Poultry Digest February/March 2013

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Poultry Digest Volume 28, Number 4 February/March 2013 $6.60

Dr Peter Groves wins Australian Poultry Award at APSS The new chick on the block VIV Asia continues growth in size and scope

Australian Poultry Science Symposium 2013

How a broiler integration does successful business with retailers for mutual profitability: Part 2

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32 COVER STORy

Contents

Dr Peter Groves: Australian Poultry Award 2012 There is no doubt that over the past 30 years Peter Groves has made a sustained and major technical, scientific and educational contribution to the Australian Poultry Industry.

26 INTERVIEW How a broiler integration does successful business with retailers for mutual profit: Part Two Dr Peter Groves, winner of the Australian Poultry Award.

Poultry Digest February/March 2013 Volume 28, Number 4

Aziz Sacranie, Technical Director of Poultry for Alltech Asia Pacific spoke to Philip Wilkinson, Managing Director of 2 Sisters, the UK’s largest integrator about doing business with sipermarkets, welfare and food safety in the broiler industry.

NEWs 4 VIV Asia continues growth in size and scope The VIV Asia 2013 event, combining special themes Croptech/Feedtech, Meattech and Animal Health, was spread through six halls in the vast Bangkok International Trade & exhibition Centre (BITEC) Complex where 747 exhibitors from more than 40 countries displayed their products and industry expertise.

8 Meet the Press day at VIV Asia 2013

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A feature of the VIV Asia program has been the ‘Meet the Press’ day prior to the event itself. This year this opportunity for international publishers of livestock industry publications to meet exhibitors took place on March 11 at the Landmark Hotel in Bangkok.

10 The new chick on the block Michael sommerlad has run his consultancy business ‘Poultry Works’ for more than 10 years. Equipped with his knowledge of the pure breeds available in this country and his enduring passion for breeding poultry, Michael and his family set about developing a range of genetics better suited to the free-range and, more particularly, the organic meat bird markets.

12 Australian Poultry science symposium 2013 The Australian Poultry science symposium (APss) 2013, held at the sydney University Camperdown Campus and organised by The Poultry Research Foundation (University of sydney) and the The World’s Poultry science Associaton (Australian Branch), continued a fine tradition of delivering the results of highly topical scientific research from both international and local participants.

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NEWs VIV Asia continues growth in size and scope

By PETER BEDWELL The VIV Asia 2013 event combining special themes Croptech/Feedtech, Meattech and Animal Health was spread through six halls in the vast Bangkok International Trade & exhibition Centre (BITEC) Complex where 747 exhibitors from more than 40 countries displayed their products and industry expertise.

“By using two essential themes, VIV aims to facilitate and stimulate production of high quality animal protein in the growth countries of Asia,” said Ruwan Berculo, Project Manager VIV. “The quality of the end products – meat,poultry and eggs, is largely determined by what happens at the start of the chain.

“Consequently our partners, experts and exhibitors, present the best knowledge and technologies to produce the best end products.

“They do so at the exhibition, with machinery for feed milling and with meat processing equipment and technologies for consumer products.

“In addition to the exhibition we have a parallel program with conferences where we share the knowledge contained within the chain amongst our visitors,” explained Mr Berculo.

At the opening ceremony held on March 13, 2013 Gerard Leewenburgh, Director International Exhibitions of VNU Exhibitions Europe and Managing Director of VNU Exhibitions Asia Pacific said, “the professionals in livesock and aquatic industries selected VIV Asia 2013 as their preferred meeting point.

“It’s Asia’s largest event, constantly organised every other year for more than two decades.

“It provides an effective platform for trade and ideas exchange among animal protein professionals.

“The event provides tremendous business opportunities to regional buyers and sellers.

Commenting on exhibitor and visitor numbers Mr Leewenburgh remarked on the huge number of Chinese exhibitors, more than 130 of the 747 exhibitor total.

“Thailand, the USA, the Netherlands and France were the other nations in the ‘top five’’ he said.

“Visitor numbers are anticipated to

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exceed 25,000 (which they subsequently did),” he concluded.

Next, Mr Thongchai Sridama, Director and Acting President of Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) explained that TCEB is the government agency associated with the prime minister’s office whose mission is to promote the conference and exhibition industries in Thailand.

“VIV Asia is regarded as ‘the pride of Thailand’ and is recognised as one of the world’s most promising focal points for livestock industries,” he said.

The VIV Asia and Positive Action Publications (PAP) Asia Personality Awards presented by Nigel Horrox, Managing Director of PAP and VIV’s Ruwan Berculo have become a key component of VIV. Recognised in the awards announced at VIV Asia 2013 in the poultry industry sector was Dr Erich Erber, Chairman of the

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3 1. Winner of the VIV Asian Poultry Personality Award, Erich Erber CEO of Biomin.

2. Ruwan Berculo, Project Manager, VNU Exhibitions. 3. LtoR: Thongchai Sridama, President TCEB; Yukol Limlamthong, Minister of Agriculture Thailand; Rt Hon David Health MP, Minister of State for Agriculture UK and Gerard Leeuwenburgh, Managing Director VNU Exhibitions.

executive board of Erber Group and founder of Biomin.

“This award was given in recognition of his 30 years of contribution in the field of animal nutrition,” Mr Horrox said.

A keynote address was delivered by UK Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, Mr David Heath CBE MP “British agri-technology firms are hoping to take advantage of a new trade agreement planned between the EU and Thailand,” according to an announcement from the British Embassy, Bangkok.

POULTRY DIGEST, Febraury/March 2013

“An EU- Thailand trade agreement presents great opportunities for British businesses such as those here at VIV Asia to offer the latest technology, innovation and know-how to companies both in Thailand and the SE Asian region.

“Thailand and the UK are both food producing and food loving nations and I hope the exchange of ideas here will lead to new, productive collaborations between UK and Thai agri- business companies as well as others from elsewhere in the SE Asian region,’ he said.

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NEWs Meet the Press day at VIV Asia 2013 A feature of the VIV Asia program has been the ‘Meet the Press’ day prior to the event itself.

In previous years this has been held at the end of the year prior to the VIV Asia exhibition, but for 2013 the opportunity for exhibitors to meet journalists from a wide range of international publishers of food, feed and livestock industry publications took place on the evening of March 11 at the Landmark Hotel Bangkok.

Ruwan Berculo, Project Manager VIV, was assiduous in ensuring journalists and guests mingled, were introduced and well supplied with refreshments.

Poultry Digest anyway feels that this format is more successful in giving exhibitors and company representitives the opportunity to update those reporting on VIV Asia for their publications and other media.

The VIV ice table was a nice touch – not only decorative but functional in keeping drinks cool and available.

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1. Jan Wesjohan and Bob Nichols from EW Nutrition GmbH. 2. Kaori Nishide (left), All About Feed, Reed Business. 3.

The VIV ice table kept things cool. 4.

Rachel Liem and Jeff Wu from AB Agri Ltd. 5. Alex Bedwell, Poultry Digest with Chayanan Boonyaperm, Bayer Thai.

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NEWs The new chick on the block Michael Sommerlad has run his consultancy business ‘Poultry Works’ for more than 10 years, providing assistance to free-range and organic poultry producers in Australia and overseas. Prior to this he had worked with imported elite stock, GGP’s, GP’s and parent stock in the Australian broiler industry.

His interest in poultry and passion for breeding poultry goes back more than 40 years, when he bred and reared a range of purebred fancy poultry on his family fine wool and orcharding property near Tenterfield in northern New South Wales.

It was at the age of 13 that he realised that he had an enormous advantage over his sheep breeding father, who bas budgeting on one offspring per female per year, whereas he could produce hundreds, allowing enormous selection pressure to be applied to the resultant progeny and permitting far greater levels of refinement in a relatively short space of time.

Fast forward to the year 2000, and Michael realised that the Australian market did not have a bird that met the certifying standards of the organic bodies, nor did the commercially available imported meat chicken stocks have the genetic potential to fully exploit an extensive production environment.

Above: Michael Sommerlad with his Special Equipped with his knowledge of the pure breeds available in this country and Table Bird and Isabelle O’Brien (below) ready his enduring passion for breeding poultry, Michael and his family set about to cook the same chicken. developing a range of genetics better suited to the free-range and, more particularly, the organic meat bird markets.

