21/12/12: News stories

Hello,
Just a quick post today.

• Two rice miller have been killed in a boiler explosion in Ishwardi upazila of Pabna, Bangladesh. Read more...

• Cargill is expanding its rail car handling capacity in Kindersley, Canada. “Cargill remains committed to helping farmers prosper”, said Len Penner, president of Cargill Limited.  “By improving Kindersley’s rail infrastructure, we are addressing the challenges we’ve been seeing regarding restrictions on deliveries due to limited capacity”.  Read more...

Hope you have great holiday and we'll see you in 2013.

Adisseo launches a web platform giving access to predictions in real time through Precise Nutrition Evaluation, the Adisseo NIR Service

During Space and Eurotier 2012, Adisseo unveiled its new PNE platform dedicated to Rovabio® and Rhodimet® customers.

 

This unique service enables buyers, nutritionists, quality managers, etc., to get the nutritional values of their raw materials in real time. Thus, Feed manufacturers can instantaneously obtain values of Apparent Metabolizable Energy, Total and Digestible Amino-Acids, Total and Phytic Phosphorus contents of raw materials through NIR predictions. The poultry digestibility values are based on "in vivo" trials conducted at CERN (Centre d’Expérimentation et de Recherche en Nutrition), Adisseo’s experimental facility located in Commentry (France). Offering over 20 raw materials, this web platform is available in 5 languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Chinese.

This web platform allows the customer to have an unequalled adaptability to use raw materials at best way, and to adapt diet formulations according to the results. "Considering the sharp rise in raw material price, this unique tool offers to customers a major technical and economic improvement since it allows to optimize the formulations in real time by benefiting from the expertise and transverse management of Adisseo teams" says Cécile Gady, Manager of Research on Raw Materials and PNE Service.

Besides, this web platform offers complementary services based on Adisseo's statistical data. All analyses done are stored in the database and results are available for the customer, whom can consult and use historical analyses, compare them with the whole data base and choose his own criteria of selection such as geographical origin, dates, number of batches, supplier, etc. Results can be benchmarked to regional results of Adisseo’s analysis database. This brings extra competitive advantage to optimize his supplies, nutritional formulations and quality control.

Developed with the collaboration of Bruker and Foss, leading NIR equipment suppliers, "this web platform is a major, unequalled innovation dedicated to Adisseo customers from all over the world. This project goes far beyond a mere web interface, it is also a technological feat, although with the key objective to enable a simple and ergonomic customer interface" says Jean-Baptiste Gosset, Web Department Manager of Adisseo.

Visit the PNE web platform

Event: Pancosma renewed its successful scientific exchange meeting in Madrid - December 2012

After two successful editions and continuous demands from the market, especially from its most important customers, Pancosma renewed its own scientific congress in Madrid- Spain from December 5-6, 2012. This meeting called the PWSE for Pancosma Worldwide Scientific Exchange is organised yearly by the Swiss feed additive manufacturer.

Taking advantages of its powerful scientific network, mainly develop by Dr Bravo, Head of Pancosma R&D, and on the business partnerships established by the sales team of Pancosma, the meeting gathered  the top world feed manufacturers together with renowned speakers from different universities worldwide. 

 

This edition entitled : 'Gut languages'  put in light the consistent results of the Pancosma’s research strategy led with the universities, focusing on gut immunology, gut microbiome and  gut sensing to make evolve the animal nutrition in agreement with the future regulations and objectives of the market.  In this context, Dr Soraya Shirazi-Beechey (Liverpool University) presented the continuation of the 'Gut Effects' project, already well known through the outstanding results of SUCRAM® in swine. She developed the applications and extension to the ruminants species. Dr Gay, Dr Furness, Dr Finlay, Dr Lillehoj and others also revealed the last results of this year of research done hand in hand with Pancosma.

Proud of this success, the Pancosma team is already working on the program and on the guests list for the fourth edition, to be held in January 2014.

20/12/12: DSM, Iran and Vietnam

Hello, 

• DSM has completed a US $634 buy out of Fortitech. The acquisition is the ninth addition to DSM's nutrition arm since 2012. Read more...
  

