Corn advances as Russia may face feed-grain shortage

Corn futures climbed, narrowing the first monthly decline in six months, and wheat advanced on speculation Russia may increase feed-grain imports, intensifying competition among buyers. “Providing some support was a projection by Argentina’s international trade secretary that Russia may buy up to three million tons of Argentine corn”.

Russia will have a shortfall of 2.5 million to three million tons of feed grain by March or April next year and will probably need imports to bridge the gap, Sergei Shakhovets, head of analytics at the Moscow-based Grain Producers’ Union, said November, 26. The nation may need to import as much as 5 million tons of grain in the marketing year that ends June, 30, he said. Read more...

Watpro helps farmers to conserve water

A new technology using sensors on satellites, called Watpro could help to establish standards of water that farmers need to irrigate their crops, and help to optimise the use of water. The technology measures water productivity in agriculture, or the amount of a crop produced by a given volume of water, drawing on remote sensing data and satellite images to measure evaporation and yield.

The results can help to identify where water is used productively and where it is squandered. Reasons for wasted water can be analyzed, allowing farmers, and agricultural policy makers, to establish best practice for irrigation in specific locations, with the aim of cutting down on water use without compromising the harvest. Read more...

Scotland's farmers (UK) fear repeat of last years snow problems

Agricultural loss adjusters Agrical estimated that at least 3000 farm buildings were severely damaged last year as a result of heavy snow fall. Tom Johnston regional chairman of NFU Scotland said the scale of last years damage meant that many of his neighbours had construction companies on farms building new steadings.

He said the late harvest had already created serious problems with many fields still full of straw bales, which had been too wet to bring indoors. He added: "There were already concerns that bedding would be in short supply this winter and this snowfall has suddenly made that a much more acute problem." Read more...

USGC and FAEA help Vietnam establish fair trade rules

Vietnam is building a solid foundation of laws and procedures regarding food, animal health and plant health with help from the United States Grain Council (USGC) and the Food and Agriculture Export Alliance (FAEA). The rules and laws are primarily designed to address food and health and safety issues, but they also affect international trade.

The Council is also tracking a new Vietnamese food law (passed this year), animal and plant health laws that are under development and Circular 25, a government resolution that includes goals for managing imports and exports. Read more...

Feed ingredients association comments on GIPSA rule

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), proposed rules about contracts between the meat processing industry and farmers and ranchers, will distort traditional economic relationships and far exceeds the intent of Congress, the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) said Monday in comments filed on the Grain Inspection Packers & Stockyards Act (GIPSA).

AFIA president and CEO Joel G. Newman went on to say that the new rules would force more producers into the volatile cash market where it will be more difficult to secure financing. Because many producers cannot survive in an unstable market, many rural jobs face elimination, concentrating power in the hands of packers. Read more...

Russia wheat ban affects Tanzania grain millers

Grain and milling industries in Tanzania have been affected by higher wheat prices, due to the Russian wheat export ban, and also the depreciation of the TZ shilling against the US dollar. The ban in Russia had highly affected local importers in Tanzania as they have to buy wheat from Ukraine whose wheat prices has skyrocketed and they are selling the product on a quota system.

Mr Dharmapel Gupta said that there have been a number of challenges in the milling industry in Tanzania, which includes high taxation, and high electricity costs, and the fluctuations of the US dollar and also the fluctuations of world wheat prices has made local milling industries struggle to stay in business. Read more...

UK farmers cooperative have successful year

AtlasFarm Group, the UK’s leading farm inputs purchasing and crop marketing business, has announced a highly-successful financial year to 30th June 2010, during which it celebrated its 50th anniversary. The cooperative with members throughout the UK achieved a turnover of UK£139 million and a group surplus of UK£28,448 after tax

Farmers increasingly appreciate the value of belonging to a strong, stable cooperative which exists purely to looks after their best interests by purchasing the inputs they require, achieving the best possible returns for the combination crops they produce and providing impartial advice on a wide range of issues to help them operate more efficiently and profitably. Read more...

