31/10/13: AB Vista hosts conference presentation: Phytase can add serious value to European poultry production

In a recent presentation that took place during this year’s Union of Poultry Breeders of Ukraine annual conference, held from the 23 - 26 September 2013 in Sudak, Ukraine, Dr Rob ten Doeschate, technical director, AB Vista, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), reviewed the importance of phytase to European poultry producers.

“Phytase feed enzymes are used by most poultry producers worldwide,” he stated. “Since their introduction to improve dietary phosphorus availability in the early 1990s, commercial phytase products have changed substantially, and are now capable of both delivering higher levels of phosphorus release per unit of activity and destroying a higher percentage of the phytase in the diet, giving better matrix values.

“Superdosing is the addition of extra phytase capable of destroying phytate quickly and fully, which is perhaps the most exciting development in recent years. As phytate is an anti-nutrient, this will lead to performance improvements in the target animal greater than those expected from the simple release of nutrients due to added phytase,” Dr ten Doeschate added.

“Typical responses to superdosing include improved live weight gain and feed intake leading to a significant improvement in feed conversion efficiency, with these results confirmed in independent university and commercial trials around the world.”

The Union of Poultry Breeders of Ukraine conference is the largest annual feed industry event held in the Ukraine, with over 300 companies exhibiting in 2013. An audience of more than 60 people, representing all sectors of the Ukrainian poultry industry, attended Dr ten Doeschate’s presentation, which was organised by Brenntag Ukraine, the local distributor for AB Vista feed ingredients.

“This was a fantastic opportunity for those involved in the Ukrainian poultry industry to hear first-hand from an expert on the potential benefits of phytase use in poultry diets, and to gain a better understanding of the negative impact phytate can have on performance,” said Anatoliy Klochko, Brenntag Ukraine’s division manager for animal nutrition.

“There are still significant gains to be made from feed enzyme use here in the Ukraine, and the use of phytase to reduce costs and improve performance through superdosing is set to spread rapidly as the benefits become more widely recognised.”

AB Vista recently held a conference with a focus on Phytase and its value in European poultry production

For more information, contact:

AB Vista

+34 918 591 787

info@abvista.com

17/10/13: Ireland and Ethiopia agri-food collaboration; Brazil predicts record grain harvest; Phytobiotics strengthens team

Simon Coveney, minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Ireland and Tefera Derbew, minister of agriculture, Ethiopia have agreed to work together on agricultural development and agribusiness investments in their two countries. 

This cooperation will include the exchange of information on agricultural policy and the encouragement of bilateral private agri-business collaboration.

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Brazil 's grain harvests are estimated to top more than 191 million tons for the 2013-2014 period, the country's crop forecasting agency said.

"Brazil's grain production for 2013-14 is estimated at between 191.9 and 195.5 million tons, up between 2.6 percent and 4.5 percent compared with the previous harvest," said the agency.

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Research and feed additive company, Phytobiotics, recently strengthened its management team with the appointment of Dr. Manfred Andratsch as new alkaloid research manager.

Phytobiotics is one of the fastest growing global companies, focusing on the improvement of  performance in livestock animals. As well as hiqh-quality feed additives, the company offers consultancy in topics such as gut health, stress reduction and bio-availability of nutrients.

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English: Brazil Português: Brasil Русский: Бразилия (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HGCA investment aims to help update nutrient management recommendations

HGCA is investing £700,000 in research to help update nutrient management recommendations.

Commencing this autumn and focusing on nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S), the four research projects are being conducted by ADAS in collaboration with 12 industry partners who will contribute a further £250,000 in funding.

James Holmes, research manager for crop nutrition at HGCA, said, “The Fertiliser Manual (RB209) is a crucial source of information. But as farming practices move on, it is essential that nutrient management recommendations keep pace with change. This new work will play a valuable role in updating nutrient management information.”

The first project extends current research to help growers maintain an appropriate level of P in the soil.

Holmes said, “In the last 30 years, fewer fields have received P treatment as growers take ‘P holidays’. This, together with the increasing cost of P fertilisers and environmental pressures, has stimulated a lot of debate on the management of P.

“Recent research has shown how P management may need to be adapted in certain soils and has confirmed that growers running down soil P to below Olsen P Index 2 could be approaching a ‘cliff edge’ of P deficiency and risk not achieving optimum yields, especially when conditions are less than ideal.”

The new research will refine understanding of critical soil P levels and how to satisfy crop demand across a range of soil types, which could include applying ‘fresh P’ during the season.

“The use of fresh P applications is particularly interesting and HGCA work has already demonstrated that fresh P fertiliser can be effective in raising winter wheat and oilseed rape yields in plots below Olsen P Index 2. Further P-response trials will be conducted on farms to calculate when fresh P applications could be beneficial,” commented Holmes.

Two further projects will focus on the management of N.

Holmes said, “Current recommendations for N management are based on averages which fail to adequately reflect the diversity in soil types and the large variations in actual field nutrient requirements. There is also increasing evidence that N is being under-applied on some farms.”

