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29 October 2011

Russia: Sixth outbreak of ASF this month

//28 Oct 2011
The sixth outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in the last month in Russia and the fifth in the Krasnodar region has been detected a few days ago.
According to the official statement by Rosselkhoznadzor, the ASF virus was found on a private farm "Pobeda", which has 7600 pigs. 
 
According Rosselkhoznadzor’s press service, the Briukhovetsky district is where the virus this time has been registered – it contains 39 600 pigs while individual sectors have about 5900 heads. A special commission of Rosselkhoznadzor will decide how many animals will be destroyed.


According to Rosstat, the number of pigs in the Krasnodar region as of 1October  has been reduced (compared to same period of the last year) by 7.2%.


"This statistic obviously is the result of outbreaks of African swine fever, said representatives of Rosselkhoznadzor. “Moreover, the greatest decrease was observed at individual households (13.4%) and on the private farms (18.5%). It is predicted that if this negative trend of livestock reduction continues, then the retail prices for meat and meat products will experience a strong pressure because the regional market could face a deficit of pork.”
 
It is also predicted that by the end of the year the total number of pigs in the Krasnodar region could be reduced by 13% compared with the numbers for the same period of last year.

PRRS outbreaks in Vietnam

//27 Oct 2011
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, there have been Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) outbreaks in five provinces.
The disease has made its way to four southern and one central province in Vietnam. PRRS has spread in Long An, Tay Ninh, Soc Trang, and Tien Giang in the south and Quang Nam in the central region, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Diep Kinh Tan said.


It has been reported that Long An is the area most affected, with 7,000 pigs that have been culled due to the disease.
 
The provincial Department of the Agriculture and Rural Development purchased 30,000 vaccines for distribution.
Diep Kinh Tan has ordered the tightening of control to halt the spread of the disease. Health authorities in Dien Ban have announced a pandemic.


** Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), also known as blue-ear pig disease, is a virus that causes a disease of pigs, called porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS). This economically important, pandemic disease causes reproductive failure in breeding stock and respiratory tract illness in young pigs. (Wikipedia)

Rabobank: Foot-and-mouth disease threatens China’s pig sector

//27 Oct 2011
A resurgence of a variant of foot-and-mouth disease is threatening China's pig supply and underpinning pork prices, a senior industry analyst with Rabobank Group said.
The disease, which affects most parts of the world that have major animal husbandry industries, creates the risk of pork prices continuing to keep food costs elevated at a time when Beijing is seeking to combat high consumer-price inflation.
 
"Hog inventories have risen a bit but disease is quite serious," Chenjun Pan said. "From the industry, we know the disease is coming back and it might worsen depending on the weather change and the vaccination and sanitary measures taken by the farmers."
 
Average wholesale fresh pork prices tracked by the Ministry of Commerce have fallen 3.7% this week since reaching a record CNY26.44 (€2.98) a kilogram in mid-September.
 
However, October prices are still up about 45% on year, suggesting hog supply hasn't significantly improved, Pan said.
 
"In the second half of the year, foot-and-mouth disease will continue to be prevalent, especially in pig populations that were already affected last year," the Hunan Province Pig Production Technique System, a provincial-level think tank, said in a report widely carried among industry websites last week. Hunan is China's major pig-producing province.
 
Chinese veterinary authorities reported an outbreak of the disease in Ningxia Autonomous Region last week to the World Organization for Animal Health.
 
China also reported an outbreak among swine, sheep, cattle and goats in Guizhou province in July and among pigs in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in March.

Research: Dietary supplements to reduce methane emissions

//27 Oct 2011
Australian researchers investigated the influence of cold-pressed canola, brewers grains and hominy meal as dietary supplements suitable for reducing enteric methane emissions from lactating dairy cows.
There are limited data in the literature concerning in vivo effects of dietary fat supplementation on enteric CH4 emissions from lactating dairy cows.
 
The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate four dietary treatments designated as control (CON), brewers grains (BG), hominy meal and cold-pressed canola (HCC) and hominy meal only (HM) for their effects on CH4 emissions and milk production.
 
Trial setup
Sixteen late lactation Holstein cows were used in pairs, in a double 4 × 4 Latin square experiment with the four dietary treatments fed as total mixed rations over 24 d treatment periods.
 
All diets contained ∼600 g forage/kg dry matter (DM; 5 kg DM of alfalfa hay and 7 kg DM of perennial ryegrass silage/day).
 
The CON diet contained 303 g/kg DM of cracked wheat grain and 70 g/kg DM of solvent extracted canola meal and the CON diet was formulated to contain ∼26 g total fat/kg DM.
 
For the BG, HCC and HM diets, part of the cracked wheat and solvent extracted canola was substituted with the designated fat supplement so that the resulting diets contained 51, 52 and 65 g total fat/kg DM respectively.
 
Results
Fat supplementation did not influence DM intake and there were only small positive effects on milk yield and negative effects on concentrations of milk fat and milk protein.
 
The HM diet reduced CH4 emissions when expressed either as g CH4/cow/d, g CH4/kg DM intake, or g CH4/L milk.
 
The BG diet also reduced CH4 emissions when expressed as g CH4/cow/d or g CH4/L milk, while the HCC diet decreased CH4 emissions in terms of g CH4/L milk.
 
Combining data from the fat supplemented diets enabled comparison of CH4 emissions from the CON diet with CH4 emissions from the fat supplemented diets.
 
Fat supplementation reduced CH4 emissions: 500, 462 g CH4/cow/d; 25.0, 23.2 g CH4/kg DM intake and 23.3, 20.5 g CH4/L milk for the CON and fat supplemented groups respectively.
 
Similarly, by combining data from all fat supplemented groups, regression analysis revealed that fat supplementation reduced CH4 emissions for at least 7 wk.
Conclusion
Combining results of this investigation with data from the literature, the scientists conclude that for each increase of 10 g/kg DM in dietary lipid concentration, enteric emissions are reduced by 0.79 g CH4/kg DM intake or ∼3.5% thereby allowing estimation of the magnitude of enteric CH4 abatement based on dietary fat supplementation.

EU tightens control on dioxins in food and feed

//26 Oct 2011
Member states have endorsed a draft regulation governing the handling of crude vegetable oils to the European Commission in order to get a firmer grip on dioxin contaminations in food and feed.
The measure was endorsed last week by the member states at the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health. It will now be sent to the European Parliament and Council for scrutiny before the Commission can officially approve it. The regulation is expected to enter into force in mid-2012.
 
The regulation is a response to the dioxide crisis last December and January that shut down meat and egg sales from 4,700 farms across Germany after animal feed was found to be contaminated with the cancer-causing chemical.
 
About 136,000 metric tonnes of feed for poultry and swine containing industrial fat was fed to livestock across Germany. The fat contained industrial dioxins and should not have been in the animals' feed.
 
The draft regulation contains four measures to be implemented throughout the EU by mid-2012 to reduce the risk of contamination in the food chain. These measures are aimed at avoiding food recalls from the market and financial costs to consumers and industries.
Feed businesses processing crude vegetable oils, manufacturing products derived from oils of vegetable origin and blending fats, will have to be approved, and not only registered, by the competent authority.
Fats intended for feed and food will be strictly segregated during their production and transport from fats intended for technical use in the chemical industry. The labels on the products must explicitly mention their intended use to help prevent products unfit for feed from entering the food chain.
An EU harmonized plan with mandatory minimum testing for dioxin depending on the risk inherent to the products, will be introduced. The testing will focus on the risky products at the moment they enter the feed chain to facilitate the detection of non-compliant cases and the enforcement of feed law.
All laboratories are obliged to directly notify the competent authorities of any excessive findings of dioxins.
Although industry will have to bear some addition costs under the new regulation, annual costs will amount to just a small percentage of the costs of one dioxin incident.

25 October 2011

The search for alternatives to zinc oxide

//28 Feb 2011
In the beginning, the use of zinc oxide in pig production was greeted with some skepticism. Ever since, the method has always remained the subject of pro and con discussions, resulting nowadays in some countries having embraced, banned or re-embraced ZnO. This overview aims to give more insight into its history – and alternatives.

In fact, it's been known for a long time that zinc oxide (ZnO) could stop diarrhoeas in weaned pigs.

By Dr Ioannis Mavromichalis, international consulting nutriionist, Ariston Nutrition, Spain

Perhaps what Dr Hanne Poulsen presented back in 1989 wasn’t news, but for sure the knowledge was not widely known at the time. At the scientific community at the 40th annual meeting of the European Association for Animal Production in Dublin she said that zinc oxide (ZnO) could stop diarrhoeas in weaned pigs – a long-practiced remedy among some veterinarians. After all, ZnO was already used as a bacteriostatic in human medicine in the form of ointment applied to external cuts and other skin problems. In 1989, it was the first time that this method of controlling diarrhoea in piglets was published in a scientific forum.

Danes want to keep their leading position in pig production

//25 Oct 2011
The Danish Pig Research Centre is confident about the future pig production in Denmark. This is the conclusion today at the Danish Pig Research Centre’s Annual Meeting.
Together with 35 pigs per sow per year, the Danish Pig Research Centre wants to develop and employ pens for loose lactating sows and reduce the overall mortality by 20 percent before 2020.

“For about 10 to 15 percent of the Danish producers this is a mission impossible, but for the rest it’s possible,” said chairman Lindhart B. Nielsen (top photo) from Danish Pig Research Centre .

Also director Nicolaj H. Noergaard from the Danish Pig Research Centre is convinced of the Danish pig producer’s capability to survive.


Director Nicolaj H. Noergaard- Danish Pig Research Centre.

“You are world-class pig producers, and it is important for us and the surroundings that we send out the signal that we are among the best pig producers in the world when it comes to environmental, health related and productivity related matters,” said Noergaard.

To keep the Danish pig producers in the leading position, Noergaard mentioned that the Danish Pig Research Centre has launched a new project which means they can reach 35 pigs per year per sow. This can be done due to new breeding objects focused on maternal qualities among other things.

