 12, 2018, 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Wicomico County Extension Office, 28647 Old Quantico Rd, Salisbury, MD 21801 Investing in Your Farm’s Future Workshop Series Dates and Locations

Talbot County - Wednesday, January 30, 2018, 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Chesapeake College, 1000 College Circle, Wye Mills, MD 21679 Prince George’s County – Thursday, January 31, 2019, 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Prince George’s County Soil Conservation District Office, 5301 Marlboro, Race Track Rd, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772

This material is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2015-49200-24225.

Maryland Farm Succession Workshops

4

44 Commercial Poultry Newsletter OCTOBER 2018

(Editor’s note: Jenny Rhodes is an Agriculture & Natural Resources agent with the University of Maryland Extension.)

Growing up on the farm, we didn’t travel far. It was always a summer treat to spend the day at “The Harrington Fair” (officially the Delaware State Fair) and maybe a part of the day at the beach. No, not Ocean City but Conquest Beach, which was right in our Queen Anne’s County.

I seem to travel a good bit for many of the agriculture organizations of which I am involved. My mom says, “For the daughter that never liked to leave the farm, you travel more than any of your siblings.”

I recently had the opportunity to travel to New York City with the National Chicken Council. I work with NCC as a volunteer to help educate others about what we do as farmers.

The NCC is a national, non-profit trade association with the primary purpose of advocating for the U.S. broiler chicken industry in Washington, D.C.

I participated in their Chicken Summit several years ago as a panel member. Just recently, I hosted a group of social influencers — bloggers, foodies and a registered dietitian nutritionist — on my farm. The mission of the media tour to New York was to kick off the NCC’s series of 360-degree virtual reality videos showing the various stages of chicken’s life during modern, commercial production. Nicole Rodrigues, a registered dietitian, nutritionist and fitness expert, and Tom Super, NCC spokesperson were part of media tour. Both have visited and toured my farm in person.

The new experience is part of NCC’s Chicken Check In program, which serves as a resource for consumers to get the information they seek about how most meat chickens are raised. You can follow Chicken Check In on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

The virtual reality experience was launched on July 25, on the heels of a new national survey revealing that nearly 90 percent of consumers are interested in deeper information about the chicken they buy and eat. Additionally, nearly 40 percent of consumers indicated “how chickens are cared for” as one of the top topics they care about most.

I know that people want more information about chicken production and that most have not visited a chicken farm, so through our virtual reality tours, we brought the farm to them. Viewers were able to see the way most chickens are hatched, raised and processed in the United States.

It’s a fully immersive experience. After viewing the tour through the 360-degree googles, members of the media could ask me questions about my farm.

We had a chance to meet with editors in the fields of food, film, and health from magazines such as Food Network, Redbook, Prevention, Woman’s Day, Oprah, Woman’s Health and Rachael Ray. We also made a stop to visit with the Senior Food and Beverage Editor of Nation’s Restaurant News.

‘We Brought the Farm to Them’ (Choice Voice) By Jenny Rhodes for Delmarva Farmer

5

55 Commercial Poultry Newsletter OCTOBER 2018

“We Brought the Farm to Them” Jenny Rhodes...continued

They all asked good questions and seemed excited to meet a farmer. We left a packet of information for each editor as we wanted them to have a resource if they had any questions in the future. We talked about animal welfare, nutrition, labeling, hormones, antibiotics, environment and much more.

I explained my views as a farmer and that 98 percent of farms are owned by families just like me. I told them I was very proud to be a farmer to provide safe, healthy food for consumers. Most of the editors we met with said they thought we feed our chickens hormones and steroids, so I was happy to dispel that myth!

To see all three of the virtual reality tours, visit www.chickencheck.in/blog/.

Nicole Rodriques, the dietician, lived in NYC while in college and now lives just outside of the city. With about 30 minutes of free time, she took me to Times Square and I got a short ride on the subway.

I love to educate others about what we do as farmers. This experience certainly put me out of my comfort zone, but it was a great experience. It makes me appreciate my farm heritage and remember that there is no place like home on my farm.

Penn State’s Dr. Gregory Martin offers tips on drafting a biosecurity plan and ensuring it will work during a crisis.

After witnessing the disruption caused by 2015’s avian influenza outbreak, every farmer should ask if their biosecurity plan is strong enough. The most important part of any biosecurity plan is having the right attitude, according to Dr. Gregory Martin, educator and extension specialist at Penn State University Cooperative Extension. Having all the correct precautions in place doesn't do any good if workers and managers don’t follow the rules.