• More than a million rice framers in Vietnam are now using innovative growing methods says Oxfam. 1.3 million growers have adopted the System of Rice Intensification which promises better yields while using less water, fertiliser and seeds. Read more... 

• Iran will reach self-sufficiency in rice production in the next Iranian calendar year (to start March 20, 2013), Iranian Deputy Agricultural Jihad Minister Jahangir Porhemmat has announced. According to the Agriculture Jihad Ministry's plan, Iran was supposed to reach self-sufficiency in the rice production field by the end of the current Iranian calendar year, but officials announced in November that the plan needs some more three years for completion. Read more...
  

Weeding (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

SEA

SEA has been making optical colour sorting machines for rice since 1968. Click on the image to view the website.

18/12/12: Stories on Cambodian rice and the IFIF

Hello,

• The Federation of Cambodian Rice Exporters (FCRE) in Cambodia was officially launched last week in a bid to promote and maintain a strong presence of the country's rice in the international marketplace. "The federation's ambition is to expand Cambodian rice exports and to work relentlessly on continuous improvement of Cambodian rice sector," Kim Savuth, FCRE's president, said at the launching ceremony. Read more...
• The International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) have signed a cooperation agreement.  the deal aims increase cooperation when dealing with the prevention and management of infectious diseases. Read more...

Video: US Grain Council responds to DDGS issues in Vietnam

Back in September, the Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture's Plant Production Department (PPD) found some insects in a container shipment of US distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS). Although the insects, the larger cabinet beetle (Trogoderma Inclusum LeConte,  are common in the US, they are on the quarantine list in Vietnam. This video explains how the US Grains Council responded to the issue and worked with the US Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to help improve the situation.

Watch the video below.

17/12/12: We're back

Hello, 

We're back form ISRMAX India. We had a really busy time and had some very useful meetings with various international companies. Look out for a full report soon. But for now, here are some news stories.

• Cargill is to invest $20 million to support animal nutrition in sub Saharan Africa. A new deal will give the company's animal nutrition and premix business, Provimi, a majority shareholding and assume managerial control of NuTec Southern Africa. As part of this investment the company plans to build a new premix and base mix facility at NuTec’s existing location in Pietermaritzburg to expand its animal nutrition capabilities in sub Saharan Africa. Read more...

• 
  Saudi Arabian investment company and Russian farmer strike grain deal. The company and SAHO, a Siberian grain producer, have agreed to ship Russian wheat and barley to the Middle East and North Africa. Read more...
  

Map showing Sub-Saharan Africa colored green and North Africa colored gray. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ISRMAX India

International Milling Directory members have joined the International Sales Manager, Darren Parris and the Associate Editor, Alice Neal of our sister magazine, Grain & Feed Milling Technology in Delhi, India for the first day of ISRMAX India 2012. They join a total of 200 exhibitors from today, 13th to 15th December 2012.

Recent social media updates:-

We're getting ready to fly to Delhi for ISRMAX India 2012. Visit us on stand D-40 where we'll be joined by Silos Cordoba, Bruker Optic and Schenck Process and stand A-190 where we have the pleasure of hosting Alltech, O&J Horjtryk and Biomin. See you there December 13-15, 2012.

ISRMAX

This show is the first of its kind in India and the role of our joint parent, Perendale Publishers has been to exhibit and partner with previous client companies to develop our.


Grain & Feed Milling Technology is already printed and distributed in hard copy throughout India and this show builds on our presence there. As recent news shows, the grain market in India is the second-largest in the world and has a huge impact on prices of other markets. Added to a population of approximately 1 billion people, India has a important place in the current and future landscape of milling.

At ISRMAX, our four stands comprise of some of of the International Milling Directory's members:

• • AQUACULTURE – Alltech, Biomin, Ewos, Jaekering, LFA Lesaffre, O&J Horjtryk, Olmix & International Aqua Feed Magazine    
  • RICE & GRAIN EXPO – Schenk Process/Redler, Silos Cordoba, Symaga, Ottevanger, Bruker Optik, Jaekering & Grain & Feed Milling Technology Magazine.    
  • MEAT & POULTRY – Yongli, Yara, EuroFeed Technologies, GePro, Lallemand and Grain & Feed Milling Technology Magazine.
  • SWINE & PORK – Dent Ltd, Seaborough Pigs Ltd, MJ Kiddy & Son, Guy Kiddy Training & Consultancy & The British Pig Association.