European Labs search for new weed control

Walker Jones a USDA entomologist, along with European Biological Control Lab (EBCL) in France and Beneki Phytopathological Institute in Greece, are now seeking out a method of controlling the perennial weed Silverleaf nightshade (Solanum elaeagnifolium). By looking at insects, mites and nematodes that could be used in a biological based approach to controlling this invasive weed.

Silverleaf nightshade from the Americas has spread to Southern Europe, Africa, India, Australia and other parts of the world. Its being targeted for its ability to out-complete native plants, reduce crop yields and diminish pasture productivity. Also its orange berries can poison livestock. Read more...

CABI India plans to build digital repository on agriculture

CABI a not for profit science-based development & information organisation, plans to build a digital repository on agriculture which can be easily accessed to solve farmers problems. The proposed project ‘Direct to Farm’ will create a digital repository in a simplified form for direct use to farmers in South Asia.

CABI India Country Director R K Khetarpal told The PTI “that at present many innovations of agri-science remains unused in the farm lands because the knowledge is incomprehensible by poor illiterate farmers”. Read more...

China to buy 5.5 million metric tonnes of U.S soybeans

Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack made a statement on China’s signing of the agreements with industry to purchase more than 5.5 million metric tons of U.S soybean, he said today's signing of contracts is a strong sign that China continues to look to the United States as a reliable supplier of high quality products.

The sales worth nearly US$ 3 billion (€2,251billion) at today's prices are great news for both the American soybean producers and for the United States economy overall. The US and China trade relationship continues to flourish, thanks in large part to agriculture. Read more...

Market Report - Global Crop Protection (pesticides) 2010

Crop protection is widely applied across the world and plays an important role in securing agriculture production, the major segments of crop protection market includes: insecticides, herbicides and weedicides. Globally, herbicides dominate the crop protection market. Europe has been the largest market for crop protection products with Taiwan having the largest per hectare pesticide consumption.

The current report looks at the crop protection market on a global scale, it also covers the major regions like the US, Argentina, Europe, China and India. The report analyses the key drivers and challenges in the market. Read more...

Book Review - Climate Change and Agriculture: Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation - 2010

ISBN 978-92-64-08686-9

In this 2010 publication the OECD looks at recent developments in the international literature on impacts, adaptation and mitigation of climate change on agriculture. It proposes how policy can be put in place to address the new challenges that agriculture faces from climate change.

The impact of climate change comes about through changes in seasonality, variability and changes in mean precipitation and water availability. These mechanisms will alter with higher temperatures and have more impact. The effects on agriculture will depend on the interactions between these mechanisms.

The effects of climate change is still uncertain, and in this publication the uncertainties are looked at and evaluated, however, because of this uncertainty it becomes impossible to predict what the future effects are but decisions will need to be made despite the continuing uncertainties.

The adaptation within agriculture where climate change threatens will need to look at two major strategies: the first being to reduce the rate of manmade greenhouse gases through mitigation; the second option is to promote adaptation to climate change to take advantage of new opportunities and minimize impact.

Adaptation to climate change is shown as an adjustment in social, ecological or economic systems in response to predicted climate change.
It is widely recognised that agriculture is a major source of global greenhouse emissions estimated at 5.1 to 6.1 GtCO2-eq/yr. Globally CH4 and N2O emissions from agriculture has increased by nearly 17 percent from 1990 to 2005.

Concern has increased about the magnitude of these emissions and the need to distribute mitigation between developing and developed countries. Governments across the OECD member area are investing in and developing efficient mitigation strategies, the EU flagship instrument known, as ETS is to regulate industrial emissions.

However, agricultural emissions are not included in the ETS system, this has stimulated research into efficient and effective mitigation options in agriculture. This publication, by OECD, is a guide to help policy makers in the design of policies to deal with climate change issues in agriculture.

