Wrapping up July: What’s new in the world of pigs?
In the global pig industry, it was acquisition and cooperation time during July 2020. Spanish livestock equipment manufacturer Rotecna will become part of Danish Skiold and also the intended acquisition of Bayer Animal Health by Elanco received antitrust clearance. In a nutshell, this is what happened in July.
Takeover: Rotecna acquired by Skiold
Spanish company Rotecna, specialising in the design, manufacture, and marketing of equipment and solutions for the pig farming industry, has been acquired by Danish company Skiold, which provides seed, feed, and farm equipment and solutions. Rotecna’s management will continue to lead the company. Rotecna is headquartered in Agramunt, Lleida province, Spain.
Scandinavian Farms to collaborate with Genesus in China
Following the establishment of a genetic service and marketing agreement, Genesus has shipped 3 plane loads of swine genetics from Genesus nucleus farms in the UK to Scandinavian Farms Pig Industries of China. Scandinavian Farms is a Danish corporation which established a DanBred nucleus herd in China in 2013. Scandinavian Farms’ current production capacity is 14,000 sows. Scandinavian Farms will work with Genesus in selling Genesus genetics in China.
Liprovit and Nukamel join forces on whey powders
Liprovit and Nukamel have joined forces on the development and sale of fat-filled whey products, with a focus on Latin America and Russia. Liprovit has built a spray tower for the production of 40,000 metric tonnes of dairy products per year, in particular fat-filled whey powders. The Dutch company formulates and produces liquid milk replacers for the veal and piglet markets; Nukamel develops and produces calf milk replacer.
Antitrust clearance for Elanco’s Bayer AH acquisition
Elanco Animal Health has received approval from the US Federal Trade Commission for the acquisition of Bayer Animal Health. That is the final antitrust clearance needed to complete the transaction, which is on track for closing at the beginning of August. The announcement of the intentional take-over dates from August 2019.
De Heus Animal Nutrition aquires Golpasz in Poland
De Heus Animal Nutrition has signed an agreement for the acquisition of the Polish compound feed company, Golpasz, which has an annual production capacity of 500,000 tonnes of compound feed.
Farmabase prepares FarmTalks Swine Conference
In August, Brazil’s Farmabase, in partnership with Eco Animal Health, is organising FarmaTalks Swine Conference, the purpose of which is to make technical information available through an online platform and to bring together the world’s knowledgeable individuals in swine health. The conference will consist of 3 different panels, namely animal protein market, respiratory health, and enteric health. Free and limited enrolment takes place from 11-13 August.
Biomin in project for alternatives to antimicrobials
Biomin will get involved in a 5-year, € 6 million EU-backed research consortium effort to decrease the application of antibiotics in pigs. The Alternatives to Veterinary ANTimicrobials (AVANT) Project, involving 14 partner organisations from 9 countries, is led by the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. The project seeks to develop alternatives to antimicrobials for the management of bacterial infections in pigs, especially diarrhoea during the weaning period.
Vilomax and SEGES look to zinc-free future
In anticipation of the ban in 2022 of zinc oxide used against weaning diarrhoea, Danish Agro’s subsidiary Vilomix joined forces with SEGES, the Danish Pig Research Centre, farmers and their vets, to find solutions that can ensure the lowest possible drop in production levels. The aim of this collaboration is to create a learning forum in which participants can try out different actions in close consultation with Vilomix and SEGES while zinc oxide can still be used.
Kemin invests in new quality control lab
Kemin has invested US$ 8 million for a new quality control laboratory that will be built at its headquarters in Iowa, the US, and is scheduled to open in mid-2021. The facility, which will include 1,400 m2 of functional showcase labs to exhibit Kemin’s analytical capabilities, will be a working space for Kemin teams and available for customers.
Meanwhile, the company acquired a US patent application for a method to control ASFv in feed using the pathogen control product Sal Curb Liquid Antimicrobial. New data from Kansas State University and published in Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, demonstrate that the product inactivates ASFv in feed.
Boehringer Ingelheim gets approval for CSF vaccine
Boehringer Ingelheim’s China-developed CSF live vaccine Ingelvac has obtained a ‘New Veterinary Drug Registration Certificate’ from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) of China. It is the first Classical Swine Fever live vaccine jointly developed by a multinational company and Chinese research institutes.
