OARSA Consortium/H.A.R.V.E.S.T. Initiative

Demand for poultry and other agricultural products produced using alternative management practices is increasing. Within the U.S., organic food sales increased 4-fold between 2000 and 2010 (Organic Trade Association [OTA], 2011), with the total number of organic poultry products increasing 5-fold between 2000 and 2008 (USDA-ERS, 2010). In terms of total sales in 2010, organic poultry products represented approximately 63% of all organically grown meat sold in the U.S. (Van Loo et al., 2012). The above statistics only cover USDA certified organic products and does not take into account other alternatively grown (e.g. all-natural, free-range, pastured) poultry products that are increasing in prevalence; therefore the overall influence of these alternatively grown poultry products may be greater than realized. Failure to address the gap in research addressing microbial safety of these products may result in preventable illnesses and setbacks in meeting goals of regulatory agencies to reduce food borne illness by 2020 (U.S. Health and Human Services 2014). The use of small, multi-commodity, AGP-free farms for conducting Campylobacter spp. media comparisons, epidemiologic tracking of pathogens on farm, and microbiome analysis will help to provide a baseline census for media comparison and microbial communities, document the dynamics of known pathogens, identify emerging pathogens, and help evaluate specific interventions to improve animal and subsequently human health with respect to these emerging consumer products.