If you are attending this show, it runs for two more days. Meet Darren and Alice at stand D-40 and A-190 as well as our exhibiting guests. Plus, get a free copy of the International Milling Directory by visiting the Perendale stands at ISRMAX!

Event: International Production & Processing Expo sets exhibitor record

The International Production & Processing Expo is gearing up for a bumper show with a record number of exhibitors already signed up. Over 1,150 exhibitors in 430,000 net square feet will take part int he show in Atlanta, USA between January 29-31, 2013.

Comprised of the three integrated trade shows - International Poultry Expo, International Feed Expo, and AMI’s International Meat Expo - IPPE is still growing with eight weeks left until the start of the Expo.

“We very much appreciate the participation of so many of our industry’s suppliers. Their support of the IPPE helps each of our trade associations accomplish our respective mission for our industries,” said John Starkey, president of USPOULTRY.

“With the continued response we have been receiving, we are excited to see what the next few weeks will bring us going into the Expo,” said Joel G. Newman, AFIA President & CEO.

“We continue to be amazed by the positive show of support from our supplier community and expect IPPE to have significant benefits to our industry,” commented AMI President, J. Patrick Boyle.

The global poultry, feed and meat industry trade show will be held Tuesday through Thursday, January 29-31, 2013, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA. The Expo will highlight the latest technology, equipment, and services used in the production and processing of poultry, meat and feed products.

The Expo will also feature dynamic education programs that will be held from January 28 through February 1, 2013 and will include the annual line-up of the International Poultry Scientific Forum, Pet Food Conference, Animal Agricultural Sustainability Summit, and International Feed Education Program. 

In addition, the 2013 IPPE will feature eleven new educational programs: Recalls and Public Health Investigations; Improving Food Safety, Sanitation and Maintenance; Animal Care and Handling: Focus on Poultry Processing; Meat and Poultry Processing: A Global Perspective; Consumer Trends; Plant Operations and Management; Antibiotics Conference – Current Issues for the Poultry & Egg Industry; The Future of the U.S. Egg Industry; Meat & Poultry Research Conference; Media Training for the Meat & Poultry Industry; and Poultry Handling and Transportation Quality “Train the Trainer” Workshop. Also returning for this year is the Poultry Market Intelligence Forum and the International Rendering Symposium.

2013 IPPE SHOW HOURS:
Tuesday, January 29, 2013: 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Thursday, January 31, 2013: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

More information...

Event: ISRMAX Rice and Grain Expo

India has an impressive ranking in world grain statistics.  It is:

• Second in world rice production (1,36,580 thousand tonnes)
• First in world pulses production (18 million tonnes)
• Second in world flour production (75 million metric tonnes)
• Third in food grains production (218 million metric tonnes)

Rice is the staple food for more than half of the world population. About 90 percent of the world’s rice is produces in Asia, out of which 20 percent of the world’s rice is produced in India. Total production of rice in India is 13,65,80,000 tonnes, 65 percent is consumed and 35 percent exported.

The pulses milling is a major milling industry in India, next only to rice and flour milling. For India’s 1.2 billion people, pulses contribute a large proportion of the family’s protein needs, much more than milk, eggs or meat. In 2010-11 India produced 18.1 million tonnes of pulses and consumed 21 million tonnes. The balance was imported from countries such as Canada, Myanmar and China. In an estimate by the World Health Organization, every Indian needs 80 grams of pulses every day to meet his or her protein needs. This implies that by the year 2018, India will require 38 million tonnes of pulses to meet its population’s nutritional requirements.

India has the largest area in the world under wheat. However, in terms of production, the country is only the third largest behind EU-25 and China. India produces about 70-75 million tonnes of wheat flour a year. There are around 1,200 flour mills in India out of which 200 large flourmills, with a milling capacity of around 15 million tonnes.

ISRMAX Rice & Grain Expo 2012 will focus on the complete value chain and will provide the industry with plethora of opportunities to connect the service providers with the end users specifically in rice and grain industry.

