Issue No. 35
1. Ostrich Benchmark Performance Targets
2. Meat Muscle Sizes
3. Skins and Meat
4. Pricing Meat
5. The Role of the WOA Supporting Meat Marketing and Pricing
6. WOA Logo - Usage by Members.
7. Contributions
1. Ostrich Benchmark Performance Targets
The January newsletter, Newsletter No. 34, set out a number of measurable criteria against which to set benchmark performance targets. We have now added the figures and they will be posted as a supplement to this newsletter. The figures will also be posted on the public page of the web site and have PDF and word versions downloadable for printing. Those versions carry the WOA logo.
Talking to some of you, I know you are certain that what many believe are unachievable targets are actually very achievable in the future. You have seen the huge impact of more modern management systems on your production. If any of you consider that we may have under estimated the improvements, then please feel free to comment.
While the industry has been struggling to establish commercial production, many factors have influenced production negatively. Once those are corrected these negative influences can be reversed and the next generation of production livestock will see steady improvement under the right management systems.
2. Meat Muscle Sizes
Included in the benchmark figures are target weights for individual muscle sizes. It was 1997 when I first became aware that birds were being produced in the United States with boneless meat yields equivalent to the South African carcass weights. The table below proves the type of yields being achieved at that time, but rarely seen today.
|
Muscle US Names |
IOA Meat Chart Weights[1] |
AOA Meat Chart Weights[2] |
BM Recorded Weights[3] |
|
Fan #OS1046 |
+/- 1500 grams |
1730 – 2140 grams |
2341 grams |
|
Oyster #OS1045 |
+/- 300 grams |
730 – 760 grams |
1114 grams |
|
Round #OS1035 |
+/- 1000 grams |
1770 – 2090 grams |
2091 grams |
|
Outside Strip #OS1036 |
+/- 300 grams |
545 – 635 grams |
636 grams |
|
Inside Strip #OS1050 |
+/- 300 grams |
545 – 680 grams |
818 grams |
Table 1 - Comparative Muscle Weights
During a period when mainstream species have become increasingly efficient, why has Ostrich production gone in a reverse direction?
The US industry, along with all other countries starting ostrich production at that time, have till now failed to make a successful transition from breeder market to commercial production. Many farmers went out of business and many of those remaining were involved in exporting birds to countries starting ostrich production. During that time nutrition for the birds deteriorated in most areas, to keep costs down because they had little or no cash flow. The result has been breeder production deteriorating; high chick mortality and birds have progressively become smaller.
It is reasonable to expect it to take 5 years from introducing intensive management systems, supported by the right nutritional technology, to reverse this trend and get back on track to where the top producers were in the mid 1990’s in the United States. The 5 year target figures allow for weights to be achieved consistently at younger ages. The 10 year figures will depend on market conditions – will the market look for larger muscles or the smaller muscles at much younger ages? It maybe a mixture of both, but larger birds are very much cheaper to process and larger muscles provide greater flexibility.
3. Skin and Meat
There will be some who may consider that to bring slaughter forward to an earlier age will result in skins that are not acceptable to the market. Birds raised on rations that produce good muscle weight at younger age are proving to have skins totally acceptable to the market.
In discussions with tanneries while still living in South Africa I have been asked “what do we tell the farmers”. Their experience was that whilst they knew some younger birds were being received with acceptable skins, too many simply were not acceptable. So it was simplest to use a determination by age. My suggestion was to use feather development as the guide.
When fed rations of high nutrient density suitable for good health, excellent feed conversion and fast growth the feathers also develop faster as the overall health of a bird is so much improved. When short on nutrients, the birds will put the nutrients to body maintenance and growth before feather development.
The added bonus is that younger skins are proven to yield a higher percentage of grade one skins.
So feeding correctly for meat production has the benefit of earlier slaughter, significantly increased meat yields, better quality meat and improved skin quality.
4. Pricing Meat
The selling price of the meat is always a contentious issue with many factors influencing the selling price. The aim is to produce product that one can sell for a price greater than the cost of production, but those production costs must be reasonable and the end product acceptable to the market.
The following are just some of the factors that influence price:
The market serviced
Is your buyer sourcing from many sources and simply paying the lowest possible price with little concern for quality or sustainability of supply, is the buyer a high end outlet seeking quality product with security of supply; is the buyer supplying a Supermarket and treating the meat as a commodity; are you selling retail. The country of course makes a difference also as cultures are different and local economies vary.