Martin, who spoke at a forum on disease response at the Midwest Poultry Federation Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, laid out a basic strategy for farmers to draft their own biosecurity plan and fortify their premises. Dr. Gregory Martin, a poultry educator at Pennsylvania State University’s Cooperative Extension in

Lancaster, PA, speaks at the Midwest Poultry Federation Convention in St. Paul, MiN | Austin Alonzo

Martin said operations should focus on establishing three disease barriers on their farm: a physical barrier, keeping disease and its vectors from making contact with the animals; a chemical barrier, killing the disease whenever possible by way of sanitation; and a logical barrier, ensuring farmers establish the correct management processes to minimize disease risk.

12 Poultry Farm Biosecurity Principles

You Should Know By Austin Alonzo of WATTS News (Poultry)

6

66 Commercial Poultry Newsletter OCTOBER 2018

12 Poultry Farm Biosecurity Principles You Should Know...continued

A basic biosecurity plan Due to the avian influenza outbreak of 2015, the USDA has enacted an interim rule that farmers must have a written biosecurity plan on site in order to ensure indemnity payments will go smoothly between the flock owner and the grower.

He advised farmers from all different sizes of operations to fill out a plan, sign it, date it, and keep it on file in the event of another outbreak. Having the documentation on a farm can prove a plan was in effect even if the farm is located inside a disease control zone and is worth the time considering the possible financial implications of an outbreak.

Martin went over the 12 points of the biosecurity planning document:

1. A biosecurity coordinator on the farm identified and recorded: An employee on the farm must be declared the biosecurity plan coordinator.

2. Organized training with records of training done: Logged information showing the coordinator educated employees on biosecurity at some point.

3. Lines of separation on buildings with required sanitation: A physical or figurative line separating the “clean” production area from “dirty” exterior areas. This line means workers and materials are sani-tized before crossing the line or that workers establish a barrier, like personal protective equipment (PPE) or washing shoes, before entering a biosecure area.

4. Perimeter buffer areas defined: Defining which areas of the farm are “hot” and “cold” in terms of distance between poultry buildings in order to reduce disease transmission by people or vehicles.

5. PPE on premise for employees working on the farm: Workers must have access to PPE to protect from bringing a disease into the production area on their clothes or shoes.

6. Vector control for multiple species of pests: Having plans in place to stop insects, rodents, wild birds and even pets from entering the house.

7. Equipment control in buildings and between buildings: Making sure that, if equipment is being shared between production areas and farms, it is being properly sanitized in between uses.

8. A mortality management plan: How dead animals are handled in normal and catastrophic situations. Martin said this includes regular trips to rendering facilities and ensuring there isn’t a breakdown in biosecurity there.

9. Manure and old materials management: How old litter and manure are being managed to ensure diseases are not spread. This also applies to garbage and other farm waste.

10. Replacement / new stocking: How new birds are brought in. Is there a disinfection step in between the breeder farm and the production area?

11. Water management: Periodically testing water to make sure it is free of contaminants. Surface water sources must be monitored closely.

12. Feed and new materials management: Ensuring new litter and feed are delivered in a way that minimizes the risk of disease transmission.

Considerations for drafting the plan When farmers are drawing up a biosecurity plan, they need to think of their operation from the top down and perhaps use an aerial photo of their property to ask themselves the following questions:

Where are the lines of separation: Where are the areas where disinfection is going to occur? If a farm has more than one operation, livestock, crops, etc. on a single site, special attention must be paid to these areas.

7

77 Commercial Poultry Newsletter OCTOBER 2018

12 Poultry Farm Biosecurity Principles You Should Know...continued

Where are entry and exit points: How are people getting on and off your farm, and how can that be controlled to create a “one-way” route through the farm – ensuring personnel and equipment always arrives as clean as possible?

What special steps are you taking to reduce your risk: Martin said farmers need to think about regular visitors, like family, business contacts and delivery drivers, as potential disease vectors. Only necessary personnel should be allowed on the farm, he said, and business meetings should take place off-site. He suggested building a special drop box for mail and package delivery to ensure a delivery vehicle isn’t unwittingly bringing contaminants onto a farm. Martin said farmers in Indiana negotiated with the local electric utility to make sure meter readers weren’t bringing contaminants from farm to farm during the state’s avian influenza outbreak.

Where are the buffer zones: What’s the distance between “hot” and “cold” zones and how much distance is between them? Martin said the plume trail from the houses should be considered in this part of the plan.

Are cars getting washed before they come: Martin said farmers should make friends with the local car wash to ensure visitors are getting their cars washed in between farm visits. For farm vehicles, he said rubber floor mats should be used because they are easier to clean. He also suggested people regularly traveling between farms keep disinfectant in their vehicles. Farmers should also consider the cleanliness of their regular visitors like feed, pullet and harvest trucks.