Climate change will have an effect on agriculture and farmers will have to adapt to these changes that will arise with the new policies and with a better understanding of the impact of climate change.

We believe that this OECD publication will be a valuable asset to anyone in the agriculture industry and the policy makers in governments who have a growing interest in climate change - and not just those in OECD member countries.   

Engormix continues global expansion with a new office in India

Engormix.com has opened a new office in India, adding to the four that are currently in operation (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Europe). The new office is located in the city of Karnal, 250 km from New Delhi. Strategic partner of Engormix.com: Dinesh Kumar Arora will be based out of the new office. Arora also currently serves as. Read more...

Crop production for 2011 likely to cost farmers more

As grain prices have increased this year, the cost of growing them in 2011 is likely to cost more according to Purdue University estimates. The 2011 Crop Cost & Return Guide, projects that the farmer could see increases into double-digits in variable costs. This includes fertiliser, seed, pesticides, fuel, machinery and other expenses not related to labour or land rental.

They estimate the variable costs in 2011 will be up about 13 percent compared to 2010, also soybean will increase by six percent and winter wheat will also be up by 13 percent. Most of the projected cost increases are tied to a recent surge in fertiliser prices. Read more...

Corn ethanol an emissions boon

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), welcomed the decision by California regulators which will reflect corn ethanol’s significantly superior emissions profile compared to gasoline. The NCGA remained critical of the timing and the process that has allowed immature science to penalise this critically needed fuel.

However, NCGA’s President Bart Schott, said there are inherent risks in using a computer model to guide regulations or to establish policy and this very dramatic revision makes that very clear. The new rules are due to be in-place within two months, but it could be Spring 2011 before the changes are put into practical application. Read more...

Sieve analysis - Easy handling, full documentation and error free results

Sieve analysis is an important procedure to assess particle size distribution of granular material. Undertaken in many industries, it requires full attention to ensure accurate weighing results. Now thanks to Mettler Toledo's One Click™ Sieve Analysis weighing solution, you can achieve perfect results in five simple steps:

• One Click start - simple interface allows easy operation   

• Sieve - Intelligent SmartTrac™ guide allows pause and complete sieve weighing

• Back Weigh - audio signal prompts next sieve

• Results - calculation of data shown clearly on balance display

• Documentation - automated recording of results

This solution provides fully guided weighing, automatic calculations and documentation, as well as results printed graphically in a personalised report.

More information:
Mettler-Toledo Ltd
Tel: +44 116 235 5005
Email: enquire.mtuk@mt.com
Website:www.mt.com/one-click-weighing

The full story will be appearing in our up-coming edition of GFMT magazine. You can find the story in our November-December 2010 issue on this page later this month.

UK's Game Engineering achieves safety accreditation

Game Engineering Ltd has joined a leading edge scheme, designed to help industry improve its safety record. Game, a successful company based in Lincoln, recently received accreditation from SAFE-contractors, a programme that recognises high standards of health and safety practice amongst UK contractors.

Peter Stow, health and safety adviser at Game commented, "SAFE-contractors is one of the flagship safety accreditation programmes and allows Game Engineering to demonstrate its commitment to maintaining the highest standards in our approach to the management of health and safety within the business."

Under the SAFE-contractor system, businesses undergo a vetting process, which examines health and safety procedures and their track record for safe practice. The full story will be appearing in our up-coming edition of GFMT magazine. You can find the story in our November-December 2010 issue on this page later this month.

Organic feed mill gets new investment

Vitrition, a subsidery of Kiotech International, which operates the longest established dedicated organic feed mill in the UK, has invested in a new cooler and crumbler at the Boroughbridge facility. The new cooler was introduced to increase capacity and keep pace with busiers mills and will support the mill’s excellent biosecurity.

The new crumbler will enable Vitrition to offer ‘crumbed’ products for starter feeds to table birds and turkeys. It will also provide layer feeds in crumble form as an alternative to mash or pellets. Vitrition recognise the importance of ensuring young birds are supported with adequate nutrition to meet their growth requirements. Read more...

