For this week’s blog, we interviewed Dr. Jim Garlich, professor emeritus of the NCSU Department of Poultry Science and one of BRI’s long-time Scientific Advisors. Dr. Garlich reflects on his career in poultry science and the developments and progress he has observed over the past several decades.
BRI Blog: How did you get involved in poultry science?
I was raised on a farm in Illinois and helped my Father care for a flock of breeder hens. When I entered the University of Illinois, I expressed an interest to study poultry science and was assigned to Dr. Harold Scott as my advisor. Dr. Scott was well known for developing the Connecticut “high energy” broiler formulation used by the poultry industry and he was the one that sparked my initial interest to study poultry nutrition. I completed both BS and MS degrees in Biology at the University of Illinois and subsequent to my finishing there, I went to Cornell University to obtain my PhD under Dr. M.C. Nesheim from the Cornell Graduate School of Nutrition. I joined the Dept. of Poultry Science at NCSU because the State of NC had a major poultry industry that supported the university’s programs. There I helped to establish the Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Nutrition and I taught courses in amino acid and mineral metabolism.
BRI Blog: What was your research focus at NCSU?
My research focused on poultry nutrition, specifically calcium and phosphorus metabolism, as well as amino acid requirements and availability. Along the way I cooperated with other faculty members on projects involving the interactions of nutrition with heat and cold stress, with mycotoxins, bacterial and viral diseases, and cardio-pulmonary physiology (ascites syndrome in broilers), stunting syndrome, and “flushing” in turkeys. One of my more important discoveries was that a deficiency of phosphorus (P) in the diet would increase the mortality to both heat stress and cold stress (especially at high altitudes). This led to a re-definition of the P requirement and an expansion of the “margin of safety” for P in feed formulation.
BRI Blog: What do you see are the changes in poultry nutrition and health over the years?
The changes in poultry science research are a direct result of university and industry-directed research and driven by changes instituted by the industry to provide high quality, safe food products. When main frame computers started to appear on university campuses, linear programming began to be applied to feed formulation to balance and meet the chicken’s requirements for about 40 nutrients. As a result, feed quality and costs improved. This was a big advancement in feed formulation and manufacture.
Furthermore, because most of the energy and protein in animal diets are by-products (or co-products) from processing grains, oil seeds, and meat for human consumption, researchers focused on the nutrient content and availability from feedstuffs and ways to preserve these by-products. As a result, scientists started investigating enzymes (e.g., carbohydrases, phytases, proteases) as a means to improve nutrient availability from various feedstuffs.
BRI Blog: In your view, where will the advances in the poultry industry come from in the future?
In the future, advances in poultry science and production will come from two areas: 1. Research and development on the inter-relationships between poultry genetics, nutrition, immunology, microbiology, and 2. Efficiencies in production and processing. Contrary to popular opinion, increasing the scale of poultry production and processing has greatly improved the health and welfare of the birds as well as the quality and safety of our food. To increase the scale of production, modern equipment, electronics, and science and technology are widely used to produce the high quality products that consumers demand and deserve. For example, in the poultry house, automated environmental controls maintain temperature, humidity and air quality levels and prevent diseases. And in processing and distribution, modern equipment insure safe, healthy foods. Economy of scale is cost-effective. We all win.
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