Are your decontamination areas effective enough: Do disinfection areas really work? Martin said dry chemical footbaths are popular at many farms but they miss critical areas of the shoe, namely, everywhere but the surface that touches the ground. In an outbreak situation, wet footbaths, which cover the whole shoe in disinfectant, must be used.

How are you keeping rodents and other vermin out of the house: Are there routes for rodents and other vermin to access the production area? Martin said the grass, if there is any near the house, should be kept short to discourage rodents or totally removed. He said rocks are effective because they discourage pests and are sanitized naturally by ultraviolet light from the sun.

General sanitation principles Along with having a biosecurity plan in place, Martin said farmers should consider the following:

Is there enough room for the Danish system to work properly: Martin said the Danish system, an anteroom room separating a “clean” interior of the production area - like the chicken house - from outside, requires a good amount of space to really work. He said some farms are building specific facilities to store and change from clean and dirty footwear because systems wedged into existing structures at the farm are not large enough for the system to prevent contamination.

Can floors be washed: Martin said floors inside the chicken house must be washable or be refinished to be made washable. Regularly removing the grime from the floor through mopping, sweeping and cleaning cuts down on the “background noise” of viruses and bacteria living in the house. He recommended using linoleum in the house or resurfacing a concrete floor with a sealant or garage paint so it is easier to clean.

Do you have properly sized PPE: Protective equipment that is too big or too small simply doesn’t work, Martin said. Farmers who have visitors or require staff to wear PPE should ensure they have a variety of sizes of PPE.

Is air flow ensuring cleanliness: Martin said fans should be oriented so air from the house, with dirt and dust, is blown outside the house, or at least away from the clean areas of the house like the Danish system antechamber or the showers. Also See: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/bird-flu/bird-flu-news.php

8

88 Commercial Poultry Newsletter OCTOBER 2018

It’s that time of year again – no, not back to school time, but election time. Unless you’ve hidden in the chicken houses and ignored the outside world (wouldn’t that be nice somedays?), you can’t miss the road signs, radio commercials and television ads.

The good news – November 6 will be here before you know it. The bad news – many people will not participate in the democratic process that defines our country. As you may know, DPI spends a consid-erable amount of time, money and energy on government affairs. From attending local meetings, testi-fying in Annapolis, Dover or Richmond or working directly with elected officials, we are your voice.

But it all starts with who is elected to these positions. And that is your role. It is important for you to show up and vote. Lately, many elections have been determined by a very small margin. Even if you think you are confident of the outcome, a non-voter’s absence is felt. Your mark on the ballot could be the deciding factor.

If you are not sure who is running in your area, check out www.vote411.org and enter your state or address to find races and candidates specific to your county or district. DPI does not have a political action committee and does not support or oppose any one candidate over another.

DPI will continue to be your voice to whomever is elected so you can do what you know best – raising chickens. Please consider taking 15 minutes on Tuesday, November 6 to vote.

Southern Maryland - January 23 - April 3, 2019 (Alternate Wednesdays - total of 6 sessions) April 10 - Snow Day 6 p. m. - 9 p. m. - Dinner is Provided! This workshop will incorporate the values of Annie’s Project and focus them to those that are interested in expanding or creating new enterprises. Location: Prince George's Soil Conservation District, 5301 Marlboro Race Track Road, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772. $75.00 per person Includes meal and course materials. All questions specific to this location can be directed to: Kim Rush Lynch, 301-868-8780, kimrush@umd.edu

Think About Ag and Vote by Holly Porter, Assistant Executive Director, DPI

Annie’s Project: Southern & MidShore Maryland

MidShore Maryland - February 21 - March 28, 2019 (6 sessions, every Thursday evening) This workshop will incorporate the values of Annie’s Project and focus them to those that are interested in expanding or creating new enterprises. Chesapeake Culinary Center, 512 Franklin Street Denton, MD 6:00pm to 9:00pm $75.00 per person. Includes Dinner and All Course Materials. All questions specific to this location can be directed to: Shannon Dill, 410-822-1244, sdill@umd.edu

9

99 Commercial Poultry Newsletter OCTOBER 2018

The cold weather ventilation program in a broiler house is designed primarily for moisture removal. With the arrival of cooler weather, growers and integrators must once again address wintertime ventilation management. Ventilation during cold weather is always challenging because growers do not want to burn any more fuel than necessary, but they do want to maintain a high level of flock performance. For most growers, fuel is their greatest single expense during the year. Therefore, growers tend to reduce ventilation rates during the winter in order to conserve fuel and lower production costs. However, failure to maintain an ad-equate house environment can lead to poor air and litter quality. This can result in reduced flock performance that is detrimental to net returns. The goal is to have the lowest possible fuel cost that will still allow you to provide an environment that is best for the birds. This is accomplished by using a minimum ventilation rate: the quantity of fresh, outside air that must be moved through the broiler house to absorb and remove moisture.

