There is only limited space for In Brief in this issue. For a wider selection of recent news releases, please visit www.feedcompounder.com/inbrief £300K PROJECT EXPLORES ROLE


OF FEED IN PARASITE CONTROL A new £300,000 study involving University of Stirling experts and a leading animal feed manufacturer is aiming to explore how certain feed ingredients can reduce infections in farmed fish. Stirling’s Institute of Aquaculture (IoA)


is working with the Devon-based Denis Brinicombe Group on the three-year project. The research could reduce the need


for anti-parasite treatments in aquaculture, particularly those used in sea lice control. If effective, such feed ingredients could add to the growing arsenal of non-medicinal control strategies currently employed to tackle sea lice infections. Principal Investigator, Dr Armin Sturm,


Senior Lecturer at the IoA, said: “I am very excited about this project, which will allow us to assess the effectiveness of specific feed ingredients in preventing sea lice infections. While some of the veterinary drugs used to control sea lice can affect other marine organisms and may accumulate in marine sediments, the novel product tested here is non-toxic and short-lived in the environment.” The team will test the theory that modified


aquaculture diets that include Brinicombe’s patented bioactive compound premix – derived from natural feed sources – will have a positive impact on the health of farmed fish by reducing infection rates, survival and reproductive output of sea lice. Sea lice infections can adversely affect


farmed fish performance by reducing appetite and growth, and compromising the animal’s immune responses, potentially leading to secondary infections. Sea lice infections thus have an adverse effect on productivity and animal welfare and may also lead to wider environmental impacts. Dr Sturm will work alongside a wider IoA


team, including Professor James Bron and Professor Brett Glencross, on the project. They believe that their work will help


combat resistance to existing salmon delousing treatments and that developments in the use of novel feed ingredients could substantially improve aquatic animal health and reduce dependence upon medicinal and other non-medicinal treatments. Keith Greig, Managing Director of


Brinicombe, believes that the diet-based approach to pest management could also prove effective in combating aquaculture parasites other than sea lice. He said: “We have used our unique


anti-parasitic technology for several years with good success in large animals globally and have had recent breakthroughs in the poultry sector, resulting in farms reducing their reliance on a medicated approach to parasite control. “We have already seen encouraging


results in preliminary aquatic trials on monogeneans, confirming that our technology has the potential to be transferrable between fish host species and target parasites.


“This project comes at an exciting time


for our business and, if we can establish that the technology is transferable fully to the aquaculture market, it could be transformational for an industry that is battling an increasing parasitic population as seas warm, along with the on-going dilemma of antimicrobial resistance.” The project is funded by the Denis


Brinicombe Group, Innovate UK, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership.


FEFAC PUBLISHES ANNUAL


REPORT 2018-2019 FEFAC has published its Annual Report 2018-2019. The Report provides an overview of FEFAC action and positioning on the most pertinent topics relevant to the European feed industry in the last 12 months. It includes a recap of the recent FEFAC 60th Anniversary event in Brussels and topics such as European Feed Protein Production, Environmental Footprinting and the role of Animal Nutrition in tackling antimicrobial resistance. The middle section contains a selection of 2018 statistics related to compound feed manufacturing. In the introduction, FEFAC President


Nick Major provides a state of play of the topics of greatest importance to the feed industry. He points to the consistent threat of virus diseases that strongly impact the EU pig and poultry sectors, in particular African Swine Fever and Avian Influenza. He also expresses concerns about the ongoing geopolitical developments and their impacts on the trade environment. Looking ahead at the final year of his presidency, Major points to the development of a FEFAC Feed Sustainability Charter 2030, which is to be published at the 29th FEFAC Congress on the 4th June 2020. The full report can be found at the FEFAC website.


AB AGR I AGR ICULTURAL


TECHNOLOGY CENTRE AB Agri Ltd is to establish a Technology Centre in Kilkenny, creating up to 50 new roles over five years. The project is supported by the Irish government through IDA Ireland. Kilkenny has been selected as the


location of a new Technology Centre for Intellync, AB Agri ‘s data and technology business. This new Technology Centre will develop new generations of technology solutions that improve farm performance and drive continuous improvement across agricultural supply chains. Speaking about today’s announcement


José Nobre, Chief Executive of AB Agri said “The holistic, targeted solutions developed by our new Intellync team and technology centre in Ireland will provide our industry with the insight to improve performance throughout the agri-food supply chain, helping it to meet the inevitable global growth in demand for food in a responsible way. “The combination of our digital products,


data insight and technological innovation with our expertise in feed and nutrition, will enable customers around the world, to produce and process high yielding, safe and nutritious food in a responsible way; helping them to use fewer chemicals and antibiotics, safeguard natural resources and create less waste and lower emissions. “This is an extremely exciting time for


agriculture; the fast pace of developments being made in technology and the use of data are going to help our industry to make the major step changes we need to see in improving responsible productivity, if we are to continue to feed our global growing population in a sustainable way.” The majority of the new roles will be in


software development, software engineering and data science with other roles in HR, business administration and finance. For more information on the new roles go to: www.intellync.com


PREMIER NUTRITION RAISES OVER


£11,000 FOR RABI A team of hikers from Premier Nutrition have successfully raised £11,957.64 for taking on the infamous 24 hour National Three Peaks Challenge, in aid of the charity Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI). Hannah Barber headed up the group


of 15 hikers and three drivers for the 23-mile trek. “We left the head office in Rugeley mid- afternoon on 21 June, aiming to start hiking Snowdon by 7pm. We were all ready and raring to go, so much so, we all made it to the peak and back in less than four hours, with personal bests galore,” she says. “A twisty four-hour road trip in the dark


dodging sheep led us on to Scafell Pike. We were shattered before we even stepped off the bus, making for a gruelling climb.” Hannah explains that the team managed


to get some rest on the way to Ben Nevis, but the sun came out while on the mountain, making the final leg even tougher, but extremely rewarding. The drivers did a fantastic job too, creating a real team spirit. “We’re so grateful to all those that kindly


donated, and to AB Agri, Premier Nutrition’s parent company. We’re all allocated two volunteering days per year, which allowed us to complete the fundraiser. But the company also agreed to fund match our sponsorship, doubling the original sum to nearly £12,000. “The challenge was far harder than


we’d ever anticipated. We were physically prepared from six months of hard training, but nothing quite prepared us for the true mental exhaustion and lack of sleep the challenge entails. It took a couple of weeks for the team to realise just what an incredible achievement completing the challenge within the allotted 24 hours was,” says Hannah


FEED COMPOUNDER SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 61


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