Meanwhile, the German company has acquired Global Stem cell Technology (GST), a Belgian veterinary biotech company dedicated to the R&D and production of regenerative medicines (stem cell therapies) used to treat orthopaedic and metabolic diseases in animals.
Acoustic monitoring to help keep pigs happy
Greengage is working with British Quality Pigs on a trial using a ‘Grunty’ sensor in a finishing shed to improve pig performance and enhance welfare. The sensor will be coupled with the lighting system to adjust the lights once an aggression event is predicted or occurring. The team is working on developing algorithms that will differentiate between ‘happy’ or normal sounds within a shed, and aggression. These data will be analysed and fed back via a smartphone app.
BASF invests in technology company SmartAHC
BASF Venture Capital, as well as Evonik and Shenzhen Sinoagri E-Commerce, are investing in SmartAHC, supplier of digitalisation solutions for pig farming on the Chinese market. The idea is to optimise husbandry operations through digitalisation, i.e. pigs can be counted, identified and observed at any point in time during rearing and finishing. SmartAHC uses sensors, camera systems and artificial intelligence to collect and analyse data in order to predict emerging issues.
Roquette appoints Azelis in Northern and Eastern Europe
Provider of plant-based ingredients for food, nutrition and health markets, Roquette, and distributor of speciality chemicals and food ingredients, Azelis, have signed a distribution partnership for animal nutrition in a number of countries in Northern and Eastern Europe. The agreement includes the offering of a pig starter feed and a specialty gluconic acid for piglets. Roquette and Azelis already have an agreement in the food and nutrition markets.
Novus announces new corporate structure
Novus’ CEO, Dan Meagher, has announced a strategic plan for the company, called Project Destiny, involving the implementation of a new corporate structure and the establishment of a regional operating model. A new executive leadership team will lead the company in pursuit of becoming “a leader in gut health solutions for the sustainable production of protein through nutrition”.
AB Vista publishes reference guide
AB Vista has produced a reference guide, ’An introduction to fibre analysis using NIR’, providing poultry and swine producers an introduction to the benefits of moving from conventional fibre methods to total dietary fibre analysis using Near Infrared Reflectance (NIR) technology. The guide contains the results of non-starch polysaccharide analysis of feedstuff samples from around the world.
Hamlet Protein connects online with webinars
During the Covid-19 pandemic, where travel restrictions continue to impact the way we work, Hamlet Protein introduced a seminar series. Behavioural scientist, Ben Tiggelaar, and adventurer, Alastair Humphreys, discussed personal leadership and change, and American best-selling author and Harvard Business Review Leadership columnist, Nick Tasler, discussed how to respond when change happens to an organisation.
Meanwhile, the company also sponsored a 2-day online technical conference in China organised by the China Animal Agriculture Association (CAAA). With a focus on diet formulation without the use of antibiotics, the conference attracted more than 400,000 attendees.
VIV worldwide unveils a fresh look
The VIV organisation of agricultural trade shows has given its brand and design a new look. According to a press release, all visuals share a “common and unique feature”: “The VIV diamond frame-shape, highlighting the ties that each show and platform constitute within a complete and inter-connected VIV portfolio and Feed to Food network.”
DB Genética Suína invests in 2 hub farms in Brazil
DB Genética Suína, the Brazilian partner of DanBred, will invest in the creation of 2 new hub farms in Brazil. In June, the commercial director of DB Genética Suína, Vladimir Fortes, was in Denmark for strategic meetings with DanBred executives, to discuss the new hub farms. The farms will improve the performance and health of the national herds, further increasing productivity levels and ensuring that Brazil retains its high ranking position.
Minitube celebrates 50 years in animal breeding
German AI company Minitube has been celebrating its 50th anniversary. It all started in the 1960s, when Dr Ludwig Simmet began his work as a specialist vet for breeding hygiene. He developed a technique for deep-freezing bull semen, leading to the patent registration of his Minitüb System which allowed bull semen to be filled fully automatically into plastic tubes. The company was founded in 1970. Minitube today has 10 subsidiaries worldwide.
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