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

EuroTier/EnergyDecentral 2022 coming soon

Animal welfare, sustainability, digitalisation, robotics and decentralised energy supply are in focus at the upcoming EuroTier and EnergyDecentral trade fairs this November. For the first time, the DLG-Agrifuture Concept Winner will also be awarded for concepts and visions that have not yet reached market maturity but are still in the development phase.

Henke-Sass, Wolf launches EPIG 2.o app

German-based veterinary device manufacturer Henke-Sass, Wolf has released their EPIG 2.0 app as an enhancement of EPIG, the needle-free intramuscular vaccination device. The app measures, tracks, traces, reports and analyses medical treatments and gathers relevant information.

Earlyfeed incorporates novel flavour strategy for piglets

Earlyfeed, the young animal nutrition brand of Royal Agrifirm Group, has incorporated Piglet’s Flavorit in its piglet feed portfolio. This flavour looks not only to the masking effect of sweet tastes, but also to the attractive and calming impact of maternal recognition. The flavouring will be included in the Babi creep feed line and the Vitastart starter concentrates.

DSM completes acquisition of Prodap

Royal DSM has announced the completion of its acquisition of Prodap, an animal nutrition and technology company in Brazil that combines technology offerings, consulting services, and customised nutritional solutions aimed at driving efficiency and sustainability in animal farming.

MS Schippers and Denkavit partner

MS Schippers and Denkavit have launched MS Fit2GO to support the health of piglets, poultry, cows, calves and lambs, from digestive support for intestinal health to essential oils for healthy airways, to support for increasing the quality of the colostrum, to electrolytes, and support water, calcium and energy intake.

Metabolic Explorer creates Metex Animal Nutrition

Metabolic Explorer (MetEx), the French industrial biochemistry group, and its subsidiary Metex Noovistago, have launched Metex Animal Nutrition dedicated to animal nutrition. The portfolio comprises 10 amino acids registered as feed additives in the EU, and solutions targeting digestive health.

CP Foods addresses 5 trends

Speaking at The Dynamic Growth in the Global Food Tech Industry seminar in Thailand, Prasit Boondoungprasert, CEO of Charoen Pokphand Foods, said 5 global customer trends that will shape the future of the food industry are health and wellbeing, convenience, product and channel innovation, premium and value for money, and environmental sustainability.

Furthermore, to phase out the use of coal in its operations in Thailand, the company is transitioning toward greener energy sources such as solar farms, solar floating, and solar rooftops in its operations across Thailand, which will cut greenhouse gas emissions by 70,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent.

Novus International to shift from direct sales in China

To better serve those in its core markets through its strategic business plan, Project Destiny, Novus International has announced plans to change to an indirect business model in the Chinese market and is working to establish channel partners to continue serving customers in the country.

The Denkavit Group sets up entity in China

The Denkavit Group has established its own entity in China, Holland Agro Trading (Beijing), to support both Denkavit and Nutrifeed businesses, which market a full range of milk replacers for piglets, calves, lambs and goat kids. Nutrifeed also has a position in the sale of dairy concentrates for piglet feed.

Roxell launches a new dispenser for sows

Roxell has been launching a new easy-to-clean Dos7 dispenser, which it says makes farmers’ lives easier and feeding times calmer.

The company has also announced Farmdizajn as its new distributor in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia. Farmdizajn already installs ventilation systems in pig houses. Their customers often need other house systems, which sparked their ambition to offer a comprehensive range for pig and poultry houses.

Grant to develop porcine lung disease diagnostic

ProtonDx, a health technolgoy spin-off company related to Imperial College in London, UK, has been awarded a £365,000 (€413,000)  grant from Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme and UKRI’s Transforming Food Production Challenge (Innovate UK). Aim of the grant is to develop rapid, accurate, point-of-care tests for porcine lung diseases, in collaboration with Imperial College London.

Victam expands to Latin America

The Victam Corporation has announced that it will expand its business to Latin America. Victam LatAm will be organised from 3-5 October 2023 at Expo Center Norte in São Paolo, Brazil, and will be co-located with Grapas LatAm, the event for the grain milling and processing industries.

Dr. Eckel begins World Tour on phytogenics in animal nutrition

German animal nutrition company Dr. Eckel kicked off its World Tour 2022 in Hua Hin, Thailand, where academic and industry experts shared and discussed promising innovations and solutions for ruminant feeding, poultry production and aquaculture. The series will proceed to Surabaya (Indonesia), São Paulo (Brazil) and, just before EuroTier, Braunschweig (Germany), focusing on the use of phytogenics.

Elanco launches addition to Hemicell range

Elanco Animal Health has launched a nutrient-sparing enzyme, Hemicell XT, to its range for pig and poultry producers. The company claims this gut-health enhancing supplement supports nutrient uptake and has the potential to reduce overall feed costs due to improved utilisation of dietary energy.

Furthermore, vaccinating with Coliprotec to prevent post-weaning diarrhoea in piglets could be an effective strategy in nearly 60% of herds. 58% of bacterial culture and PCR diagnostic tests carried out by Elanco Animal Health have returned positive for the F4 or F18 strains of enterotoxigenic E. coli. Coliprotec is an in-water oral vaccine that protects piglets against these 2 strains. Piglets can be vaccinated from 18 days of age with onset of full immunity within 7 days.

