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The Emu Industry
Although the commercial Emu industry dates only to the late
1980's, the ratite industry is relatively new only to the
The Emu industry experienced a similar monopolistic situation
with the Australian government. Exportation only occurred to zoos and private
collections. Since 1960, the exportation of chicks, adults and fertile eggs has
been prohibited. The Australians are also in the early stages of a commercial
Emu industry and with government help and assistance have developed extremely
large ranching facilities. Much of the Emu meat currently sold in the
In the
Economically, as the interest in ratites grew, the supply lagged
behind and this drove prices even higher. Unscrupulous entrepreneurs saw this
as a golden opportunity to profit and they began promoting the future benefits
a commercial ratite market could have as though it were nearly a current
reality.
Without standards, avian research, genetic studies, tracking
capability, or specie knowledge nor a base of data, many small to medium
investors were induced to invest their life savings into artificially inflated
"superior bird" prices approaching the $50,000 to $100,000 per pair
prices.
By the mid 1990's, the supply of chicks from these adaptable and
prolific birds exceeded the demand, since no commercial outlets yet existed for
American produced ratite livestock. Despite an outward appearance of a glut of
birds, the actual live inventory never approached 1/30th of the livestock
inventory required to even support 1% of the then current domestic meat
consumption.
Many small growers were enticed into the speculative breeder
market by unsupportable and unrealistic promises of fast wealth mirroring what
the speculators were able to attain. When the apparent glut appeared, panic
rapidly spread through these seekers of fast dollars. With the panic came an almost
overnight decline in bird prices.
Growers interested in the natural process of raising birds and
transitioning into a commercial industry were faced with a sudden glut of birds
on the market and fire sale prices. The value of all ratites was severely
undermined by this panic.
Serious growers did not panic. They knew the possibilities of a
commercial market and focused their resources on retaining their breeding stock
while systematically reducing their production stock to what the market would
bear. As the panic progressed, even some seasoned growers divested themselves
of their flocks, some because of the decline in the profit rich breeder market,
and some for other reasons. This added to the glut of birds and put further
drain financially on those growers retaining faith in the birds.
To further exacerbate the situation, panicky growers with
questionable ethics, began wholesale releasing of birds into the wild. Some
were discovered clubbing their birds on the head or marshalling hunters for a
once-in-a-lifetime hunting experience. The publicity from these actions fueled
the media and in turn the public's perception that the Emu business was filled
with risk, lacked reality and the bottom had dropped out of the market.
Without government research money or active support, a few
growers continued the quest for marketable commercial products and to bring the
ratite industry forward. Despite the infusion of money and research by other
countries to assist their ratite growers in bringing their products into
commercialized use, the States and Federal governments relied upon the
negativism reported by the media to justify a lack of interest to bring a new
specie into commercialized use, and permit America's farmers a means of bring
profit back to the small family farm.
Associations and trade groups were formed during the speculative
and high dollar years. Meetings were held, conventions extolled the upcoming
commercial markets, and some minor research into the birds and their potential
commercial uses was funded. At one point in time more than 20 groups were
active with over 9,000 members. Under the auspices of some of these groups and
companies, several universities performed research on the technical aspects of
ratites. Among then were Auburn University, Iowa State, Texas A&M, Texas
Tech, University of Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Mississippi State, University of
Missouri, Georgia State and Louisiana State. Many of these universities
continue research even today.
The raising of ratites is viewed as an alternative to the
raising of crops and other traditional livestock. It comes at a time when
family farm profits from traditional sources is declining to all time lows and
diversification offers the only visible hope for the small family farm.
Successful commercialization of the Emu and Ostrich markets offers a
significant hope for these farm families. But commercialization is not an
overnight process.
Commercialization will progress in due course. With governmental
assistance it would grow more rapidly, but even without it, the markets will
still grow. With this growth will come tremendous opportunities for growers,
large and small, especially if they can learn to work together.
Legislatures in many states now recognize ratites as livestock
on par with other species. USDA now considers providing subsidized loans and
promoting low cost loan programs for new or existing farmers to encourage
participation in alternative agricultural.
With the ridiculously high livestock prices of the early '90's,
development of a commercial meat, hide, oil, feather or by-product market was
prohibited by prices. With the market value of the collective commodities being
far less that the value of an animal sold as a "breeder", both supply
and product pricing prevented much market penetration of the products as they
were developed.
The in-fighting and inability to work together has led to the
decline in ratite association membership and the reciprocal decline in monies
available for research and promotion of these new industries. With the lack of confidence generated by the
association members inability to put aside petty differences and
self-aggrandizement, new participants are difficult to recruit and investment
money is subject to perceived risk beyond that offered by other investment
possibilities.
The consolidation of meat processing facilities and closure of
many small processors has led to a shortage of inspected processing available
to those growers actively developing commercial markets. Without the ability to
create adequate supplies to meet commercial user needs and requirements, the
current markets will continue to develop as niche markets supporting those
developing them.
Until enough investor money, venture capital or governmental
development funds are allocated to support product development and market
penetration for ratite products, the growth will continue at a steady but
measured pace. The outlook for the venture capitalist is rosy. With the
published and patented applications for ratite products, the consumer
acceptance that has been proven to date, and the potential uses not yet
publicly disclosed, double-digit profits are not a dream but a reality for the
astute investor.
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