Pfizer improves anticoccidial agent for broilers & turkeys

//03 Aug 2012
Animal Health company Pfizer has launched an improved version its anticoccidial agent Cygro 10G to give broiler and turkey producers more effective control against the disease coccidiosis.
Improvements - achieved by changing the production process - include a shorter withdrawal period and easier application.

Instead Pfizer is using a mineral carrier rather than corn cob and the anticoccidial agent is being mixed with the carrier instead of being sprayed. Subsequently the withdrawal period has been reduced from five to three days, increasing its flexibility.

Product manager Tony Grainger said: "Moving away from a corn cob carrier eliminates any concerns about contamination with GMOs, insects or rodents, and achieves more even mixing. "The higher concentration provides enhanced activity against coccidia, with the shorter withdrawal time adding to flexibility of use."

Indonesia: Charoen Pokphand records poultry profit

//02 Aug 2012
Charoen Pokphand Indonesia, a major producer of poultry and poultry feedstock in the country, has reported a 35% increase in profit through the first half of this year on rising sales.
Jakarta-based Charoen, a local unit of Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Foods, said net income rose to Rp 1.69 trillion ($179 million) in the first half from Rp 1.25 trillion in the same period in 2011.

Companies like Charoen and Japfa Comfeed Indonesia are benefiting from strong consumer spending in the nation’s growing economy, with experts suggesting that the rising price of chicken also helped Charoen through the first six months of this year.

At the start of this year, the Finance Ministry imposed a 5% import tariff on raw materials for animal feed, specifically corn. This allowed for an increase in chicken prices, which have been passed on to consumers to the benefit of poultry producers such as Charoen.

Charoen’s earnings figures show that demand for meat products is increasing, a reflection of the changing tastes and increased disposable income of Indonesia’s growing middle class.

Source: The Jakarta Globe

People: New CEO for Lohmann Animal Health International

//01 Aug 2012
Dr Frank Sterner has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Lohmann Animal Health International.
Sterner has been with Lohmann Animal Health International for the past four years, serving as president since 2009. He joined the company in 2008 as vice president of Biotechnology.

"It has been very rewarding to be part of a successful and growing biotechnical company located in Maine that provides high quality products to improve animal health around the world," Sterner said.

The 26-year veteran of the poultry industry has held key management roles in animal health at Maine Biological Laboratories, Inc. and several other large companies.

Sterner holds a PhD from the University of Wisconsin in Veterinary Virology. He earned an MBA from Salisbury State University, a subsidiary of University of Maryland.

Bank of America continues with HSUS, Alliance quits

//02 Aug 2012
The Animal Agriculture Alliance in the US ended its 25 year relationship with the Bank of America due to the bank’s relationship with action group HSUS, which aim is to end animal farming.
Last month, the Animal Agriculture Alliance reached out to Bank of America with concerns about its public support of HSUS and asked the company to sever its ties to the extreme animal rights group.

The bank indicated it would not discontinue its HSUS affinity card program, so the Alliance has made the decision to end its relationship with its bank of 25 years.

Bank of America’s Agribusiness Executive emphasised in a phone conversation with Alliance CEO Kay Johnson Smith that the affinity card program with HSUS was not new and that HSUS received no preferential treatment.

He emphasized his long time connections with agriculture and his sincere commitment to supporting agriculture through numerous sponsorships, research and service.

Bank of America does not consider the $60 from each affinity card as a donation, but rather a “fee” paid to HSUS (and other affinity program participants) for bringing in new clients.

When told that HSUS spends a great deal of money of disparaging campaigns, as well as legislative and legal attacks against farming, yet it spends less than one percent on direct animal care, he recognized that statistic.

He then discounted it by saying people believe HSUS helps animals and they enjoy having a card with cats and dogs on it.

Ironically, the bank’s representative specifically pointed out that the most critical issue right now for agriculture is the constant pressure on people in the food business.

After this conversation and careful consideration, the Alliance has decided to terminate its relationship with Bank of America.

The Alliance cannot continue a business relationship with companies that are contributing financially to extreme animal rights organizations that seek to eliminate the animal agriculture industry.