Very recently a trial batch of these birds was grown and prepared for sampling by some of the top ‘foodies’ in NSW. Included among these was Poultry Digest’s very own tame chef, Isabelle O’Brien (see box). These birds were grown to 70 days of age on certified organic feed, and were reared on soft, New England pastures from day 28 until slaughter, with an average dressed weight of 1.8kgs.

Chicken Couture

By ISABELLE O’BRIEN A table bird from the pastures of New England in NSW could be Australia’s answer to the French Bresse chicken.

Specifically bred to thrive in outdoor environments and produce quality meat with a unique texture and flavour, these birds truly are a cookery delight.

The Bresse chicken is something of a gastronomic wonder of the world from the North of Lyon in France and until now there has been nothing with a similar taste or texture in Australia.

The most defining feature of these famous birds is their age. A Bresse chicken is no less than four months matured, roughly 90 days old. Each chicken is given 10 square metres each to roam, and the result is a seriously sophisticated tasting roast chicken.

The Special Table Bird, raised by the Sommerlad family is roughly 75 days old, compared to the average supermarket equivalent at just 35 days. As a result, delicate handling is required because the bird has had room and time enough for activity; the meat will be naturally tougher.

I had the pleasure of cooking with this beautiful chicken, and as a cook I have a lot of respect for a product grown in a nurturing environment such as New England.

This beautiful chicken was handed to me cosily wrapped

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POULTRY DIGEST, February/March 2013

and bulging from its wrapping, much larger than a regular table bird, and much more handsome.

I patted down the chicken to remove excess moisture and there was no need to cut off excess fat as the fat to meat ratio was near perfect.

The bird was cooked on a roasting rack above a small layer of water in a low oven (150 fan forced) for three hours. The longer and slower cooking time is necessary as the meat is naturally tougher from all the activity the bird has sustained.

The result was a tender, melt-in-the-mouth feast. There is no other way to describe the flavour of the meat than, ‘chickeny’. It simply tasted more like chicken than any other chicken I have eaten before. The crisp skin and general fat that remained on the bird has a beautiful flavour and didn’t give that fatty around the mouth feel that can sometimes occur with a roast.

This Special Table Bird version of the Bresse chicken is a truly marvellous meal.

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NEWs Australian Poultry science symposium 2013 The Australian Poultry Science Symposium (APSS) 2013, held between February 1720 at the Sydney University Camperdown Campus and organised by The Poultry Research Foundation (University of Sydney) and the The World’s Poultry Science Associaton (Australian Branch), continued a fine tradition of delivering the results of highly topical scientific research from both international and local participants.

The pre-conference address on February 17 was given by John Kerin, Chairman of the Poultry CRC and many would argue, the best agriculture minister in a generation.

John lived and worked on a poultry farm until at age 33, he started a political career in the early seventies.

In his paper he traced the history of the poultry industry from protection and regulation to a sector that has been subject to and coped with market forces in the 21st Century.

He emphasised the need for the industry to continue to adapt and possibly contribute to the increasing need for protein rich, environmentally friendly food in our region of rapid population growth.

Major themes for the 2013 APSS were ‘Calcium & Phosphorous in Poultry Nutrition’ and Hot Topics were, ‘Proteases for Poultry’ and ‘Emerging Diseases and Poultry Health’.

Judith O’Keeffe, President of the Poultry Research Foundation with Dr Aaron Cowieson, Director of the Poultry Research Foundation, opened the Symposium on February 18.

“Why are we here?” asked Ms O’Keeffe. The answer, “to find new influences, question assumptions and ultimately, just find out how we can do things better,” she stated.

In the first session chaired by Dr Bob Hughes (SARDI) ‘Calcium and Phosphourus Nutrition’ featured invited international speakers.

The first invited international speaker was Professor Markus Rodenhutscord, (University of Hohenheim), Germany.

In introducing his topic, Dr Rodenhutscord stated, “Phosphorus (P) is an element with special relevance for sustainable food production and that all animal species have a specific requirement for P. “Excretion of P may negatively affect the environment, and the global raw

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phosphate stores are limited: therefore responsible handling of P sources is necessary along the entire food chain,” he said.

“Phytate is the dominant binding form of P in plant based feedstuffs for poultry and as phytate P utilization by birds is incomplete, in practical feeding, the P requirement of the birds can only be met by inclusion of animal based proteins, mineral P resources and enzymes: combinations of these are often used,” he said.

‘Calcium to Phosphorus in broilers’, was the topic for Professor Roselina Angel (University of Maryland USA).

“If you do anything in life, never feed an inverse ratio to an animal,” Dr Angel said.

“Why do we never talk about digestible calcium?” she queried. “Particle size is important and know your ingredients,” she added.

Other keynote speakers in the ‘Energy and Protein as Macronutrients for Poultry’ session on Tuesday February 19 were Professor Stephen Simpson, School of Biological Sciences University of Sydney whose paper ‘Using Nutritional Geometry in Food Animal Production’ introduced his topic by stating that, “over the past two decades we have developed a unifying framework for nutrition, called the ‘Geometric Framework’ (GF) within which multiple food components and animal attributes can be distinguished, and the relationship among components and attributes disentangled and then linked to individual performance, ecological outcomes and evolutionary consequences,” he said.

Professor Robert Gous (University of Kwa-Zulu-Natal, South Africa) next spoke on the broad topic of , ‘Predicting Food Intake in Broilers and Laying Hens’.

“Being able to predict the food intake of a flock of broilers and layers can be likened to discovering the Holy Grail,” he said.

Professor Hank Classen (University of Saskatchewan, Canada) is well know to APSS attendees and in this session he presented a paper, ‘Response of broiler chicken to dietary energy and its relationship to amino acid nutrition’.

“The relationship between dietary energy and amino acids is fundamental to the formulation of broiler diets.

“A historical perspective on this relationship is that broilers alter their feed intake to match dietary energy and therefore amino acid supplementation should be w

POULTRY DIGEST, February/March 2013

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1. John Kerin, Chairman Poultry CRC. 2. Judith O’Keeffe, President Poultry Research Foundation. 3. Dr Aaron Cowieson, Director Poultry Research Foundation. 4. Dr Rosalina Angel, Uni Of Maryland, USA. 5. Markus Rodehutscord, Uni of Hohenheim.

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NEWs v adjusted in accordance,” he said.

In the Hot Topic Session 1 ‘Proteases for Poultry’, on February19, Dr Luis Romero, Danisco Animal Nutrition UK, spoke on the topic of ‘Bio-efficiency of feed proteases in poultry and their interaction with other feed enzymes’ followed by Dr Christos Antipatis, DSM Singapore, who spoke on the topic of, ‘Exongenous proteases and their interaction with dietary ingredients’.

On the final day of the conference in the Hot Topic Session 2, ‘Emerging diseases and poultry health’ the keynote speaker was Daniel Venne from Scott Hatchery, Canada.

His paper was ‘Field data of the changing clinical picture over time of inclusion body hepatitis in Canada’ (with emphasis on diagnosis, prevention and trials on supportive treatments).

“Inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) has long been diagnosed in the poultry industry: it has been associated mainly with immunosuppressive conditions,” he said when introducing his topic.

The second invited international keynote speaker in the session, David Swayne, US Department of Agriculture, USA (USDA) delivered a paper that truly grabbed the attention of the lecture theatre.

‘The Global Avian Influenza situation and assessment of effective control methods’, was his subject.

“The H5N1 high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) virus emerged in China during 1996 and has spread to infect poultry and wild birds in 62 countries during the past 15 years. For 2011/12, 19 countries reported outbreaks of H5N1 in domestic poultry, wild birds or both,” he revealed.

In a table of HPAI epizoonotics since 1959, Australia has recorded six outbreaks of H7N7, the latest being in late 2012 in NSW. One of the best aspects of recent APSS Symposia has been the increasing number of young post graduate researchers presenting from Universities of Queensland, UNE and in particular the University of Sydney.

Not only are these young scientists undertaking vital research for our poultry industry, their work is already being applied in the field having direct benefits to greater efficiency and with better animal welfare outcomes.

Without doubt the Poultry Industry CRC in its operations has contributed significantly to the growth of fresh scientific talent working for and in the poultry sector.

Dr Stuart Wilkinson, a recent graduate

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now based at the Sydney University Camden campus delivered two papers at APSS 2013, ‘Calcium and phosphorous interactions in broiler nutrition: a geometric framework approach’ and ‘Mineral composition of calcium sources used by the Australian poultry feed industry’.

