A review of the capacity for nutritional strategies to address environmental challenges in poultry production

Abstract

Poultry production faces increasing environmental challenges, in the United States and globally. Although the environmental impact of poultry production has been decreased, regulatory and social pressures mandate that further improvements be made to decrease the pollution potential even more. Concerns over air and water quality to date have been related primarily to nutrient issues, specifically N and P. Air emission concerns include N and sulfur emissions. More recently, states have addressed emissions of volatile organic compounds. Although no regulations have been developed that are targeted at food production, greenhouse gas emissions are receiving a great deal of attention in the United States. Nutrient-related water quality concerns have focused on N and P contributions to ground and surface waters, respectively. To address nutrient-related air and water quality concerns, nutritional strategies have focused on reducing nutrient excretions. These strategies have been very successful. However, strategies beyond just reducing nutrient excesses will be needed to meet future challenges that are not nutrient-related. Challenges such as pathogens, antimicrobials, and endocrine-disrupting compounds have received considerable attention recently. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the findings from nutrition research with respect to reducing environmental impact and to identify areas that merit attention in the near future, recognizing that many of the emerging environmental issues are not nutrient-related.