Fall 2010

Locally Grown,Commercially Raised

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Locally Grown, Commercially Raised

The incredible, edible egg. The impressive oval comes over easy and hard boiled; baked inside pastries and noodles; mixed into mayonnaise and creamy salad dressings. They’re a binder for making meatloaf or a thickener in cream pies. More than 90 billion eggs were produced in the United States in 2009. So, it’s easy to understand the public scare in August when two Iowa farms recalled more than ahalf-billion eggs, the largest recorded egg recall in U.S. history.The spotlight suddenly turned to commercial egg producers across the country. But, that’s okay according to Gordon and Greg Satrum of Canby, Oregon. They are proud to show off the family business. Started in 1934, Willamette Egg Farms raises more than 2 million chickens and produces more than 1.5 million eggs a day. They are meticulous about animal health and sanitary conditions. They invest heavily in new technology as farming practices evolve. And, true to family tradition, they continue to exceed their customers’ expectations for safe, high-quality eggs and value-added products.

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Gordon (left) and son Greg Satrum.

Great uncle Tom Dybvad began delivering eggs to the Portland-Metro area in 1934. With 400 laying hens, his parents encouraged him to go into the delivery business. Twice a week Tom gathered his family’s eggs, plus those from area farmers, and delivered them to Portland area grocery stores, hospitals and hotels in a 1931 Model T Ford.

Much has changed in the egg business since those early years. Large retail grocery stores have replaced most small, local markets. Retail buyers need economies of scale, working with a limited number of producers who can provide consistent supply and quality. Over the years, advances in technology and genetics have increased egg production and improved animal health.

Yet, today’s egg producers face new challenges. Some animal rights groups and proponents of organic production are pointing blame at commercial animal agriculture in general. Only by returning to small-scale, local farms (say some organic and local supporters) or by ending or drastically limiting the use of animals as a food source (say several animal rights groups) can Americans avoid large, food-born outbreaks like salmonella enteritidis. Definitions for animal welfare are changing, too, along with consumer preferences. But, the folks at Willamette Egg Farms are taking the changes in stride. After all, they’ve been adapting to them for more than 75 years.

Raising healthy hens

Gordon Satrum remembers the early years when chickens were generally raised outside in hen houses. But natural predators, parasites and wild bird diseases caused high mortality rates and low egg production. Today, a hen will average 250 to 300 eggs per year with mortality rates around 6 percent. In 1945, hens averaged 151 eggs per year and mortality rates were close to 40 percent.

The egg industry evolved to deal with the challenges. Instead of raising hens on the floor where they were exposed to their liter, producers used caged houses. Separating hens in cages also reduced injuries caused from the birds’ natural pecking order. In this controlled environment hens stayed healthier and laid more eggs. Cage systems quickly became the industry standard.

“Prior to the 1990s, animal welfare meant low mortality and high production so farmers designed systems to accomplish that,” says Greg. “It was simple. Cages were a tremendous improvement for animal health. But now we have a whole new set of definitions for animal welfare. Some people say that hens need to be free to engage in all their ‘natural behaviors’ like perching, scratching and nesting. Our conventional cage systems weren’t necessarily designed to encourage or foster these behaviors. They were designed to be very efficient and to produce clean, high quality eggs and keep hen mortality rates low.”

In 1998, the European Union banned conventional cages altogether. These producers have until 2012 to change their production practices. While a nation-wide ban of conventional cages hasn’t been proposed in the United States,

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Conventional cage systems have been the industry standardsince World War II.

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several states have passed their own measures. For example, voters in California recently passed Proposition 2 which says hens need to be able to stand up, turn around and fully extend their wings. How much room does this require? No one knows for sure.

“We currently operate under the United Egg Producers’ animal welfare standards developed over the last 10 years,” explains Greg. “Our chickens have much more space than they did in the 1960s. That’s been a good thing. We’re very much in favor of having uniform standards for the industry to follow. But, if we need to make room for chickens to engage in all natural behaviors it’s going to require a different system.”

