Just before the year end break, I tuned in for the European Commission's AgriculturalOutlook 2020 virtual conference. No surprises on the animal production horizon:Poultry meat remains hot in Europe. It will be the fastest growing business for the next decade, way ahead of dairy cows and pig meat. Poultry shows a growth rate of >40% compared to 2005. Europeans seem to prefer poultry meat over other animals and in parallel export is also rising. The EU consumption per head will increase with 2 kg over ten years, up to 25 kg in total. Export will also rise 6% to 2,5 million tons by 2030. So, we won’t chicken out in the next years (sorry, little barn joke).

Animal welfare will be as important as production numbers going up. Consumer’s opinion about animal life at the farm will gain momentum in the upcoming decade. People no longer accept meat from livestock which suffered during their life cycle or were raised in poor housing conditions. It’s no different for broilers and layers, all chicken and egg jokes aside. We share the same animal rights as our friends, the pigs, sheep, goats and cows. It’s only fair to ask for respect anddignity as we play our role in the food chain.

For that matter, Prolucent filed a new research project at the end of 2020. It will connect dynamic led lighting with welfare improvement. There’s no way around it. Intelligent led lighting will become a part of the barn management optimisation tools witha significant impact on lowering mortality rates and prolonging life cycles. Today, Prolucent led lighting is already indispensable for modern barn activity. It’s a no brainer… That reminds me of Jessica Simpson’s quote: Is this chicken, what I have, or is this fish? I know it's tuna, but it says… 'Chicken of theSea’. A no brainer indeed but I tell you, chicky Lucy is NO chicken of the sea. I’m streetwise (sorry, little barn joke).

Bye y’all.

Lucy

Lucy’s paw writing was edited by Peter Rakers –peter@prolucent.lighting

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