Poultry breeders have ‘compelling’ sustainability story

If people truly understood the science behind modern poultry genetics, there would be little justification for the movement toward slower-growing broiler breeds, a University of California-Davis (UCD) extension specialist said. Speaking at the 2018 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit on May 3, Alison van Eenennaam, PhD, UCD Cooperative Extension Specialist, animal genomics and biotechnology, said that animal breeders, including poultry breeders “have possibly the most compelling sustainability story of all time.”But opponents of modern animal agriculture have painted a negative picture of the broiler breeds used in the industry today, advocating for a move to slower-growing broilers, similar to those that were used in the industry in the 1950s. Those people are ignoring the science, she said.