7/11/13: XTRACT® in broiler production - it just makes sense

A news release shared from Pancosma 

In modern broiler production, carcass quality is, along with growth performance based on weight gain and feed conversion, one of the most decisive quality parameters. Carcass quality, just like breast muscle, percentage of breast on total carcass, or carcass weight, is an economic/commercial parameter with direct contribution to the profit of the farmer and of the slaughterhouse and is therefore of special interest to integrators.
 

Through eight trials, Pancosma showed that feeding XTRACT® to fattening chickens, compared to either a negative or a positive control (Avilamycin, Salinomycin, Bacitracin etc…), has a positive effect on the hot and cold carcass as well as on the dressing percentage. XTRACT® 6930 is a product exploiting nature’s potential, especially active ingredients naturally occurring in plants and spices.  

These benefits are not due to a direct impact of the product on muscle tissue, but most likely to an indirect action on the digestive function. Recent research gives evidence of these “gut effects”, which are involved in immune modulation, antioxidant status, digestibility and metabolisable energy. Quality parameters for further processing in the food chain, such as drip loss and meat and skin colour, were improved in these trials.
 

These results, combined with better zootechnical performance (growth and feed conversion) and an interesting return on investment, show that XTRACT® guarantees a profitable broiler production. 

Pancosma's XTRACT® phytonutrient improves performance as well as carcass quality in broiler production

 

6/11/13: Pest and disease control at heart of Adjuvants Market

The 'Adjuvants Market' which encompasses part of the agrochemical market and includes areas such as drift control agents, ammonium fertilisers and water conditioners, is one of the fastest growing sectors in agriculture.

Over the next five years it is expected to raise almost 30 percent from US$2173 million to almost US$3000 million worldwide, reflecting an ongoing rapid growth the sector has seen in recent years. 

Adjuvants are revitalising the agrochemical sector and are proving useful ways for farmers to improve their chemical applications, facilitate dosages and achieve more cost-effective and better targeted pest control.

The agriculture adjuvants market is mostly focused on North America and Europe where high tech agriculture practices are dominant.

Crop Spraying against pests and /or diseases. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

31/10/13: Lesaffre Feed Additives strengthens team; Ireland's agri-food trade mission; Canada's grain elevators are full

Lesaffre Feed Additives (LFA), a division of Lesaffre Nutrition & Health, a leading company in probiotic and yeast-based product applications for animal feed, recently announced a new addition to its team.

Dr Frédérique Clusel, will take over as the new managing director of LFA. She will be based at the Lesaffre headquarters in Marcq-en-Baroeul, France.

Clusel graduated as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1993 and holds a Master in Business Administrration (MBA) from HEC Executive Education. With over 20 years’ experience in the animal health sector, Clusel has expertise in management functions worldwide, particularly in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific regions.

Prior to joining LFA, Clusel was group manager at the Swine Business Unit, Europe Middle East and Africa division (EMEA), Zoetis, USA. 

Visit Lesaffre's website.

The Gulf States of Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabis are to receive a major boost from Ireland’s agri-food and equine sector.

Earlier this week, Simon Coveney, minister of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Ireland arrived in the region at the helm of a 60-strong trade mission.

According to estimates from the Irish food board, Bord Bia, Irish food exports to the Gulf amounted to almost €200 million in 2012. Bord Bia estimates there is potential to double that figure by 2020.

Read full article here.

Western Canada's transport systems are under strain as a result of record grain harvests in the Canada's prairie regions. 

According to reports from the Western Grain Elevators Association, shipping terminals in Vancouver and Prince Rupert are running at capacity, prairie grain elevators are full and elevator operators require double number of current rail cars provided in order to to get the waves of grain off farms.
 

"The situation this year is unprecedented," said Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevators Association.

More information here.

Dr Frédérique Clusel is the new managing director of Lesaffre Feed Additives

22/10/13: Danisco Animal Nutrition explores the benefits of feed additives beyond growth performance

Dr. Ajay Awati, development lead at DuPont subsidiary Danisco Animal Nutrition, will present on the topic “Benefits of Feed Additives Beyond Growth Related Performance for Animal Production” at the Animal Nutrition conference in Brussels on 23 October 2013.
 

Dr. Awati - a qualified vet and doctor of Animal Sciences with over eight years healthy nutrition experience and an extensive back catalogue of peer reviewed publications - will argue that while the role that feed additives play in achieving growth performance is extremely important, their use can also contribute to broader animal and consumer welfare. He will use specific examples to demonstrate how enzymes, natural betaine, essential oils and Direct Fed Microbials (DFMs) can achieve strong long term profitability for animal producers by improving healthy performance parameters and positively impacting the environment, public health and animal product quality.

 His presentation will span the role of feed additives in supporting gut health, reducing dependence on antibiotics, achieving compliance with environmental and food safety legislation, and ultimately in achieving both commercial success and food security.
 

Dr. Awati commented, “The feed additive business has come a long way since the 1980s, when the emphasis was on using feed additives just to improve production performance of animals. We understand a lot more today about the role of feed additives in animal gut health and others factors that can support healthy development. We can use that knowledge to achieve long term success and profitability for our customers in today’s challenging scenarios and help them feed the world in years to come.”
 

For more details on Dr. Awati’s speech, click here or email info.animalnutrition@dupont.com.

Danisco Animal Nutrition pioneered the development and use of enzymes, DFMs and betaine in animal nutrition. Its products are now widely used by poultry and pig producers throughout the world. The company’s mission is to deliver innovative, sustainable solutions that increase efficiency and safety of the food production chain in an environmentally sensitive way. In May 2011, DuPont acquired Danisco forming a global leader in Nutrition & Health and Industrial Biosciences. Danisco Animal Nutrition is a business unit of DuPont Industrial Biosciences.

DuPont has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials, and services since 1802. The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment. 

More information.

Benefits of feed additives beyond growth performance

Country Life's Aslet weighs in on Attenborough debate

Broadcaster David Attenborough is wrong to say repeated famines in East Africa are caused by high birth rates, wrote Clive Aslet in Britain’s Daily Telegraph today.

The Country Life editor-at-large argued that the problem is not of the world failing to produce enough food, but “the absence of it in the right places”.

Admitting in his column that Attenborough’s concerns are shared by many experts, Aslet was emphatic that the challenge of feeding nine billion people by the middle of the century could be met by scientists, industry and farmers, and even drive world economic growth.

The advances in mechanization and information technology now common in British farms, not to mention developments in GM crops, ‘would fill the breadbaskets of the world to overflowing’ if exported to India, Africa and South America. Aslet went on to quote a 2011 Oxfam report arguing that a wholesale rejection of technological improvements in favour of small-scale “peasant” agriculture could “lock farmers into poverty”.

He ended with a note of warning to British readers. The UK is not isolated from worldwide migration, and populations suffering from food shortages “will come knocking at our door”.  

While The Global Miller prefers to strike a less parochial tone, we share Aslet’s feeling that agricultural science and technology can and must prove David Attenborough’s concerns to be unfounded. 

Children have walked for weeks across the desert to get to Dadaab, and many perish on the way. Others have died shortly after arrival. On the edge of the camp, a young girl stands amid the freshly made graves of 70 children, many of whom died of malnutrition. Photo: Andy Hall/Oxfam (Photo credit: Wikipedia)