Project
Improve sustainability of the broiler sector in the US state Georgia through NL innovations
The USA is the number one producer of poultry meat in the world and the second largest exporter of poultry meat. Within the USA Georgia takes the 1st place in broiler production. For this reason we focus on broiler production in Georgia in this project. Agriculture is Georgia’s largest sector, and within agriculture the poultry sector is the most important sector. In total poultry meat and eggs contributed in 2019 $23 billion to the Georgia economy, and offered 88.010 jobs. The vast majority of the poultry sector in Georgia consist of broiler production (grower and integrator), namely 93%.
This project is a follow-up of the Poultry Roundtable on “Opportunities to Shape the Future of the Poultry Sector” organized by the Netherlands Embassy in Washington DC, the Consulate General in Atlanta and the Poultry Expertise Centre (PEC). Given the local challenges and opportunities in the US Poultry sector, there was consensus amongst the participants of the Roundtable on the necessity of collective action to further push the sustainability ambition of the US poultry sector.
Georgia broiler farmers can move away from their more traditional way of farming and improve sustainability. The Dutch poultry industry already has a lot of experience in the field of animal welfare, environmental protection and energy savings. Many Dutch companies working in the broiler industry already developed new innovative, future-oriented techniques to make broiler production more animal friendly, improve animal health and reduce energy input. Because in the USA consumer demand will also be more focused in the future on a more sustainable production, knowledge exchange with Dutch companies can help broiler companies in Georgia to anticipate in advance on this development.