“At the same time we will focus on developing a farrowing pen for loose lactating sows without raising the mortality in the farrowing unit,” said Noergaard. But he pointed out that it has to be a safe pen for the piglets, before they can recommend loose lactating sows.

On top of that, the Danish Pig Research Centre wants to reduce the overall mortality by 20 percent before 2020. “We call it minus 20 in 20,” added Noergaard.

And both the chairman and the director are convinced that the Danish pig producers will keep their leading position.

“You can do it by using the technical knowledge and latest technology out in the stable. Therefore we and the politician have to give priority to research and development within the pig industry,” said Nielsen.

After the Annual Meeting there is a two day congress for pig producers with 94 speakers, all of whom will deliver a message about how the Danes will have to keep their leading position.

The Danish pig industry means quite a lot to the Danish society. In 2010 production was 28.6 million pigs. The overall value of pig production in 2010 was about €4.2 billion.

***Main photo: Chairman Lindhart B. Nielsen - Danish Pig Research Centre.

(By Asger Kjær Nielsen)

24 October 2011

Cheiljedang to build first amino acid facility in the US (update)

//24 Oct 2011
South Korean Cheiljedang (CJ) is proposing to build a $323 million plant in Webster County (Iowa, USA) where amino acids for animal feeds will be made, in accordance with information from state and local officials.
The proposal from CJ Cheiljedang Corp., doing business as CJ America, was reviewed last week by the Iowa Economic Development Authority Board. That panel will consider awarding millions of dollars worth of state incentives for the project.

If all goes as planned, construction will begin in April 2012 in the North Central Ag Industrial Park west of Fort Dodge. The plant would then begin production in December 2013.

The facility would be the company's first production plant in the United States. The plant would employ 180 people.

Amino acid by fermentation
On the industrial park also a former Tate & Lyle plant is present, now owned by agribusiness giant Cargill, which was a major factor in attracting CJ to come to Webster County. Cargill could supply raw materials, mainly sugars, for the amino acid production process of CJ.

CJ intends to build a plant for producing lysine by “world class fermentation technology” according to the plan description.

The company said in a statement that the output from the Iowa plant with a production capacity of 100,000 tonnes a year will be sold in the United States.

The US lysine market reached 350,000 tonnes in terms of demand volume in 2010, making it the world's third largest following the EU market with 500,000 tonnes and China with 450,000 tonnes.

Market dominance
"We have to target the US market to grab the top position in the global bio-market," CJ CheilJedang CEO Kim Chul-Ha said.

"Starting from the end of 2013, we will devote all our energies to dominating the market through aggressive business and marketing activities."

The global lysine market is estimated at $3 billion with China's Global Bio Chem Technology Group Co Ltd having the largest share while Ajinomoto Co Inc of Japan and CJ CheilJedang share the No. 2 position, followed by Archer-Daniels-Midland Co of the United States, the CJ statement said.

It also said CJ will capture the top position in the global lysine market once the Iowa plant and another lysine facility under construction in Shenyang, China, come on line at the end of 2013 and in the first half of next year, respectively.

The company is poised to continue investing until it achieves an annual capacity of 700,000 tonnes of lysine for animal feed and thus obtains a global market share of 30% by 2014, the statement added.

Methionine
Lysine is manufactured by fermentation technology. Methionine can also be produced by fermentation, but until now no company has a commercial operation for this process. CJ has partnered with French chemical maker Arkema to build the world’s first commercial facilityto produce methionine from renewable sources.

The facility, to be built in Malaysia, will have a capacity of 80,000 tons per year of L-methionine, mostly from plant based materials.

This facility is expected to cost $400 million split equally between the partners and open by the end of 2013.

Thai broiler chicken export target unaffected

//24 Oct 2011
Kukrit Arepagorn, manager of the Thai Broiler Processing Exporters Association is confident that Thailand will meet this year's export target of 450,000 tonnes of broiler chickens.
The recent floods, he says, have had little impact on chicken farms.

“Thai broiler exports totalled 435,000 tonnes last year, valued at 54.9 billion baht”, Arepagorn says, confident that Thailand can meet this year's export target of 450,000 tonnes.

Meanwhile domestic consumption has dropped about 15% in the past month, mainly because of transport disruptions caused by flooding.

Fish Oil and Eggs

//22 Jul 2011
Author: Ioannis Mavromichalis
I understand there is considerable interest in adding high levels of fish oil to diets for laying hens as a means of (a) enhancing health status, and (b) producing eggs rich in omega-3 fatty acids. As much as 3% is recommended in some cases, especially when using deodorised fish oil, that comes with a price premium!
Now, we all know that normal fish oil, about above 1% added as straight oil or through fish meal, gives eggs a fishy smell that most consumers find objectionable. In a Canadian study, even 2% deodorised menhaden oil made eggs smell a bit fishy!

What is less known, is that too much fish oil can actually reduce egg weight. I have seen this in an older trial, where egg weight was reduced 0.35 grams per 1% fish oil in the feed.

And, in a most recent study from Iran, high levels of fish oil not only reduced egg production but it also affected sexual maturity delaying the growth of the reproductive system in hens. And, there is also at least one more British study that implicated high levels of fish oil with reduced reproductive performance in pigs.

So far, I have been skeptical recommending high levels of fish oil to my customers who were looking into getting into the ‘designer’ egg market, preferring other means of achieving the desired increase in omega-3 fatty acids. But, I cannot deny, and there is evidence to that as well, that feeding fish oil enhances the immune status animals.

What is your take on all these?

20 October 2011

Report: Strong growth in commercial amino acids market

//19 Oct 2011
Widely referenced as the ‘building blocks’ of proteins, amino acids are currently used within the animal feed and food additives industry, and there is strong commercial interest in developing new applications, according to a new report available on companiesandmarkets.com.
The US market for commercial amino acids is growing steadily, and by 2016 is forecast to achieve revenues of over $2 billion, compared with a 2011 figure of $1.8 billion.

The US commercial amino acid market accounts for around 20% of the global amino acids market, which is worth in excess of $9 billion.

Knowledge and understanding of the potential capabilities of amino acids is increasing, and there is growing interest in new commercial applications.

Prices going down
Existing applications for the 20 essential amino acids are still noting growth, particularly as production costs are declining, making them a more viable option for some companies than they have been in the past.

Three key commercial amino acid market sectors are examined within the report: animal feed supplements; human food flavourings and nutritional additives, and specialty uses, e.g., medical, therapeutic, research, and industrial applications.

Feed largest market
The animal feed supplements segment is the largest, forecast to see revenues of over $1.2 billion by 2016, having grown at a CAGR of 3.9% over the reporting period.

The flavourings segment holds a much smaller share of the US amino acids market, with a 2011 valuation of $561 million. By 2016, the flavourings market is expected to have grown to $650 million, representing a CAGR of 3%.

Companies highlighted
The commercial amino acid research report profiles a number of the industry’s key players, for example: Adisseo USA, Ajinomoto Aminoscience, Ajinomoto Co., Archer Daniels Midland, CJ Corporation, Daesang Corporation, Evonik, Kyowa Hakko Kogyo, Monsanto, Nippon Soda, Showa Denko KK and Zhejiang Chemicals.

Report avialable on companiesandmarkets.com

BPEX: Top five farm services for pig health

//20 Oct 2011
A ‘top five’ of farm services that will be available to every pig farm signing up to BPEX’s new national pig health scheme, was revealed at this week’s ‘Two Tonne Sow’ Focus on Health conferences.
The Pig Health Improvement Project (PHIP) became a national scheme in July following regional projects in Yorkshire, Humberside, East Anglia and the East Midlands. It’s now stepping up a gear as much of the infrastructure has been put in place and clear membership benefits are available.

“The PHIP takes a collaborative, action-orientated approach to reducing the incidence of disease in pig herds, which involves vets and producers working closely together to ensure the long-term sustainability of pig farming,” says BPEX’s Vet Project Manager Helen Clarke.

“But we need a high level of uptake – and are looking to achieve sign-up from farms that together represent at least 90% of sows nationally. And that’s why we are keen to for farmers to take advantage of these five services that deliver key benefits at farm level,” she adds.

These services consist of free BPHS abattoir reports, which are an invaluable tool for vets and pig producers in identifying sub-clinical disease which is not always easy to spot on the farm.
Access to local health mapping, which raises awareness about any pig health related concerns in a farm’s locality.

A bespoke biosecurity action plan which vets will develop with farmers, using a unique questionnaire to assess biosecurity on their units.

And disease testing which farmers can access with the help of their vet.

The fifth service comprises BPEX regional support. And with dedicated regional staff, there is a wealth of guidance available to help every unit and group of producers to get started and get the most out of PHIP.

Sign-up is free. To download an application form visit www.pighealth.org.uk

Source: BPEX

Pfizer sued over poultry feed additive

//20 Oct 2011
Zhejiang Rongyao Chemical has filed a lawsuit against Pfizer claiming a breach of contract to purchase Roxarsone, the active ingredient in 3-Nitro, a veterinary product used primarily in the treatment of coccidiosis in poultry.
Alpharma of Bridgewater, NJ, now a part of Pfizer Animal Health, had an exclusive multi-year agreement to purchase Roxarsone/3-Nitro from Rongyao, but voluntarily suspended sales of the product after a meeting with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Alpharma had been a distributor of 3-Nitro for many years. In June 2011, sales abruptly stopped when Pfizer voluntarily halted distribution following a report by the FDA that allegedly found high levels of inorganic arsenic in the livers of treated chickens. At the time of the decision to halt the distribution, both Pfizer and the FDA had stressed that 3-Nitro did not pose an imminent public health risk and that there was no need for people to alter their chicken consumption.

