Research impact
CEO Commentary by Mike McMorris
I had the pleasure of speaking at the recent Research Impacts Day hosted by Poultry Industry Council. A great crowd, with a good representation of many industry sectors, heard presentations on promising research underway. The theme was gut health and it is clear that we are still at a stage of learning what we don’t know.
Speakers dealt with the impact of gut health on performance, anticoccidial programs, the prospect of using cranberry or blueberry pomace to improve health, phytogenic products to complement the impact of vaccines, customized bacteriophages that target specific health concerns, feeding omega-3 fatty acids to breeder stock to improve health of offspring, and “barn-born”, a production system that brings the hatchery right into the barn.
These projects are at different stages of inquiry and development. To have an impact at the farm level, they must meet an industry challenge or opportunity which they all do.
There needs to be a real team effort for the research to get into practice on farms. The team includes researchers, regulators, industry service providers (e.g. veterinarians), and producers. If you are interested in poultry production, I encourage you to check it out for yourself on the PIC website.
