Wrapping up June: What’s new in the world of pigs?
Plenty of pig innovations were launched in June 2020 – from additives to apps and from events to enzymes. Plus, more breeding sows made a long journey to China. Read all about it in this month’s Business Update for the pig industry.
DanBred delivers 2,200 breeding pigs to China
Late May, DanBred chartered 3 cargo aircrafts and shipped 2,200 purebred breeding pigs to China – the largest order of breeding pigs to date. More animals will be delivered later this year. Of the Landrace, Yorkshire, and Duroc pigs, there are 2,000 females and 200 boars weighing between 25 and 100kg. The pigs were sold to Guilin Liyuan Cereal & Oil Feed, which is about to establish a herd of 20,000 sows. The pigs will help China rebuild its population after ASF.
Meanwhile, in April, DanBred Africa exported 245 breeding gilts and breeding boars to Zimbabwe. This export forms part of an EU-funded project and was the first of its kind for DanBred Africa.
DuPont introduces Axtra Phy Gold phytase enzymes
DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences has launched the phytase enzyme Axtra Phy Gold, which will be available in the US, Mexico and India and eventually worldwide, pending regulatory authorisations. According to the company, recent scientific studies demonstrate that the enzymes’ ability to allow the formulation of inorganic phosphate-free high phytate diets improves sustainability of animal production and offers thermostability.
Magapor launches iGreen catheter with biodegradable tube
More novelties in the market: with a focus on an environmentally friendlier system of artificial pig reproduction, Magapor’s iGreen is a catheter for swine insemination made of biodegradable material, which assists customers to reduce their use of plastic on the farm.
Osborne introduces new digital weight display
Osborne Industries, manufacturer of ACCU-ARM portable livestock scales, has released a digital weight display for its 500-lb (227kg) capacity scales for pigs and other smaller animals. The product displays animal weights within seconds. The scales are programmed with a “quick freeze” feature that holds a displayed weight until the animal being weighed is unloaded. Settings can also be changed on the display to weigh feed or other items up to 100kg.
Anpario launches Orego-Stim TD
Anpario has launched Orego-Stim TD, a nutritional product which can be top dressed to gestating and lactating sows’ daily rations. It is formulated from a dextrose and oregano essential oil, providing sows with the benefits associated with oregano essential oil, as well as with the advantages of dextrose as a functional carrier. Trials at Nottingham Trent University, UK, found that Orego-Stim supported lactation and lifetime piglet performance.
Piglet performance focus of new Primary Diets’ app
Primary Diets’ new free-to-download app gives producers the chance to plot performance and benchmark themselves against target data. This means that feed specialists can offer bespoke recommendations on how best to feed all piglets on the farm. The app concentrates on weaning weight distribution, target nursery growth curves, a feed intake predictor which provides expected and target feed intake figures, and a FCR look-up table to determine performance.
MS Schippers launches app designed for farmers
MS Schippers has launched an app, which works both in and outside barns, to simplify the ordering of materials. Customers never have to log in the new app after the first time, so there is no need to remember a password. Furthermore, when they open the app, they will see their recent order history. And thanks to the scanner in the barn, customers will be sure to order the right materials.
Reduced mortality from PRRS
Feeding the product Fra C12 to piglets, pigs and sows, reduces health problems and improves animal performance, according to feed additive company Framelco. The product would help to suppress PRRS from infected farms, mainly by minimising secondary infections. Furthermore, it would deliver more live-born piglets and results in 30% lower pre-weaning mortality. The product is a specific formula containing medium-chain 1-monoglycerides and micro-ingredients.
New meat and food processing trade show South East Asia
Messe Frankfurt New Era Business Media and VNU Asia Pacific announced a partnership to jointly organise ‘Meat Pro Asia’, a new trade show dedicated to meat and food processing and catering to the ASEAN region. The show will take place on a biennial basis in co-location with VIV Asia. The inaugural edition will open its doors on 10-12 March 2021 at Impact, Bangkok, Thailand.
