New approaches to the further development of turkey husbandry
More consumer information required - check new model for stocking density
In its last meeting [February 12, 02], the Initiative for a Sustainable German Turkey Economy decided on concrete steps to further develop the standards of German turkey meat production, which are already high by EU standards. The top representatives of the participating organizations from politics, science, animal protection, consumer protection, trade and agriculture spoke out in favor of continuing the work with the principle "duty before haste" in the further development of animal protection requirements. They also see an urgent need to improve consumer information in order to break down the obvious misconceptions about modern turkey husbandry and product safety.New approaches for improved animal welfare
The initiative hopes that new findings will improve animal welfare. The experts see possible approaches in a new model for determining the stocking density in conventional floor housing for turkeys: the stocking density describes the number of turkeys per square meter. So far, the number of animals has been limited to a maximum value. This enables the animals to continue their species-typical behavior at the end of the rearing period. In the future, a flexible model could replace the rigid upper limits and take into account the entire management of the respective farm - linked to criteria such as the quality of husbandry, care and supervision of the animals through to the expertise of the owner. If, in practice, certain tolerance values are exceeded or not reached, the permissible stocking density would be reduced or increased accordingly. However, the development of such a model is considered to be difficult.
The initiative wants to give greater consideration to the aspects of movement, light and the establishment of so-called outdoor climate areas for the animals in further consultation. The focus is on animal health.
In many areas, there is a lack of specific data for assessing the environmental impact of modern turkey husbandry. It is also important to reconcile environmental protection requirements with other goals of sustainable turkey meat production.
Turkey initiative as a pioneering model
In Germany, since 1999, uniform federal benchmarks for keeping turkeys have regulated numerous animal welfare regulations. In the opinion of the initiative, these key figures have proven their worth in practice. They showed that through continuous cooperation between animal keepers, animal welfare organizations, scientists and authorities, concrete guidelines for animal-friendly turkey husbandry can be implemented even without legal provisions.
professor dr Dietmar Flock, chairman of the initiative, sees the comprehensive view of the industry as a forward-looking model for livestock farming. "In December 2003, the Bundestag Committee for Consumer Protection, Nutrition and Agriculture emphasized that the manufacturers of foods of animal origin had to develop suitable husbandry requirements together with retailers and animal welfare organizations in order to avoid relocating production to countries with lower standards. That's exactly what - for turkey meat production - an important goal of the initiative," says Flock.
The Sustainable German Turkey Industry Initiative was launched in January 2002 by the Association of German Turkey Producers. The aim of the initiative is to secure the long-term marketing of turkey meat from German production while giving equal consideration to animal, consumer and environmental protection. In addition to the Federal Ministry for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture, the initiative also includes the agriculture ministries of Baden-Württemberg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony-Anhalt, as well as animal protection and consumer protection organisations, various research institutes, trade and agricultural associations.
Source: Bonn [ vdp ]
