Economic News Surrounding Turkey Day. Plus, Bonus Graphic Showing Which States Produce the Most Turkey

source: usda
Turkey producers are struggling, even going out of business due to current high feed prices. See Bloomberg's Turkey Farmers Lose Out on Thanksgiving Rally as Corn Costs Rise. (70% of the cost of turkey is grain.) And see my blog post from two months ago: In My Backyard: Longmont, Colorado Turkey Processing Plant is Closing Citing Ethanol Subsidies and High Fuel Costs.

Grocers are in the midst of turkey price wars so as to entice shoppers into the store. See FT's ‘Turkey war’ engages US grocers.

The U.S. shopper is reducing spending on food this holiday. See USA Today's Tough economy means another scaled-back Thanksgiving.

The U.S. food banks are really struggling this holiday season. Donations are down and needs are higher. One Chicago Food Bank has stopped offering turkeys this season so that the savings can provide for needs down the road. See the Chicago Tribune's Overburdened food pantry drops Thanksgiving turkey dinners - Cutting holiday dishes will save $20,000 charity can use the rest of the year.
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• The U.S. turkey industry produces over one-quarter of a billion birds annually, with the live weight of each bird averaging over 25 pounds.
• Production of turkeys is somewhat more scattered geographically than broiler production.
• In terms of cash receipts, the top five turkey-producing States in 2010 were Minnesota, North Carolina, Missouri, Indiana, and Arkansas.
• The United States is by far the world's largest turkey producer, followed by the European Union. Even though exports are a major component of U.S. turkey use, the United States consumes more turkey per capita than any other country.

source: usda

Lester Brown on Global Meat Consumption Trends

Note that the following article, "Rising Meat Consumption Takes Big Bite out of Grain Harvest" is by Lester Brown from Earth Policy Institute. Note that his 2011 book, World on the Edge may be downloaded free of charge here.

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photo: flickr CC via The World Fish Center
Aquaculture, China. Photo by Hong Meen Chee, 2007
World consumption of animal protein is everywhere on the rise. Meat consumption increased from 44 million tons in 1950 to 284 million tons in 2009, more than doubling annual consumption per person to over 90 pounds. The rise in consumption of milk and eggs is equally dramatic. Wherever incomes rise, so does meat consumption.

As the oceanic fish catch and rangeland beef production have both leveled off, the world has shifted to grain-based production of animal protein to expand output. With some 35 percent of the world grain harvest (760 million tons) used to produce animal protein, meat consumption has a large impact on grain consumption, and therefore global food security.


The efficiency with which various animals convert grain into protein varies widely. Grain-fed beef is one of the least efficient forms of animal protein, taking roughly 7 pounds of grain to produce a 1-pound gain in live weight. Global beef production, most of which comes from rangelands, has grown by about 1 percent a year since 1990.


Pork production has grown by 2 percent annually since 1990. World pork production, half of it now in China, overtook beef production in 1979 and has widened the lead since then. It requires over 3 pounds of grain to produce each 1-pound gain in live weight.


Poultry production has grown even more quickly: 4 percent annually in recent decades. It eclipsed beef in 1995, moving into second place behind pork. Poultry is even more efficient, requiring just over 2 pounds of grain to produce a 1-pound gain in live weight.


Fish farm output may also soon overtake beef production. In fact, aquaculture has been the fastest-growing source of animal protein since 1990, expanding from 13 million tons to 56 million tons in 2009, or 8 percent a year. For herbivorous species of farmed fish (such as carp, tilapia, and catfish), less than 2 pounds of grain is required to produce a 1-pound gain of live weight. Although farming carnivorous fish such as salmon can be environmentally disruptive, worldwide aquaculture is dominated by herbivorous species. This represents great growth potential for efficient animal protein production.


There are a number of ways to make animal protein production more efficient. Combining protein-rich soybean meal with grain dramatically boosts the efficiency with which grain is converted into animal protein, sometimes nearly doubling it. Virtually the entire world, including the three largest meat producers—China, the United States, and Brazil—now relies heavily on soybean meal as a protein supplement in feed rations. Promising new livestock and dairy systems based on roughage rather than grain, such as India’s cooperative dairy model, boost both land and water productivity.

