Plant-Based Chicken Plucking

Jaynie Norman • February 9, 2022

By GREG HENDERSON

Ahead of this month’s Super Bowl, a group known as Compassion in World Farming (CWF) issued a news release claiming over 160 million plant-based chicken wings would be eaten in America during the game. Which, wow, sounds like a lot.


For the sake of full disclosure, I don’t usually get on a soap box to defend chicken wings, but this seems like a good place to start.

America produces 9 billion chickens annually, which would be 18 billion chicken wings, give or take a deformity or two. Therefore, my math suggests that 160 million plant-based wings amounts to less than 1% of the chicken wing market. (For context, Americans are anticipated to devour 1.42 billion wings from real yard birds during the Super Bowl, according to the National Chicken Council.)



Plant-based chicken pluckers, of course, are not satisfied with a 1% market share. That’s where the marketing and PR teams become important. Their task – difficult as it may seem to cowboys – is to convince folks this new concoction of pea protein, soy protein, flour, oils and sodium tastes just like chicken.


“Meat alternatives represent the future of food.” So says the release from CWF. That seems like a stretch at this point, but when you’re trying to disrupt an industry as big as meat you start with bold statements. More important for cowboys and real-world chicken farmers is how plant-based proteins are being pitched to consumers.


“Healthy” is the claim found in any description of plant-based proteins. Indeed, there’s research suggesting vegetarian and vegan diets can be healthy. Some studies have found lower rates of heart disease and type 2 diabetes when compared to diets high in meat and animal products.



Medical research also suggests plant-based diets carry some risk of inadequate protein, vitamin and mineral intake. Such risks can be overcome with choosing the right foods and with supplements. But other risks may be present for vegans. A British study, for instance, found that vegetarians may have an increased risk of stroke.


While the increased risk was small, the British researchers said the “findings will complicate the way we look at plant-based diets.”

For fast-food companies like McDonald’s, however, “healthy” continues to be a sales challenge. Last month the McPlant burger was introduced under the Golden Arches, and the logic for healthy menu items makes sense as some people want to eat healthy food. But McDonald’s has tried healthy before and it failed. The McPlant may be different, but the reality has proven that people don’t go to McDonald’s to eat healthy.


A similar hurdle will face plant-based wings during football games. Hard to imagine fans drinking beer, eating chips and being concerned about “healthy” wings.


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By Jaynie Norman • February 1, 2024
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By Jaynie Norman • January 12, 2023
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in June 2021 that all medically important antimicrobials for food-producing animals and pets will move from over-the-counter (OTC) to prescription (Rx) effective June 2023 . A prescription is already required for most antibiotics delivered to livestock, and the remaining three categories of injectable antibiotics available over-the-counter will soon be joining the list of medically important antimicrobials that require a veterinarian’s prescription. To add to the stress of raising livestock, now things will change again which is going to influence the ag industry overall. I hope that this list of medications will give people a chance to read it and become familiar with the situation before the change comes in June of 2023. Changes Coming are as follow: In 2018, the FDA established a 5 year plan for supporting antimicrobial supervision by veterinarians. The plans purpose to address antimicrobial resistance using only medically necessary drugs as necessary to prevent, treat and control disease. It has to be determined by a licensed veterinarian if it is necessary, but you won’t have to order the prescriptions from the vet directly. You will, however, need to establish a Veterinary-Client-Patient Relationship (VCPR) if certain animals are not examined regularly. Popular Products Will Require Prescriptions Following a recent penicillin shortage, soon producers will get hit with this change that once again impacts access to antibiotic therapy for animals. When you’ve used them for so long as OTC meds to treat pneumonia or shipping fever in your livestock, Now, the change will be to establish the relationship with your veterinarian to get the prescriptions for these meds. Here is the list by active ingredients. The following are some products that will be seeing label changes to prescription-only status: Oxytetracyclines Injectables: Liquamycin LA-200, Noromycin 300 LA, Bio-Mycin 200, Agrimycin 200, etc. Boluses: Terramycin Scours Tablets, OXY 500 Calf Boluses Penicillins (Penicillin G procaine, penicillin G benzathine) Injectables: Penicillin Injectable, Dura-Pen, Pro-Pen-G, Combi-Pen 48, etc. Intramammary tubes: Masti-Clear, Go-dry, Albadry Plus Sulfa-based antibiotics (Sulfadimethoxine, sulfamethazine) Injectables: Di-Methox 40%, SulfMed 40% Boluses: Albon, Sustain III Cattle & Calf Boluses, Supra Sulfa III Cattle & Calf Boluses Tylosin Injectables: Tylan 50, Tylan 200 Cephapirin, cephapirin benzathine Intramammary tubes: ToDAY and ToMORROW Additionally, several swine medications fall under the new guidance: Lincomycin Injectables: Lincomix 100, Lincomix 300, LincoMed 100, LincoMed 300 Gentamicin Injectables: Garasol, Gentamicin Piglet Injection ToDay Mastitis Treatment for Lactating C ows
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