Corn and soybean farms hiring more help in 2010

There was 1,157,000 hired workers on farms in US farms and ranches during the period of  October 10-16, 2010. That's up four percent from last year, the largest increase in the number of workers hired from last year was California, and in the corn belt (Illnois, Indiana and Ohio), Appalachian (North Carolina and Virginia) and the Northern plains (Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota) regions.

Due to the above average precipitation in California there was more acreage to be cropped due to increased availability of irrigation water. Therefore, more hired workers was needed. In the remaining last three regions the weather was ideal compared with last years. Read more...

US soybeans growers meeting with soy customers in China

Representative from American Soybean Association (ASA), Minnesota University and the US Soybean Export Council are meeting with soy customers in China and South Korea this week. The Groups are presenting their findings of the 2010 US soybean crop quality report.

ASA First Vice President Alan Kemper said the crop quality report is just one of many ways that the US soybean farmers can develope long-term relationship with our export customers in Asia. The levels of oil and protein in soybeans determine how much soybean meal can be produced.
Read more...

Effects of conditioning in broiler starter feeds

Scientist at Massey University in New Zealand (NZ), have been studying effects of conditioning in broiler starter feeds. The experiment was designed to test a two by three factorial arrangement of treatments, evaluating two grain types (maise and sorghum). The three conditioning temperatures was (60, 75 and 90 degree). The broiler starter diets, each based on two grain types (maise and sorghum) were formulated and pelleted at the three temperatures.

The results of the experiment were that the birds fed on the diet at 60 degrees had a similar weight to the birds fed on the 90 degrees, and higher than those fed on the 75 degree. However, the birds fed at the 75 degrees had a low feed intake than the birds fed at the 60 and 90 degrees. Read more...

Book Review - Agricultural Policies in OECD Countries 2010 - At a glance

 

Farm support is becoming increasingly 'conditional' as governments pursue broader policy objectives, says the latest report from OECD 'Agricultural Policies in OECD Countries 2010 - At a Glance'.

The report 'At a Glance ...' is published every second year, and looks at agricultural policies within OECD member countries in response to request to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the key agricultural policy reforms.

In 2009 the estimated cost to support producers was US$253 billion or €182 billion. This was equivalent to 22 percent of the aggregate farm receipts. Prior to this there had been a steady decline in the support levels from 2004, higher prices on commodities in 2007/08 were the reason for this decline in the measured support during those years.

In Chapter 1 the report looks at the evaluation of support and policy development for countries under the OECD umbrella. Looking at the general macroeconomic and market context the policies of agriculture operated in. Recent changes and initiatives in policies of the OECD countries are highlighted. Conclusions in Chapter 1 are derived about the progress in the OECD countries of reforms being implemented.

In Chapter 2 of the publication looks at the support for each individual OECD member country (where the European Union is viewed as one country), with descriptions for the main policy developments/evaluations in tables and graph form. 

Chapter 3 summaries the information showing the estimates of support for OECD countries in table form for each country. This report is an important up-to-date source of information about agriculture support with in the OECD area.

Even though the support levels are slowly being decreased in some of the OECD countries due to the steps being taken. The support that farmers are receiving is now becoming increasingly conditional as their governments pursue the broader policy objectives.

This is an interesting report that shows all OECD member countries in details and the support levels that each has in place. This is a valuable asset to governments and policy makers, but also would be helpful as a guide to students of agriculture who are interested in the policy of support throughout the OECD area.

ISBN 978-92-64-08379-0

Granexport AD turns to magnets

Granexport AD a Serbian based company that specialises in the export and imports of cereals, have installed magnets to help them maintain the high quality of their products. Quality is high on the agenda of Granexport so they have turned to another company called Eriez to install magnets into their facility to remove any small contaminants (10mm and below) of ferrous metals from the pipeline of continuously flowing granular corn (2-8 mm diameter).