Achieving food security depends on changes on the demand side of the equation as well as the supply side. Along with moving to smaller families to curb population growth, this means cutting individual consumption by eating less grain-intensive livestock products and eliminating waste in the food system. An American living high on the food chain with a diet heavy in grain-intensive livestock products, including red meat, consumes twice as much grain as the average Italian and nearly four times as much as the average Indian. By adopting a Mediterranean diet, Americans can cut their grain footprint roughly in half, improving health while increasing global food security.

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This data highlight is adapted from World on the Edge by Lester R. Brown. For more data and discussion, see the full book at www.earth-policy.org.

Everything Old is New Again: Sod-Based Rotational Farming Method for Crops and Livestock

This article by Madeline Fisher for Crops & Soils magazine and the American Society of Agronomy is titled, "Sod-based rotations - New system could increase profits, reduce risk, and conserve resources" and describes an old-school farming method which needs to be revisited in this era of high-input agricultural costs since it can decrease a farmer's exposure to risk while improving soil quality. The article also includes a section on a Rodale Institute study grazing dairy cows while using the sod rotation method.

Here are a few key quotes related to profitability to pique your interest:

• His economic calculations also suggest sod rotation can boost farm profitability two- to seven-fold.
• “We’re thinking that [this rotation] is the only thing that will, on a large landscape, substantially reduce water use by agriculture,”— up to 30%, he estimates.
• What it shows is that net profits after four years can be two to seven times higher with sod rotation and cattle than in a conventional system.
• When cattle graze on winter cover crops sown after peanuts in sod rotation, the researchers have also seen yield increases of 25 to 30% in subsequent cotton crops.

From what I understand the interest is strong from farmers wanting to lower input costs while increasing yields these days. More and more, it is realized that this goal can be achieved through organic techniques which improve soil as an added bonus.

Anyone interested in rotational crop and animal grazing will also love this article.

Because the entire article quality is so high, instead of excerpting, I am introducing it here and you can go to the source to read the rest. A special thanks to James Giese, Director of Science Communications for ASA, CSSA, and SSSA, for pointing me towards it.--K.M.
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Sod-based rotations have shown promise in research at the University of Florida and elsewhere in increasing profits, reducing risk, conserving water, and building the soil. Unlike annual cover crops, which have most of their biomass above-ground, sod-based rotations incorporate a perennial grass into the rotation, with most of its biomass underground. And unlike pastures, the perennial grasses are rotated into the same fields that are used for row crops. This can have a big effect on soil quality characteristics and ultimately a producer’s bottom line.
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Across Florida’s Suwannee County, brothers Ryan and Reed Moore are known for being early adopters of best management practices. They perform nutrient management planning and retrofitted the irrigation system for their 1,200-acre cattle and peanut farm with the latest water-saving features. Their use of “cutting-edge” techniques even earned them Conservation Farmer of the Year honors from the county’s conservation district in 2009.

Yet one of their most important practices isn’t new at all. When their grandfather, R.F. Moore, started his 40-acre livestock and tobacco operation in the 1920s, he established a rotation that involved planting a perennial grass for five or six years, sowing tobacco or peanuts into the same fields for two more, and then going back to sod. Nothing knocked down nematodes or built up soil organic matter quite like it, Ryan Moore explains, plus peanuts, corn, and tobacco “all love to follow grass.”

He and his brother have been keeping up their grandfather’s practice ever since taking over the farm in the late 1970s. “He always believed strongly in this rotation,” Moore says. Another firm believer in sod rotation is University of Florida’s David Wright, who for the past 12 years has been documenting scientifically what the Moores understand intuitively about its benefits. An agronomy professor and extension specialist with the North Florida Research and Education Center, Wright has recorded bumps in peanut yields of 25 to 40% after just two years of sod. He has seen 30 to 40% increases in the total root mass of cotton and peanuts and dramatic drops in nematodes.

His economic calculations also suggest sod rotation can boost farm profitability two- to seven-fold.

In addition to Wright’s work in Florida, those data have now sparked research and demonstration projects in Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and even as far away as Columbia, South America. Still, while Wright believes the rotation can help growers most anywhere, his focus remains on those in the Southeast, particularly young people trying to enter agriculture for the first time. Sod rotation reduces the considerable risk southern farmers face from extreme weather (droughts to hurricanes) and the region’s droughty, compacted, and infertile soils, he contends. Many growers are also just breaking even, meaning that even small increases in yields can produce significant net returns.

Add in the rotation’s capacity to reduce irrigation needs and build the soil, and it’s able to meet agriculture’s three most fundamental goals: profitability, risk management, and natural resource conservation. Read the rest [pdf].