PhD student Sonia Yun Liu, also from the Camden Campus also presented two papers ‘Starch and nitrogen digestion kinetics influence growth performance and nitrogen retention in red sorghum based broilers’, and later ‘Protease supplementation enhances apparent digestibility of amino acids at four small intestinal sites in broiler chicken offered sorghum based diets’.

Other members of the Camden Campus group who are working under the guidance of Dr Aaron Cowieson and who presented at the 2013 APSS were Emma Bradbury, “Using the geometric framework to explore calcium and phosphorus interactions and he effect on broiler welfare’, Mini Singh, University of Sydney, who posed the interesting question ‘Are we turning chickens into Cows? Grass consumption by free range broilers’.

Mini’s work would be of particular interest to Dr Tugrul Durali whose PhD research topic covers many aspects of free range broiler operation.

His subject was ‘Comparison of free range and conventional broiler performance and digestibilty’.

Tugrul is a qualified veterinarian and works at Red Lea chickens as well as conducting research work at the Sydney University Poultry Science Camden based unit.

Kate Hartcher, also from University of Sydney working with Dr Greg Cronin delivered a paper, ‘Effect of rearing condi- w

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5 1. Dr Christos Antipatis, DSM Singapore. 2. Luis Romero, Danisco Animal Nutrition, UK. 3. PhD student Sonia Yun Liu, who won the ‘Best Presentation by a Student’ award. 4. Ines Rodrigues, Biomin Singapore. 5. Some of the post graduate students who presented at APSS.

POULTRY DIGEST, February/March 2013

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Highly effective against Avian Influenza including H7

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NEWs v tions on the development of feather pecking in free range laying hens’.

The Poultry CRC sponsors many of the students who presented at APSS 2013.

It also donates a cash prize for ‘Best Presentation by a Student’ and this year Prof Mingan Choct CEO of The Poultry CRC gave that award to Sonia Yun Liu. The Social side of the APSS is very important and there is plenty of opportunity for researchers, students and industry to get together at events like the Gourmet BBQ, sponsored by the Poultry CRC and held on the evening of February 18.

Post graduate students presenting at APSS 2013, apart from those already mentioned were Ms Chayana da Rocha, Uni Federal do Partana Brazil, Mr Vaibhav Gole, Uni of Adelaide, Mr Hoai Huynh and Mrs Marta Navarro-Gomez both from Uni of Queensland and Mr Raj Murugesan, Iowa State Uni USA. Presenters from the UNI of New England were Mr Shawkat Msadeq, Ms Sithara Ralapanawe, Mr Aaron Ray, Mr Sami Sammiullah and Mr Salih Wajid.

At the Symposium Dinner, held on the ‘Star Ship Sydney’ on February 19 a good crowd enjoyed a great night with excellent food, entertainment and company, all with Sydney Harbour as a backdrop.

At this event the Australian Poultry Award is presented to an Australian resident who has made a long term outstanding contribution to poultry science and/or the Australian poultry industry.

This year’s winner was Dr Peter Groves from Zoothecny Pty Ltd, who has a history of service to the industry and as a member of several key institutions and committees (see separate story).

Having made a great success of the APSS in recent times it was sad to hear that Dr Aaron Cowieson will be returning with his family to his native home in the Orkneys.

Not only has Dr Cowieson, (with the able assistance of a dedicated organising committee) revitalized the APSS with a great program, he has gathered together a talented group of young scientists at the Poultry Research Foundation, Uni of Sydney Camden.

That pool of talent has been on display at both APSS and recent conferences like the CRC ‘New Ideas’ forum as well as the Feedworks Coolum seminar recently.

That those young scientists will contribute significantly to the poultry industry in the coming years is beyond doubt.

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In concluding the APSS 2013 Dr Cowieson thanked participants from Australia and overseas and reminded delegates that without the help of sponsors it would impossible to run events like APSS. Invited speaker sponsors were: AECL Egg Program, Danisco/Dupont, DSM Nutritional Products, Poultry Research Foundation and RIRDC Chicken Meat Program.

Gold Sponsors were: ADM Australia Pty Limited, Alltech Biotechnology Pty Limited, Poultry CRC. Silver Sponsors were: BASF, BEC Feed Solutions, DSM Nutritional Products and Feedworks.

Bronze Sponsors were: Biomin Australia, Elanco Animal Health, Evonik Degussa Australia Pty Ltd, JEFO Australia and Phibro Animal Health. Alternative Sponsors were: Evonik Degussa Australia Pty Ltd Novus International Pty Ltd, Pfizer Animal Health, Phibro Animal Health and Taylor & Frances.

The combined format of invited guest speakers who delivered longer papers, established scientists whose papers were typically around 15 minutes, then a large number of five minute reports on research by a combination of experienced scientists and post graduate students meant that there were more than 75 speakers who covered a wide range of subjects.

Covering them all is these pages would

be impossible and unnecessary as the proceedings are available in PDF format by visting the APSS website at http:// sydney.edu.au/vetscience/apss/ documents/2013/APSS-2013 Proceedings

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4 1. David Swayne, US Department of Agriculture. 2. Hank Classon, University of Saskaychewan, Canada. 3. All the guest speakers at APSS. 4. The Symposium dinner was a great success on board the Star Ship Sydney.

POULTRY DIGEST, February/March 2013

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NEWs Nutreco seminar: ‘solutions for sustainable and Profitable Animal Production’ On March 12 Nutreco organized its seminar ‘Solutions for sustainable and profitable animal production’ at the Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong Hotel.

President Asia-Pacific, Trouw Nutrition International, Haiko Zuidhoff welcomed delegates and explained the structure of the company and its product groups.

Bert van Gils, Manager Nutritional Technology of Nutreco Animal Nutrition, then gave a specific overview of Nutreco’s services and models.

He spoke about Nutreco’s centralized network of ‘least cost’ formulation with more than 250 field advisors connected to the network.

“Our services are designed to avoid loss of value to expensive feedstuff, decrease operational and development cost, minimise loss of time and other resources and finally to lower risk of losing brand equity and product value,” he said.

Next Mr van Gils expanded on Nutreco’s predictive nutritional model, “we can alleviate the burden of volatile commodity markets by reducing feed cost by up to 5% through improved prediction of nutritional values,” he stated.

Dr Jaco Eissen, Business Manager at Selko Feed Additives, introduced his topic ‘An integrated approach to support gut health’, by stating that modern farm livestock perform like professional athletes and thus need innovative solutions: animal welfare is important in modern production and health is an important pillar of any welfare strategy,” he said.

“Use of antibiotics is becoming more restrictive and they are becoming less effective, so clearly alternatives are needed.

“Presan is a gut health improver that can offer reduced use of antibiotics, lower incidence of footpad lesions and offer a similar or better performance at lower cost,” he said.

“Through trials recently conducted at The University of Utrecht, Presan demonstrated that its use can reduce inflammation in broilers and helps to prevent gut wall damage.

“Used in conjunction with Selko Ph in water and Presan in feed, the combined effect we believe that combined use has the potential to firstly improve digestion by reducing pH levels in he crop and reducing

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Top left: Bert van Gils, Manager Nutritional Technology of Nutreco Animal Nutrition. Top right: Haiko Zuidhoff, President Asia-Pacific, Trouw Nutrition International. Above: LtoR: Christine Clark, Auspac Ingredients, Mark Peebles, General Manager Lienerts and Philip Lambeth, Auspac Ingredients.

intake of pathogens.

“The two products working synergistically, stabilise microbiota thus inhibiting overgrowth, suppressing pathogens and increasing diversity.

“Finally Presan boosts the intestinal barrier, reducing inflammation and oxidative stress as well as improving tight junctions in the intestinal tract,” Dr Eissen concluded.

After lunch Auspac, the Australian and NZ Nutreco distributor, ran an informal discussion seminar for customers and industry identities.

The first speaker, Dr Peter McKenzie, spoke about the basics of using acids for enteric health and to help in reduction of antibiotic use in livestock production systems.

Chris Cameron from ACE Livestock

POULTRY DIGEST,February/March 2013

looked at what was happening in the poultry industry and how we should respond to these developments.

“Gut health, probiotics, organic minerals and liquid acids to meet the requirements of new generations of birds with higher intake levels and the industry should move towards alternative systems like free range broilers, layers and organic farms,” he said.