Both Granexport and Eriez are ISO 9001:2008 accredited companies, the reason for using magnets to help keep their produce uncontaminated was that the magnetic hump separators are effective at removing ferrous from materials falling under gravity or conveyed in pneumatic lines. Read more...

K-State instructor gets support from Buhler

Kansas State (K-State) University’s department of grain science and industry, has selected a new Buhler instructor of milling science and management after completing a national search. Professor Chris Miller who had joined K-State in January 2009, teaches milling science and management courses as well as Buhler short courses hosted by K-State’s International Grains Program (IGP).

Dirk Maier, K-State’s head of grain science department said he was delighted to have Chris Miller as part of their faculty, he also went on to say that Millers appointment was unique, in that outside funding supports the faculty position. Buhler funds the position of this instructor in the department, its a long term investment in the education and training of students, who are the future professionals of the global milling and food processing industry. Read more...

Russia could increase grain imports

Low grain stocks in Russia may lead to a rise in imports, a leading Russian agricultural analyst spoke on Tuesday saying ‘we will see new developments after the New Year holidays,’ Andrei Sizov Sr, president and chief executive of SovEcon told Reuters.

He also said by the middle of January stocks will be so low that animal feed makers, brewers, millers and distillers could have very low stocks of grain or none. This would push up the prices and make imports efficient. Russia had been hit by a severe drought, the worst in more than a century. Read more...

Grain and transport in South Africa

The transportation of grain and livestock in any country is a logistical headache, where the railway network was once the preferred method, and easiest solution to this problem. In South Africa they are facing such issues, due to the deterioration of the railways networks. More and more farmers are turning to the road system to move their animals and feed over long distances.

Some of the challenges farmers and transportation companies need to over come is the condition of the roads, the maintenance of the vehicles, distance and temperatures. Also you can deliver direct to where you need to. Transnet is the largest of the freight logistics group in South Africa and they are looking to raise and invest a US$ billion dollars to support continued infrastructure investment projects on the railway network by tapping into the global debt market.



Ports are also in need of investment, to keep the transport systems operating at peek condition and allowing the links from the railways to the ports to be maintained and ensure the transport of grains, feed and animals get to their destinations. This is an important factor for international exports too, as South Africa look to export to China, Korea, the Middle East and even Europe.

South Africa has about four million tonnes of excess grain for export, to the rest of the world, thou some can be used in biofuels and for animal feeds most will be for export.

Rising corn prices causes worry of increasing food costs

Corn prices have increased this year causing concern that food prices will increase. Due to the problems that hit Russia this year with the heat and drought that followed and then the heat and too much rain fall in parts of America has sent grain prices soaring. The United States Agriculture Department report said that this years corn crop would be smaller than expected. The harvest is forecast to be three percent lower than 2009 crop.

The crop will still probably be the third largest on record, but demand for corn is high as animal feed, ethanol production and for exports. In the markets corn is selling for US$5.84 a bushel nearly 70 percent increase since the last three crops were selling for US$3.43 a bushel. Read more...

1.2 billion people in the World starving

According to new figures from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) one in six people of the world are starving. Compared with last year, there are 100 million more people who are hungry meaning they receive less than 1,800 calories a day. Director General Jacques Diouf of the FAO talked to journalists saying this is a historic high due largely to the global economic crisis and stubbornly high food prices.

Almost all of the of the worlds undernourished live in developing countries, where food prices have decreased at a slower rate than in the richer nations. The FAO report went on to say that the poor countries need more aid and agricultural investment to cope. The global economic crisis has compounded the problem for people dealing with pay cuts and job losses, in the developed world there are estimated to be about 15 million now hungry. Read more...

Tenant farms estates to be sold off

Gloucestershire County Council (UK) has become the latest local authority to sell off a portion of its tenanted farms. Due to the spending cuts made by the Government, the Council has decided to sell 38 of its 88 tenanted farms over the next four years. The Tenant Farmers Association (TFA), said the decision to sell was a major blow to the farming ladder.

