Calculation of economic values for turkey breeding using a production model

This paper describes the development of an economic model and the use of that model to calculate economic values for vertically integrated turkey production in North America. The nature of vertically integrated production required an objective that was balanced across parent stock (egg production, fertility and hatchability), commercial production (bodyweight, feed intake, and mortality) and processing (yield traits). Feed intake, bodyweight and breast meat yield had large economic weights relative to other traits reflecting the importance of feed costs and breast meat as the major revenue source. Less important traits in the breeding objective were mortality, processing plant condemnations and the reproductive traits. Level of production was important when considering the reproductive traits, and as egg production decreased, the economic value of the reproductive traits rose substantially