Dr Jaco Eissen, Selko Feed Additives, traced the progress of his products from single organic acids to clean water through synergistic acid blends, buffered organic acids, medium chain fatty acids, then plant extracts. Finally target release products that all deliver ever increasing intestinal benefits.

The proceedings were summed up by Dr Peter Scott and lively debate ensued.

PDFeb/March2013:PDFEBMAR09 4/04/13 3:01 PM Page 21

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NEWs

1

Alltech APss 2013 Breakfast A long established feature of the Australian Poultry Science Symposium is the Alltech Breakfast and on February 19, 2013 Alltech’s Australian General Manager Adam Naylor opened the event as the bacon and eggs arrived on delegates’ tables.

Adam spoke about the need to feed a global population expanding by 219,000 people per day.

“Nutrigenomics,” he said “could help to get more performance out of our livestock.

“In the poultry industry, 85% of our performance improvement in recent times has come from improved genetics,” he said.

“Now we have the chance for significant gains in productivity through nutritional improvements.

“Alltech has established the world’s first nutrigenomics center at its Lexington Kentucky headquarters and the results of research undertaken there is about to deliver significant benefits to a range of livestock industries including the poultry sector,” he added.

The next speaker, Dr Kristen Brennan, an Alltech scientist working at the nutrigenomics center, answered the question ‘What is Nutrigenomics, and what can we learn from it?”

“Understanding dietary effects and the hidden effects of nutrition and clues to how nutrients precisely work. Also nutrigenomics provides insight into why certain nutrients have an adverse or beneficial effect,” Dr Brennan revealed.

“Further, the science helps us identify important genes that are altered by nutrients or are involved with diseases.

“If you understand the whys you can them impact them through nutrition,” she stated.

Dr Mini Singh (University of Sydney) a well established researcher into bovine lactation, has more recently been concentrating on poultry research.

Her address ‘Genomics, a new tool in poultry science’, looked at using genomics to decipher differences in free range and conventional poultry production.

“Genomic approaches provide deep insight into the relationship between the treatment and the response of genes,” she said.

“They can also provide deeper insight into the mechanisms of how gene expression changes affect performance regimes.

“Genomics can be used to measure the physiological effect of specific nutrients or

22

specific nutrient regimes and thus may be applied to develop new animal feeds and nutrient regimes,” Dr Singh concluded.

Last year Poultry Digest visited the Poultry CRC at UNE to look into a number of research projects being undertaken at that time.

Few would describe CRC team leader Professor Bob Swick as ‘excitable’, more ‘measured’ in his approach to research might be a better description, but Bob was definitely very pleased with the results of research into Actigen.

“Actigen promotes performance naturally,” according to Alltech.

“It is a cost effective, safe and traceable new technology developed through nutrigenomics that helps animals of all species to thrive and reach their genetic potential.

“It is a mannan rich fraction yeast cell wall exctract from a specific strain of S.cereviviae.”

The trial commenced with 1 day old Ross 308 male birds – 48 floor pens (24 per room) – 10 birds each fed a wheat, sorghum, SBM, canola meat meal based diet. 2 x 4 were factorial – challenge vs unchallenged : control, Zn bacitracin, Actigen, salinomycin.

The Challenge – D9, 1 mL of sterile 1% saline with 5000 sporulated oocysts of E.maxima, 2500 sporulated oocysts of E. acervulina, 2500 sporulated oocysts of E. brunetti. D14 and 15 – 1 mL buffer with C.perfringens 108-109 CFUs/ml.

“Performance, intestinal lesions and footpad scores were measured,” Dr Swick explained.

After describing the results in some detail Dr Swick’s conclusions were that “Zn-bacitracin, Actigen and salinomycin all significantly improved performance relative to the group with no additive.

“Weight gain of the challenged birds supplemented with Actigen and Zn-bacitracin was less than that of unchallenged birds with no additive but higher than challenged controls without additive,” he said.

“This study was successful in demonstrating the NE challenge model, and that Actigen was not different than Zn-bacitracin in protecting against performance decline or mortality associated with NE challenge,” he said.

“This study shows that Actigen has great promise as a tool for controlling nectrotic enteritis,” Dr Swick concluded.

POULTRY DIGEST, February/March 2013

2

3

4 1. Adam Naylor, General Manager of Alltech Australia opened the proceedings. 2. Alltech scientist, Dr Kristen Brennan. 3. Dr Mini Singh, University of Sydney. 4. Professor Bob Swick, CRC Team Leader.

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INTERVIEW

How a broiler integration does successful business with retailers for mutual profitability: Part Two INTERVIEW by AZIZ SACRANIE, Technical Director of Poultry for Alltech Asia Pacific. He spoke to Philip Wilkinson, Managing Director of 2 Sisters, the UK’s largest integrator.

I

This group provides a cross section of both expertise, perception and consumer expectations in this regard. However, as producers, there are varying points of view regarding welfare and hence a number of schemes in place and brands sold offering choice to the consumer based on production methods and welfare claims.

n Part 2 of this interview; Aziz Sacranie, Technical Director Poultry Alltech Asia Pacific, discusses poultry welfare, as it affects broiler integration, with Mr Philip Wilkinson, CEO of UK’s largest broiler integrator.

In the European Union, animal welfare has been and still is on the top of agenda for politicians, food retailers, consumers and producers alike. Its importance is such that all sectors of the poultry industry are subject to numerous welfare regulations tied to Legislation, Codes of Recommendations and Industry Codes of Practice.

Q: How would you define poultry welfare in broiler meat production?

A. Welfare in the United Kingdom (UK) for 85% of the broilers grown would fall under Assured Chicken Production (ACP) which is an independent organisation that develops and polices standards for the poultry sector. It is part of the umbrella organisation Assured Food Standards whose brand is depicted by the Red Tractor on the product pack.

ACP supports the five freedoms: • From thirst, hunger and malnutrition.

• From discomfort.

• From pain, injury, or disease.

• From fear and distress.

• To display most normal patterns of behaviour.

Q: Who makes the regulations on welfare?

Are these based on just emotional perception or are they based on real science?

A: In the UK a Government body, namely the Department for the Environment Food

26

Aziz Sacranie

Q: Does the Government department responsible for welfare, police these regulations and if so what penalties are levied on production facilities to provide welfare requirements?

& Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is the custodian of basic animal welfare requirements for broiler production.

However, several schemes are in operation which go beyond the basic welfare requirements.

The main one in volume terms is Assured Chicken Production which is an independent organisation as stated in the previous answer. Audits take place annually.

A: The Government spot checks farms in order to view the birds in the broiler houses as well as going on to check the paperwork associated with that farm’s production.

If the farm fails to achieve the required standard it will be given a period of time to take the necessary remedial action but ultimately if that work is not undertaken and the farm does not achieve minimum standards then as a last resort the license to produce would be withdrawn.

Q: This Government body that communicates the position on what is humane in terms of the welfare of the bird, how do they make that decision? Is there scientific proof to show that one way of bird management is worse than another?

The Farm Animal Welfare Forum consisting of veterinary surgeons, stockmen, poultry processors, broiler producers, NGOs and in some instances welfare activists and consumer associations meet to discuss welfare issues and concerns regularly, and make recommendations to Government and industry.

POULTRY DIGEST, February/March 2013

Q: Are retail outlets concerned about bird welfare? If they are, what criteria do they use to make an assessment?

A: Animal welfare in the chicken sector is upper most in the minds of retailers especially as the issue was the subject of a TV series undertaken on a national UK TV station in 2009.

The show featured production methods used for the majority of retail outlets and in some instances criticised practices currently being used.

Many of those criticisms were unfair, however that series highlighted the importance of educating consumers with regard w

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INTERVIEW v to the choice they have available to them when purchasing their chicken and even selecting which retailer they choose.

As a result of this retailers in some instances have created their own welfare specifications for their own brands and promote those in order to attract consumer loyalty to their stores.

Currently there is a group working on welfare outcome measures (of which I am a member) based on claims from different schemes, to establish the credibility of those claims, and to try and get some consistency across the production methods.

For example, criteria used would be space per bird, foot pad lesions, hock burn and mortality rate.

Q: Does bird welfare have any marketing value?

A: Welfare has over recent years proved to be a significant driver in marketing broiler chicken, for example, brands Marks & Spencer and Tesco in particular utilise claims that the birds have more space, perches to stand on, grow slower to weight and have natural light, as these are seen to be positive attributes by consumers.

These types of production methods have now swelled to approximately 20% of the market from virtually nothing 10 years since.

