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Organic chickens are raised with organic grains, without antibiotics and with high animal welfare standards. Current research is looking at how their health can further be improved in accordance with organic principles.

Formula E
Source: 2017 COTA/Ipsos consumer survey

With the organic food market growing by leaps and bounds, the support of the scientific community is key to finding innovative approaches to addressing challenges and capturing opportunities. Through its principles and standards, organic agriculture requires producers to find a balance between profitability, sustainability and animal welfare. Among the wide range of scientific investigation  going on across the country is new research in organic chicken production, which looks at finding such a balance.

Consumers buying organic are interested in chicken produced with organic grains, without antibiotics and with high animal welfare standards. While chickens raised in a low stress environment tend to be in healthier in general, they are not immune to disease transmission. How can their health be further improved? This question is under investigation by Dr. Moussa Diarra of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, who is leading one of the 37 projects currently under way in the Organic Science Cluster II (OSCII),
an industry-supported science program designed to address challenges or capture opportunities in the organic sector.

Dr. Andy Hammermeister, director of the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada at Dalhousie University, says the tremendous growth of the organic sector over the last 15 years has also impacted the organic science community, which, in turn, supports this growth and development. "There is a growing acceptance that organic agriculture is a science-based sustainable production system," he says. "And through our research, we are supporting a model that is a globally recognized high-value food system."

By helping Canada's organic producers become more successful, researchers not only play a part in addressing environmental and ecological issues – they are also generating an economic advantage, says Dr. Hammermeister. Ongoing organic agriculture research covers the full spectrum of agriculture plus aspects of food processing and value adding, he says. "We aim to increase the productivity and competitiveness of the organic system within the framework of the Organic Standard and the organic principles."

"We all want a healthy, safe and sufficient supply of food, but in organic agriculture, we are guided by the principles of ecology and health, care and fairness," says Dr. Hammermeister. "We have to be aware of the limits of the ecosystem and find solutions without relying on a silver bullet. We can't use chemical pesticides, chemical fertilizers or antibiotics, for example."

To sustain the natural ecosystem, a clear understanding of the processes within that system – and how they are connected – is essential, he explains. "We are constrained in terms of what resources we can use to solve problems, since all our practices are intended to be ecologically sound."

And how to improve the health of chickens in accordance with the organic principles? "Dr. Diarra is starting to find that he can make the birds' immune system more resilient and, for example, better able to fight off salmonella by adding organic fruit byproducts to their diet," says Dr. Hammermeister.

Fruit pomaces left behind after juicing organic cranberries, for example, are proving to be highly nutritious and full of antioxidants, and potentially yield nutraceutical benefits for organic broiler chickens. "[The research] is looking at utilizing waste byproducts while, at the same time, examining public and animal health benefits," says Dr. Hammermeister, adding that this is an example of the system's approach that is integral to research in the OSCII, which is supported by the AgriInnovation Program of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Growing Forward 2 Policy Framework and over 65 organic sector partners.


This content was produced by Randall Anthony Communications, in partnership with The Globe and Mail's advertising department. The Globe's editorial department was not involved in its creation.

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