Grain & Feed Milling Technology magazine will be joined on stand D-40 by Silos Cordoba, Bruker Optic and Schenck Process. Drop by to read the latest issue of the magazine, leran more baout hwat we do so just to say hi.

More information...

rice (Photo credit: tamaki)

11/12/12: Stories on measuring mycotoxins and the impact of carbon dioxide on wheat quality

Hello,

• Higher carbon dioxide levels mean poorer wheat quality according to a study by the University of Gothenburg. published in the  journal Global Change Biology. Increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide decrease protein content of wheat and as a consequence the nutritional quality suffers. Read more...

• Better weather data promises to give insight into mycotoxin risks in grain. Refinement of the HGCA's mycotoxin risk-assessment tool, which was first developed in 2006 after Brussels introduced legal limits in grain, will give greater accuracy. Read more...

Description unavailable (Photo credit: pennstatelive)

Satake

Satake specialises in rice milling with a range of products including colour sorters, elevators and cooking lines.  Click on the image to find out more.

Event: IAI Poultry and Meat Expo

We're flying to Delhi tomorrow to take part in the ISRMAX/IAI India show. Perendale Publishers will be there in force with four stands representing our various interests. 

Our stand in the IAI Poultry and Meat Expo hall will be home not only to the International Milling Directory and Grain & Feed Milling Technology but also to a host international companies.  

Alltech, Biomin and O&J Horjtrk will with us on stand B-130 to showcase their latest innovations and products.

India is an exciting country at the moment with rapid expansion and innovation in the poultry and meat markets. With 16 percent of the world’s population (1.22 billion), the fourth largest economy in the world and annual GDP growth at eight percent.

Facts about poultry industry

• Second largest market of the world growing at 12-15 percent
• Third in fish production (6.4 million metric tonnes)
• Fifth in egg production (61 million tonnes)
• Sixth in Broiler meat production (2.39 million tonnes)
• Eighth in meat production (4.9 million tonnes)
• Ninth in poultry meat production (2.5 million tonnes) 
  
  

More information...

A day-old chick (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

10/12/12: Stories on new wheat varieties, new feed mills and more

Hello,

• Scientists at Stanford University have been investigating wheat breeds able to withstand rising temperatures. Wheat is the most widely grown crop in the world but is also very sensitive to sudden changes in temperature.  Read more...

• Nigeria is talks with the Export-Import Bank of China to secure a $1.5 billion loan to boost processing of rice and cassava. Read more...

• Valley Wide Cooperative in Idaho plans to invest 3.5 million in a feed mill after its original premises were destroyed by a fire in March 2012. Although the fire affected the feed mill, grain storage and office facilities, the owners are looking on the positive side; the redesign is an opportunity to create the new building in accordance with the forthcoming Food Safety Modernization Act. Read more...

Wheat. Español: Trigo. Français : Blé. Magyar: Búza. Tiếng Việt: Lúa mì. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Perstorp focuses on esterified product range at Eurotier

During the Eurotier 2012 held in November feed additives producer Perstorp officially launched ProPhorce™ SR a novel form of butyric acid with specific release throughout the digestive tract. ProPhorce™ SR has all of the well-known benefits of butyric acid in terms of digestion and intestinal health, but none of its smell issues. These desirable product properties are realised because ProPhorce™ SR consists of butyrins, which are glycerol esters of butyric acid. The esterifying process ensures the absence of the typical butyric acid odour and a superior delivery of the active components throughout the digestive tract.

“As a matter of fact, at Eurotier we focused primarily on the promotion of both our products using this esterification technology” states Edwin van Kol, Global Marketing manager at Perstorp’s feed additive division. “In addition to the esterified butyric acid that is ProPhorce™ SR, we have also put a strong emphasis on another recent addition to our product portfolio that uses the same esterifying process. Propionic acid is the most commonly used mould inhibitor for feed and grains. ProSid™ MI 700 is a buffered form of propionic acid that also uses the esterifying technology to greatly reduce the corrosivity of propionic acid and to tackle the odour issues. The reduced corrosivity means that there are no ADR restrictions to ProSid™ MI 700. Because it evaporates slower than pure propionic acid the effects of ProSid™ MI 700 against moulds actually last longer than those of pure propionic acid.”