Q: No doubt you would agree that there is a high cost of welfare regulations on the industry.

Would you like to elaborate on what this effect has been on the broiler industry?

A: Just to give you an example the EU minimum requirement for stocking density is 42 kilograms per square metre.

In the UK the Government has elected to use a figure of 39 kilograms per square metre maximum stock density, which as an industry we could argue given that there are no barriers for trade across the EU could disadvantage English producers.

ACP (Red Tractor) has a maximum stocking density of 38 kilograms per square metre and as previously stated this constitutes in excess of 80% of the broiler chicken market.

However, low stocking densities means more housing for chickens and with land prices at a premium in a small land mass country such as the UK, further impacted by communities not liking the idea of chicken farms being built next to urban dwellings, this becomes a significant cost to the industry.

28

It is therefore the responsibility of the industry to communicate the values attached to the different production methods to consumers, so that they can understand and appreciate the premiums charged and therefore make informed choices.

Q: How do these welfare regulations affect poultry meat imports into the EU? Do the exporters have to follow the same regulations and if so, how are they policed?

A: Exporters to the EU do not have to adhere to these standards of production, however retailers, food service providers and wholesalers in the main tend to require outside EU suppliers to adhere to minimum EU requirements. Therefore the vast majority would fall within the basic requirements even though it’s not mandatory for them to do so.

“It is therefore the responsibilty of the industry to communicate the values attached to the different production methods to consumers so they can understand the premuiums charged ” Many UK retailers import products from outside the EU placing the same requirement on those suppliers as those from home and as previously stated may well far exceed the minimum UK Government requirement.

UK retailers send inspectors to suppliers all around the world to ensure that these specifications are being adhered to and if they do not comply they may lose the right to supply.

Q: We have heard that some retailers will not accept broilers grown in what they perceive as an inhumane way. How would you suggest that this can be handled?

A: As previously stated, most retail establishments adopt the national recommendations on the welfare specifications or have their own which they rigorously police.

If they still want to pursue their own

POULTRY DIGEST, February/March 2013

welfare standards then they will strike a commercial arrangement with the integrators to grow birds to that specification and provide their own auditor alongside the integrator’s technical staff to establish that the specification is being adhered to.

If for whatever reason it isn’t, then as previously mentioned, remedial action will need to be taken and if then that farm does not comply, then it will no longer be in a position to supply that business.

Q: We have heard about the Red Tractor brand. Can you explain further as to what this means in terms of welfare?

A: The Red Tractor brand in the UK now has a sales value in excess of £10 billion pounds sterling. As for broilers, in excess of 80% of broilers sold in the UK are produced to Assured Chicken Production Red Tractor requirements.

This is growing extremely rapidly and at the same time, so is the consumers’ knowledge surrounding Red Tractor values.

The board of Assured Chicken Production however, does not rest on its laurels and is continually reviewing the specifications in order to ensure that the claims we make are entirely valid and that other broiler welfare boards do not overtake us in terms of market leadership.

The Red Tractor scheme is very comfortable with alternative production practises but will not tolerate unjustifiable claims being made or unfounded criticism being levelled at ACP on welfare grounds.

Q: Poultry welfare is important in the EU. As yet in emerging markets of Asia, welfare is not so important, however it is envisaged that it might be so in the future. What advice would you give to the industry?

A: My advice to the emerging markets in Asia is to guide the market through an evolutionary process rather than a revolutionary process in order to maintain market stability and supply chain integrity.

However, as the chilled retail market continues to progress at the speed it appears to be doing so in Asia at present time, it is inevitable that with that will come chill chain and welfare requirements from the industry.

International retailers understand that cultures are significantly different around the world, however their success has been driven by uniformity across stores, regions and countries and I do not believe that blueprint will be compromised.

PDFeb/March2013:PDFEBMAR09 4/04/13 3:02 PM Page 29

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MANAGEMENT FEATURE

Fly the coop! Vertical structures influence the distribution and behaviour of laying hens in an outdoor range

By J L RAULT 1, A VAN DE WOUW2 and PAUL HEMSWORTH1.

FREE-range farms have increased greatly in the Australian egg industry, up by 64% over the last five years and representing 34% of the egg retail sales in 2011.

Nonetheless, free-range systems offer particular challenges. The use of the outdoor range is variable among hens, with some hens never going outside in some systems.

The hens’ distribution is also usually not uniform across the range. Hens tend to stay close to the indoor shed or to features such as walls or fences. This causes issues in terms of loss of grass cover and increased stocking density in particular areas, which may contribute to feather pecking, land overstocking and parasite contamination.

Several causes have been suggested for laying hens not utilising the outdoor range, such as genetics, experience, fear or lack of cover. Yet, this practical issue remains unsolved.

We investigated the effect of implementing vertical structures in the range on the hens’ number, distribution and behaviour. We hypothesized that providing a gradual reduction in the visual continuity

of the vertical structures rather than an abrupt change from the shed to the open outdoor area could attract hens onto the range.

This study was performed on one flock of 17000, 67 weeks-old, Hy-Line brown hens during summer. The hens had access to a 2.5 m wide winter garden and a 130m x 60m outdoor range as of 28 weeks of age from 12.00 to 22.00 hours daily.

The two treatments were presence or absence (control) of vertical structures using two matched-pairs design. The vertical structures were erected as two parallel, 1m apart, fences that extended 17.4m into the range. The first 5m was made of heavy shade cloth (‘Zone 1’), the next 5 m was moderate shade cloth (‘Zone 2’), and the last 5 m was conventional chicken wire (‘Zone 3’). Behavioural observations were carried out from day 11 to day 15 using video recordings.

The number and distribution of hens was collected using instantaneous scan sampling at 30 min intervals from 12.00 to 22.00 h.

The hen behaviour was collected at 5

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min intervals in the periods 12.00-13.00 h, 15.30-16.30 h, and 19.00-20.00 h. Data were analysed using Proc MIXED in SAS with a model that included treatment, time of day, their interaction and accounted as repeated measures over days.

The vertical structures in Zone 1 attracted hens, but this effect varied with time of day (treatment*time: P < 0.001) with the vertical structures attracting more hens from 15.30 to 20.00 h (P < 0.05).

For Zone 2, the vertical structures attracted more hens (treatment*time: P < 0.001) at 12.30 h and from 16.30 to 20.30 h (P < 0.05). For Zone 3, the vertical structures attracted more hens (treatment*time: P = 0.02) but only from 18.00 to 18.30 h (P < 0.05).

Hence, vertical structures could attract hens up to 18m from the shed. The potential for longer or different types of structures to enhance the distribution of the hens further away and over greater areas requires additional research.

The hens were observed pecking at the structures for 40% of the time, suggesting that it stimulated the hensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; interest. The shorter time spent in locomotion, lying and pecking at the ground (all P < 0.01) around the vertical structures likely reflected this interest in pecking at the structure.

Hens spent more time preening in the control treatment (P < 0.01). Further research is needed to elucidate the reasons behind these behavioural changes.

The vertical structures proved successful at attracting the hens in a commercial setting, although replication on more than one flock is warranted. Elucidating which physical features fulfil the hensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; biological needs could improve outdoor range use in free-range production systems.

1 Animal Welfare Science Centre, Uni of Melbourne. raultj@unimelb.edu.au, phh@unimelb.edu.au 2 Animal Production Systems Group, Wageningen University, The Netherlands. anet.vandewouw@wur.nl

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NEWs Peter Groves: Australian Poultry Award 2012 Dr Peter Groves became involved in the poultry industry via Elanco in 1981. He became an expert in coccidiosis, working on registration of Monteban and Maxiban.

Peter joined Inghams in 1985 and, in 1987, moved to Baiada as their first veterinarian. Peter took an epidemiological approach to broiler ascites syndrome and completed his PhD project at the University of Sydney with Garry Cross.

Peter developed a strong interest in epidemiology gaining membership of the Australian College of Veterinary Science, Epidemiology Chapter, in 1992. He focused on conditions that lead to good health (rather than trying to overcome poor health) and achieved performance improvements.

In the early 1990s, Marek’s Disease emerged as a major problem in the Australian industry. Peter was instrumental in the first widespread use of Marek’s vaccines in broilers and in the first introduction of Embrex technology in Australia. With Baiada, he conducted many trials to determine the appropriate vaccine dose rates for the different breeds under our conditions and against our resident viruses.