Perhaps the key principle of winter ventilation is that warm air holds more water than cold air. Therefore, a controlled minimum ventilation rate uses limited quantities of cold, dry outside air like a sponge (as this air is heated once inside the broiler house) to absorb moisture within the house. Integrators generally provide their growers with guidelines on how to manage and control minimum ventilation rates.

However, it is impossible to control ventilation if the house isn’t tight. A house that cannot achieve a minimum of 0.13–0.15 inch (curtain-sided) or 0.20–0.22 inch (solid sidewall) of water column when static pressure-tested will use excessive amounts of fuel to maintain the target temperature. And in this situation, you still cannot maintain an optimum environment because of air entering in places you don’t want, such as loose-fitting curtains or cracks around footings, doors, and so forth. Sealing the house and maintaining a tight building envelope should be the first priority to proper ventilation during cold weather.

Some level of air exchange is necessary because the birds need fresh air to breathe and propane needs oxygen to burn. For example, for every gallon of propane burned, 850 cubic feet per hour of fresh air is consumed. In addition, 92,000 Btu of heat, 108 cubic feet of carbon dioxide, and 6.8 pounds (0.8 gallon) of water is produced for every gallon of propane burned. It’s this water that causes many of producers’ problems.

With small chicks and cold weather, moisture production can be significant. If you burn 300 gallons of propane the first few days with small chicks, that’s like adding 240 gallons of water to the brooding area of the broiler house (300 gallons × 0.8 gallons water per gallon propane = 240 gallons water). This moisture must be removed through ventilation. Otherwise, you set yourself up for wet litter, ammonia, respiratory issues, foot pad problems, increased pathogen challenge, and so forth.

One way to tighten up the house and gain better control of the amount and location of ventilation air that enters the house is to have solid sidewalls. Converting from curtain-sided to solid sidewall housing can dramatically reduce heat loss through conduction. For example, curtain material has an R-value of 1. However, by switching to solid sidewall construction and installing 3.5-inch fiberglass batt insulation in the wall, the R-value in the wall becomes R-11. A good rule of thumb is that when you increase the R-value of a material from R-1 to R-2, you essentially cut the heat loss through the material by half (Campbell et al., 2008). Going from R-1 to R-8 cuts the heat loss by 85 percent.

See the rest at: https://extension.umd.edu/sites/extension.umd.edu/files/_docs/programs/poultry/Broiler%

Broiler House Ventilation

During Cold Weather

By Dr. Tom Tabler, Extension Professor, Jessica Wells, Extension Instructor, and

Dr. Wei Zhai, Assistant Extension/Research Professor, Poultry Science.

10

1010 Commercial Poultry Newsletter OCTOBER 2018

Robotic technologies to be presented at the Poultry Tech Summit give a glimpse into the next revolution in poultry farming — automation that interacts with flocks, pinpoints localized problems in the house and reports everything on the cloud.

These in-house robots include two models at the Poultry Tech Summit that offer new approaches for improving poultry welfare and performance while reducing labor needs.

Colin Usher with the Georgia Tech Research Institute will share details of a poultry house robot that operates on the floor of the house and navigates using imaging sensors and can detect and pick up floor eggs.

Heiner Lehr with Farm Robotics and Automation SL will present a poultry house robot that is suspended from the ceiling of the house and has sensors for monitoring both bird and house conditions.

Gohbot navigates with AI and sensors. Gohbot is an automated mobile robot capable of navigating intelligently in a commer-cial poultry house to interact with the birds and carry out utility tasks such as the automatic removal of floor eggs. It uses artifi-cial intelligence routines and a suite of sensors, including 2D and 3D imagers, in combination with infrastructure to navigate inside commercial chicken houses. AI routines allow for characterizing chickens, equipment and locating eggs on the floor.

“We envision a robot that ‘lives’ in the poultry housing facilities and works around the clock both evaluating the status of the flocks and removing floor eggs and/or mortality,” said the developers at GTRI.

ChickenBoy makes data accessible. The ceiling-mounted ChickenBoy autonomous robot runs on simple rails through the chicken house to monitor management issues, including the detection of health issues, localization of dead birds, detection of bedding problems and measurement of ambient conditions. Users access dashboards with this information through a cloud-based platform:

Farmers use the information to improve animal welfare and productivity.

