Wrapping up December: What’s new in the world of pigs?
Traditionally, December is a quiet month as many companies in the worldwide pig industry will close their doors for Christmas and New Year. Yet there was a lot of activity, mostly because China is rapidly rebuilding its pig herd.
Adisseo closes Framelco acquisition
Adisseo, a subsidiary of China National Bluestar, has completed the acquisition of Dutch feed additive company Framelco Group, which operates 3 plants in the Netherlands, Spain and Thailand. The business generates close to € 30 million annually. Most of Framelco’s sales consist of glycerides to enhance animal resilience and to improve animal performance and lysolecithins to increase feed digestibility. The intended acquisition was announced in September.
Genesus delivers 900 breeding pigs to China
Breeding company Genesus has delivered 900 breeding pigs to Taiyu (Tycoon) Breeding Pig Company in China on a 747 charter plane from the company’s nucleus farms in the UK. Tycoon previously had 1,000 GGP sows, 5,000 GP sows and 10,000 commercial sows prior to construction of the new genetic nucleus farm.
China also welcomes more Choice breeding pigs
Pig genetics company Choice announced another successful pig breeding shipment from Paris-Vatry Airport to China. A total of 24 triple crates with 1,000 GP animals were loaded in the 747 aircraft.
VIV Qingdao and CIMIE held together in 2021
A new strategic cooperation has been announced between VIV Qingdao and the China International Meat Industry Exhibition (CIMIE). The 2 shows will be co-located for the first time on 15 to 17 September 2021 at the Qingdao Cosmopolitan Exposition providing a complete platform for the whole animal protein production chain.
Consortium launches pig-friendly growth model in China
A consortium of 12 Dutch companies managed by Royal Agrifirm Group has launched the development of an animal-friendly growth model for the swine farming sector in China. The first achievement is the construction of a Research Test & Training Centre in Anping, Hebei province, where knowledge and expertise will be shared. Other companies in the initiative include e.g. Nedap, Bouwimpex, MS Schippers, Topigs Norsvin and Hato Lighting.
Agrifirm also launched a young animal nutrition brand: Earlyfeed, offering nutritional solutions for the early development of newborn animals. To celebrate the launch, a webinar earlier this month delved deeper into the question what happens if young animals do not get the right care.
MS Schippers installs logistics centre in Brazil
One of the other companies involved in the Dutch initiative in China is MS Schippers. This company has also been working on the other side of the globe, as it also started operating a logistics and storage centre in Uberaba, Brazil. This installation aims to expand the business. Initially, the logistics and storage unit will facilitate several logistical processes.
PIC invests in 1st commercial AI-stud in Russia
Expansion is not only happening in China: PIC Russia will build a gene transfer centre in Lipetsk. The project will consist of 2 buildings, each with 350 PIC boars. The launch of the first stage is expected for late 2021 and stocking with sires from PIC Elite Farm in Canada is estimated for late 2021 with first semen sales early 2022. The GTC will produce dam line semen with GP/GGP level and terminal semen with ProfitPlus and ProfitMax genetic level.
DanBred delivers 3,000 breeding animals to Russia
In the 2nd half of 2020, DanBred chartered 4 cargo aircraft and delivered 2,955 purebred breeding animals to Russia. The animals were shipped to RusAgro, one of the largest pig producers in Russia, which had ordered a split delivery between weeks 32 and 50 with the intention of entering the animals into their local breeding and production farms. The shipments brought 2,915 Yorkshire gilts, 30 Yorkshire boars and 10 Landrace boars to Russia.
Big Dutchman equips sow pilot project in Nigeria
Developments are also happening in Africa. Ondo State in Nigeria commissioned Big Dutchman to furnish a farm for 56 sows to be kept in a closed system. The equipment will be a factor in a reform programme the Nigerian government has started to increase the productivity in agriculture and to reduce the country’s dependence on imported food. The investment volume amounts to around € 80,000.
Approval for Elanco products
Various pig health products received approval this month. Prevacent PRRS by Elanco Animal Health has been licensed in the USA for use in sows and gilts against the reproductive form of PRRS, when vaccinated 6 weeks prior to breeding. In addition, the company’s Increxxa tulathromycin injection, a broad-spectrum antimicrobial (macrolide) for the treatment and metaphylaxis of swine respiratory disease, has been granted marketing authorisation in Europe.