A long-term research collaboration with Steve Walkden-Brown at UNE resulted in new diagnostic and monitoring tools for an extremely complex disease.

In the late 1990s, a burgeoning increase in cases of EDS in the layer industry followed an increase in free range layer farming around that time.

It became obvious to Peter that the small supply of Australian EDS vaccine could not cope and he became a major player in the first importation of an inactivated vaccine for poultry into Australia in decades. This was a key factor in the entrance (or re-entrance) of Intervet into the Australian poultry vaccine market.

In 2003, Peter began his own consulting company, Zootechny Pty Ltd, providing veterinary service to Baiada (ongoing) and also to a number of other poultry companies.

His client list now includes HiChick Breeding Company, Hall’s Poultry and Pepe’s Ducks; with a technical advice role with International Animal Health Products.

He operates a small experimental facility, which among other contract work, provides safety testing for some of the major vaccines used by the industry.

In 2004, Peter was instrumental in the introduction of an inactivated tri-valent Salmonella vaccine into the Baiada breeding operation with impressive results.

Working with Tony Pavic from Birling Avian Laboratories, he carried out a research program with this vaccine that is now starting to have worldwide acclaim

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Dr Juliet Roberts presents Dr Peter Groves with the Australian Poultry Award for 2013.

and is being adopted in the USA. From 2005 Peter became involved in teaching poultry health subjects to Veterinary Science students at Charles Sturt Uni, the University of Sydney, James Cook University and the University of New England. In 2007, he was Acting Director of the Poultry Research Foundation (Uni of Sydney) and appointed as Director of the Foundation in 2010. Peter supervises postgraduate students, publishes regularly and is a regular contributor at APSS, PIX and AVPA meetings.

Peter has a history of service to the industry as a member of key institutions or committees. These include Presidency of AVPA in 1994 and 2006-2008; Member of the Advisory Committee for RIRDC Chicken Meat 2009-2011; Member of the Newcastle Disease technical Working Group (DAFF committee) since 2002; Member of NAIVE (National Avian Influenza Vaccination Expert group) since 2005; a major involvement in the AI outbreak in Tamworth in 1997 and in the Newcastle outbreaks in Sydney and Victoria in 1999-2002.

There is no doubt that over the past 30 years Peter Groves has made a sustained and major technical, scientific and educational contribution to the Australian Poultry Industry. He has done this with his trademark friendliness, humility, good humour, and excellence and is a most worthy recipient of the 2012 Australian Poultry Award.

Dr Juliet Roberts, President, WPSA Australian Branch

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NEWs Aviagen announces appointment of Marc scott as Operations Manager, New Zealand Aviagen has announced the arrival and appointment of Marc Scott as the new Operations Manager, responsible for the management of team and the production in New Zealand.

Marc Scott has successfully grown his early interest in poultry into a career in production with Aviagen.

Prior to his involvement in production, Marc graduated with a Higher National Certificate in Poultry Production from the Scottish Agricultural College in Ayr, Scotland.

His initial start after college involved farm management in the rearing and production of game birds in the UK for two years before he accepted a role as Farm Manager for an Aviagen contract grandparent production company in the UK. Marc stayed with this company for eight years building his production experience and knowledge of the Ross 308.

Upon joining Aviagen, Marc quickly transitioned to the responsibility of Farm Manager for a number of grandparent and great grandparent farms in the UK. He spent the next two years in this role becoming fully acquainted with internal production and management within the organisation.

Marc subsequently accepted a position

with Aviagen India, the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fully owned operation supplying breeding stock into the domestic market.

He moved to India in January 2011 and assumed the responsibilities of Great Grandparent Production Manager for the company. The move to a relatively new, expanding organisation along with the change in climate and culture presented a unique challenge to Marc which he appreciated. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the UK production facilities you have a long and established awareness of production, everything about the bird and the production cycle is familiar to you. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A move to a location like India provides a new situation and it encourages you to adapt and respond quite differently.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m appreciative of my time with the team

in India and the chance to become involved and look forward to using this and my early experience in my role in New Zealand,â&#x20AC;? commented Marc.

To advertise in Poultry Digest call Peter Bedwell on 0419 235 288 or (02) 4368 2220.

For rates and information visit the website at www.primarymedia.com.au

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NEWs Jefo, new distributor for Evonik in Australia Jefo is an industry leader in nonmedicated high-performance additives, committed to the livestock feed industry since 1982.

“Its reputation in the industry and strong international growth are the results of a corporate positioning of putting the emphasis on animal performance. To this end, Jefo creates and develops additives according to the specificity of each species,” said Wayne Bradshaw, Managing Director of Jefo Australia.

“This philosophy of product development has not only yielded concrete results, but also allows Jefo to achieve significant scientific advances,” said Mr Bradshaw.

Jefo this year proudly celebrates eight years commitment to the Australia and New Zealand Markets, under Mr Bradshaw’s guidance.

“Jefo has been an important leader in the market since the beginning of our activities in this region. For the last 8 years, Jefo has provided innovative products and technical support to the Australian and New Zealand agricultural industries,” said Mr Bradshaw.

At the recent VIV Asia in Bangkok, March 2013, an agreement was signed which means Jefo will be the Australian Agent for Evonik in the Australian Market.

Evonik is one of the world’s leading specialty chemicals companies producing high quality Amino Acids.

Jefo has been a key partner for the sales and distribution of the Evonik range of quality products in Canada for more than 12 years.

Founder and President of Jefo Nutrition, Mr Jean Fontaine, said that “this was a great day for our two strong companies.

“It is an honour for Jefo to be able to continue and further the close relationship between both Jefo and Evonik and being able to expand into the Australian Region.

“We look forward to offering the quality Evonik product line combined with Jefo’s emphasis on service relating to a beneficial experience for all of our clients.”

The portfolio of Jefo for the Australian market will now include the well known MetAMINO; ThreAMINO; TrypAMINO and CreAMINO. For more information, visit the website www.jefo.com.

Jean Fontaine, President of Jefo Nutrition with Wayne Bradshaw, Jefo Australia.

Poultry Equipment ...at its best Broiler Equipment Breeder Management Alternate Egg systems Ventilation Distributors of:

54 King Street, Clifton, Q, 4361.

Tel: 07 46973344 Fax: 07 46973532 Email: sales@stockyardindustries.com

www.stockyardindustries.com POULTRY DIGEST, February/March 2013

35

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NEWs Poultry firm carves up larger portion of market A rapidly growing poultry company which has invested heavily in its production capacity is now on track to increase its local market share by a third in the next 12 months.

ProTen Ltd operates a broiler chicken business and has embarked on an ambitious development program which will see its annual production increase to 42 million chickens over the next 12 months.

To achieve this target, the company plans to increase the 124 growing sheds currently in operation across Australia to

172 sheds.

The company’s five year development programme will see 90 million dollars put into the NSW state economy along with an estimated 40 more local residents employed.

The company has already completed the first farm of 24 sheds and expects with the completion of the second farm in February 2014 the additional capacity will take it up to approximately nine percent of the Australian market.

This year the company expects to grow

its market share and increase its supply indirectly to the growing Australian FMCG and takeaway market with the establishment of 48 new sheds which will allow it to achieve its growth target of 172 sheds.

As the company’s investment plans have been brought to fruition the ProTen share price has also risen by 37% over the last two months.

The company’s Chief Executive Daniel Bryant says the traditionally stable frequency of share trade has experienced a recent spike of activity.

“With our increased production capacity bringing another 14 million chickens to market as well as favourable market demand conditions and an improvement in our loan structure, our share price has jumped over 37% recently,” he said.

Mr Bryant believes the company remains undervalued and is well positioned for further growth over the coming year.

The market for chicken protein in Australia has an annual growth rate of around 3% and ProTen Ltd is considering plans to increase its production by a further 14 million chickens in the next three years to help meet this demand.

Mr Bryant says ProTen’s medium term strategy is to continue to expand through new farm development, new equity and also possible acquisition.

“Our FY2015 business plan projections anticipate a revenue increase of 63% to AUD $28.5 million and an EBITDA up 93% to AUD $14.6 million,” said Mr Bryant.

ProTen is currently registered with the Unlisted trading facility in New Zealand which allows shareholders to buy or sell ProTen shares, the shares are currently trading at NZD$0.55.