The introduction of these products to the market is a substantial step for feed additives and grain preservatives in general. Perstorp is confident that these products and further developments in these fields will solidify their position as a reliable and innovative supplier for the feed industry.

More information...

 

Blending scheme keeps UK export market open

Blending Careful blending of low specific weight wheats is keeping export opportunities open for hard-hit UK producers in exceptionally challenging trading conditions, says Nidera Trading Director Stuart Shiells.

National yields are estimated at 12 percent below the five year average and a high proportion of wheat has a specific weight below 65 kg/hl. Not only are some producers facing problems trying to sell their crop, traders are being forced to think creatively about how they can fulfil their obligations and get the best returns for growers, he says.

“We estimate around 75 percent of the wheat crop we’ve traded so far is below 72kg/hl with a large proportion of this in the mid to low 60's. To put this into perspective, the average for the previous three years was 77.5kg/hl.

There was a lot of confusion at harvest with many merchants unable to deal with the lower quality wheat and if anything, the situation has got worse during the autumn.

English: Wheat (Triticum aestivum) near Auvers-sur-Oise, France, June 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“The export market has been trading at a significant discount to the UK domestic market and as such the most commercial approach would have been for us to cash settle all of our exports sales and allocate all our grain to the domestic market. This is in fact what a lot of other merchants have done but as a result they have been struggling to place anything below 65 kg/hl.

“Our approach has been to try and keep shipping through liaising with our offices in Rotterdam and Spain and using the resources we have in the UK to supply overseas customers with an acceptable standard of wheat and give our growers an outlet for low specific weights.”

With the Nidera blending scheme, suppliers of high quality wheat are paid a premium and their material is blended at the company’s Ipswich Grain Terminal with the lower specification wheats.

To meet Nidera’s contractual obligations with its customers a consistent 72kg/hl has to be made on feed wheat cargoes, Stuart Shiells explains.

“It’s taken a lot of thought as to how we can best use our resources to deliver the required specification to our customers and provide farmers with an outlet for wheat where others have struggled to find a solution.

“We’ve had to work very hard to achieve the required consistency and from our own commercial point of view, it’s not the most efficient way of doing things. The blending process is costly and kilogram for kilogram, better quality wheat is far more expensive than the value recouped through the fallback scale, but it has given producers have a safe outlet for their grain without the threat of costly rejections and we’ve managed to keep a valuable export programme going.

Edwin Cross of Riverfen Farms Ltd in Ely, Cambridgeshire, has put over 1000 tonnes of wheat into the Nidera programme.

“We would normally aim to grow around 60% of our wheat for milling and the rest as feed, but a lot of our crop just hasn’t made the milling premium this year and the highest specific weight we have achieved is 70 kg/hl with the lowest being around 60-61kg/hl. We would normally average between 72 – 75 kg/hl,” he explains.

“Our view was we wanted to move it off the farm quickly and get a fair price and that’s exactly what we’ve been able to do with the Nidera scheme.”

New issue of GFMT magazine online now

The final issue of GFMT magazine for 2012 is online now. Highlights include articles on the role of plastic pallets in milling, replacement rollers and a EuroTier review.

Open publication - Free publishing - More feed

The art of a modern miller working with wheat, cereals, grains and … plastics and metal

FEED ENHANCERS: nutritional perspectives

The changing face of pallets

EXTRUSION: an ever growing aspect of the Indian food processing industries

Delivering world class roll chill technology and service

Global Feed Markets: November - December 2012

Company profiles 2012/13

EuroTier product showcase

Obial

Obial specialises in turnkey grain storage system solutions with reasonable prices through the use of materials of highest quality, superior design and production standards, and an effective customer relations management.
 Click on the image for more information.

Worldwatch Institute: Supporting climate-friendly food production

Ok, this is not strictly milling but the Worldwatch Institute reports are always so interesting that I thought I'd share this news.
       