3-Nitro has been used in chicken feed for over fifty years. According to Dr. Rener Chen, Rongyao's General Manager, "The FDA's study was incomplete, non-peer reviewed and the results, therefore, are flawed. Further expert scientific review has found it inconclusive due to various inconsistencies."
As a result of Pfizer's actions, effectively cancelling a multi-year deal struck in January 2011, Rongyao can no longer sell Roxarsone/3-Nitro in the US, Canada and a number of other markets, resulting in more than twenty million dollars in losses for Rongyao.

Dr. Chen further stated that, "The timing of Pfizer's decision to voluntarily suspend its sales of 3-Nitro, under the veil of the FDA study and the associated FDA pressure, is suspect as it comes at the same time as reports in the industry that Pfizer is looking to completely sell off all of its Animal Health division and remove itself from this market altogether."

Rongyao has requested judgment in its favor for all compensatory damages, including but not limited to lost profits, plus interest, attorneys' fees, and further relief that the Court deems just and proper. The filing was made in US District Court for the District of New Jersey on October 3, 2011.

Betagro focuses on branding meat products

//20 Oct 2011
Betagro, Thailand’s second-largest chicken exporter, is to focus more on the building up of three brands to enhance access to different markets.
The plan is focused on developing S-Pure as a flagship brand to present the company's image in fresh chicken and pork products, while HyMeat is focused on high-quality eggs and the Betagro brand itself is for export and corporate purposes.

The group says the three brands will emphasise the company's premium-quality production for both the local and export markets.

The group has enjoyed average annual growth of 15% and is targeting sales of Bt60 billion this year. Vasit Taepaisitphongse, executive vice president and group chief operating officer, said the company's investment from now on would focus on regional development by upgrading facilities and technology.

He added that the group had also launched a new product to access the European Union market. "We have to promote the Betagro brand as that is our strategy for the export market, while S-Pure and HyMeat are for the domestic market," he said, adding that the group needed to develop new products that differentiate the company from what its customers, original-equipment manufacturers, have ordered. The company deals with up to 60 producers in the EU.

"In particular, the EU market has a limited export quota of 160,000 tonnes of imported chicken products from Thailand, under which our customers have been allocated only 1.4%, and their demand now exceeds the quota," Vasit said.

To achieve its goal, the company invests an average of Bt3 billion per annum in creating assets through new plant establishment such as feed mills, a sourcing house and slaughterhouses.

Source: The Nation

Lohmann AH Indonesia enters feed additive business

//20 Oct 2011
Known as a professional poultry vaccine producer by Indonesian poultry stakeholders, PT Lohmann Animal Health Indonesia is now ready to expand their business in feed additives.
Haryono Jatmiko, General Manager Lohmann AH Indonesia said that the feed additive market in Indonesia is very big, especially in the poultry sector. “Comparing with the total value of the poultry vaccine market, I predict the total value of the feed additive market to be two or three times higher,” he said.

Although the competition in the feed additive market is tight enough, Jatmiko believes that Lohmann AH Indonesia can get good sales. “Many players in this sector don’t mean they can fulfill all customer needs. Every customer has different needs and specifications. So we believe our products can meet some of the customer needs and specifications,” he said.

To begin, Lohmann AH Indonesia will introduce some key products such as acidifier, colorant and enzyme. Jatmiko informed, these products are currently in the process of registration and will get the registration number soon. “For colorant product which is used to manipulate yolk colour of egg, the market potency is big. Some hotels are now looking for different yolk colour. The consumers also will follow this trend along with their increasing income,” he explained.

Thailand on alert as one million chickens die

//19 Oct 2011
Health authorities have stepped up measures to prevent an outbreak of infectious diseases after more than one million chickens died last weekend in closed poultry farms in Ayutthaya's flood-hit Bang Pa-in district.
Millions of chickens drowned after the farms were submerged by flood water. Most of their bodies were stuck in the "closed" farms, but the decaying carcasses were now causing a bad stench after being underwater for a month.

"We are now asking the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to sanitise water around the chicken farms, by using EM liquid," Public Health Minister Witthaya Buranasiri confirmed. EM refers to Effective Micro-organisms, which would be used to break down toxic materials in the carcasses.

People were advised to keep chicken carcasses in a trash bag or well-wrapped in a plastic bag, and give them to livestock officials so they can get rid of the bodies without causing any health problems.

Livestock Development Department director-general Trissadee Chaosuancharoen and his team inspected farms yesterday. "Though disease outbreaks caused by flooding have not yet been confirmed, people cannot afford to be complacent about prevention," he said.

Damage from Thailand's worst flooding in decades continued to mount as parts various industrial estates were inundated and residents worried that Bangkok remained vulnerable despite recent receding waters.

Source: Bangkok Post

18 October 2011

Pork producers in the Philippines want to stop paying tariffs

//18 Oct 2011
The Department of Agriculture in the Philippines have been asked by pork producers to waiver the corn tariff.
The pork producers have stated that they want to be allowed to import corn without paying tariffs for six months. The producers are asking for this waiver so that livestock feed costs can be stabilised - in the midst of increased global prices for grain.

"If the 35% tariff on imported corn is lifted for six months, our organisation can purchase cheaper produce. Lower corn prices would be a significant development for the industry because this would stabilise livestock feed prices," the Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines said in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.


Source: 7economy.com

Aarhus Uni: Airtight storage of grain increases nutrient digestibility in finisher pigs

//18 Oct 2011
Studies show that airtight stored grain has a higher phosphorus and protein digestibility than traditionally stored grain. Scientists from Aarhus University have shown that phosphorus and protein in airtight stored grain have a higher digestibility in finisher pigs compared to grain stored under traditional conditions. This is good news for the environment and the pig.
Traditionally, grain is stored with a water content of around 14 percent. With such a low water content the grain can be stored under normal conditions without turning mouldy or rotten. However, when it rains day after day during the harvest season, as has been the case in many areas in Denmark this year, it can be a somewhat difficult task for the farmer to harvest and store his grain with a sufficiently low water content. An alternative could be to store the grain under airtight conditions.

Scientists from Aarhus University have collaborated with the silo manufacturer Assentoft Silo A/S to investigate how airtight storage affects the pig’s digestibility of various grain nutrients.
- We expected that airtight storage of the grain would have a beneficial effect on its nutrient value as a feed and we were proven to be right, says head of research unit Hanne Damgaard Poulsen from Aarhus University.

When the pigs utilise the phosphorus and protein from the grain better it also has a beneficial effect on the environment. Instead of the surplus, non-digested nutrients ending up in the manure and, at the end of the day, in the environment, they are metabolised and used by the pig.

Airtight grain for pigs
The scientists used wheat and barley in their studies. Half of the grain was harvested and stored with a low water content while the other half was harvested and stored with a somewhat higher water content under airtight conditions. All portions were stored for about six months. Two groups of finishers were fed for 12 days with a feed containing either airtight grain or regular grain. The feed containing the airtight grain had a water content that was approximately three percent higher than the feed containing the dried grain.

Some of the phosphorus in grain is bound in a complex called phytate, which greatly reduces its availability to the pig. The enzyme phytase metabolises the phosphate-rich complex phytate during storage. The content of phytate-bound phosphorus in the airtight grain decreased approximately seven percent in the course of the half year that the grain was stored.

- This means that during the low-oxygen storage period there was a release of phosphorus from phytate, explains Hanne Damgaard Poulsen. The analyses also showed that airtight storage of grain protects phytase activity. These two conditions led to a rise in phosphorus digestibility from 41 percent to 46 percent as a result of the low-oxygen storage.

Correspondingly, protein digestibility increased from 78.2 to 80.7 percent in the airtight grain. This is important with regard to how much surplus nitrogen risks being emitted to the environment. The more of the protein that the pig can utilise, the less nitrogen ends up in the environment.
The digestibility of phosphorus and protein is higher in airtight stored grain than in traditionally stored grain, according to studies at Aarhus University.

For more information please contact: Head of research unit Hanne Damgaard Poulsen, Department of Animal Science, telephone: (+45) 8715 7895 email: HanneDamgaard.Poulsen@agrsci.dk

(Text: Janne Hansen, janne.hansen@agrsci.dk)
Source: Aarhus University

Company update: Cargill Q1

//18 Oct 2011
Cargill Inc. reported a 66% slide in first-quarter profit as volatile markets limited opportunities for the world's largest agricultural commodity trader, though revenue rose by a third.
The privately held US conglomerate said four of its five business units reported lower earnings compared with a year ago as it reported its second straight quarter of decline.

Cargill said it was focused on regaining momentum in earnings after reporting a record full-year profit for fiscal 2011.

"It was a tough quarter," Cargill CEO Greg Page said in a statement. "With results down from recent levels, we're focused on regaining our earnings momentum."

Commodity markets have swung wildly in recent months as global economic uncertainty and currency fluctuations have prompted investors to move money in and out of commodities. This "risk-on, risk-off" dynamic prompted a "disciplined approach to risk-taking," the company said in a release.

The suburban Minneapolis-based company's earnings were also hit by acquisition-related expenses and costs stemming from US flooding, which increased freight costs and required it to take steps to protect the supply chain.

Flooding throughout the northern Plains, particularly along the Missouri River, was a problem throughout the summer.

Profit down
For the quarter ended Aug. 31, Cargill, whose diverse businesses range from grain merchandising to meat processing to energy trading, posted a profit of $236 million, down from $693 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 34% to $34.6 billion.

Cargill, like other US agricultural exporters, has benefited from rising food prices and the expanding middle class in emerging economies such as China and India.

Its agriculture services segment, which includes grain handling and storage, reported increased earnings in the quarter.

But earnings fell in the grain origination and processing segment and its animal protein business. The company's food ingredients segment "nearly matched" a record performance last year, the company said. Cargill doesn't disclose earnings results within each segment.

Acquisitions
Cargill recently made a series of acquisitions across Asia, North and South America, culminating in one of its largest ever takeovers--the €1.5 billion purchase of Dutch animal feed maker Provimi Group.