PRRS vaccine receives 24-month dating
PRRSGard, a modified-live vaccine for Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus (PRRSv) by Pharmgate Animal Health, has been given an extension of its expiratory dating by the US Department of Agriculture. Approval for extension has been given from 18 to 24 months.
Marketing authorisation for PCV2/M. hyo vaccine
Thirdly, the European Commission has granted Zoetis marketing authorisation for CircoMax Myco for the active immunisation of pigs against Porcine Circovirus, type 2 (PCV2) and M. hyopneumoniae. In a one-shot injection, the vaccine offers combined protection against PCV2 and M. hyopneumoniae pathogens.
New air scrubbers launched
Time for some product news: Together with Big Dutchman, Inno+ has launched its first product lines for the global pig and composting market. This included the Porcus air scrubber, which is available in both biological and chemical versions and designed for a variety of pig houses, and the CompoLiner air scrubber, developed for the CompoLiner composting concept.
Launch of a new source of manganese
On November 25, at a digital event, French trace mineral company Animine added a third product to its portfolio: ManGrin, a new source of manganese. It is a purified and highly concentrated manganese source (minimum of 75%). On top, the company emphasises the product’s flowability, safety standards, stability and bioavailability. Manganese is involved in skeleton and cartilage development, immunity, fertility and more.
French biomethane plant running on pig manure
A biomethane plant of Weltec Biopower, fuelled by pig manure and liquid slurry, has begun operations in Normandie, France. The € 11 million project will see a yearly amount of about 70,000 tonnes of substrates to biogas to be processed to biomethane. In total, 2/3 of the 200 tonnes of input substances needed every day consist of animal waste.
Evonik takes NIR technology for feed analyses mobile
Evonik has launched Aminonir Portable hand-held device, a mobile NIR service with a world’s first – amino acid calibrations, enabling the determination of energy, nutrients in feed raw materials and feed, as well as amino acids in feed raw materials, on-site and independent of a laboratory.
Feed additive effectiveness recognised in research paper
AB Vista announced the publication of a new peer-reviewed paper. This investigated whether the inclusion of a stimbiotic can improve performance, influence intestinal microbiota and fermentation activity, and reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines in piglets compared to fructo-oligosaccharide and mannan-oligosaccharide, when housed either in good sanitary or poor sanitary environments. The article was co-authored by various AB Vista employees.
ARM: Sows drink more in free-style pens
More research news, this time from the UK: ARM Buildings have been monitoring sows’ drinking habits in freedom-style farrowing pens and in conventional crates. The company found that sows in crates are drinking, at their peak, up to 25 litres per day compared with up to 35-40 litres per day in the free-style pens – a difference of 15-20 litres per day at that stage of suckling.
BASF partners with Adifo Software for feed formulations
BASF has partnered with Adifo Software to optimise feed formulations to support more sustainable animal protein production. A new digital solution will be launched in 2021 for the animal agriculture value chain by integrating sustainability analytics powered by the company’s AgBalance Livestock project into Adifo’s Bestmix feed formulation software.
Phosphea announces the integration of Nuwen activities
A change within French agribusiness conglomerate Groupe Roullier, headquartered in St Malo, France. Nuwen animal nutrition will be integrated into Phosphea, a move which is strengthening the company’s range of nutritional solutions based on macro-minerals. The range of products include those that are made up of ground elements for the growth and well-being of animals.
Nutreco: Soy sourcing policy to prevent deforestation
Nutreco has launched a soy sourcing policy aimed at simplifying complex certification schemes and facilitating the removal of deforestation from its supply chain by 2025. The policy highlights soy-producing regions on low and high risk of deforestation and outlines the procurement requirements in areas of higher risk.
CP Foods pledges responsible corn sourcing
Charoen Pokphand Foods announced to only buy corn from responsible and traceable origins, which have legal documents for their agricultural land and prove their non-involvement with forest encroachment.
The company further anticipates that a pork shortage in China and South East Asia caused by the ASF crisis will keep pork prices high in the next year. The company will also focus on investing in R&D to build a stronger breed of swine and on developing better farm biosecurity.