Russia: ASF spread to Ukraine due to inadequate transport rules

//02 Aug 2012
In reaction to the first outbreak of African Swine Fever in Ukraine, the Russian service for veterinary and phytosanitary surveillance Rosselkhoznadzor has pointed to inadequate hygiene regulations with respect to food transports between the two countries.
Rosselkhoznadzor's head Sergei Dankvert told the Ukrainian press agency Interfax that the virus could have come from Russia, despite the fact that the source of the disease has not been detected.

He said: "It could be, as our countries permit the carrying of 5 kg hand luggage with food. We've been saying for a long time that if you joined the WTO, let's stick to principles that are in effect in the European Union, where imports of any vegetable and animal products are toughly restricted, including in the hand luggage of passengers. We cannot check every tourist, as there are no regulations to allow this," he said.

"'Meat trains' are coming from Ukraine to us, and food goes from us to Ukraine, but we have to understand that today we're exchanging dangerous food from a veterinary point of view," he said. He added that such food as smoked sausage and smoked salo (pork fat) were withdrawn from the supervision of Rosselkhoznadzor.

Ukraine
The virus was found in a village where three pigs had died. The Ukraine says that the State Veterinary and Biosecurity Service has told persons who breed pigs not to give them food waste of unknown origin, not to buy animal products on unregulated food markets, and not to allow pets to come into contact with wild animals and strangers.

African Swine Fever has been reported in the Caucasus area since 2007, where pig populations in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbeidzjan and southern Russia have since been reported infected. Rosselkhoznadzor has ever since been reporting outbreaks in the Volgograd, Tver and Karelia regions. It is the first time, however, a country west of Russia has become infected.

Related website:
• Rosselkhoznadzor

UPDATE: African Swine Fever enters Ukraine

//01 Aug 2012
African Swine Fever has crossed another border - Ukraine now also has reported an outbreak in the south of the country.
According to the German veterinary website Animal Health Online (AHO) and the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), the virus was found in pigs in a backyard farm in the village Komyshuvatka, in the Prymorks'yi district, in the region Zaporozh'ye.

The OIE, which confirmed the outbreak on Wednesday afternoon, stated the outbreak was found in five pigs of which three had died of ASF. The other two had been culled.

The OIE wrote that the three animals had been affected with non-specific clinical signs, as only fever was detected. They died quickly afterwards. The samples were checked with PCR method, after which ASF was detected.

The location and the surrounding streets have been closed off, and traffic has been led through a detour. The pigs in the village have been killed and cremated.

It is thought that holidaymakers have carried the virus across the border, when they brought livestock products from Russia. Russia is reporting daily outbreaks of African Swine Fever, both in the south of the country as well as in the Tver region near Moscow.

In clinical signs somewhat similar to Classical Swine Fever, African Swine Fever is a deadly pig disease for which no vaccination is available. For more information on African Swine Fever, click here.

Related website:
• Animal Health Online (AHO)
• Animal Health Organization (OIE)

Brazil’s pork exports Jan through May went up 5%

//02 Aug 2012
Brazil exported 225,000 tonnes of pork in the first five months of the year. This ia a 5% year-on-year increase. The figures were made public by Rabobank in its quarterly report on the global pig industry.
Record numbers since 2009 were made in May 2012, when 54,300 tonnes were exported. Main importers of Brazilian pork were Ukraine and Hong Kong.

Nevertheless, the Brazilian pork industry is suffering from current developments in the feed market. Between March and June 2012, soy meal prices grew by 32%. In the same timeframe, however, pig prices came down by 4%.

Low pig prices
Current prices for pigs are about 30% lower than in the beginning of April. Gross margins in pork production therefore have dropped below zero. Rabobank states that pig prices have come down as a consequence of a dropping domestic demand as the economic situation is considered bad.

In addition, the beef industry is going through better times after four years of struggling, resulting in beef having become the main meat type in Brazil. For smaller and larger independent pig companies, it is more difficult to stay profitable.

The bank expects that the Brazilian pig prices will slowly increase again in the next months.

Related website:
• Rabobank