The company invested more than $3 billion in acquisitions and expansions in the prior fiscal year, a record for the company.

17 October 2011

Outlook ‘neutral’ for EU broiler production

//17 Oct 2011
Stronger demand for poultry meat, but continued high prices for feed and fuel paint a relatively neutral picture for broiler producers over the next 12 months.
The Short Term Outlook for all commodities, covering 2011 and 2012, has been produced for the first time by EU Commission experts and will be compiled three times a year.

Overall, it suggests the macroeconomic situation in the EU and worldwide is improving slightly, with "steady, albeit fragile growth in GDP, a slow reduction in the unemployment rate and an increase in population".

This is expected to benefit demand meat - and chicken in particular - which would "remain on an upswing, while beef consumption is expected to decline further".

"After a 2.4% increase in 2010, EU poultrymeat production is expected to remain at the same level in 2011 and increase again slightly in 2012, mainly triggered by a higher EU domestic demand," the report states.

"World demand for poultry meat is growing, which will benefit EU exports to third countries. It is expected that poultrymeat exports will increase by 18.8% in 2011 and decrease by 1.6% in 2012.
"Chicken is expected to continue benefiting from its 'cheapest meat' image and, overall, EU poultrymeat consumption is expected to increase slightly (by 0.8%) in 2012."

But the report warns that prices for energy and protein feed components, and other essential feed ingredients, have been increasing since 2010 and are expected to remain at elevated levels.

Source: FWi

Charoen Pokphand Food has eyes on Melbourne

//17 Oct 2011
Thai food-processing giant Charoen Pokphand Foods has chosen Melbourne as its base to expand exports of primary produce from Australia to its factories in Thailand.
Charoen Pokphand Group (CP), which imports $200 million of Australian wheat each year, is in the process of setting up local operations as it hopes to expand and source meat, seafood, dairy and other products.

CP Australia's general manager Richard Lewis said the aim was to diversify operations and source produce directly from Australia rather than through intermediaries.

The company's target is to export at least $50 million in additional food produce by the end of next year.

CP, which has annual global turnover of $30 billion with 19 offices worldwide, will open an office at Docklands next month.

As it grows, it will employ primary industry specialists in meat, dairy and seafood.

Lewis said CP saw huge potential in Australia's beef and lamb industries, but also hoped to export poultry, despite already being Asia's largest producer of chickens.

Supermarkets
Another ‘new’ venture of CP will be its re-entrance into the supermarket business after having been withdrawn from it for more than a decade.
The CP Food Market will be launched in the Thai capital of Bangkok this month.

“The retail venture will not only draw on the strong market for necessary daily goods, but will also be a distribution channel for the group's food products,” says Supat Srithanathorn, senior vice-president of CPF.

According to Supat, CP Food Market will be supplied by the group's subsidiaries producing a wide range of foods, including meat, seafood, fruit and vegetables. Products from other suppliers will also be available, as well as a small dining space for customers.

CP now operates two formats — 7-Eleven and CP Fresh Mart — but Supat says the fresh-mart concept provides only food products.

16 October 2011

Lohmann AH expands live vaccine production in US

//13 Oct 2011
To meet ever-increasing customer demand for live vaccines, Lohmann Animal Health International has broken ground on a $6 million expansion project in Winslow, Maine.
Lohmann Animal Health International has produced live vaccines in the US for a number of years, but due to increasing sales globally, there is an immediate need for additional production capacity. The live product line includes vaccines for Avian Encephalomyelitis, Infectious Bursal Disease, Infectious Bronchitis, Newcastle Disease, Infectious Laryngotracheitis, Mycoplama Gallisepticum, and Salmonella Typhimurium.

“The demand for our live vaccines continues to grow, and this expansion is going to give us another 6,000-square-feet of space and allow us to fulfill those global distribution needs more quickly,” Lohmann Animal Health International CEO Dave Zacek said.

The expansion includes a new 4,840-square-foot egg incubation area with new hatchers and setters and a state-of-the-art fumigation system needed for the production of the vaccine. In addition, a 1,120-square-foot space will be added to accommodate a 45,000 vial freeze dryer. The expansion, which will add up to five new employees, is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

In June, Lohmann Animal Health dedicated its new research & development, animal service administration and biological production centers, which were part of a three-year $8.8 million expansion project that began in 2008.

Source: Lohmann Animal Health International

Steps taken towards new coccidiosis vaccine

//14 Oct 2011
Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), among others, have taken the first step in developing a new type of vaccine to protect chickens against coccidiosis, the most important parasite of poultry globally.
A vaccine of this type - based on proteins from the coccidiosis bug rather than being derived from a live parasite - could be produced on a larger scale than is currently possible so could be used to provide much more widespread protection to chicken flocks.

Coccidiosis-causing-parasite
The researchers produced a much more detailed picture of how coccidiosis attacks chickens, uncovering the protein molecules which are secreted onto the surface of the coccidiosis-causing-parasite, Eimeria, that allow it to attach-to and invade cells in a chicken's gut. The scientists also found that when purified and used to inoculate chickens, one of these molecules provided the birds with some protection against coccidiosis and so shows promise as the basis of a new vaccine.

The research was carried out by an international team with funding from BBSRC, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Wellcome Trust. The research is published today (13 October) in the journal PLoS Pathogens and the UK-based research took place at Imperial College London, the Institute for Animal Health, the University of Oxford and the Royal Veterinary College.

Cost of coccidiosis
Professor Fiona Tomley of the Royal Veterinary College said "Coccidiosis is the most important parasite of poultry globally. Conservative estimates by the EU put the annual worldwide cost of coccidiosis at over £1billion so controlling it is very important economically but it is also valuable for improving the health and welfare of chickens."

Currently, coccidiosis is treated with antimicrobial drugs or using a vaccine derived from a live parasite. Both of these methods are problematic as drug resistance is widespread and the vaccine is relatively expensive to produce so cannot be used on a wide, preventative scale. Vaccines for some other diseases are based on single proteins rather than killed versions of the disease-causing bug. These so-called 'recombinant vaccines' offer a number of advantages over killed-disease vaccines as they are safer and can be produced more cheaply and quickly and on an industrial scale.

Related websites:
Imperial College London
The Institute for Animal Health
BBSRC

Belgium declared free of Aujeszky’s Disease

//10 Oct 2011
According to reports the European Commission has officially stated that Belgium is now free of Aujeszky’s Disease. The country's new recognition comes following the unanimous decision by the European Commission...
Because of the country being declared free of the disease, pork and pig exports to Germany will be easier - the price per piglet will reduce by about €5.

The Belgian food agency FAVV requested the official status at the European authorities in May. Belgium now has the same status as the countries surrounding it.

About the disease
Aujeszky’s Disease, also know as Pseudorabies is a viral disease in swine that is endemic in most parts of the world. The virus is shed in the saliva and nasal secretions of infected swine and is spread through oral or nasal contact. Aerosolization of the virus and transmission by fomites also may occur. The virus may potentially survive for seven hours in humid air and spread up to two kilometers. Furthermore, it may survive on well water for up to seven hours, in green grass, soil, and feces for up to two days, in contaminated feed for up to three days, and in straw bedding for up to four days.

Swine are usually asymptomatic, but PRV can cause abortion, high mortality in piglets, and coughing, sneezing, fever, constipation, depression, seizures, ataxia, circling, and excess salivation in piglets and mature pigs. Mortality in piglets less than one month of age is close to 100 percent, but it is less than 10 percent in pigs between one and six months of age. Pregnant swine can reabsorb their litters; deliver mummified, stillborn, or weakened piglets. (Wikipedia)

US poultry industries support ethanol review legislation

//10 Oct 2011
Representatives from the livestock and poultry industries have joined forces to commend US Representatives Bob Goodlatte and Jim Costa for introducing the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) Flexibility Act.
The legislation calls for a twice annual review of the corn stocks-to-use ratio. If the ratio falls below a threshold of 10%, the RFS could be reduced. The groups said the legislation will provide relief in times of tight corn supplies while also ensuring there is enough corn to meet the demand from all end-users.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the National Chicken Council (NCC), the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and the National Turkey Federation (NTF) participated in a press conference hosted by Reps. Goodlatte and Costa to introduce the legislation. The groups raised concerns about the impact tight feed supplies and high feed prices, partially because of the RFS, have had on livestock and poultry producers.

“The nation’s inventory of corn has fallen to critically low levels and will most likely fall further to only about two and a half weeks’ worth of corn on hand”, said Bill Roenigk NCC senior vice president and chief economist. “This is due primarily to the enormous draw on the corn crop by ethanol producers – about 40 percent of the total. Chicken producers are facing corn shortages while ethanol producers are actually exporting corn-based ethanol to other countries.”

High cost of corn
“In North Carolina, a thousand plant workers lost their jobs last month and 150 farm families no longer have contracts to grow chickens because a chicken company was forced to close due to the high cost of corn. Is it fair to family farmers who have grown chickens for generations to risk foreclosure and the loss of the family homestead so that ethanol can continue to be exported?”

“While no one item is a silver bullet to fixing the low corn stock problem, the National Turkey Federation applauds Reps. Goodlatte and Costa for introducing legislation that will help alleviate the tight corn stocks and protect livestock and poultry producers from excessively high prices caused by the government mandates that divert nearly half the nation’s corn into the fuel supply,” said NTF President Joel Brandenberger.

“For many years, the turkey industry has been looking to reform the existing ethanol policy and commends this forward thinking legislative proposal. The proposal would put a safety net in place that ensures the availability of corn and reduces price volatility in the future. The Renewable Fuels Standard should be reevaluated by creating a policy that provides practical, automatic and meaningful protection against a poor corn harvest. We look forward to working with Congressman Goodlatte and Costa and appreciate their leadership.”

