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

Kemin ingredient: activity against ASF in feed

Ingredient manufacturer Kemin has filed a provisional patent application in the USA with claims that the composition present in Sal Curb RM E Liquid can strongly inhibit the viricidal activity of the African Swine Fever virus when applied to animal feed. The combination of formaldehyde and organic acids reportedly disrupts the viral envelope of the virus, which results in successful control, reducing potential infection in animals via feed as a vector.

Ahram introduces ASF diagnosis system

Ahram Biosystems has launched the ASF Fast POCT System for on-site diagnosis of African Swine Fever (ASF). The turnaround time of diagnosis is just 40 minutes. The DNA extraction process is replaced with a simple lysis step, and the real-time PCR diagnosis is completed within 25 minutes using Palm PCR S1/S1e real-time PCR device. Combining the ASF fast POCT kit and Palm PCR S1/S1e device offers a ready-to-use system.

EW Nutrition opens production plant in China

German-based EW Nutrition opened its new production plant in China to bring their products closer to their Chinese customers, and to support antibiotic-free production. The new facility is the next step in the development of EWN Biotechnology Shanghai and will produce the company’s 3 product lines to represent EW Nutrition’s answer to gut and respiratory health issues, as well as toxin risk management.

Cargill: Innovation Lab at University of Illinois

The Research Park will be the home of the newest Cargill Innovation Lab, which will allow students focused on solving some of the world’s greatest challenges across the food and agriculture systems to have a new space to test their work. In turn, the Innovation Lab provides Cargill with talented software engineering and data science students and graduates ready to modernise agricultural supply chains and food systems.

Quartes and Agrifirm combine forces

Belgian compound feed company Quartes will be working closely with Agrifirm to share knowledge. The deal shall ultimately lead to a takeover by the Royal Agrifirm Group. Quartes has plants in the Belgian cities Roeselare, Hasselt and Deinze and also owns an agricultural supply company AgriActive.

Hog Slat opens new Utah store

Livestock equipment manufacturer, Hog Slat, have opened a new 465m² store in Beaver, UT, USA. The store carries a full line of production equipment for swine and poultry producers featuring Hog Slat’s GrowerSelect ventilation and feeding equipment.

SwineTech wins innovation award

Time for some precision farming news: US startup SwineTech is one the recipients of the 2019 Thrive-Forbes Innovation Icon Award. SwineTech is an agtech company that uses voice recognition in its SmartGuard device to innovate farrowing operations for the swine industry. The company will receive a $ 100,000 investment from SVG Ventures, plus an advertisement in an issue of Forbes magazine and the opportunity to present at Forbes’ Under 30 Summit in October.

Transport Genie testing smart sensor for welfare of pigs

Ontario trucking company Luckhart Transport has begun testing a smart sensor-based monitoring system developed by Canadian agri-tech developer, Transport Genie, to protect the health and welfare of livestock during transport. The sensors monitor microclimate conditions inside trailers and employs blockchain technology to store and share that info in real time.

Meanwhile, the company has teamed up with the Canadian Animal Health Coalition in a national research collaboration on a 2-year project to further test the company’s smart sensor technology in real-world conditions.

Porcus launches tail bite app

Danish pig veterinary company Porcus has launched an a free app that can help pig producers meet the requirements for tail biting documentation. EU requirements demand, that they must provide to suppliers if there is a problem with tail biting. The app allows taking pictures through the smartphone, including GPS data. The app, called ‘Porcus’, is available in Danish, English, German and Polish and can be downloaded from the App Store as well as from Google Play.

Intracare awarded certification for Intra Hydrocare

And more product-related news: Intracare’s Intra Hydrocare has been awarded certification to NSF/ANSI 60, the American National Standard for Drinking Water Treatment Chemicals. To earn NSF/ANSI 60 certification, Intra Hydrocare was subject to rigorous testing and evaluation to verify that the product met requirements for use in treating human and animal drinking water.

BASF to launch new rodenticide for farm use

BASF have announced a brand-new rodenticide, Storm Ultra Secure, which contains 25ppm of the active substance flocoumafen. The product is used in the preparation of crop stores to prevent infestations of rodents and other pests. According to the company, proven palatability demonstrates that the new 25ppm bait is highly effective.

Effect of imprinting in weaned piglets

A trial based on Norel’s product Print-Arome aimed to evaluate the effect of prenatal and postnatal exposure to the product on performance parameters and diarrhoea after 2 weeks post-weaning. Despite the non-significant differences in performance parameters such as average daily feed intake and average daily gain, in this study the effect of imprinting reduced diarrhoea incidence significantly.