In the first N project, a series of on-farm trials will be set up to test a novel ‘strip trial’ approach, where a standard N rate is applied along with 50kg/ha more and 50kg/ha less applied N to alternate tramlines.

“We are supporting this work with soil analysis and helping growers to set up strip trials. We will help develop a robust data set to produce a better picture of N variability and the proportion of fields that require more or less N fertiliser than predicted by RB209," said Allison Grundy, GrowHow, one of the project’s industry partners.

The second N project will look at the N requirements for winter barley.

Holmes added, “RB209 recommendations for winter barley have not been updated for around 30 years and varieties have changed significantly over that period.

“This project will review N management data and conduct experiments on application rate and timing for two-row, six-row and hybrid winter barley varieties.”

The final project takes a look at S management.

“The recent HGCA ‘yield plateau’ work found that many winter wheat and oilseed rape crops may not be receiving enough S and this could be limiting yield," said Holmes.

“This new research will extend S-response trials, as well as quantify the S supply from applications of manures and biosolids.

Dr Pete Berry, principal research scientist at ADAS, concluded, “The nutrient research projects have been designed with RB209 in mind. The projects, which will deliver findings over the next five years, will be made available to Defra to assist with future revisions of RB209.”

More information...

English: Looking the winter barley. Drive by the winter barley to make sure it's still there. Probably looking for slug damage, it's been wet and warm enough! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

08/08/2013: NCGA membership tops 40,000; Rentokil launches pestaurant; new rice gene could triple yields

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) recently announced that membership has topped the 40,000 mark, signaling deep and continued support for the 56-year-old national agriculture association.

“We’re thrilled at what this new milestone means and we salute the hard work of our membership recruiters, state and national staff, and all who have helped build this into such a respected and strong grassroots association,” said Pam Johnson, NCGA president.
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To celebrate 85 years in the pest control business, Rentokil is launching its own 'pestaurant'. On August 15, 2013, from 10:30am in the One New Change building in London, UK, diners can feast on sweet chilli pigeon burgers, wasabi weaver ants, BBQ grasshoppers and chocolate flavoured dipped bugs. 

Rentokil representatives will also be on hand to discuss the best ways to deal with pests that are still alive.
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As well as serving up the exotic cuisine, which is all free, Retokil experts will also be on hand to answer any pest questions as well as pass on their ‘top tips’ for avoiding pest problems.
Read more at http://www.thedrum.com/stuff/2013/08/07/rentokil-celebrates-85-year-heritage-pop-pestaurant#jGhH7hFZmWb61pyZ.99

In Nature Genetics this week, Japanese researchers presented a study on a gene that gives rice plants deeper roots and could subsequently triple yields during droughts. 

The study shows that by pointing roots down instead of sideways, the Deeper Rooting 1 (DRO1) gene results in roots that are nearly twice as deep as those of standard rice varieties. 

"If rice adapts to or avoids drought conditions using deeper roots, it can get water and nutrients from the deep soil layers," said Yusaku Uga, researcher at Japan's National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS) and the study's lead author.
Read the full article here.

A weaver ant worker retrieving a small prey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As well as serving up the exotic cuisine, which is all free, Retokil experts will also be on hand to answer any pest questions as well as pass on their ‘top tips’ for avoiding pest problems.
Read more at http://www.thedrum.com/stuff/2013/08/07/rentokil-celebrates-85-year-heritage-pop-pestaurant#jGhH7hFZmWb61pyZ.99

As well as serving up the exotic cuisine, which is all free, Retokil experts will also be on hand to answer any pest questions as well as pass on their ‘top tips’ for avoiding pest problems.
Read more at http://www.thedrum.com/stuff/2013/08/07/rentokil-celebrates-85-year-heritage-pop-pestaurant#jGhH7hFZmWb61pyZ.9http://www.scidev.net/global/farming/news/rice-gene-digs-deep-to-triple-yields-in-drought.html

07/08/2013: Cargill's new global technology director; GM food debate; nutrition for niche market swine

Cargill has announced the appointment of Dr Brooke Humphrey as global technology director for pork at its innovation campus in Elk River, Minnesota, USA. Currently Humphrey is the monogastric research and development director at the campus.

“Brooke will excel in this new role,” said Dr. Jason Shelton, global technology application director. “The experience he brings from working with a mulititude of businesses and species will help Cargill better serve our animal nutrition customers and partners.”
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In a video debate published online by British national newspaper the Guardian, Natalie Bennett, Green party leader and Johnjoe McFadden, professor of molecular genetics at the University of Surrey, debate the future of GM food production.

Watch the debate here.

A new study by Iowa State University and the Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA) may allow niche market swine producers to match the nutrients in feed to the needs of their pigs.

In the past few years, the market has seen a consumer demand despite being a new development in agriculture. “In these value-added markets, the primary cost of producing a pig is the same as in the regular, commodity market; it’s the cost of the feed. Feed costs have gone up so much that it compromises about 65 percent of the cost of the production of any animal,” said John Mabry, animal science professor at Iowa State University.

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Pig farm, Iowa, 1994 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)