Related websites:
National Chicken Council
National Turkey Federation

13 October 2011

US Congress passes pending free trade agreements

//13 Oct 2011
US Congress has approved the proposed free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama ending a four-year drought in the forming of new trade partnerships.
In rapid succession, the House and Senate voted on the three trade pacts, which the administration says could boost exports by $13 billion and support tens of thousands of American jobs. None of the votes were close, despite opposition from labor groups and other critics of free trade agreements who say they result in job losses and ignore labor rights problems in the partner countries.

President Barack Obama said passage of the agreements was "a major win for American workers and businesses."

The agreements would lower or eliminate tariffs that American exporters face in the three countries. They also take steps to better protect intellectual property and improve access for American investors in those countries. The agreement with South Korea, the world's 13th largest economy, was the biggest such deal since the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada in 1994.

Korean President Lee Myung-bak said that the agreement would "send a powerful message to the world that the United States and South Korea stand together in rejecting protectionism and that we are open to free and fair trade."

In a statement US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said “Passage of the agreements levels the playing field and secures markets for America’s farmers, ranchers, growers and producers,” said. “Immediately upon implementation of these agreements, the majority of American products exported to Korea, Colombia and Panama will become duty-free. Swift action by Congress also helped us to maintain an advantage on competitors striking their own trade deals with these nations.

“The trade agreements will also strengthen what has been a bright spot in the American economy. With record agricultural exports supporting more than a million jobs here at home, passage of these deals will contribute to a positive US trade balance, create jobs, and provide new income opportunities for our nation’s agricultural producers, small businesses, and rural communities.”

The United States has free trade relations with 17 nations. It could still take several months to work out the final formalities before the current agreements go into force. The South Korean parliament is expected to sign off on its agreement this month.

Source: The Associated Press

80% top pig nutritionists: 30 pigs weaned per sow/year is realistic

//13 Oct 2011
Performance vs. Profit – Why can’t we have both? This was the question addressed by 110 top industry professionals at Alltech’s Pig Solutions Seminar, held in Alltech’s European Bioscience Centre in Dunboyne, Ireland on the 11th of October 2011.
The seminar looked at how drastic changes in the human population, such as Asia’s growing middle class and an extra 200,000 people globally per day will affect the pork industry. Specifically, it focused on how to adjust existing paradigms to keep up with the new demand for meat while staying profitable.


“A change of focus is required,” said Patrick Charlton, Alltech’s European regional director, “70% of the growth in global meat demand will come from Asia. Who will produce this meat? Europe has held its ground in terms of technical development and ability but Brazil and the USA continue to have the lowest cost of production. It’s time for all regions to find the performance-profit balance to be able to provide for this new population dynamic and keep pork as the number 1 global animal protein.”

Key messages from each of the six speakers:
“The global food system will experience an unprecedented confluence of pressures over the next 20 years. Our challenge is to produce more for the growing population; produce better with a focus on food safety, health and wellness; and to do this with fewer resources and an emphasis on sustainability and animal well being” – Dr. Luciano Roppa, Provimi, Brazil.

“These are new concepts that do not necessarily fit into our classical understanding of nutrition or our current nutritional experience. However, with proper implementation, programmed nutrition can give us improved carcass characteristics, altered meat composition and consistency, antibiotic-free nutrition, improved shelf life and moisture content, without compromising the cost of production.” – Dr. Karl Dawson, vice president and chief scientific officer, Alltech, USA.

“Amino acid requirements are greater in late than in early and mid gestation and greater in younger than in older sows. Energy requirement increases in late gestation. Parity-segregated phase feeding means the right amounts of nutrients at the right time. It saves on feed cost, improves production and results in improved production economics.” – Dr. Soenke Moehn, University of Alberta, Canada.

“Our main finding is that you can predict the extent of heat damage in any feed ingredient if you calculate the lysine to crude protein ratio. This is very easy to utilise in the field, all you need is a standard for each ingredient. If you realise that you have a lower lysine to crude protein ratio, then you know that you need to add extra synthetic lysine; allowing you to maintain performance by reducing variability.” – Prof. Hans Stein, University of Illinois, USA.

“Diseases go where pigs go. Long distance pig movements will complicate disease control and prevention. In addition, high density pig production increases disease complexity and the evolution of more virulent diseases. Rigorous monitoring for changes in herd immune status, and identification of virus strains is essential for making strategic decisions for control and prevention.” Prof. Michael Murtaugh, University of Minnesota, USA.

“We increasingly realise that the boundaries of the pig, for example growth capacity or disease susceptibility, are programmed by its early nutrient supply. Better understanding and quantification of the mechanisms involved will help us to develop customised feeding programmes that further improve the health and performance of the animals” – Dr. Paul Bikker, Wageningen UR Livestock Research, The Netherlands.

110 top industry professionals attended the Alltech Pig Solutions Seminar, of those surveyed:
•80% believe that 30 pigs weaned per sow per year is realistic.
•Opinions were divided over whether the carbon footprint of pork will become increasingly important over the next decade, with 69% agreeing that it will be increasingly important and 20% disagreeing.
•88% of attendees agree that managing herd health is one of the industry’s biggest challenges.
•In terms of programmed nutrition and metabolic imprinting, 23% think that it will impact greatly on feed efficiency alone and 44% think that it will impact greatly on feed efficiency, pig health and product quality.
•Attendees were divided again on the issue of feed costs, with 57% agreeing that low feed costs are a thing of the past and 35% disagreeing with this statement.
•35% think that the recent contamination scares in China will result in more stringent regulations enforced on feed suppliers, animal producers and processors.
•29.5% also think that the contamination scare will make consumers more aware of potential contaminants within the food chain.
Photo caption: Left to Right: Prof. Michael Murtaugh, University of Minnesota; Prof. Hans Stein, University of Illinois; Dr. Jules Taylor-Pickard, Alltech and Dr. Luciano Roppa, Provimi pictured at the Alltech Pig Solutions Seminar – Pushing the Boundaries: Performance vs. Profit, which took place in Dunboyne, Ireland on Tuesday, 11 October 2011.

12 October 2011

Vietnamese feed firms face lack of raw materials

//12 Oct 2011
The shortage in national produced raw materials has caused numerous difficulties to domestic animal feed production, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade in Vietnam.
The ministry affirmed that due to the shortage, production had mainly depended on imported raw material.

The volume of domestic corn could meet only 70% of demand and soybean supply is satisfying only 5-10%.

A ministerial report revealed that around 70% of raw material used to produce feed in Vietnam was imported from the US, India and Argentina. This means that pricing of the feeds also is affected by world figures.

Furthermore, when importing raw material, feed manufacturers had to pay transportation costs, causing prices to be around 15-20% higher than usual.

Support local production
To solve the problem, the Vietnam Animal Feed Association suggested that the Government push the development of raw material locally.

Additionally, the Government was called on to boost technological investment to curb the importation of expensive machines.

Association chairman Le Ba Lich proposed that farmers be given financial support, including low interest rates, to enable them to upgrade storage systems and improve the quality of agricultural production.

In this way, Vietnam could limit its dependence on imported raw material, Lich said.

Foreign invested mills dominate market
Currently, Vietnam has 233 feed manufacturers, of which around 50 are foreign-invested and 11 are joint ventures. The remaining firms are all domestic.

Foreign-invested companies dominate 60% of the entire market share.

While in the first nine months of this year manufacturers managed to produce 7.9 million tonnes of feed, it is expected that, in the last quarter, an additional 4 million tonnes will be added.
Source: VNS

Review: Future of enzyme use is promising

//11 Oct 2011
Olayiwola Adeola (Purdue University, USA) and Aaron Cowieson (University of Sydney, Australia) recently reviewed the opportunities and challenges in using exogenous enzymes to improve non-ruminant animal production in the Journal of Animal Science.
This review is an attempt to summarize current thinking in this area, provide some clarity in nomenclature and mechanisms, and suggest opportunities for expanded exploitation of this unique biotechnology.

Diets fed to non-ruminant animals are composed mainly of feed ingredients of plant origin. A variety of anti-nutritional factors such as phytin, non-starch polysaccharides (NSP), and protease inhibitors may be present in these feed ingredients, which could limit nutrients that may be utilized by animals fed such diets.

The primary nutrient utilization-limiting effect of phytin arises from the binding of 6 phosphate groups, thus making the P unavailable to the animal.

The negative charges allow for formation of insoluble phytin-metal complexes with many divalent cations.

Furthermore, phytin and protein can form binary complexes through electrostatic links of its charged phosphate groups with either the free amino group on amino acids on proteins or via formation of ternary complexes of phytin, Ca2+, and protein.

Phytin complexes
The form and extent of de novo formation of binary and ternary complexes of phytin and protein are likely to be important variables that influence the effectiveness of nutrient hydrolysis in plant-based diets.

Non-starch polysaccharides reduce effective energy and nutrient utilization by non-ruminant animals because of a lack of the enzymes needed for breaking down the complex cell wall structure that encapsulate other nutrients.

Enzymes are used in non-ruminant animal production to promote growth and efficiency of nutrient utilization and reduce nutrient excretion. The enzymes used include those that target phytin and NSPs.

Phytase improves growth and enhances P utilization, but positive effects on other nutrients are not always observed.

NSP-hydrolyzing enzymes are less consistent in their effects on growth and nutrient utilization, although they show promise and it is imperative to closely match both types and amounts of NSPs with appropriate enzyme for beneficial effects.

When used together with phytase, NSP-hydrolyzing enzymes may increase the accessibility of phytase to phytin encapsulated in cell walls.

The future of enzymes in non-ruminant animal production is promising and will likely include an understanding of the role of enzyme supplementation in promoting health as well as how enzymes may modulate gene functions.

UK: NFU calls for ban on illegal egg trade

//12 Oct 2011
UK farming unions are urging the government to introduce a unilateral trade ban on eggs from EU countries that fail to meet new welfare rules for laying hens which come into force next year.
The call comes following comments made by European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Affairs, John Dalli, who said he was pushing for an intra-community trade ban even though no legal basis had been granted to take such a measure. He also vowed to take infraction procedures against non-compliant member states.