New Worldwatch Institute report examines the role that sustainable agriculture can play in mitigating the effects of climate change

English: View of contour buffer strips on farm land in the United States, a conservation practice to reduce erosion and water pollution. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This summer, record temperatures and limited rainfall parched vast areas of U.S. cropland, and with Earth's surface air temperature projected to rise 0.69 degrees Celsius by 2030, global food production will be even more unpredictable, according to new research conducted by the Worldwatch Institute. Although agriculture is a major driver of human-caused climate change, contributing an estimated 25 to 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, when done sustainably it can be an important key to mitigating climate change, write report authors Danielle Nierenberg and Laura Reynolds.

Because of its reliance on healthy soil, adequate water, and a delicate balance of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere, farming is the human endeavour most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. But agriculture's strong interrelationships with both climatic and environmental variables also make it a significant player in reducing climate-altering emissions as well as helping the world adapt to the realities of a warming planet.

"The good news is that agriculture can hold an important key to mitigating climate change," said Reynolds, Worldwatch's Food and Agriculture Research Associate. "Practices such as using animal manure rather than artificial fertiliser, planting trees on farms to reduce soil erosion and sequester carbon, and growing food in cities all hold huge potential for reducing agriculture's environmental footprint."

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that the global agricultural sector could potentially reduce and remove 80 to 88 percent of the carbon dioxide that it currently emits. By adopting more-sustainable approaches, small-scale agriculture in developing countries has the potential to contribute 70 percent of agriculture's global mitigation of climate change. And many of these innovations have the potential to be replicated, adapted, and scaled up for application on larger farms, helping to improve water availability, increase diversity, and improve soil quality, as well as mitigate climate change.
 
This report, Innovations in Sustainable Agriculture: Supporting Climate-Friendly Food Production, discusses six sustainable approaches to land and water use, in both rural and urban areas, that are helping farmers and other food producers mitigate or adapt to climate change-and often both. They are:

Building Soil Fertility: Alternatives to heavy chemical use in agriculture, such as avoiding unnecessary tilling or raising both crops and livestock on the same land, can help to drastically reduce the total amount of energy expended to produce a crop or animal, reducing overall emissions.

Agroforestry: Because trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, keeping them on farms whenever possible can help mitigate climate change. Agroforestry also keeps the soil healthier and more resilient by maximising the amount of organic matter, microorganisms, and moisture held within it. Agroforestry also provides shade for livestock and certain crops, and creates habitats for animals and insects, such as bees, that pollinate many crops. 

Urban Farming: Growing food in cities can mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions released from the transport, processing, and storage of food destined for urban populations. Urban agriculture also increases the total area of non-paved land in cities, making urban landscapes more resilient to flooding and other weather shocks, while improving the aesthetic value of these landscapes.

Cover Cropping/Green Manure: Cover cropping, also known as green manure, is the practice of strategically planting crops that will deliver a range of benefits to a farming system, and often ploughing these crops into the soil instead of harvesting their organic matter. Planting cover crops improves soil fertility and moisture by making soil less vulnerable to drought or heat waves. Cover crops also serve as a critical deterrent against pests and diseases that affect crops or livestock, such as corn root worm or Rift Valley fever, particularly as warmer temperatures enable these organisms to survive in environments that were previously too cold for them.

Improving Water Conservation and Recycling: Innovations in water conservation, including recycling wastewater in cities, using precise watering techniques such as drip irrigation rather than sprinklers, and catching and storing rainwater, all help to reduce the global strain on already-scarce water resources.

Preserving Biodiversity and Indigenous Breeds: Growing diverse and locally adapted indigenous crops, such as yams, quinoa, and cassava, can provide a source of income and improve farmers' chances of withstanding the effects of climate change, such as heat stress, drought, and the expansion of disease and pest populations. Preserving plant and animal biodiversity also reduces farmers' over reliance on a small number of commodity crops that make them vulnerable to shifts in global markets.

By tapping into the multitude of climate-friendly farming practices that already exist, agriculture can continue to provide food for the world's population, as well as be a source of livelihood for the 1.3 billion people who rely on farming for income and sustenance.If agriculture is to play a positive role in the global fight against climate change, however, agricultural practices that mitigate or adapt to climate change will need to receive increased research, attention, and investment in the coming years.

07/12/12: Stories on climate change and agriculture, DGS and phytase

Hello,
I went to London yesterday to collect my visa for India.  The ISRMAX show starts next Wednesday so there's loads to sort out and a real buzz going about the office. But for now, here's our news round up.

