Mike interviews Mark Kastel of Cornucopia Institute to discuss the Institute’s report “Scrambled Eggs: Separating Factory Farm Egg Production from Authentic Organic Agriculture.” The gold standard in organic egg production, according to Mark, is smaller, pasture-raised flocks, and these are the farms that earn the coveted 5-egg rating in the accompanying egg scorecard.  At about 14…

Grady and Mike discuss the USDA’s Fall 2015 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan. The plan mandates a 24 hour depopulation requirement from the time the flock tests positive, and it authorizes ventilation shutdown as a way to suffocate and kill the surviving birds in the barn. We then spend some time talking…

Mike (http://www.millsidefarm.com) and Grady (http://www.gradyphelan.com) respond to a listener question about stocking density inside a daily move broiler shelter. But does a simple question have a simple answer? And how do you know if your expensive feed is paying dividends? Mike relays a story about two separate chicken flocks. One fed a carefully formulated ration…