The TFA is calling the council to think again, pointing out that the farms help local authorities to meet wider objectives such as environmental, access to the countryside, learning outside the classroom, affordable housing and flood risk management the TFA will be stepping up pressure on Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to look at a national co-ordination of county farms estates. Read more...

California agriculture relies on illegal immigrants

Illegal immigrants are the backbone of the California agricultural industry, Guillermo Zamora who was once an illegal immigrant farm worker, working on the farms, is now a farm labour contractor, supplying workers for the industry, he is the go to guy whom immigrants go to for work and the growers approach for workers.

City councilman Joseph Riofrio says that its a game - a big game but a necessary game as without the illegal workers the agriculture industry would stop and if the game doesn’t continue, then the fruit isn’t picked and the vegetables are not picked. The scheme of employing illegal immigrants keeps the Central Valley’s economy running on a simple principal of don’t ask, don’t tell. Read more...

Dinnissen BV will show new innovations at EuroTier

Dinnissen BV a major company in bulk materials and process technology from the Netherlands will be presenting several new innovations at the EuroTier tradeshow and conference on November 16-19, 2010 in Hannover Germany.

                                                   Hygienic compact containment

 Dinnissen Process Technology develops new Hygienic Compact Containment system

Dinnissen Process Technology (Sevenum, the Netherlands) specializes in the processing of powders, particles and granulates for companies in the feed, food, pharma and chemical sectors. In particular for environments where it is essential to work hygienically, safely and efficiently because of specific cleanliness requirements, explosion hazard and/or the potential emission of toxic or sensitizing substances, Dinnissen has developed the Hygienic Compact Containment system. This concept combines the quick and thorough cleaning of production processes with an extremely effective containment of even the finest particles. At Eurotier, from 6 to 19 November in Hannover, Dinnissen will introduce this concept.

Wheat output in India may exceed target this year

India is expecting to exceed its wheat output of 82 million tonnes this year due to the good rains boosting soil moisture that has improved yield. India the second largest producer of wheat broke all records in the growing season of 2009 -10 season with 80.71 million tonnes. Read more...

Rise in interest rates in China affects crops futures

The crop futures all fell due to the speculation that China will raise its interest rates, corn, soybean and wheat all fell with soybean falling the most in six weeks, followed by corn and wheat. HSBC holdings Plc said that China would raise interest rates by 25 basis points by the end of the year. This speculation has led to a sharp markdown of agricultural commodities. Read more...

Perendale Publishers exhibits at GlobalGap Summit

James Taylor at the GlobalG.A.P. Summit 2010 London

Perendale's production manager, James Taylor, attended the 10th GlobalGap (Good Agricultural Practice) Summit, a two-day event held in London on October 7-8, 2010, to promote the Perendale's titles of International Aquafeed, Grain and Feed Milling Technology and the International Milling Directory. This year's Summit focused on a comprehensive farming program and was well attended with up to 800 people attending and including the conference's leading experts, representing more than 40 countries.

During the event, the new Version 4 of GlobalGap's Integrated Farm Assurance Standards was discussed and explained. While the meeting covered the organisation's traditional interests of fruit and vegetables, aquaculture and the livestock sector formed key themes of the conference. James reports that aquaculture in particular featured heavily in the Summit program.

He also reports that the Aquafeed stand received a lot of interest and proved a valuable source of contacts in terms of readers and contributors. He felt the whole experience of exhibiting at GlobalGap was productive and beneficial and passes his thanks on to all those who visited his stand.

Perendale Publisher attends Biomin's World Nutrition Forum 2010

Biomin's 4th World Nutrition Forum was held in the historic city of Salzburg, Austria from October 13-16, 2010. It was an invitation-only event. Mrs Nicky Barnes attended the event representing Perendale Publishers Limited and met with key people in the industry. She took the opportunity to meet one of the members of International Aquafeed Magazine's Editorial Advisory Panel, Dominique Bureau from the University of Guelph in Canada who had been invited to speak at this event.

