Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Lohmann Information follows a long tradition to provide up-todate knowledge on advances in farm animal research and development. Starting as “Lohmann Post” in August 1959, this publication became known as a useful source of information for students at agricultural and veterinary universities, extension service and farmers. From the beginning, the focus was on modern animal nutrition and poultry production. From 1969 until 2004, Lohmann Information was published in German, and in 1979 Lohmann Information International in English was added to make the contents of selected articles accessible to a wider readership. Since 2006, the publication continues in online format only in English, and most German readers have accepted this change.

Changes in the format of our publication reflect the rapid change of the farm animal industry since the second half of the 20th century. Agriculture in general and livestock farming in particular, previously focused on regional and national food security, became an important part of the international chain of food supply. With increasing trade of goods and services, information has become more easily accessible and no longer requires a library. Articles published in Lohmann Information between 1979 and 1998 are listed by title only in the archive, articles since 1999 as full text pdf (http://www.ltz.de/de/news/lohmann-information.php). A search function allows retrieving information of specific subjects or authors. There is no standstill in communication technique and we will do our best to keep up with this development. This is particularly important for colleagues in the global poultry industry. No other livestock sector has shown comparable changes within the past 50 years, and offers more opportunities for the future.

We start this 50th issue with a historic review on poultry diseases and their control by Dr. Egon Vielitz. The author was actively involved in poultry disease control from the 1950s when Lohmann introduced broiler breeding and layer breeding in Germany. In this article he recalls the chronology of emerging poultry diseases and strategies of their control. Effective disease control has been and will remain a challenge for global poultry meat and egg production.

Prof. D.K. Flock and Dr. K.E. Anderson analyze recent results from tests at North Carolina State University to answer the question why relatively more laying hens are molted in the USA than in Germany. Induced molting may have an advantage in conventional cages for some white-egg strains under U.S. egg and feed price conditions, but the conditions are different in Europe for brown-egg strains in non-cage systems.

Modern laying hens are kept as long as economically justified to make best use of their genetic potential for persistent rate of lay. The review of Mr. Robert Pottgüter is based on theory and extensive practical experience in different countries. Detailed recommendations for feed formulation throughout the lifetime of laying hens are provided by primary breeders for each strain in different areas.

Egg consumers have a choice between eggs from different production systems, weight grades and shell color. The “best before date” is printed on each carton, but “freshness” depends on the temperature at which the eggs were kept since oviposition. Prof. M. Grashorn et al. use data from a recent Master’s thesis to predict the probability that the air cell height of eggs tested for “freshness” exceed the legal limit.

Duck meat is traditionally more popular in Asia than in Europe, where it is consumed mainly during winter months. However, consumers prefer a choice of poultry meat throughout the year, and duck meat has to compete directly with broiler and turkey meat in terms of production cost and feed efficiency. Dr. H.-H. Thiele describes a modern breeding program for Pekin ducks and predicts continued genetic improvement.

We thank all authors for their contributions and encourage readers to contact us with comments and suggestions for topics to be addressed in future issues