For more information you can visit www.proten.com.au

To subscribe to Poultry Digest send details to 7 Kerns Road, Kincumber NSW 2251

Email: rembery@iinet.net.au

or visit the website at

www.primarymedia.com.au

36

POULTRY DIGEST, February/March 2013

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NEWs BEC Feed solutions to grow market share in Indonesia BEC Feed Solutions Australia has announced the opening of a new subsidiary office in Jakarta, Indonesia, PT BEC Feed Solutions Indonesia. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With the Indonesian animal nutrition market growing year on year BEC Feed Solutions aims to contribute to this growth and cooperate with local Indonesian companies to find the right nutritional solutions,â&#x20AC;? said Brett Antonio, Managing Director of BEC. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With a platform of sound production and distribution capacity, leading quality assurance and over 25 years experience in the industry, we are perfectly positioned to service the Indonesian market.â&#x20AC;?

BEC Feed Solutions Pty Ltd is a family owned company located in Brisbane. Its mission is to become the leader in the supply of nutritional advice, premixes, feed ingredients and feed commodities to the Australian and international stock feed industry. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;We will focus on our existing strengths of BEC, being animal proteins, vegetable proteins and feed additives. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Indonesiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s animal production is growing very rapidly and with 12 million tonnes of compound feed in 2012 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the expectations are that by 2020 this figure can reach 20 million tonnes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;BEC would like to be apart of the growth and is looking forward to cooperating with local producers to improve that production,â&#x20AC;? said Ton Hovers, COO of BEC.

Inghams sale finalised On July 16, 2012 Bob Ingham, the sole owner of Inghams Enterprises which controls about a third of the total broiler meat market in Australia announced that his company was up for sale.

The company, which recorded turnover of more than A$2 billion in 2012, employs more than 8000 staff in Australia and New Zealand and produces turkey products as well as multi species livestock feed from its Australian and NZ mills.

Initially the asking price was reported as being in the vicinity of A$1.4 billion.

Investec Bank, a global organization that specializes in providing banking, advisory, investment products and services to a wide range of private, corporate and institutional clients, was engaged to negotiate the sale and numerous overseas based suitors considered taking over the long established family owned enterprise.

On March 10, 2013 it was announced that the company had sold to TPG Capital, a US based private equity company for a sum of around $900 million that included cash for the majority and the Ingham family retaining some property assets, according to Investec.

Other suitors were another US based private equity concern, Blackstone Group, and the Chinese New Hope Food Group.

It was also confirmed that the current Inghams Enterprise management structure with Kelvin McBain as CEO would stay in place.

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PDFeb/March2013:PDFEBMAR09 4/04/13 3:02 PM Page 38

NEWs Alltech’s 26th Asia Pacific Lecture Tour The Melbourne leg of Alltech’s 26th Asia Pacific Lecture Tour was held on the morning of March 5 at the Hotel Windsor, Melbourne.

After the opening and welcome by Adam Naylor, General Manager of Alltech Australia, Matthew Smith (Asia-Pacific Director, Alltech) introduced the theme of the tour which was ‘Stay Curious: Find Solutions’.

Delegates were able to network with fellow industry leaders before the meeting, discussing the creative displays which covered a range of topics from ‘On-Farm Alltech Solutions’ to ‘Algae’ to ‘Crop Science’ and ‘Marketing’. The presentations were designed to inspire the audience to strive for better profitability, offering ways to achieve this through innovation and marketing.

Jorge E. Arias (Global Aqua Director, Alltech) spoke next on the topic ‘Embracing global challenges: Creating global solutions’.

He gave an insightful presentation on issues affecting the profitability of our industry, focusing on high ingredient prices, ingredient supply and ingredient quality. He used examples from his research experience to show how new innovations can turn problems into opportunities. Jorge covered a range of topics - from enzymes to algae to mycotoxin binders – sharing ideas that can help businesses gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

38

‘Finding Solutions from New Technology’ was the next topic presented

by Russell Trainor, Alltech Australia, who encouraged the audience to challenge preset notions of limitations in animal performance by implementing cutting-edge technologies such as nutrigenomics.

This modern science gives the animal nutrition industry a unique opportunity to revolutionise the way nutrients are delivered in feed and optimise performance in animals. Russell spoke about the gene chip, a key tool in nutrigenomics, which measures changes in the expression of genes. He explained how Alltech uses the gene chip to look at nutrition at the cellular level and apply findings to the Alltech Advantage series – a new range of unique solution packs to address common on-farm issues and therefore optimise animal performance through nutrition.

“The world is changing and so is our industry,” said Paulo Rezende (Marketing Project Manager, Alltech) in his eye opening presentation on branding in the agribusiness industry. He discussed some of the changes in industry and modern consumer trends which affect the way modern companies market agricultural products. He encouraged attendees to evolve their communications to keep pace.

Paulo shared eight key marketing principles which Alltech stands by: 1. Purpose: Do not underestimate the power of purpose, consumers care more

POULTRY DIGEST, February/March 2013

about your stories than what you sell.

Choose a brand message – know who you are targeting and what they are looking for 2. Be different: People are exposed to so much information – How do you stand out?

3. Surprise and delight your audience: 95% of CEOs surveyed said that customer experience was the only true differentiator.

Go beyond good, start thinking WOW experiences 4. Be consistent: One single message in all points of communication. Consistency builds trust 5. Relentless implementation: Excellence in implementing business strategy; and consistency in that implementation.

Communicate again and again. Every touch point is a chance to communicate the brand 6. Identify your opportunity: Look out for sponsorships, events, platforms for your brand to be associated with and connect with an audience 7. Embrace technology: Social media is a two way conversation and we need to participate in this discussion 8. Live the brand with passion: Live and breathe your brand Paulo closed his presentation with a quote from John Kotter: “Those in leadership positions who fail to grasp or use thepower of stories risk failure for their companies and for themselves.”

He stressed that following the eight key principles allowscompanies to be different and gain an edge in the competitive world.

“95 % of CEO’s surveyed said that

PDFeb/March2013:PDFEBMAR09 4/04/13 3:02 PM Page 39

NEWs

Top left: Adam Naylor, General Manager Alltech Australia. Left: Russell Trainor, Alltech Australia. Above: Matthew Smith (Asia Pacific Director, Alltech) talks to Tugrul Durali, Red Lea.

Accelerating success. customer experience was the only true differentiator” The closing lecture was presented by Matthew Smith who summarised the talks and introduced ‘Eight Big Ideas’. These are the rules Alltech is following. His take home messages for attendees were: Rule 1 – Start with our land: Alltech Crop Science has proven results in increasing crop yield Rule 2 – Understand the rumen…

Everything starts with the rumen, we have to stabilize it Rule 3 – Adopt new technology: Use the gene chip to activate pathways to production Rule 4 – Make the perfect steak/chicken /pork: Programed Nutrition – feeding the animal the right nutrient at the right time Rule 5 – Understand aquaculture and algae: Alltech SP1 – a pure natural and sustainable source of fatty acids, DHA and high quality proteins Rule 6 – Follow the eight brand principles of marketing Rule 7 – Don’t underestimate mycotoxins Rule 8 – It’s all about people: The most important words? “You did a great job!”, “What do you think?”, “If you please…”, “Thank you” and “WE”. The least important word? “I” Matthew Smith encouraged the audience to maintain the curiosity of a child. He invited delegates to join Alltech for its 29th Annual International Symposium, May 19 – 22, 2013.

“We need to take off the rear-view mirrors and drive onward” he said.

High Yielding Broiler Enterprise TENDER

26 Masonite Road, Tomago, NSW Established Broiler enterprise showing consistent financial returns • 120,000 birds per batch x 5.3 turns pa • 8 well maintained sheds and associated infrastructure •

Comfortable weatherboard home Located close to Newcastle and Nelson Bay • Vendors retiring after a long association • Excellent opportunity, solid production agreement • •

For Sale by Tender www.colliers.com.au/500590083

Craig Young 0428 581 929 02 9017 6952

www.colliers.com.au

POULTRY DIGEST, February/March 2013

39

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sPECIAL FEATURE John spragg: 30 years as a nutritionist

By JOHN SPRAGG, Executive Officer, Stock Feed Manufactuers Council of Australia

W

ith a note of surprise, this month marks 30 years since I started work as a feed mill nutritionist at Fielders Tamworth, now operated as part of Ridley AgriProducts.

With the indulgence of the Poultry Digest, I make some observations relating to the stockfeed industry and its relationship with the poultry industry.