Too little, too late
But Katy Lee, spokesman for the UK farming unions in Brussels, said the Commission was doing too little, too late and instead urged the UK government to take the initiative with a unilateral ban on illegal eggs.

“If commissioner Dalli believes an intra-community trade ban is the right way forward we need to get legal backing and member state support – and fast,” she said.

“It is essential that those UK producers who have invested heavily in conversion to enriched cages in order to meet the requirements of the Welfare of Laying Hens Directive are not put at a commercial disadvantage through imported non-compliant eggs.

“While the Commission can begin infraction proceedings against member states who are failing to comply, we are concerned that this process will be slow and the level of fine not enough to be enough to act as a deterrent and ensure compliance.

Illegal eggs
“The bottom line is that the commission has figures on which member states will still have hens in conventional cages but they still do not have a plan to deal with illegal eggs.

“We are therefore urging the government to work with the non-compliant states to ensure that illegal eggs do not enter the UK market place.”

Commissioner Dalli also publically named and shamed 12 member states – including France, Italy and Spain – that have either continuously failed to provide data on their cage systems or are expected to still be producing eggs from non-enriched battery cages in 2012.

Poultry farmer protests
Meanwhile UK poultry farmers are considering protesting over the rules which could see illegal eggs from battery-caged hens being imported into the UK from Europe. Union president Peter Kendall said poultry farmers were furious over the new European Commission rules which have no way of checking whether member states comply.

“Producers are right to be furious,” Kendall said. “The Commisison has been in downright denial and now is starting to realise the problems at the 11th hour. Farmers are willing to campaign on this next January if imports are allowed in.”

Source: NFU

Thailand: Charoen Pokphand Group to relaunch its CP Food Market

//10 Oct 2011
After withdrawing from the supermarket business for more than a decade, the Charoen Pokphand Group will relaunch its CP Food Market this month with the relaunch of its first two markets in Bangkok this month.
The retail venture, the channel for CPFs group food products will be the distribution branch of the group's food products, says Supat Srithanathorn, the groups SET-listed flagship senior vice president, including meat, seafood, fruit and vegetables and products from other suppliers.


The future expansion of CP Fresh Mart stores will target crowded communities and walking streets in urban areas and is part of an effort to lift CPF's overall sales to 210-220 billion baht by the end 2011, up from 190 billion last year, he says.

(By Joyce Rainat)

10 October 2011

US poultry industries support ethanol review legislation

//10 Oct 2011
Representatives from the livestock and poultry industries have joined forces to commend US Representatives Bob Goodlatte and Jim Costa for introducing the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) Flexibility Act.
The legislation calls for a twice annual review of the corn stocks-to-use ratio. If the ratio falls below a threshold of 10%, the RFS could be reduced. The groups said the legislation will provide relief in times of tight corn supplies while also ensuring there is enough corn to meet the demand from all end-users.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the National Chicken Council (NCC), the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and the National Turkey Federation (NTF) participated in a press conference hosted by Reps. Goodlatte and Costa to introduce the legislation. The groups raised concerns about the impact tight feed supplies and high feed prices, partially because of the RFS, have had on livestock and poultry producers.

“The nation’s inventory of corn has fallen to critically low levels and will most likely fall further to only about two and a half weeks’ worth of corn on hand”, said Bill Roenigk NCC senior vice president and chief economist. “This is due primarily to the enormous draw on the corn crop by ethanol producers – about 40 percent of the total. Chicken producers are facing corn shortages while ethanol producers are actually exporting corn-based ethanol to other countries.”

High cost of corn
“In North Carolina, a thousand plant workers lost their jobs last month and 150 farm families no longer have contracts to grow chickens because a chicken company was forced to close due to the high cost of corn. Is it fair to family farmers who have grown chickens for generations to risk foreclosure and the loss of the family homestead so that ethanol can continue to be exported?”

“While no one item is a silver bullet to fixing the low corn stock problem, the National Turkey Federation applauds Reps. Goodlatte and Costa for introducing legislation that will help alleviate the tight corn stocks and protect livestock and poultry producers from excessively high prices caused by the government mandates that divert nearly half the nation’s corn into the fuel supply,” said NTF President Joel Brandenberger.

“For many years, the turkey industry has been looking to reform the existing ethanol policy and commends this forward thinking legislative proposal. The proposal would put a safety net in place that ensures the availability of corn and reduces price volatility in the future. The Renewable Fuels Standard should be reevaluated by creating a policy that provides practical, automatic and meaningful protection against a poor corn harvest. We look forward to working with Congressman Goodlatte and Costa and appreciate their leadership.”

Related websites:
National Chicken Council
National Turkey Federation

African swine fever is under control in Russia

//07 Oct 2011
The actions aimed at preventing the spread of African swine fever has seen a positive effect. Currently, veterinary services are succeeding in containing the infection in some states of the Russian Federation, this was announced at the latest meeting of Antiepizootic commission composed of government officials, heads of health departments, Rospotrebnadzor, and some veterinary agencies.
The committee members discussed the plan of further measures to further prevent the spread of the virus in new districts.

Substantial progress has been made in Tver region and the Leningrad region, where according to veterinarians the measures were timely and have helped to completely eliminate the risk of virus spread, not only to the households, but also to wild nature. However according to experts it is too early to relax.


According to experts, the main reason for the spread of African swine fever in the recent months was the unauthorised transportation of pork products and live pigs from regions where the virus outbreaks were been detected, as well as use in infected food waste in animal feeding.


Nowadays the problem is solved partly solved. In order to avoid dangerous situations, the Antiepizootic Commission monitoring the status of wild boars. In the near future an awareness education program will be launched with private farms, so that the most effective ways to prevent animals infection can be considered.


Currently, the Krasnodar region is where veterinary services are actively struggling with the ASF. The last outbreak was recorded here in the region in September.

(By Vladislav Vorotnikov)

Welfarists unhappy with EU illegal egg solution

//07 Oct 2011
Animal welfare groups have condemned attempts by EU health commissioner John Dalli to compromise over the problem of illegal eggs from 1 January 2012 when the conventional cage ban takes effect.
Speaking in Brussels, Dalli said he was looking for a "political solution" that would prevent illegal eggs from leaving the member state in which they were produced and ensuring they only went for processing.

But Compassion in World Farming said that will mean illegal eggs could still be sold after the ban on barren battery cages comes into force. "This is completely the wrong message to be sending out at this time and makes a mockery of this legislation - the deadline for which egg producers across Europe have been aware of for more than a decade," said CIWF's chief policy adviser Peter Stevenson.

"Legalising the sale of illegally produced battery eggs in the member state of production for processing would result in non-compliant farmers in countries such as Spain and Poland having a reduced incentive to move away from battery cages."

Eurogroup for Animals said it too was "shocked". "By allowing producers to flagrantly break the law and continue selling illegally produced eggs, the commission is undermining its own legislation and credibility," said Sonja Van Tichelen, director of Eurogroup for Animals. "Not only is animal welfare being ignored here, but the whole idea of a common market is being challenged."

UKIP MEP Stuart Agnew said British egg producers had been completely let down. "All the commissioner has done is to promise that an inspectorate will be created and that infraction proceedings will be started against non-compliant countries. "These measures will be of little or no help. The inspectorate will hardly know where to start as no fewer than five member states have to date provided the commission with absolutely no information about their efforts to comply with the legislation."

The EU agreed on the battery cage ban back in 1999, but Commission figures for April 2011 showed that about 144 million laying hens - more than a third of the EU total - were still being kept in battery cages. The Commission will send inspectors to selected member states from January to assess their compliance with the ban, Dalli said.

Source: www.fwi.co.uk

07 October 2011

Study: More DDGS possible in laying hen diets

//05 Oct 2011
High corn and soybean prices have made the search for ways to decrease poultry feed costs more important than ever. According to the Poultry Science Association (PSA), researchers at the University of Nebraska have identified one possible approach that may be effective for laying hens: increasing the percentage of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) used in hens’ diets.
DDGS serve as a valuable source of energy, protein and amino acids in poultry diets. The researchers – Drs. Mahmoud Masa’deh, Sheila Purdum, and Katherine Hanford – detail their findings in a recent issue of the journal Poultry Science (“Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles in Laying Hen Diets”; Poult. Sci. 2011 90: 1960-1966).

Affordable poultry feed
“Dried distillers grains with solubles have previously been shown to be a valuable and, especially given current prices of corn and soybean meal, affordable ingredient in poultry diets. Current usage levels of DDGS in poultry diets typically range from 5% up to 10%. What our recent study has shown is that growers can safely explore levels of DDGS in their diets for laying hens up to 15%, and perhaps as high as 25%, with no negative effects on feed intake, egg production, or other key metrics, and with improved yolk colour at the higher levels,” said Dr. Purdum, one of the study’s authors.

The research team’s study comprised two egg production phases, during which diets were formulated to include 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25% corn DDGS. The only difference between the diets in Phase 1 (week 24-46) and Phase 2 (week 47-76) was that in Phase 1, the diets were formulated on a fixed lysine and TSAA (total sulphur amino acids) level. During the second phase, the diets were designed to keep lysine and methionine at a fixed level, but the TSAA levels were allowed to increase due to higher cysteine levels in DDGS.

DDGS Concentration
The researchers found that neither feed intake nor egg production were affected by dietary DDGS concentration in either phase of the study. In Phase 1, however, researchers observed that increases in DDGS levels correlated with a roughly linear decrease in egg weight. However, the negative correlation between DDGS and egg weight was not seen in Phase 2 of the study.

According to the study’s authors, differences in amino acid levels and potential bioavailability as well as changing amino acid balance in Phases 1 and 2 could have been the reason for the reduction in egg weight only during Phase 1.