Hamlet Protein receives Japanese delegation

Hamlet Protein’s Horsens office in Denmark hosted a group of Japanese industry professionals on a week-long visit. The group toured various Danish companies to learn about the Danish pig industry and how they deal with current and future challenges.

Boehringer Ingelheim: 2022 “Grants” recipients

Through the Growing Research and New Technology for Swine (Grants) programme sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim, 3 research proposals have each been awarded US$35,000 in funding:

• Marianna Kikuti – Characterising within farm PRRSv evolution and clinical re-breaks with the newly emerged L1C 144 variant in positive unstable breeding herds;
• Kimberly Crawford – Efficacy of ivermectin administration to weaned pigs prior to virulent PRRSv 1-4-4 1c challenge;
• Rachel J. Derscheid – Development of viability qPCR assay for Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae to improve gilt acclimation and elimination programmes.

Danisco leverages FeedCalculator app

Danisco Animal Nutrition & Health is collaborating with Single Spark, creators of the FeedCalculator app, which supports farmers in developing countries generate quality feed recipes with locally sourced ingredients at the lowest price. The addition of Axtra Phy Gold to FeedCalculator makes the recently released phytase enzyme more accessible to smallholder farmers and feed mills.

Evonik and BASF partner

Evonik and BASF have entered into an agreement granting Evonik certain non-exclusive licensing rights to Opteinics, a software solution to measure, analyse and minimise the environmental impact of animal protein, with an emphasis on animal feed production. The software currently offers modules for pig and poultry production and can be integrated with feed formulation software.

AB Vista to extend reach across Asia Pacific with Signis

AB Vista continues its expansion across the Asia Pacific region with the launch of Signis in Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand. Signis, a “stimbiotic” product, is a feed additive that improves the gut health of poultry and swine and improves the animals’ resilience to challenges by stimulating and accelerating the microbiome’s ability to ferment fibre.

Biochem opens new production plant in Germany

Biochem has completed its 4,500 m2 GMP+ certified production and logistic facility in Lohne, Germany. The facility houses a 1,000 m3 tank storage unit and an automated filling system. The new location gives the option to fill from 500 ml to 25,000 litres, and serves as a climate-controlled warehouse to ensure product availability and quicker production times.

Coffee & Careers in animal science webinar series

From 16 September to 2 December, Dr Casey Bradley from The Sunswine Group will host a series of webinars for students or young professionals pursuing a career in animal science. Webinars will take place on Fridays at 13h00 CST and will cover topics including non-traditional technical roles in animal science, and looking at compensation differently.

SPACE welcomed over 90,000 visitors

SPACE, which took place from 13-15 September at the Rennes Exhibition Centre in France, welcomed over 90,000 visitors from 120 different countries, and close to 1,200 exhibitors. The full scope of the livestock industry was represented, from cattle, pigs, goats and sheep to poultry, rabbits and aquaculture. The next SPACE is scheduled to take place from 12-14 September 2023.

DLG announces international social media prize

The German Agricultural Society (DLG) has launched the “DLG Agri Influencer Award 2022” which aims to recognise farmers’ topical and high-quality agricultural blogs and profiles in the social media. There are 3 categories, namely DLG Best Agri Influencer (farmers or farms that maintain a profile with agricultural content in the social media and have at least 4,000 followers), DLG Best Agri Blogger (farmers or farms that maintain their own blog with agricultural content), and DLG Best Agri Newcomer (farmers or farms that started their blog or their social media profile with agricultural content in 2022).

Topigs Norsvin opens Innova Canada

Topigs Norsvin has opened its new nucleus farm Innova Canada, which will contribute to further accelerating genetic progress in the Z-line, one of the lines that forms the basis of the TN70 sow. One of the innovations in the new nucleus will be the implementation of group gestation and loose farrowing.

EniferBio wins opportunity to work with Tesco

Finnish agtech start-up, EniferBio, has won the opportunity to work with UK retailer, Tesco, and its supply chain partners, after winning the 5th edition of the Tesco Agri T-Jam pitching event run in partnership with the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit. The innovator is developing a mycoprotein feed suitable for aquaculture, poultry and pig supply chains that is made from renewable raw materials and will offer a sustainable high-protein alternative to soy protein concentrate.

Arm & Hammer announces sustainability initiative

Arm & Hammer Animal and Food Production have announced the start of their sustainability journey, #ScienceHearted, which is based on 3 pillars, namely the commitment to responsible animal production, the commitment to the environment, and a commitment to meeting the needs of people.

IFF honours top academics

The IFF has presented 4 university scientists with Danisco Foundation awards for their work in advancing the future of food, nutrition and health. Tina Jeoh from the University of California Davis in the US was awarded the 2021 Danisco Foundation Science Excellence Award). Paul Ross from APC Microbiome Ireland at University College Cork was awarded the 2021 Danisco Foundation Microbiome Science Award. Jeffrey Gordon from Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, USA was awarded the 2022 Danisco Foundation Microbiome Science Award, and Phil Baran from the Department of Chemistry at Scripps Research, La Jolla, USA was awarded the 2022 Danisco Foundation Science Excellence Award.