Investing in new housing technology

In addition to conventional cage production, Willamette Egg Farms is experimenting with new, cage-free systems. The aviary system, developed in Europe, provides hens floor space while also giving them a place to roost. During peak egg laying times, an opening in the system allows the hens to move up several different levels, or shelves, to roost and lay their eggs. Like Willamette Egg Farms’ conventional cages, each system is lined with manure conveyor belts. The waste is transported out of the hen houses regularly. By the time the manure reaches the end of the conveyor, it’s dried, scraped off the belts, and sold for fertilizer.

“We recently converted three of our hen houses to the new aviary system,” says Greg. “This system holds about 19,500 hens compared to around 50,000 hens in our conventional houses. We spent about $30 per hen to do the conversion. We

could do a cage system with manure conveyor belts for about half that. But, it’s hard to come up with an actual cost estimate because we don’t know what the new space requirements may be down the road. Can we put 20,000, 10,000 or 5,000 hens in this system? We really don’t know.”

Staying vigilant against germs and disease

Willamette Egg Farms continues to employ strict bio-control standards to avoid contamination. First, swab tests are done on all baby chicks when they arrive from the breeder. In 48 hours, test results will show signs of any organisms, like Salmonella, that may have been passed from the mother bird to her chicks. Swab tests are also routinely conducted in the laying houses. Manure is tested, along with cage wires and fan blades in the exhaust systems. Employees can’t go from one house to another without changing their clothes and disinfecting their shoes to kill anything that might carry outside germs or diseases.

“We’re mostly concerned with the outside environment,” explains Greg. “In the Northwest it isn’t uncommon to have 90 percent of wild geese infected with some type of avian influenza. We have geese flying over the farm all the time. We know where our risks are and we’re always taking measures to mitigate them.”

Meeting changing customer needs

Consumers have plenty of choices when it comes to buying eggs in a grocery store, including free-range, cage-free, and organically-grown eggs. They can also choose nutritionally-enhanced eggs, like those with omega 3, or eggs with reduced saturated fat.

“There are a lot of varieties of eggs, so we need to supply our customers with everything they need,” says Gordon. “We started cage-free production eight years ago. It has been a fun process if you don’t look at the profit side. The feed costs alone are about double. To meet organic standards, hens need to have outside

Greg Satrum and Northwest FCS Relationship ManagerKristy Searles inspect the new aviary systems that give hens

space to climb and roost during peak egg laying times.

access. We have that. But, no one can say exactly how much outside space is required. We’re not in a position to spend a lot of money to change our organic system until we know what the new standards will be in five years. We’ll continue to produce high-quality, organic eggs. But, if USDA requires a certain number of acres per 1,000 hens our current system could we worthless. The organic market is still pretty small. You may be able to get a premium for the eggs, but you can also saturate that market quickly.”

Processing a million eggs a day

Imagine processing close to one million eggs a day, while trying not to break a single egg. The process begins in the morning when hens lay their eggs. The eggs roll gently down an incline to an egg tray and then on to a series of conveyor belts. These belts will eventually carry them to the processing plant. Ideally, Willamette Egg Farms will process 310 cases, or approximately 115,000 eggs per hour.

At the processing facility the eggs are gently transferred onto spools

and run through an ‘orientator’ which turns all the points in one direction. Eventually when the eggs are placed in cartons they will be uniform, always point side down. From there, the eggs are washed in 105-degree water, run through a series of brushes, and sprayed with a chlorine sanitizer before they’re dried.

The inside condition of the air cell, yoke, and white is tested through a ‘candling’ process. Electronic systems shine a candling lamp on the eggs, making it possible to see blemishes inside. The eggs are then processed through a sophisticated ‘crack detector’ where each egg is tapped 24 times with censors. The frequency of the tapping sound is used to detect cracks. Hear a sharp ping and the shell is fine. A dull thud means a defective shell. If the inside membrane

isn’t broken though, these cracked eggs are still safe to use in pasteurized value-added products. If the eggs are leaking, they’re used in animal feed. Eggs sent to the fresh market are weighed, graded, placed in cartons and loaded into refrigerated trucks – bright yellow Willamette Egg Farm trucks that is.