The authors found no differences in Haugh units due to DDGS levels in either production phase. In addition, the authors observed a linear increase in the retention of nitrogen and phosphorous with increasing levels of DDGS; the output per kilogram (as measured in the hens’ excreta) of these elements, however, decreased linearly as DDGS increased. This result is opposite to what was reported by other researchers, whose work focused on broiler chicks.

Egg yolk colour
One difference the researchers consistently found throughout the study was that egg yolk colour increased linearly with increased dietary levels of DDGS, reaching its greatest Roche colour fan score of 7.2 in eggs from hens fed the diet containing 25% DDGS. According to the authors, this indicates that xanthophylls in the DDGS were “highly available.” They also point out that the xanthophyll content of dried distillers grains with solubles is approximately three times that of corn by weight (34 mg/kg vs. 10.62 mg/kg, respectively). This finding may be useful for producers selling eggs in markets where there is a consumer preference for increased yolk pigmentation.

Source: Poultry Science Association (PSA)

EFSA: First stage completed for the modernisation of pig meat inspection

//06 Oct 2011
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has completed the first stage of a major piece of work that will provide the scientific basis for the modernisation of meat inspection across the EU.
In May 2010 the European Commission asked EFSA to deliver a series of Scientific Opinions on public health hazards – biological and chemical – to be addressed by meat inspection. The Authority was also requested to provide a summary of comparable data on specific food-borne hazards in the Member States that would enable risk managers to adapt meat inspection procedures to national requirements. EFSA’s experts were asked to consider the implications for animal health and welfare of any proposed changes to current inspection practices.

To fulfil this complex mandate, EFSA has drawn on its expertise in a wide range of fields within its scientific remit and has broken up the work into six sets of Scientific Opinions and Scientific Reports. The first set covers the inspection of swine and is published today.

As well as identifying and ranking the main risks for public health, the scientific experts on EFSA’s panels were asked to: assess the strengths and weaknesses of the current inspection methodology; recommend methods that take into account the hazards not addressed by current meat inspection; and recommend adaptations of methods and/or frequency of inspections based on the hazard rankings and harmonised epidemiological indicators.

In the area of biological hazards, the food-borne hazards Salmonella, Yersinia enterocolitica, Toxoplasma gondii and Trichinella were identified as priority targets in the inspection of swine meat at abattoir level, due to their prevalence and impact on human health. It was concluded that current inspection methods do not enable the early detection of the first three of these hazards and, more broadly, do not differentiate food safety aspects from meat quality aspects, prevention of animal diseases or occupational hazards.

The main recommendations on biological hazards are to:
• Omit the use of palpation and/or incision techniques in post-mortem inspection of pigs subject to routine slaughter because of the risk of bacterial cross-contamination.
• Introduce a comprehensive pork carcass safety assurance framework, combining a range of preventive measures applied on-farm and at-abattoir in an integrated way as this is the only means to ensure an effective control of the main hazards.
• Collect and analyse food chain information (FCI) at herd and abattoir levels to enable a more location-specific assessment of risk.

In the area of animal health and welfare, it was noted that the abolition of palpation and/or incision would lead to a reduction in detection of some diseases but that in cases where several organs are affected, this effect was likely to be minimal. To mitigate the reduced detection probability of the proposed modified system, experts recommend that palpation and/or incision should be conducted as a follow-up to a visual inspection showing abnormalities. The necessity of meat inspection, both ante- and post-mortem - as shown in the 2001 UK Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak - in the overall surveillance system for swine health and welfare, was also highlighted. However, the experts recognised that surveillance information is currently underutilised.

In the area of contaminants, dioxins, dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls and the antibiotic chloramphenicol were identified as chemical substances of high potential concern in pork, based on pre-defined criteria. However, it was concluded that chemical substances at the concentrations found in swine meat are unlikely to pose an immediate or short-term health risk for consumers.

The experts recommend:
• the development of risk-based sampling strategies that differentiate between farms producing pigs under conditions of fully implemented HACCP-based protocols and with complete FCI, and farms with less stringent quality control procedures.

• the encouragement of ad hoc amendments to sampling plans to take account of emerging substances in the food chain.

• and the inclusion of ante- and post-mortem inspection criteria to identify illicit use of substances and encourage analysis at farm level.

EFSA also proposed harmonised epidemiological indicators for food-borne hazards that are covered by existing meat inspection procedures as well as the highlighted biological hazards. The indicators would be particularly useful in the context of the proposed pork carcass safety assurance framework, enabling the categorisation of farms, herds and slaughterhouses according to risk as well as the setting of targets for final chilled carcasses. They would also help risk managers in the European Commission and Member States to decide whether adaptations in inspection methods may be relevant.

• Scientific Opinion on the public health hazards to be covered by inspection of meat (swine)

• Technical specifications on harmonised epidemiological indicators for public health hazards to be covered by meat inspection of swine

Source: EFSA

Pork Checkoff: Producers and workers should get flu vaccination

//05 Oct 2011
As the United States enters another flu season, the Pork Checkoff is advising producers, farm personnel and others who have contact with pigs to get the seasonal flu vaccination as soon as possible to help protect human and pig health.
"It's always wise for producers and swine farm workers to reduce the risk of getting sick and bringing the flu to the farm or workplace by getting vaccinated," said Jennifer Koeman, director of producer and public health for the Pork Checkoff. "It also demonstrates the industry's 'We Care' approach to protecting employees, animals and public health."

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, all people over the age of 6 months of age should be immunized for influenza each year.

"People may remain contagious for up to five to seven days after getting sick," Koeman said. "That's why it's so crucial that employers have a sick-leave policy that encourages those experiencing symptoms of influenza-like illness to stay home."

At the farm level, good building ventilation and good hygiene can help reduce transmission of flu viruses.

"To prevent pigs and humans from other species' influenza viruses, producers also should look at bird-proofing their buildings, protecting feed from birds and enforcing biosecurity practices, such as the use of farm-specific clothing and footwear," Koeman said.

According to Lisa Becton, Pork Checkoff's director of swine health information and research, "It's very important to monitor your herd's health daily and contact your herd veterinarian if influenza is suspected. Rapid detection of influenza can help producers and their veterinarians implement appropriate strategies to better manage sick pigs."

Additional general flu-related information can be found at www.cdc.gov/flu. The Pork Checkoff also has a factsheet on influenza, "Influenza: Pigs, People and Public Health."

New USDA stocks data decreases grain price estimates

//06 Oct 2011
Goldman Sachs downgraded its grain price forecasts, after higher-than-expected US stocks data last week eased fears of a shortfall of corn supplies.
Grain analyst Damien Courvalin slashed his estimates for Chicago corn prices over the next three- to six-months to $6.15 a bushel from $7.35/bu and to $5.50/bu from $7.00/bu over the next year, citing data from the US Department of Agriculture showing inventories "well above our and consensus expectations."

For wheat, he lowered estimates from $7.50/bu, $7.90/bu and $7.50/bu to $6.40/bu, $6.50/bu and $6.00/bu on the back of both lower-than-expected corn prices and consensus-beating wheat stocks.

Grain prices plummeted Friday after the USDA stunned markets by pegging domestic corn inventories at 1.128 billion bushels as of Sept. 1--23% higher than a forecast released a fortnight ago by a different division of the USDA and well above market forecasts of below 1 billion bushels.

Significantly, stocks of wheat, a key corn feed substitute, also came in well above market expectations at 2.15 billion bushels, implying that recent high prices had started to reduce demand more than many had predicted.

"We expect these higher 2011-12 corn beginning stocks to more than offset our forecast for lower new-crop corn production and allow for both stronger demand and higher ending stocks than we had previously expected," said Courvalin in a note.

Meanwhile the "the recent record-high wheat-to-corn price correlation will likely decline" as higher supplies encourage less substitution, he said.

Soybeans less affected
The data was also bearish enough for Courvalin to downgrade Goldman's top bullish call, soybeans.

He cut his price forecasts from $13.75/bu, $14.00/bu and $14.00/bu over the next three, six and 12 months to $12.60/bu, $13.00/bu and $13.00/bu respectively.

But he said that he expected soybean prices to outperform corn as "the tightening of the soybean balance relative to the corn balance will likely intensify the competition for U.S. acreage next spring," while the La Nina weather pattern this spring could present further world production risks.

China bans production and sale of clenbuterol

//06 Oct 2011
China has banned the production, sale and use of clenbuterol tablets, a medicine used to treat bronchial asthma that has also been illegally used by farmers to make their pigs leaner.
The decision was made after an overall consideration of the risks of drug abuse and the drug's clinical value and safety risks, the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) said.

Existing clenbuterol tablets will be destroyed under the supervision of local food and drug authorities.

Compound clenbuterol, as well as aerosol and powdered forms of the drug, do not fall under the ban, as they are considered safe to use as prescription drugs under a doctor's guidance, according to the SFDA.

The ban will not affect bronchial asthma patients who are currently receiving the tablet form of the drug, as they can replace the drug with other medicines such as salbutamol and terbutaline, the SFDA said.

A total of 989 people involved in the manufacture and sale of clenbuterol were arrested as of the end of August, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

The SFDA said that all clenbuterol supplies involved in the food safety violations were produced by underground drug factories and did not come from licensed pharmaceutical

05 October 2011

Ceva acquires Canadian poultry vaccine manufacturer

//05 Oct 2011
Ceva Sante Animale has acquired Vetech Laboratories, a Canadian poultry vaccine manufacturer.
Vetech produces live coccidiosis vaccines for poultry under the trade name Immucox. Coccidiosis is a significant disease that can result in high morbidity and reduced feed efficiency in poultry. With the enforced global reduction of in-feed anti-coccidial products, it is likely that vaccines will become even more widespread.

“This move allows Ceva to expand our poultry vaccine range from respiratory to also include intestinal health,” said Marc Prikazsky, CEO of Ceva Sante Animale. “We’re pleased to continue giving our business partners new options for keeping their operations healthy and productive.”