Vertically integrated companies are able to better monitor growing conditions.

Veterinarians and consultants improve their services with more and faster data from farms.

Researchers and product developers access data to test and develop new sensors and algorithms in third-party extension modules. The company is working to develop the mechanical removal of dead birds.

“Robotics for poultry farms is really new. There are no significant numbers of farms using robots today. We are talking about a total of perhaps 20 to 30 farms,” said Lehr. Usher said, “There are very few current robot systems in this field, simply due to the technology being so new and in some cases too expensive for farmers to purchase.”

Lehr and Usher both foresee rapid and significant adoption of in-house robotics over the next seven years.

“By 2025, we envision quite a different picture, Lehr said. “We estimate that at least the top 20 to 30% of farms will be oper-ating with robots. If the trend of vertical integration further increases, then that number might easily be higher.”

Usher thinks the adoption of on-farm robotics could be more rapid if larger poultry integrators get on board. “We think that by 2025, the majority of the forward thinking smaller producers will adopt the technology, leading to around 20 to 25% of farms utilizing a robot. If the larger vertically integrated companies mandate the use of robots, this number could jump to between 50 and 75% of all poultry farms,” he said.

Lehr predicted that in the future robots on farm will perform diverse tasks:

Observe chickens and provide advice to farmers for best rearing

Determine most or all of the key performance indicators on the farm

Collect stray eggs and dead birds and perhaps even bring severely ill birds to a hospital area on the farm

Contribute to intelligent, individualized and fully automatic management of climate, water and feed Usher said there has been strong interest in the robots' capabilities from all corners of the poultry farming industry. “It is our opinion,” he said, “that the cage-free layer and breeder houses will be first to adopt the technology due to benefits a robot can bring such as automated floor-egg removal. Broiler production houses may be later to adopt the technology.”

“I believe that after 10 to 20 years perhaps close to 90% of the farming industry will utilize robotics,” Usher predicted. Why not sooner? “I think the technology is very new and still has to be introduced and proven to gain traction in the industry.”

Poultry Farming: The Robots Are Coming By Gary Thornton, WATTS

11

1111 Commercial Poultry Newsletter OCTOBER 2018

Below are photos of specific signs of highly-contagious illnesses in poultry, including avian influenza and virulent Newcastle disease. For a full list of potential signs of illness click here.

If you see these signs of illness in your birds, report them immediately to USDA APHIS at 1–866–536–7593. You can also contact your local cooperative extension office, local veterinarian or your State Veterinarian.

Purple discoloration of comb and Swelling and purple discoloration of Open mouth breathing with moderate

waddles. waddle and eyelids. swelling of the comb and waddle.

Purple discoloration and swelling of legs. Swelling of eyelid and around the eye; Purple discoloration, congestion and

purple discoloration of the comb and swelling of the comb and waddle; swell-

waddle. ing around the eyes; ruffled feathers

Disease Challenges, Ventilation

The University of Maryland Extension, University of Delaware Cooperative Extension, and Delmarva Poultry, Inc. (DPI), presented two speakers at a meeting for Delmarva poultry farmers focusing on disease challenges, ventilation, and how to reduce power costs on October 9 in Denton, MD. Dr. Dan Bautista of the University of Delaware addressed Current Disease Challenges, and Michael Czarick of the University of Georgia spoke on Improving Tunnel Ventilation Fan Energy Efficiency . Presentations can be seen on UME Commercial Poultry website under the Discussion Group Meeting Notes tab: https://extension.umd.edu/poultry/discussion-group-meeting-notes

Poultry Growers Discussion Group Meeting

Tuesday, October 9, Denton, Maryland

12

1212 Commercial Poultry Newsletter OCTOBER 2018

Here are a few :

(right click on mouse with cursor over the title, on the bottom of drop-down menu choose “Open hyperlink”

and choose ‘OK’)

Common Poultry Diseases and Their Prevention - Dr. Tablante

Fact Sheet on Negligence and Avian Flu

Natural Disaster Preparedness for Poultry Producers

Publications - Commercial Poultry

Video: Preventing Outbreaks of Avian Influenza Through Science-Based Education of:

Commercial Poultry Farmers

Our EVENTS PAGE: https://extension.umd.edu/view/events/395/poultry/list Poultry Farm Management for New & Existing Growers Meeting - December 14, 2018 https://poultry-farm-management.eventbrite.com

Many Links of Importance Available on

University of Maryland’s Commercial Poultry Site https://extension.umd.edu/poultry/publications/publications-commercial