The peeling operation

Willamette Egg Farms also supplies peeled, hard-cooked eggs to the food service industry. 20,000 hard-boiled eggs are processed every hour. These perfect grade-AA eggs are cooked to precision to ensure safety and peelability. Once cooked, the eggs are submerged in a chill tank to shock the membrane from the egg and chill it. From there, the eggs go through a series of rollers and counter weights. This peeling technology cracks the shell and gently squeezes the egg from the membrane. Perfect every time. Hard-cooked eggs are sold in various kinds and sizes of packaging to food processors and food service operators across the Northwest.

In 1999, Willamette Egg Farms had a devilishly-good idea. They were already cooking and peeling hard boiled eggs. Why not try a recipe of their own? Today, Willamette Egg Farms sells deviled eggs to grocery store delis across the country. The hard-cooked eggs are sliced and bounced along the production line to remove the yolks. These yolks are retained for the deviled-egg filling. The cooked egg whites are packaged ready to place on decorative platters and sent to grocery store delis who will apply the secret Willamette Egg filling themselves.

“Finding the right recipe was a challenge,” says Dann Barnard, food processing manager at Willamette Egg. “Everyone has “grandma’s” deviled egg recipe. We needed to find a middle ground that everyone liked. One of our salespeople, who was

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also a chef, formulated the mixture. We did a lot taste testing to get it right. Our deviled egg business is starting again with earnest after a very busy summer. It’s a great holiday item.”

Liquid egg products

Remember the slightly cracked eggs or those with blemished shells, with the interior contents in perfect condition? These and others are used in a number of liquid egg products, from whole liquid eggs, to liquid whites and yolks. Add sugar to the yolks for ice cream. Add salt for mayonnaise and salad dressings. In all, Willamette Egg produces more than 30 different liquid egg mixtures.

The egg breaking process happens at neck breaking speed. More than 500,000 eggs a day from Willamette Egg Farms and other local producers are broken and separated. The cracking technology is mindboggling. Spring loaded knives on the system crack the eggs. The depth of the cut is adjusted to break the shell membrane but not the yoke. In seconds the

shells are broken, the yolks plop into one tray and the whites in another. Workers monitor quality control on the spinning ‘egg wheel’ system.

The liquid eggs are then transferred to refrigeration tanks where they are cooled and stirred. Non-egg ingredients are added and the liquids are pasteurized. Similar to milk pasteurization, heat is used to kill bacteria. High-tech food safety systems monitor the time and temperature treatment of each liquid product based on the various ingredients added. Liquid egg products are sold in cartons, bags, and 2,000 pound totes. Larger quantities are delivered to customers in Willamette Egg tanker trucks.

Producing safe, high-quality eggs

“What comes first, the chicken or the egg?” The folks at Willamette Egg Farms would likely say both. Well cared for hens produce the most consistent high-quality eggs. That’s why Willamette Egg Farms continues to invest heavily in technology to keep their birds healthy and safe. On the flip side, meticulous care is taken to ensure that Willamette eggs and value-added products meet top notch standards for quality and food safety.

“We’re getting more calls and letters from individual consumers,” says Greg. “Up to this point, marketing and publicity hasn’t really been our focus. We’ve focused on being the best producers we can be. But today’s consumers want contact with the people who raise their food. Local food production is becoming more of an issue for a lot of folks. We want people to know that we’re a local family farm in Oregon. We’ve been producing and selling eggs for 75 years. We may be a commercial producer, but we’re also a local producer. That’s something our family is proud of.”

Dan Barnard, Food Processing Manager at Willamette Egg Farms

Employees on the spinning ‘egg wheel’ make sure the egg whiteand yolk are separated and inspect for any shell pieces.

Gordon Satrum makes a friendin the organic hen house