Polyface Case Study
Essay by Anurag Khandelwal • June 14, 2017 • Case Study • 1,777 Words (8 Pages) • 1,435 Views
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Question 1
Reflect on the differences between Polyface and the industrial mode of food production. How would you characterize the key differences between the two?
The industrial food production focused on specialization and productivity maximization by narrowing their scope to single product operation. Animals were bred so that individual animals were of nearly same size and proportion which allowed for quick automated processing. Breeding techniques also focused on maximizing breast meat which consumers preferred.
Polyface has much larger varieties of product and lower volumes. Polyface approach to production recognized animals’ inclinations and took advantage of their physiological distinctiveness. Management intensive grazing systems, all natural composting and mineralization techniques were key focus areas of the operation. Customers are increasingly willing to pay more for local and pastured foods.
Beef | |||
S. No. |
| Industry | Polyface |
1 | Weight of calf | 600 lbs | 450 lbs |
2 | Final weight of cow | 900 lbs | 1050 lbs |
3 | Time given to mature | 6 months | 10 months |
4 | Feed | CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation): 75% corn, 25% hay, grasses, grains, soybeans, by-products; Corn is not their natural food; increases acidity in their digestive systems thereby promoting growth of pathogens like E. coli | fresh, unsoiled grass growing in paddocks; ate 16 inch grasses till they became 4 inches; well managed grazing system sized paddocks based on herd composition, forage quality & cow days per acre |
5 | Excrement management | Summers: Allowed soil to absorb excrement directly in appropriate amount Winters: allowed barn floor (made of wood chips) to absorb the excrement; got it aerated and mixed by pigs thereby turning a potential pollutant into a nutrient rich fertilizer | Throughout the year: Cows stood either in proximity to or in their own excrement in the arrays of pens with thousands of other cattle; tractor operated manure scrapers removed excrement after regular intervals to dump into large manure lagoons |
6 | Weight gain rate | 1.5 lbs/day | 3 lbs/day |
Chicken | |||
S. No. | Parameter | Industry | Polyface |
1 | Supply chain | Vertically integrated supply chain with control of nearly all the steps between egg and consumer - breeding, hatching, growing, processing and retailing. Dominated by few major chicken producers. | Growing, processing (max 20000 birds per year as a result of Wholsome Poultry Act of 1968), selling directly to customers. Purchase chicks from hatcheries. |
2 | Feed | A mixture of corn and animal renderings to mimick the bird's diet in the wild. Some companies also added supplements such as arsentic to promote poultry growth. | Grass. Broilers moved everyday to ensure that they ate grass at optimal growth stage (4 inches). To supplement the grass diet, chickens were fed a mixture of non-genetically modified grains. |
3 | Growing mechanism | The growing houses could house approximately 27000 chickens with average size of 20000 square feet. Mechanical devices like augers and large fans were installed to keep air circulation and steady stream of feed and water. | 14000 broiler chicks were incubated in brooders for 2 to 3 weeks post which birds were brought to pasture for 5 to 6 weeks and housed in open air pens measuring 12x10x2 feet. Each pen contained 80-90 birds to get to desired weight gain. |
4 | Growing capacity | 1 pound of chicken meat/1.6 pounds of feed | 500 birds/acre |
5 | Processing rate | 90-30 chickens/minute | 50 chickens/hour |
6 | Inedible parts | Inedible parts were sent to rendering facilities, where they were ground up into animal feed and waste was either treated and discharged into sewer system or removed by a waste mangement service. | inedible parts were composted for use as fertilizer. |
7 | Threat and prevention of diseases | Chickens were not encouraged to leave the house for fear that they would contract diseases and as a result of living in such close quarters quickly contaminate the entire flock. New born chickens were often injected with antibiotics and other medications. | No specific measure mentioned |
Eggs | |||
S. No. | Parameter | Industry | Polyface |
1 | Avg no. of eggs produced by 1 hen | 250 | 420 |
2 | Henhouses | (1) spread across 22,000 sq ft | (1)Two pairs of "eggmobiles" that followed the cows from paddock to paddock with a lag of 3 days |
(2) tiers of wire cages (similar to filing cabinets) carried 5-8 birds each | (2) cohabitated with rabbits during winters in raken houses | ||
3 | Natural behaviour of hens | Highly restricted due to space constraints; hens became aggressive; had to be debeaked to prevent them from feather pecking and cannibalization | allowed to roam; instinctual scratching motion used to incorporate cow & chicken droppings into the soil; hens also being used to debug cow droppings thus preventing infections to reach cattle |
4 | Excrement management | Summers: Allowed soil to absorb excrement directly in appropriate amount Winters: allowed barn floor (made of wood chips) to absorb the excrement; got it aerated and mixed by pigs thereby turning a potential pollutant into a nutrient rich fertilizer | Throughout the year: Cows stood either in proximity to or in their own excrement in the arrays of pens with thousands of other cattle; tractor operated manure scrapers removed excrement after regular intervals to dump into large manure lagoons |
5 | Weight gain rate | 1.5 lbs/day | 3 lbs/day |
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