Volume
Volume and economies of scale has a significant impact on price. Not just the impact on production costs, but also the markets one can service. Many markets are simply not available as the current volume of Ostrich produced is simply too low. This also applies to the marketing of the skins.
Quality
Over the period that Ostrich production has been spreading around the world, the main stream livestock specie have not only been achieving greater efficiencies, they have also recognised the importance of quality and grading to support their marketing. Item 4 in Newsletter No. 22 http://www.world-ostrich.org/member/news22.htm, discussed the many issues that are perceived as quality issues by the customer. To achieve the best prices we need to be controlling all these things.
Grading systems are required to differentiate the quality between animals produced in different ways. The importance of this is that it enables the buyers to know what to expect and establish price differentials.
Cuts
Some muscles are tougher than others; some are easier to steak out than others; some are smaller than others – these are all issues influencing price.
Reliability of Supply
When working with livestock that are inconsistent in egg production, converting no more than 50% of eggs laid to hatched chicks and high levels of mortality that can wipe out a large proportion of those hatched chicks, it is not possible to guarantee consistency in supply. This also increases the costs of production to uneconomic levels and therefore forces dependency on the sale of skins at unrealistically high prices.
Consider that the majority of the meat sold continues to be from a single country that over the course of the last 12 years has had 3 incidents when the meat has not been able to be exported to their main markets as a result of disease. This is a further aspect that causes inconsistencies in supply.
Competition
Competition comes from other ostrich producers and from other meat specie. While our industry remains so small, the competition between producers could be mitigated by working in greater cooperation.
The WOA cannot set prices, but, with member’s participation and cooperation, it can help build an infrastructure to support members achieve better prices.
5. The Role of the WOA Supporting Meat Marketing and Pricing
The major areas the WOA provides support are:
Communication and Education
Industry associations are usually industry member driven. Our industry is new and immature so many of our members have joined to learn to look for guidance and learn.
Meat Grading
We have a grading system in place, but this can only have value to members if members actually use it.
The first steps to utilise the system are:
- To develop an education system that educates the market and ensure that all members fully understand the differences
- To develop an education system that educates our members to understand the system
Health Issues and Policies
Disease and health issues and how they are handled with the state veterinary authorities of different countries are an extremely important part of marketing. Foot and Mouth, Avian Influenza (AI), Swine Fever, Newcastle Disease and BSE are all examples of diseases that impact severely on industries when outbreaks occur in a region or country when dependent on export markets.
The WOA, with members support and participation, can develop strategies and a communication network to authorities. This is particularly important while our industry is immature, the future as a large scale industry is dependent on a strong meat market and the largest single supplier to the ostrich meat market is on record stating the need to limit production to protect the high value of skins.
6. WOA Logo - Usage by Members.
Your directors have been informed that a member is using the WOA logo on their product labelling. Members are not entitled to use the WOA logo as there could be a danger that buyers assume certain standards are being achieved.
Standards must be enforced and a verification process to provide certification of that fact for the WOA to be of value in marketing. Simply being a member is not a guarantee that certain standards are being achieved by that member. Any member using the WOA logo who may not be producing to the right standard of product or service can have a negative effect on the rest of the members and that is the reason a full verification and certification program must be in place before membership of the WOA can be used for marketing purposes.
Your directors do support development of a standards certification program as part of a marketing program if there is sufficient interest from members to support such a program.
The following statements are the conditions of use for the logo:
The WOA Logo is a valuable symbol and as such its use needs to be strictly controlled.
Generally use of the Logo by members is prohibited except in conjunction with a statement to the effect they are members of the Association.
The WOA Logo must not be used in any way to promote or imply that any products or services provided by a company or individual are approved of or endorsed by the WOA.
The WOA does not accept or imply any responsibility for any goods or services that are sold or provided under its Logo.
The WOA may allow the use of the logo but only when expressly authorised in writing and the goods or services have been vetted by the WOA or its representative and confirmed to have been produced or are in accordance with WOA standards.
Use of the Logo will only be authorised – except as in 1 - above on the payment of a fee to the WOA. This will be in addition to any expenses involved in the vetting procedure.
7. Contributions
As always we ask for contributions. Please contribute to the discussion to develop the benchmarking criteria for ostrich. We welcome feed back and communication to help all members understand all the factors that control these figures. If you do not agree with any figures speak out and say why you do not agree.
Any comments or suggestions please post either to the members’ list [email protected] or send to Craig at [email protected]
Ask not only what the WOA can do for you but also what you can do for the WOA.