Animine embarks on ZnO research programme

Let’s move on to this month’s R&D updates. Animine announced a 3-year research programme before the official EU ban of medicated zinc oxide (ZnO) in piglet diets in 2022. In cooperation with major European universities, this project will investigate the mode of action of HiZox, a potentiated source of ZnO which can be incorporated in premixes at a low dose.

Animine and the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP) also hosted the 3rd Animine Academy in France. The 2-day international scientific conference gathered more than 100 animal nutritionists. Presentations focused on current challenges in animal production.

Zoetis and Texas A&M University to develop vaccines

Zoetis has signed an agreement with Texas A&M University to establish a Center for Transboundary and Emerging Diseases facility for accelerating the development of transboundary and emerging disease vaccines, with Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccines being the initial focus. As a part of the agreement, Zoetis will set up a 1,180m² secure, biocontainment lab off-campus. The facility is expected to be operational mid-2020 with FMD.

Bayer Animal Health and VLPbio collaborate

Bayer Animal Health and VLPbio have signed a global collaboration agreement to develop a new generation of immunotherapeutic solutions in the field of veterinary medicine to induce specific immune responses against targeted animal diseases. The collaboration aims to develop new products for the prevention and treatment of animal diseases.

ICC Brazil partners with local farm to test products

A partnership between ICC Brazil and a farm with about 1,700 swine located near São Paulo aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of animal nutrition products in practice. The partnership will allow ICC to carry out advanced scientific research related to their products. Experiments carried out under actual field conditions improve the reliability of experiment results.

From feed to food at the Delacon event

Delacon launched its 1^st edition of the Delacon Phytogenic Connection event in Singapore to connect industry stakeholders from feed to food. Almost 100 participants from 22 countries covered top trends, including digitalisation, sustainability and the latest innovations in animal production and the feed industry.

Hamlet Protein hosts technical seminars in Vietnam

Hamlet Protein, together with its local distributor Jebsen and Jessen, hosted 2 technical seminars in Vietnam. Participants considered how meat and bone meal in animal feed is one of the reasons behind the rapid spread of diseases such as African Swine Fever, and discussed replacing animal protein in piglet feed with highly digestible vegetable protein, such as enzyme-treated soy protein.

Nutreco launches Young Researchers Prize

Nutreco launched a Young Researchers Prize, which aims to recognise outstanding research efforts to address the challenge of generating enough food for the world’s growing population. The solutions to this challenge will have to be systemic and sustainable, encompassing the various farming systems on our planet. The winner will receive a € 12,000 cash prize, the runner-up an € 8,000 cash prize, and third-place student a € 5,000 cash prize.

Meanwhile, the company also acquired the South African premix company Animal Nutrition and Health, and has also signed an agreement to acquire Cargill’s compound feed business in Portugal.

BI announces PRRS Research Award winners

Boehringer Ingelheim honoured 3 winning research proposals with a funding of € 25,000 each as part of the European Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) Awards. The winners are Yanli Li, Spain, Lars Erik Larsen, Denmark; and Gerard Eduard Martín Valls, Spain.

Novus’ Missouri research farm celebrates 10 years

In October, employees of Novus gathered at its Green Acres research farm in Missouri, USA, to celebrate ten years of scientific discoveries made possible through the facility. The farm opened in 2009 and has since supplied the animal agriculture industry with research and feed additive solutions. The 38 ha farm conducts 40-50 research studies a year. These trials explore topics like food safety, antibiotic-free production and optimising animal performance.

Converting methane emissions from hog farms for energy

Smithfield Foods and Dominion Energy are breaking ground on the largest renewable natural gas project in North Carolina, USA, through their joint venture, Align Renewable Natural Gas (RNG). This will capture methane emissions from hog farms and convert it into RNG to power homes and businesses. Upon completion, the project will generate enough energy to power more than 3,500 homes annually.

Cedrob Porty to construct cold storage at Polish port

A preliminary agreement has been signed between the Port of Gdansk Authority and Polish meat producer, Cedrob Porty, for the construction of a cold storage facility to hold meat – primarily poultry and pork – intended for export. The company will put approximately US$ 2.5 million toward the facility, which will have a capacity of about 30,000 pallets making it the largest container terminal in the Baltic Sea. Completion is planned for the second half of 2021.