Meat + Poultry - February 2016 - 10

BUSINESS NOTES

TYSON LEGEND DIES
Donald "Buddy" Wray, the former president of Tyson
Foods Inc. who is credited with helping the company grow
into a multibillion-dollar global food company, died Jan. 18
at the age of 78.
Wray served in several executive positions over decades
with Tyson Foods, including chief operating officer. John
Tyson, chairman of Tyson, called Wray a legend.
"He was instrumental in
everything the company did
for over 50 years," Tyson said.
"There is no way to express what
Buddy meant to the company and
thousands of its team members
during that time. He was also a
long-time dedicated Springdale
community leader who will
be missed by many and long
remembered."
Donald Wray
Tyson CEO Donnie Smith said
Wray was his mentor and that he
will miss his leadership, insight and friendship. "He earned
the gratitude and respect of all of us here at Tyson Foods
and we will never forget him," Smith said.
Wray began at Tyson in 1961 as a field service
representative working with growers after earning a
bachelor's degree in science in animal husbandry from
the Univ. of Arkansas in 1959. According to the Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette, Wray initially retired in 2000 after
serving as president of Tyson for nine years but was asked
to return to the company in 2008. Wray then served as
executive vice president before retiring again in 2014.
Wray was inducted into the UA Sam M. Walton College
of Business' Arkansas Business Hall of Fame last year. In
his induction biography, Wray said he was fortunate to go
to work at a small, growing company, and "lucky to be in
the right place at the right time with the right product."

AI CONCERNS RISE IN INDIANA
As of late January, 10 premises in Dubois County, Ind.,
had been affected by H7N8 avian influenza, according to
state and federal animal health agencies. The discovery of
the virus led to culls of 257,163 turkeys and 156,000 laying
hens as of Jan. 22.
In response to the findings, the Indiana Board of
Animal Health (BOAH) implemented a 10-km. control area
primarily in Dubois County. Officials also extended a 10-km.
"surveillance zone" by an additional 10 km. The surveillance
zone includes parts of Crawford, Daviess, Martin and Orange
counties. Sixty-two commercial poultry farms are in the
control area and 52 farms are in the added surveillance zone.
All infected sites are in Dubois County, BOAH reported.

MEAT+ POULTRY | 02.16 | www.meatpoultry.com

BOAH noted that 114 commercial farms have tested
negative for influenza since Jan. 19. A total of 182 state,
federal and local responders are working in Dubois
County on surveillance and response efforts.
State and federal surveillance teams have visited 1,248
residences in a 10-km. radius control zone around the
original site to search for small, backyard flocks of birds
for precautionary monitoring and testing. The teams found
46 backyard flocks and sampling is in progress.
A commercial turkey flock became the first case of
HPAI reported in the US since this past June. On Jan. 17,
the Animal and Plant Health Service of the US Dept. of
Agriculture said eight turkey flocks were infected with
low-pathogenic H7N8. APHIS said low-pathogenic H7
viruses have been known to mutate into HPAI viruses in
the past. But Indiana State Veterinarian Bret D. Marsh said
finding the cases as low-pathogenic strains shows animal
health officials are keeping pace with the spread of the
virus in Dubois County.
Dubois County leads Indiana's turkey production,
growing 1.4 million birds annually. Indiana ranks fourth
in the US in turkey production, and is a major supplier of
eggs, ducks and chickens.

CAGE-FREE EGG BANDWAGON GROWS LARGER
Target Corp. is the latest among a flock of retailers, food
manufacturers and foodservice chains announcing a
transition to cage-free eggs. By 2025, the Minneapolisbased retailer said it plans to sell only cage-free shell eggs,
based on available supply.
The move is part of a broader commitment to
sustainable sourcing. Target said it plans to partner with
pork product vendors to eliminate the use of sow gestation
crates by 2022. Additionally, the company said all palm oil
in its exclusive branded products, including Market Pantry,
Archer Farms and Simply Balanced, will be fully traceable
and sustainably sourced by 2018.
"When it comes to sourcing products, we take a page
from our company's founder, George Dayton, who was
well-known for his strong business ethics," the company
said on its website. "We still aspire to the highest ethical
and legal standards today, and we'll only work with
vendors and suppliers who share our commitment. To
make sure we meet those standards, we also work with
regulators, manufacturers, industry organizations and
other retailers around the world to continually set the bar
higher for our industry as a whole."
Target's announcement follows similar pledges in the
past few weeks from ConAgra Foods, the Campbell Soup
Co., Mondelez International, Wendy's, Panera and Denny's.
"The momentum is unstoppable, triggered by a
major cage-free announcement from McDonald's in

http://www.meatpoultry.com

Meat + Poultry - February 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meat + Poultry - February 2016