"It was a good place to listen to some of the most up-to-date papers on agriculture and consider some of the key issues facing animal and aqua food production sectors. It was an ideal opportunity for our magazines to invite key industry leaders to contribute to future editions of the magazine."

The organisers invited some 700 participants representing more than 70 countries, there were more than 40 speakers on the two-day program, including industry experts, top decision makers and key scientist.

Talking about the future of the industry and not just products, the atmosphere at the event was positive where new ideas and innovations were discussed and a common view formed about the future direction of our industry, says Mrs Barnes.

"All in all it was a successful event and the next one planned will be in Singapore in 2012."

Also attending the event from Perendale Publishers was their subscription and distribution manager, Mrs Tuti Tan.


Mrs Tan considered this bi-annual event to be an important direction setting meeting for the industry. She too took the opportunity to meet with Biomin scientists, technical and marketing staff and establish a number of connections with Biomin representatives from around the world.

"This was a valuable opportunity for me to ensure that our magazines are reaching the right people and to receive feedback on how we might improve our digital and print circulation," she says.

It also allowed her the chance to get to understand the company and its strategies, along with listening to presentations from leading invited speakers.

Mrs Tan says getting the messages from the speakers across to industry was not the preserve of just Perendale and she noted that several other publications - including Watt Media Group (Feed Internatijonal magazine) and Reed Elsevier (All About Feed)- were in attendance and valued the opportunity Biomin provided to review key issues in a semi-public forum.

VICTAM/FIAAP/GRAPAS in 2011

A future event for 2011 is the VICTAM, FIAAP & GRAPAS International Exhibitions & Conferences to be held in Cologne, Germany on May 3- 5, 2011.
FIAAP is a new trade show and series of conferences dedicated to ingredients, additives and formulation for animal feed, aquafeed and dry pet food.
GRAPAS is also a new show with its own conference. GRAPAS profiles grain processing, flour milling, pasta, breakfast cereals and extruded snack production.
Victam International is the world famous exhibition and conferences for technology and processing for animal feed, aquafeed and dry pet food. New for 2011 will be a large number of exhibitors displaying biomass pelleting technology.
 The conference programme:
1.    Aquafeed Horizons
2.    The IFF Feed Processing Conference
3.    Petfood Forum Europe 2011
4.    The FIAAP Conference
5.    Feed Safety Assurance in a Globalising Industry
6.    The GRAPAS Conference
7.    Pellets for Bioenergy: The market takes off
8.    Technical Seminars
For further information on the conference secretariats, free visitor registration, exhibitor lists and the floorplan please visit the organisers website www.victam.com

                                   Henk van de Bunt, Victam International BV General Manager
We at the Grain&Feed Milling Technology will be attending this trade show/conference so see you there next year.

Perendale at EuroTier 2010

Perendale Publishers will be sending Caroline Wearn and Sabby Major from our marketing team and Tuti Tan from our subscriptions and circulations department to the EuroTier International Exhibition, to be  held in Hannover, Germany from November 16-19, 2010. They will be happy to meet with you at our stand in Hall 26A13. Also, there will be free copies of our publications International Aquafeed (IAF), Grain & Feed Milling Technology (GFMT) and the International Milling Directory (IMD) available. We look forward to seeing you there!

Carr farm AD project gets loan

Farmgen specialist in renewable energy have secured a loan from the Co-operative bank of UK£2.1 million. The loan will be for its anaerobic digestion (AD) facility in Lancashire, farmgen said that it is the first bank-debt financed on-farm AD plant in the UK. Mark & Spenser has signed a five-year contract to buy the energy generated from the plant at a fixed price. Read more...

