CARGILL TO UPGRADE AND ENHANCE POULTRY PROCESSING


BUSINESS IN THE UK Cargill will be implementing a phased investment plan to focus the business on the retail sector and key partners in food service. Over the next 24 -36 months, Cargill plans to invest £35 million to improve efficiencies, upgrade technologies and create a state of the art processing facility in Hereford. These investments will also enable Cargill to expand its capacity to process and supply fresh UK reared chicken. Cargill has already introduced controlled


atmosphere stunning and upgraded the bird reception facilities in Hereford. The next phase is to expand Cargill’s chilling capabilities and hatchery in order to position the company for future growth. Whilst these projects are underway,


Cargill will be working with local UK chicken farmers to look at how to continue to build a sustainable and long term chicken supply chain while increasing the number of home grown chickens available to the UK market. Pilar Cruz, Managing Director for


Cargill Meats Europe explains, “Cargill’s investment plans will not only help us support our customers but also local farmers and the industry as a whole. We are committed to working together with our farmers, customers, suppliers and communities to help the UK poultry industry to thrive and to leverage our broad global knowledge, ethics and values to build a strong sustainable growth business in the UK.” Once the investment plans are


complete, Cargill will be operating one of the most efficient and competitive poultry processing plants in Europe.


BETTER MAIZE ANALYSIS IMPROVES


RATION ACCURACY New developments in maize silage analysis methods will result in more accurate rations and better cow performance according to Dr Jonathan Blake, chairman of the Forage Analytical Assurance Group (FAA) Formed in 2000, the FAA is the quality


control body for forage analysis laboratories using NIRS techniques. The group is made up of laboratories that collectively test around 50,000 forage samples per year. As a result of FAA’s work the accuracy of forage analysis is constantly improving and the variability reducing, making the information on which feeding decisions are based more reliable. “With forages typically making up 50% of


total dairy cow dry matter intakes, it is vital that forage analyses are as accurate and reliable as possible,” Dr Blake comments. “Over the last two years we have carried out a major study centred on the University of Reading to try and better predict the nutrients available in maize silage and the results are a major step forward.”


The study looked at the rates at which


nitrogen and dry matter disappear from the rumen which are vital to predict the supply of rumen energy and protein from a forage. The results have been incorporated into new equations used in the Feed into Milk rationing system, the commonest rationing system in use in the UK. “The better we understand these values,


the more accurately we can predict the nutrients available to the cow and produce cost-effective balanced diets that allow the full potential of forages to be exploited.” The study shows that in the past


the supply of nitrogen in the rumen was overestimated. The new equations mean the supply of bypass protein supplied has been increased. Dr Blake says that in practice this may require diets to be fine-tuned to increase the proportion of rumen degradable protein although changes may be quite small in most cases. The work also showed that dry matter


degradation which determines the production of rumen energy is less than previously thought. This means energy supply from maize silage is under-estimated and rations will need an increase in rumen energy such as sugar, starch or degradable fibre to maintain microbial production and allow cows to meet their potential. “These results are a significant


development as they explain why cows have sometimes not performed as expected on maize silage. We now better understand how maize silage behaves in the rumen and the revised Feed into Milk programme will take account of this to develop rations that allow cows to perform better and exploit the current strong milk prices. “However, it still remains true that the


analysis can only be as accurate as the quality of the sample analysed. I urge farmers to ensure that representative samples are analysed and that samples are taken regularly because the quality of forages will vary with location and duration in the clamp,” Dr Blake concludes.


L A L L EMAND A CQU I R E S A Q U A P H A R M M A R I N E


BIOTECHNOLOGY PLATFORM Lallemand UK Limited has acquired the marine bio-technology business and assets of Aquapharm Bio-Discovery Limited from the Joint Administrators to the business. Aquapharm, which was founded in 2000


and is based at the European Centre for Marine Technology in Oban, Scotland has built up a library of over 10,000 marine microorganisms harvested worldwide from unique marine habitats representing the biodiversity of the oceans. Using the business‟s patented SeaRchTM


technology, Aquapharm has the


expertise and R&D laboratory facilities to screen and identify new bacterial strains and novel classes of compounds and enzymes for use across a number of industry sectors.


GLOBAL PIG PRODUCTION FALLS WELL SHORT OF GENETIC


POTENTIAL Pigs fall well short of their genetic potential in today’s production system – costing the industry millions of dollars in lost performance, according to a swine nutrition expert. Dr. Jeffery Escobar, Senior Manager


Swine Research at Novus International, told a group of European producers visiting the company’s headquarters in St. Louis, USA, that despite various improvements in production efficiency, the industry does not capitalize on the full genetic potential of animals. “There remains a vast gap between


swine performance on a conventional farm and performance in a facility that is more aseptic and perhaps targeted towards research. That clearly indicates that we are way below the ceiling for the genetic potential for performance of animals. “If animals are removed from conventional


farm facilities and placed into ultra clean facility, optimized for air quality, water purity, feed mix, environment, manure management, and disinfection, then performance can significantly improve. “What the gap illustrates is that there


is progress we can make to achieve better performance by improving nutrition, management, environment, and all other aspects that contribute to express or repress the genetic potential of animals.” While Dr. Escobar said that growing


animals in such clean environment on a full production site may be unrealistic, producers can get closer to that goal of reaching the animals’ full genetic potential. One way to improve that performance is


to optimize animal feed, to ensure individual animals are receiving the ideal amount of nutrients. “A key area for improvement is mineral


consumption. Minerals are very important for healthy development but used incorrectly, or without proper care, they can be almost totally ineffective. Minerals have antagonistic properties –


meaning feeding too much of one can cancel the intended effects of another.” Dr. Escobar says that by using chelated


trace minerals – where the mineral (such as Zinc or Copper) is bonded to another molecule such as methionine hydroxyl analogue– such antagonisms are avoided and more of the mineral’s benefits can be realized. “Chelated trace minerals can help to


improve structural health in bones, joints, and tendons, aid fertility and reproduction, and enhance growth in terms of feed efficiency,” he explained.


FEED COMPOUNDER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 45


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68