CEO SERIES M&P: How did you improve your beef yields? WB: We improved them in two areas. One is management. We have very aggressive yield goals in each of our plants. We measure yields very closely and have meetings every week to discuss ways of further improving them. We implemented a management structure to make sure the numbers link. Second, we have invested money in areas of the boning room to improve yields and other aspects of production. We also implemented a system of variable compensation for supervisors linked to yield goals. Individual line workers do not receive these incentives (Batista explains it would be too difficult and expensive to implement such a system). But every supervisor works with his team. In turn, line workers have an incentive to work better and increase their chances of getting promoted. M&P: Slightly smaller supplies of fed cattle and overall market conditions have led JBS to operate its U.S. beef plants at lower utilization rates than anticipated late last year. What are you operating at currently? WB: Our daily slaughter capacity in the U.S. is 20,300 head per day and we are operating at under 90 percent of that. We look to operate a full six days per week and in the second quarter ran a lot of full shifts on Saturdays. But when you can't sell all the volume you produce, you have to make adjustments at times. We will see what happens regarding supplies of cattle going forward but we would like to run full. M&P: What has surprised you most about the U.S. meat industry after operating here for a year? WB: We've had no big surprises in U.S. beef and pork or in Australia. Even the market has been in line with what we expected. M&P: What aspects of your plant operations in Australia and South American plant have you brought to the U.S.? WB: We have worked to exchange best practices, from here to Brazil, Argentina and Australia and reverse. We have introduced benchmarking. We have introduced some different ways of deboning some parts of the carcass into different cuts. We have also implemented some best practices from our Brazilian plants regarding food safety on the kill floor and the fabrication floor. M&P: E. coli O157:H7 remains a threat in the industry, particularly the ground beef segment. Would you consider incorporating irradiation to eradicate the pathogen in finished products? What about interventions on live cattle? WB: We are not looking at using irra- The brand for quality, commitment, passion and industry leading service and expertise. 28 I MEAT&POULTRY I September 2008 I www.MEATPOULTRY.comhttp://www.MEATPOULTRY.com