On Monday September 10th, 2018 we had a guest speaker in AGRI 130. The guest speaker was Georgie Cartanza and she was giving a speech on The Evolution of the Poultry Industry in Delaware. Georgie Cartanza is an organic chicken farmer in Delaware and a Poultry Extension Agent. Her speech started with her talking about the way her chicken farm was before it was an organic chicken farm and then she talked about the changes and mentioned some of her experiences she has had within the industry. Later this month we will have the opportunity to tour her farm. One thing I found interesting was the way the poultry industry started was by chance. In 1923 the Steele family had placed an order for 50 chicks but received 500 instead. Now DelMarVa (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) is responsible for producing 605 billion chickens annually. Another thing I found interesting is the way the building for the chickens has changed and had new ideas implicated for various reasons like the triple decker chicken house which was designed to be three stories tall but was done to save land space. My favorite fact was from learning more about organic requirements. Some of the requirements for being organic are outside access with a water source, vegetative buffers, and my favorite that you need enrichments or toys for the chicks to play on.

It is no secret that the agriculture industry is widely diverse in enterprises. However, agriculturists have been united by a common motivating principal: the industry must innovate in order to feed the rapidly growing global population. This idea was echoed by Georgie Cartanza, the State Poultry Extension Agent for the state of Delaware. Throughout her guest lecture it became very clear that despite various misconceptions, agriculturists have been intently working to satisfy the needs of consumers, growers, and livestock in the most efficient way possible.

Delaware’s poultry industry has not always been what is today. Ushering in the growth of the industry has been the development of associated technologies. Chicken houses were once small, naturally ventilated, and requiring of hand feeding. The chicken houses of today are now much larger, tunnel ventilated, and largely automated. The environmental control exhibited by users of tunnel ventilation allow for growers to create a much cooler, cleaner, comfortable, and healthy growing environment for the birds. Advancements made in genetics and nutrition have also allowed for increased bird size. All these factors together, the poultry industry in Delmarva is reaching new levels of productivity, while conserving economic and natural resources.

Not all consumers, however, are fortunate enough to listen to an expert of the industry, such as Georgie Cartanza, give insights on the methods of production. Many consumers make judgments on what to buy based off media reports of “factory farms” and “hormone” filled chickens. As Georgie explained however, growers do not use hormones or steroids in production at all to begin with. Additionally, growers invest significantly to ensure that their birds are comfortable and healthy. Finally, growers are required to meet various sustainability standards of production. As advocates for agriculture, it is crucial to seek out experts like Georgie Cartanza so we can revitalize the image of agriculture in today’s media.

I really enjoyed Georgie’s talk about the Delaware poultry industry. Being from Delaware, I knew that Delaware was the #1 state in the country for producing chickens, Sussex county being the #1 county in the country, and that we were 8 hours away from 1/3 of the population. However, what I didn’t know a whole lot about was how the industry came to be. I find it funny that the industry started because Mrs. Steele ordered 50 chicks and got 500 so she decided to grow them and sell them. It’s amazing what one person can do in this world. I also didn’t know that we used to have double story chicken houses to save land; it seems really smart to me being someone who is all about vertical farming. My favorite part of the lecture was the fact that even though Georgie is an organic poultry farm, she is very well educated in all aspects of the industry, so I didn’t have to sit through a lecture about how nonorganic is the worst thing in the world. She does things the way she does them to make money and because it’s what she believes in but she also understands that the other side has benefits too, and I feel like a lot of people don’t realize that. As I’ve been saying, we can’t feed 10 billion people by the year 2050 if we only use organic; we have to have a mix.