Wrapping up December: What’s new in the world of pigs?

Adisseo acquires Nutriad

Feed additive company Adisseo has acquired Belgium-based additive producer Nutriad. The transaction is part of Adisseo’s strategy to become a leader of specialty additives in animal nutrition. Nutriad operates 4 laboratories and 5 plants located in Belgium, Spain, the UK, China and the USA. The business generates gross sales of about US$ 100 million per year. Adisseo, a subsidiary of China National BlueStar, is convinced that a combination between the 2 companies represents an attractive opportunity to build a strong franchise leveraging on complementary strengths.

Apart from being taken over, Nutriad itself reported the acquisision of the remaining 45% shares of Feed Flavour International (FFI), based in Nantong, China. The company now owns 100% of the company, producing and marketing a palatability portfolio. In addition, Nutriad launched its palatability range in Myanmar and hosted swine events in Malaysia and Indonesia (pictured).

BCF joins the IMV Technologies group

BCF Technology, a Scotland, UK-based provider of veterinary imaging equipment, and IMV Technologies, leader in animal reproduction technologies, will join forces in the IMV Technologies Group, headquartered in France. Through the integration, the French-based company widens its product range in the reproduction management sector. This strategy follows e.g. the June 2017 acquisition of ECM, a French veterinary ultrasound manufacturer.

Magapor wins Spanish award

Spanish swine reproduction company Magapor was awarded an important Spanish prize, organised by the Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (CEPYME). A jury of 29 experts awarded the company in the category ‘Small and Medium Enterprise of the Year’, in early December in the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, Spain.

Hypor: Business in Dominican Republic

Swine breeder Hypor announced it will partner with Nugeporc in the Dominican Republic. The partnership will enable the breeding company to expand across the continent and compete for market share. Work is underway to build a nucleus facility to produce genetics in the Dominican Republic. Hypor will regularly export breeding stock from Canada to the country to maintain genetic improvement. The breeder will also be training Nugeporc members on production and quality standards. In June and in December this year, the company already had exported sows and boars to the Dominican Republic.

Hypor also recently opened the doors of a new facility in Sichamps, France (pictured). To this end, a 400-sow unit was renovated and expanded to now have a capacity of 1,990 sows. The new facility contains various novelties, including 72 pig performance testing (PPT) feeding stations.

ADM launches Anco AC in Canada

ADM Animal Nutrition introduced Anco AC, a new specialty feed additive for Canadian swine producers. Developed in partnership with Austria-based Anco Animal Nutrition Competence, the product is an anti-caking agent and yeast, primarily used in all phases of production across multiple species. It is designed to allow animals to deal more efficiently with nutritional stressors in their feed. ADM has an equity investment in the Austrian company.

De Heus Serbia expands production capacity

Feed company De Heus built a new production tower at its site in Sabac, Serbia. It was formally opened in December 2017, increasing its capacity in the country by 50%. With this investment De Heus finishes the 1^st phase of its development plan and strengthens its position on the Serbian market. The production tower contains a line for pelleted feed providing an increase in the pelleting capacity. A new automated packing line for finished products was installed as well.

The company also reported positively about a trial in the Netherlands, in which sows were fed with grains low in mycotoxins. At the farm of Kees van der Meijden, near Oirschot, the Netherlands, breeding gilts were fed with feedstuffs low in mycotoxins, combined with additional minerals for healthy legs. Primiparous sows were seen to produce above expectations, with 15.18 liveborn piglets in the last 12 months. Vitality was observed to be very well, with a mortality rate dropping to just below 10%.

Kemin highlights innovation in roadshows

Feed ingredient company Kemin recently organised a series of seminars to showcase its newly launched product Aleta in Asia Pacific. The product is a concentrated immunomodulator molecule to improve animal performance in stressful situations. Dr Geoff Horst, the company’s R&D lead for Kemin and inventor of the product, was the key speaker at events held in Thailand, Taiwan and Korea. The seminars included relevant topics, introduced new technologies and recent trial results of Kemin products. During the seminars, Dr Horst shared his expertise on phycology and emphasised how the algae beta-glucan could prime immunity, leading to improved overall herd health and productivity.

Primary Diets: Conference on piglets

UK-based Primary Diets presented their work on feeding and managing piglets at a technical conference in November, which was attended by 100 delegates from 17 countries. Speakers included Dr Kayleigh Almond, a company nutritionist, who explained how ‘leaky gut’ can lead to a higher use of medication in the post-weaning period. The culmination of company studies has resulted in the development of their Extra Protection (XP) product range.

EuroTier 2018 open for exhibitor registrations

Although still almost 1 year away, exhibitors can already register online to participate in EuroTier, the world’s largest animal husbandry trade show, to take place in Hanover, Germany, 13-16 November 2018. The closing date for registrations is 1 February 2018. The 2016 edition drew 163,000 visitors, including 40,000 from outside Germany. Over 2,600 exhibitors from 58 countries presenting their latest product developments at Hanover’s Exhibition Centre.

Eryseng Parvo launched by Hipra in Canada

Over to news from animal health companies: in November 2017, Hipra Animal Health held 3 events in cities in Canada to launch the new reproductive vaccine Eryseng Parvo. The company brought together over 30 professionals from the Canadian swine sector and the main focus was a practical review of the most common reproductive problems in sows. The product is efficacious against erysipelas, providing a 6-month duration of immunity, reducing clinical signs of the disease in sows. It also offers a wide protection against parvovirus to cover the entire gestation period. This protection can reduce reproductive losses and improve litter size. The vaccine has also been shown to minimise body temperature increase after vaccination.

Merck hosts animal welfare symposium

Merck/MSD Animal Health hosted a symposium called ‘Advancing Animal Welfare Together’ in September 2017, in Dallas, TX, USA. The event attracted animal welfare experts as well as experts from agriculture, food processing/packing and retail, restaurants and grocers. The event explored ways to work together to address practices essential to animal welfare today, and advancements possible in the future. Speakers included e.g. Dr Temple Grandin, Colorado State University, who opened the symposium by emphasising the importance of exploring future animal welfare advancements through the lens of lessons the industry has learned from the past. Welfare experts addressed topics ranging from animal behaviour to welfare compliance and pain management, while food industry speakers reviewed consumer expectations in the grocery aisle and at the dinner table.

Vetanco: Subsidiary in USA

Argentinian-based animal health company Vetanco, in cooperation with Hungary-based feed additive manufacturer Dr Bata, have established a subsidiary in the United States, called BV Science. The new company is a direct result from joining the research, marketing and technical support departments. The new subsidiary which will have an operational base in St Louis, MO and will be led by David Zacek.

New service picks up piggery problems

Barn Report Pro is a new service offered by ARM Buildings in the UK, which is routinely picking up malfunctions in swine farms and also alerting pig farmers when their piggeries need servicing. Recently, many farms have been visited for physical testing of air pressure, inlet speeds and other key functions on houses that have been running for a few years. This has then been compared with data from the monitoring printouts.