• United Nations climate change talks in Doha this week haven't made much progress. However, one thing negotiators have agreed on is that agriculture is both a victim and a culprit of climate change. This opinion piece on the Huffington Post explores why solutions to the problems have been delayed or avoided. Read more...

• Is the price of Distillers Grain and Solubles (DGS) set to rocket? Dr Robert Wisner, Iowa State University thinks so. Read his blog...

• Academics are preparing for the second International Phytase Summit which will take place at the Grand Hotel Plaza in Rome from December 11-13, 2012. Joint hosts Schothorst Feed Research, AB Vista, Massey University, University of Maryland and University of Sydney will review, consolidate and progress discussions on phytase. Read more...

Grain (Photo credit: peter pearson)

Despite drought, US Grains Council report indicates high quality US corn crop

English: Cobs of corn (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The overall quality of the 2012 U.S. corn crop is high and improves upon last year’s very good marks across a range of test factors, according to the U.S. Grains Council’s Corn Harvest Quality Report 2012/13. Total U.S. corn production fell in 2012 due to the worst drought in decades, but despite the drought, this year’s crop showed a year-over-year improvement in average text weight, protein levels, and density, as well as lower moisture and BCFM than the 2011 crop. The full report is now available at www.grains.org.

This is the second year for the Council’s Harvest Report. The Harvest Report assess the quality of the U.S. crop as it is delivered from farms to local elevators, the first step in entering international marketing channels.  It will be followed in April 2013 by the second annual Corn Export Cargo Quality Report, which assess quality at the point of export.

The Council produces the reports so global importers will have access to reliable and comparable data from year to year, with samples being gathered and tested using transparent and consistent methods. “With an increasingly competitive global market, the availability of accurate information is in the long-term best interest of U.S. farmers, exporters and international buyers,” said Erick Erickson, USGC director of global strategies. “We received a tremendously positive response to the inaugural reports from international buyers, so certainly there is a need for this type of information.”

For the harvest quality report, samples of U.S. corn were gathered from 12 states that combined are the source for 99 percent of U.S. corn exports. Tests conducted on the samples cover grading factors like test weight, physical factors such as stress cracks and other items such as moisture, protein starch, oil and mycotoxins.

“The samples tested demonstrate that this year’s U.S. corn crop, while smaller due to the drought, is of outstanding quality overall,” Erickson said.

Data indicates the average test weight for the 2012/13 crop was 58.8 pounds per bushel, an increase over 2011 and more than 2 pounds per bushel above the grade limit for No. 1 U.S. corn. At the same time, broken corn and foreign material (BCFM) was lower, as were the number of damaged kernels. Moisture, at 15.3 percent, was also lower than last year.

“Protein numbers were generally higher, starch was marginally lower and oil content was unchanged,” Erickson said.

The frequency of stress cracks, which indicate the relative susceptibility of kernels to break up during handling, are up marginally (from 3 percent last year to 4 percent this year), which could be an indicator that the crop will be more susceptible to breakage during handling, information that may turn up in the Corn Export Cargo Quality Report in the spring.

Erickson noted that the Council’s Corn Harvest Quality Report 2012/13 only assesses the quality of the current U.S. corn harvest as it enters merchandising channels, as quality can be affected by further handling, blending, storage conditions and other downstream factors.
The full report is available at the U.S. Grains Council website, www.grains.org, and from the Council’s international offices.

IAI and ISRMAX India

We're getting excited about IAI and ISRMAX India which is just a week away. Between December 13-15, 2012 the IARI Grounds, PUSA, New Dehli will play host to eight concurrent trade shows over three days.

The shows will focus on the Indian agriculture industries providing exhibitors with a plethora of opportunities to connect the service providers with the end users specifically in agriculture, aquaculture, rice and grain production industries.

 

Perendale Publishers Limited is working in association with Pixie Consulting Solution Limited to put on what promises to be an action-packed event. We'll have stands in four of the halls which will be home to over 15 different companies.

Over the next few days we'll preview our stands and let you a bit more about who'll be there.

India Gate, Monument in New Delhi, India (Photo credit: Wikipedia)