“Bringing the Immucox products into the Ceva portfolio demonstrates our continued commitment to the poultry industry,” said Craig Wallace, director of Ceva’s North American operations. “From coccidiosis to Marek’s to IBD, we are dedicated to helping our partners, and their customers, offer healthy, safe poultry products with the use of innovative vaccines.”

Immucox vaccines for breeders, layers, broilers, roasters and turkeys are now distributed in over 40 countries worldwide. Production of Immucox will remain primarily in Canada. Ceva’s US operations can be scaled, and the company plans to deploy certain technologies in the US with this specific virus strain.

Source: Ceva

Poultry consumption increases 239% in Pakistan

//05 Oct 2011
The consumption of poultry meat in Pakistan has increased 239% in the last 11 years from 322 million tonnes in 1999/2000 to 767 million tonnes in 2010/11, but it is still only 0.7% of the global poultry production, experts have said.
At a seminar organised by Big Bird to commemorate its 20 years association with the global poultry giant Hubbard pioneer of poultry in Pakistan, Dr Yaqoob Bhatti in his paper revealed that the value of poultry infrastructure exceeds Rs300 billion and annual turnover of commercial poultry is Rs40 billion.

With 105 hatcheries, the annual broiler chick production is 820 million, he said, adding that the commercial egg production is 8.690 billion per annum in addition to 3.742 million production of rural eggs.

Pakistan Poultry Association former chairman Abdul Basit said that poultry is the cheapest source of animal protein not only in Pakistan, but the world over. The average daily animal protein consumption in Pakistan is only 17 grams per capita, while the average minimum requirement is 27 grams, he said.

The share of poultry meat consumption increased from 16.4% to 24.3%, he said, adding that the consumption of mutton declined from 0.649 million tons to 0.616 million tonnes, showing a fall of 20% in total meat consumption share.

Source: The News, Paksitan

Breeder chickens show different behaviors

//04 Oct 2011
Behavior patterns for animals develop early in life. Environmental conditions play a significant role in development of social hierarchies. Some aggression is necessary.
However, when female chickens are fearful, they tend to remain on slatted areas. If they do leave the slatted areas, they are often repeatedly mated by several males. This can result in injury or death.

Research on this matter was carried out by the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, AR, USA.
According to researchers S.M. Sullivan and N.B. Anthony, behaviorists contend that years of cage rearing and artificial insemination of elite populations without selection for behavior traits has caused a failure for males to perform enough courtship behaviors and a failure for females to properly respond by crouching.

Many of the factors that affect rate of mating are; dominance, ratio of male to females, specific breed differences, space, accessibility of males to females, how tolerant individual males are to other males, individual differences in libido, learned behaviors and conditioned responses.

Recorded were 26 different behaviors. These behaviors were then combined into 3 aggressive categories and 1 non-aggressive category. It appeared that more aggression occurs at 20% production than at 50% production.

There were differences between male lines and between time periods. There were no differences of individual aggressive behaviors for production periods except for circling (perhaps a precursor to waltzing). Fertility of lines A x White Rock started high and remained high, lines A x A and White Rock x White Rock started high, dropped significantly, and then returned. Mortality of males was the highest for A males crossed on White Rock females.

Interestingly, there were no mortalities for males crossed on the A female line. The female affect on male aggression is quite evident. There are differences due to hen effects among all lines. Best fertility at 20% production in lines crossed with each other and lines crosses with White Rock males. There appear to be minimal differences between commercial broiler lines crossed on White Rock lines, apart from some individual aggressive behaviors.

Source: Proceedings of the 2011 International Poultry Scientific Forum, Atlanta, GA, USA

Improvements in chicken for a sustainable future

//04 Oct 2011
Improvements in chickens related to broiler breeder production, efficiency of broiler growth, environmental improvements and enhanced poultry wellbeing are helping to promote a sustainable future for the world’s poultry industry.
This was stated by Dr. John Hardiman of Cobb-Vantress, during his presentation at the recently held XXII Latin American Poultry congress (ALA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Since the early 1900’s commercial breeding companies have used the science of poultry breeding and genetics to help shape permanent production and wellbeing improvements in broiler parents and their broiler offspring for customers in the US and worldwide, Dr. Hardiman said.

For example, genetic improvements in the Cobb 500 over the last 30 years included a 10% increase in carcass yield, an 11% increase in breast meat percent of live weight and a .60 reduction in feed conversion ratio therefore producing broilers which require 25% less feed per unit gain.

In addition, there has been continuous improvement in reproductive traits while the number of selection traits related to broiler wellbeing and the environment including leg and skeletal health, metabolic disease, broiler livability and feed conversion have been expanded.

Selecting for better nest acceptance

//04 Oct 2011
From January 2012, the EU-wide cage ban for layers will come into practice. This demands a different management approach, specifically for aviary systems, as the behaviour of layers plays a part. Specific selection, such as for nest acceptance, oviposition time and duration of stay in the nest, are important traits for avoiding floor eggs.
In order to meet consumer preferences, breeding goals are constantly being readjusted. A number of different aspects concerning laying performance, egg quality, feed efficiency as well as the health and behaviour of laying hens are considered in the breeding programme of Lohmann Tierzucht (LTZ).

For continuous improvement, more than twenty characteristics are included in the selection index, which is the basis of every breeding programme. In the overall selection index, each characteristic is weighted in relation to market requirements and exactly defined to meet those needs. In recent years, egg producer’s demands for good nesting behaviour, especially nest acceptance, have grown, but until now it has been difficult to record the necessary individual bird information.

In order to obtain these data, LTZ developed a completely new testing system together with the Weihenstephan State Research Centre in Freising, Germany. The so-called “Weihenstephan Funnel Nest Box” (FNB), enables hen specific data recording in a non-cage environment. Based on these data, specific selection on nesting behaviour can be carried out.

An extensive article on this selection programme is published in the nr 8 edition of World Poultry, which will appear this month.

German companies plan better use of sunflower meal

//05 Oct 2011
Three companies are planning an industrial plant in the port of Neuss for recycling of biomass and in particular sunflower cake.
Dortmund based firm SoBlex has plans to build a plant for further processing of extraction cake, which is a by product of sunflower oil production.

With the use of the by SoBlex developed process two product can be manufactured in Neuss harbour. One of them being animal feed. “The cake of sunflower seeds is already in use in animal feeds,” said SoBlex production manager Erhard Bazak.

However, due to the fibrous hulls it is considered a less valuable product which is mainly used in ruminant feeds.

“We split the hulls from the internal seeds,” Bazak said. The inner parts of the seeds are the valuable part of the sunflower and can be fed to fish and other production animals.

Non-GMO
Animal feed from non genetically modified plants is well sought after, according to Bazak. “Especially in England the demand is huge,“ he said.

The hulls then will pelleted and sold as a source of biofuel. “These pellets have the same energy value as wood pellets. Energy efficiency is high,” Bazak said.

Swiss equipment manufacturer Buhler will take care of the technical part of the SoBlex process and German firm Assmann is to build the building.

The business plan of SoBlex also foresees cooperation with companies located in the Neuss harbour. It is planned that Thywissen, which produced rapeseed oil, but also sunflower oil, will supply SoBlex with 60,000 tonnes of sunflower extraction cake in the first year.

Investors wanted
SoBlex production manager Bazak has an ambitious time frame for exploitation of the fallow area in the harbour.”At the end of 2012 we intend to run the first tests at reduced volume.”

Investors are still being sought after and the project will be on display at the Expo Real in Munich. In total the investment is estimated at €50 million.

China looks at GMO technology to boost corn output

//03 Oct 2011
According to a senior Chinese government official, China will focus on raising domestic corn production to meet the rising demand and is testing use of genetically modified organism (GMO) technology to boost output.
"We have approved one type of GMO strain and we're testing to see if they can be applied to boost production," Chen Xiaohua, a vice agricultural minister, said at a press conference.

"GMO technology is the strategic choice of the country in future."

China's rapid demand growth, mainly from its animal feed production, has led to a shortfall over the past two years as domestic production failed to meet demand.

China began importing corn from the United States last year and large export volumes are expected that as the government replenishes its low stockpiles.

Finnish animal feed found to contain banned cow part

//30 Sep 2011
A Finnish food manufacturer, Saarioinen’s, has admitted they have been using cow intestines in animal feed for years. Cow intestines have been banned by officials for fear of carrying mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Saarioinen CEO Ilkka Mäkelä said on Wednesday that the company management recently discovered that cow intestines may have been used in animal feed for years. The practice has, however, now stopped.

The problem was first brought to light by a Finnish Food Safety Authority (Evira) inspector in January. A an internal probe has been launched into how potentially dangerous cow parts came to be mixed into feed. Evira is meanwhile looking into why it did not catch the company's compliance failure at an earlier date.
One case of mad cow disease was detected in Finland in 2001. After the incident, Finland began widespread testing for the disease.

Saarioinen’s slaughterhouse is based in Jyväskylä

04 October 2011

US: Number of pigs increased

//30 Sep 2011
US farms have seen an increase in hogs and pigs, with an upward move of 1%, according to the US Department of Agriculture report which was released this week. The 1% increase is up from a year ago. Other increases were also seen...
The numbers below is as of 1 September 2011.


Expectations surpassed
According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) the size of the US hog and pig herd is 66.6 million head, up 1% from September 2010. This increase reported by the USDA surpasses analysts expectations, as it was thought that the likely growth would be 0.5% more than the previous year.

Anothe increase is the swine breeding herd at 1 September, which came in at 5.81 million head, up 1% from a year ago. Analysts expected about 5.78 million head.

Taking into account the five year average - the total hog and pig herd is 1.4% above the five year average and the swine breeding herd is reported as 2.4% below it.

Also seeing an increase:
•Hogs kept for marketing totals 60.8 million head, up 1% from a year ago.
Average number of pigs per litter for the three-month period (June-August 2011 ) was 10.03 compared to 9.81 last year, up 2.2% compared to a year ago. ***See full report here (PDF)


Related website: USDA