Tonisity: webinar about heat stress in lactating sows
Early June, Tonisity held a webinar highlighting the effects of heat stress in lactating sows. Speaker at the webinar was Jean-Yves Dourmad of INRAE, France. The company offered knowledge and advise on how to spot symptoms of heat stress, the impacts it has on sow performance and preventative measures. Sows will show signs of heat stress through their behaviour and will adapt to heat by increasing respiratory activity, find cool surfaces to lie on, and increase their water intake. They would also reduce feed intake and milk production.
De Heus acquires Neovia Indonesia
De Heus Animal Nutrition has completed the acquisition of the compound feed operations of Neovia Indonesia (PT Welgro Feedmill and PT Wirifa Sakti – pictured) from ADM. With 2 compound feed mills located in West and East Java and a total sales volume of 125,000 tonnes in 2019, Welgro and Wirifa focus on swine, poultry and aqua feed. De Heus estimates that the size of the animal feed market in Indonesia will grow from 19 million tonnes (2019) to 22 million tonnes (2022).
Biomin raises concern of European harvest
Biomin anticipates that in the upcoming corn and wheat harvest, deoxynivalenol, or vomitoxin, has a high probability to exceed a risk threshold level of 150 parts per billion (ppb) in corn in central, eastern and southern Europe, and to exceed 150 ppb in wheat in northern Europe. The forecast is based on a proprietary mycotoxin prediction tool that delivers daily assessments of expected mycotoxin levels in corn and wheat harvests.
Meanwhile, the company opened a premix production facility in Haag am Hausruck in Austria. The facility, which can process up to 10 metric tonnes of finished product per hour, includes an on-site laboratory for quality control and 54 silos with a storage capacity of 1,100m3.
Erber Group, including its Biomin division, in conjunction with at the University Medical Clinic in Tulln, Austria, has provided technical and scientific support to bolster the testing capacity of Covid-19 at hospitals in the area.
Covid-19: Lallemand to develop live bacteria treatment
Talking about Covid-19, Lallemand is partnering with Canadian companies Ulysse Biotech and Bio-K Plus to develop a vaccine against Covid-19. The vaccine could contain live bacteria and yeast that have the same properties as the virus, but without the contagious load of Covid-19. Biotechnologies Ulysse is working on a proof of concept, hoping to start testing the vaccine in animals shortly, and to have obtained the first preclinical results in about 5 months’ time.
Trouw Nutrition partners with University of Alberta
Trouw Nutrition has partnered with the University of Alberta where scientists of the Faculty of Agricultural, Nutritional and Environmental Sciences will work to enable the acceleration of key research and development activities using University of Alberta facilities. Some collaborative projects have already been initiated, and the partnership will create opportunities to explore new research and innovation opportunities in animal nutrition.
DSM and NC State partner in animal science research
DSM Animal Nutrition and Health announced a 10-year research partnership with North Carolina State University. The research will focus on animal gut health, precision nutrition and data-driven decision-making for animal health. DSM will provide financial resources for renovations to existing animal science buildings and the development of 2 new buildings at NC State. DSM intends to fund approximately US$ 2.5 million over the first 3 years.
CPF: focus on animal welfare and biogas
Thai agribusiness Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF) has announced to commit to strict animal welfare and antibiotics standards. Physical adjustments are being avoided or stopped, including castration, teeth reduction/clipping, and tail docking. Furthermore, CPF has upheld the responsible and appropriate use of antibiotics, demanding no use of human-only antibiotics in animals or shared-class antibiotics or growth-promoters.
CPF is also geared towards renewable energy consumption through biogas production at all Thai pig farms, of which 92% have their own biogas boilers that produce electricity for internal use.
Danish Crown discontinues agreement with Alibaba
Danish Crown has discontinued a manufacturing and distribution agreement in China with e-commerce giant Alibaba as pork production volumes have fallen short of requirements. The pork processor opened a plant in China in 2019, dedicated to supplying Denmark-sourced pork products to Win-Chain, Alibaba’s perishable foods platform. The 5-year deal was worth about US$ 338.8 million today and called for weekly deliveries of 250 tonnes of Danish pork.
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