Drought-hit farmers can seek aid

The US department of agriculture has declared drought disasters for 22 Maryland counties, in response to widespread crop damage caused during the summer. They have said that for a county to reach disaster status, at least 30 percent of farmers crops had to perish this summer. Read more...

Carr’s Milling continuing to grow

Carr’s milling the Carlisle based company that operates across the food, agriculture trading and feed manufacture and engineering division. Said they are continuing to grow, with pre tax profits of UK£9 million a 24.7 percent increase. Carr’s also bought three businesses in the second half of its financial year Ag Chem, AC Burn and Scotmin Nutrition. Read more...

In the US small farms are still on the decline

In the United States the small farm business is slowly declining, the larger commercial farms have a competitive advantage over the smaller farm. However some of the smaller farms are profitable due to their willingness to place a low value on labour, accept losses and rely on off-farm incomes. One of the key reasons that the smaller farm is declining, is due to the age of the small farm operators and financial pressures. Read more...

Wheat growers in Australia slam deregulation call

The Call to deregulate the wheat industry in Australia has been condemned, by grower groups across Australia. The productivity commission recommends scrapping the wheat export accreditation scheme and wheat exports Australia, which regulates the export of bulk wheat. Both schemes are to be scrapped on September 30th 2011. Read more...

China’s grain harvest will be affected by climate change

Tang Huajun, the deputy dean of the Chinese academy of agricultural sciences (CAAS) has indicated that by 2030 there will be a five to ten percent crop loss if climate changes continues. The impact of climate change, coupled with arable land loss and water shortages, will cause a bigger grain production fluctuation and pose a threat to reaching output targets. Read more...

Thai - Japanese venture targets Asian market

A Thai-Japanese joint venture, Surapon Nichiei foods, formed in 1988 are looking to increase domestic sales and expand exports into other Asian countries. Recently they have opened a new processing facility in Thailand's Kabin Buri district, the new plant  will add 5,000 tonnes of frozen, fried and steamed chicken based products. Read more... 

UK funding study of agricultural emissions

The UK government is to spend UK£12.6 million to study the emissions from agriculture and how it contributes to climate change.  About eight percent of all greenhouses gases (GHG) emissions are from agriculture. The research is to help the farmers understand and allow them to take better steps to reduce emissions further. Read more...

Organically grown same as traditionally grown

New evidence from studies carried out on organically grown vegetables are showing that they are as healthy as vegetables growing in the traditional way (fertilizers and pesticides). There was no difference in the antioxidants termed ‘polyphenols’ from onions, carrots and potatoes. Read more...

New virus belonging to the genus Marafivirus found in switchgrass

University of Illinois researchers have confirmed they have found a new virus belonging to the genus Marafivirus in switchgrass. The virus affects the crop reducing photosynthesis and decreases the biomass yield of the crop. Members of this genus have been known to cause severe yield losses in other crops too. Read more...

Defra’s flagship runs out of cash

Natural England one of the Departments for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), flagship schemes has run out of money. A week after the Government announced an 83 percent increase in budget, and five months before the end of the financial year. Defra has been forced to cut back on
Natural England's UK£57 million Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) budget. Read more...

Acacia tree helps boost maize yields

Maize yields are being doubled and tripled due to a unique acacia known as the ‘fertilizer tree’ in smallholder agriculture in Zambia and Malawi. The intergration of fertilizer trees into the crop is rapidly emerging as an affordable solution to improving production and the soils of Africa. Read more...

New Novus scholars partnership in Africa

Novus International Inc, the specialist in feed ingredients has announced a new Novus scholar partnership. They will be working closely with Egerton University in Kenya, and will assist the University in developing its local capacity as well as supporting the local feed industry by providing training and equipment. Read more...

Durham farmers get free advice on health and safety

Farmers in County Durham, are invited to attend a half day event staged later this month, for tips on dealing with the dangers of working in agriculture. The event organised by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), will give practical demonstrations focusing on common causes of injury and ill health in agriculture. Read more...