Working in Tamworth for 10 years provided a remarkable opportunity to learn about the industry and work in poultry nutrition. At the time the Tamworth district had more than 100 layer farmers, a growing broiler industry and pheasant and turkey producers.

The focus of the layer farmers was on maximising egg production and how they could work with their feed supplier to optimise egg mass produced from each laying hen.

Through this period there was a close relationship with layer research being conducted at New England University with many of the experimental rations being

manufactured at Fielders in Tamworth.

One of the first tasks I was given in 1983 was to put together a quality assurance program, something the mill was only doing in an uncontrolled manner.

At the time most mills had still not taken QA seriously, seeing it as a cost burden in time and sample testing expenses.

The wet summer crop harvest in 1984 resulted in large volumes of weather damaged sorghum, this leading to the need to sample and inspect grain prior to unloading.

Use of UV lights being promoted for their use in visually detecting mycotoxins in sorghum samples proving to be less than useful!

Changing grain receival from an occasional inspection to a mandatory sample and test for every delivery measuring and recording moisture, test weight, weed seeds and visual inspection was a major step forward.

Similarly, commencing sampling and testing of meat meal looking at particle size

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POULTRY DIGEST, February/March 2013

became another challenge in relationships with suppliers! It was not until the early 1990s as an industry the then Stock Feed Manufacturer Association and the Australian Renderers Association agreed on a set of national receival standards.

Although we learnt to formulate feeds long hand through Sydney University animal husbandry, this was far surpassed through the 18 months spent on a QELEQ, an Irish built analogue computer running least cost formulations.

A remarkable machine that provided interactive feed formulation with the lights and dials turning on and off. To date the replacement digital formulation software have been unable to replicate the level of interaction the formulator had with the QELEQ. The advantages of rapid formulation change, calculation speed, capacity to run multiple formulations (multimix), integration with other digital systems and the cost to maintain the QELEQâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s saw their replacement.

Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s formulators are presented with the challenge of implementing rapid changes and electronic integration with mill batching programs, a far cry from single formulations and secretaries typing mixing sheets that had to be double checked before they could enter production.

The best part of a week to reformulate

PDFeb/March2013:PDFEBMAR09 4/04/13 3:02 PM Page 41

sPECIAL FEATURE and change all rations in the mill. Then the task of manual costing for clerical staff to present to sales managers!

Through the 1980s we started to use a new raw material known as rapeseed meal, replacing some of the soybean, cotton and sunflower meal that was traditionally used.

With plenty of caution relating to potential risks from glucosinolates, erucic acid and sinapine, the industry quickly adopted this raw material, with the transition to the new name canola, greater assurance relating to reduced antinutritionals and additional crushing plants providing certainty in use.

I believe the area of feed and food safety has undergone the greatest change within our industry. There has been a strong move away from the older view that stockfeed was not part of the food chain â&#x20AC;&#x153;we only feed animals not peopleâ&#x20AC;? to acknowledge and embrace the important role feed mills have as part of the food supply chain.

This change in thinking was driven by a number of food safety challenges, including chemical residues found in Australian beef during the 1980s, changing our industries view about food safety and trade risks.

The intensive testing and property clearance program implemented after organochlorine residues were found in Australian beef was estimated to have cost the beef industry over $50M. Being involved in Department of Agriculture tracebacks to farmers purchasing supplied beef cattle feeds and isolating this to cattle dip yards rather than feed contamination, as well as traceback to grain being supplied from contaminated storage

sheds brought through the reality of what can go wrong.

The national quality accreditation program known as FeedSafe run by the SFMCA has been a major initiative. From a desire in the 1990s to see a minimum quality standard for SFMA members in Queensland, it moved into a code of good manufacturing practice that operates across Australia.

Use of third party auditors provides independent annual review of feed mills, with the minimum manufacturing standards endorsed by the chief vets and primary industries ministers.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;FeedSafe provides mechanisms for the industry to achieve minimum quality standardsâ&#x20AC;?

FeedSafe provides mechanisms for the industry to achieve minimum quality standards, with capacity to continually improve, addressing new issues if and when they arise. This includes the important area of traceability, something that is becoming an ever more important aspect of the food supply chain.

If a food safety event occurs that relates to feed supply, FeedSafe accredited feed mills must retain the ability to traceback to all their suppliers of raw materials. Similarly, they must also have the ability to trace forward to the supply of feed to their clients.

The global food market is seeking greater assurance relating to food safety and testing equipment is becoming more capable of identifying unwanted residues in ever smaller quantities. The challenge is retaining a rational approach to identifying the significance of these low level residues and whether they realistically present a food safety risk, as opposed to a perceived trade risk for globally traded food products.

On the poultry industry front, the major change has been industry rationalisation. The traditional family run poultry farm being replaced with larger operations with greater economies of scale and contract production.

The older farm shedding and cages experiencing high labour costs in feeding and egg collection were always destined to disappear. We have seen a significant shift in industry control from the poultry producers to egg and meat marketers.

It is however of note that with moves to free range there is renewed activity in smaller scale poultry production. To this end some feed mills that had stepped away from the supply of poultry feeds, are receiving new enquiries for the supply of feeds for local small scale free range producers. Whether they can sustain their new enterprisesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; viability in the long term remains to be seen.

Across 30 years in the industry, the highlight remains being in contact with some remarkable people; customers, competitors, suppliers, researchers and workmates. Without the spirit of goodwill and sense of humour our industries would be much the poorer.

Medium Chain Fatty Acids Now Available in Australia -YLL *HSS ),* [V Ă&#x201E;UK V\[ TVYL

www.becfeedsolutions.com.au

POULTRY DIGEST, February/March 2013

41

PDFeb/March2013:PDFEBMAR09 4/04/13 3:02 PM Page 42

NEWs VIV Asia 2013 trends and products Trying to get around nearly 750 exhibitors in the space of three days is nigh on impossible – not to mention the vast range of conference material but even so trends are possible to identify.

The VIV Animal Health Summit Asia 2013 focused on the reduction of antibiotic use in livestock production.

Key speakers at the March 14 seminars included Aidan Connolly, Vice President, Alltech whose topic was antibiotic free production – 15 years of lessons learned.

Indeed a core focus of Alltech’s products and research since its foundation has been replacement of antibiotics in livestock production and Mr Connolly has been involved with much of that journey.

A company that has chosen different pathways to reducing antibiotics is Biomin and Ines Rodrigues, Technical Manager Biomin Singapore presented her paper, ‘Phytogenic Feed Additives – A holistic approach to reduce antibiotics in feed’.

Papers in this session were not limited to nutritional only approaches to reduce antibiotc use in production systems.

More advanced poultry housing systems offer clear benefits as explained by Peter Schreurs, Director Operations China-Asia/Pacific for Vencomatic.

‘Brooding for robustness with Patio’ was Mr Schreurs topic.

Despite the fact that there is the realisation in Asian markets that reduction in antibiotic use may becoming a more urgent imperative,

there were still plenty of exhibitors from around the world including China and the sub continent in particular that were offering antibiotics as well as the many who are going down the yeast based phytogenic and probiotic product route.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY RSPCA APPROVED FARMING SCHEME COMPLIANCE CO-ORDINATOR • Great opportunity to use your agricultural knowledge and your excellent organisational skills and attention to detail • Join our friendly Canberra team The RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme aims to improve the welfare of farm animals on a commercial scale. Egg, pig, turkey and meat chicken farmers whose farms meet the RSPCA’s standards can apply to join the RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme, and RSPCA Assessors visit farms on a regular basis to assess compliance.

RSPCA Australia is currently appointing a Compliance Co-ordinator to work in our Canberra office. The focus of the role is the day to day management of producer assessment and compliance.

Successful applicants will have tertiary qualifications in agricultural science, or appropriate experience; experience, excellent attention to detail, organisational skills and communication skills. An interest in farm animal welfare is also essential.

Ideally the incumbent will have some experience with QA or other certification programs, and a driver’s licence and the ability to travel are also desirable.

Salary is in the range of $59k to $68k (incl. super) For further information regarding the position, including selection criteria, please email rspca@rspca.org.au with “Compliance Co-ordinator Applicants Pack” in the subject line.

42

POULTRY DIGEST, February/March 2013

Top: LtoR: Mike McNaught, Big Dutchman, Marcus Jones, Stockyard Industries, Steve Cadwallader, Big Dutchman. Centre: LtoR: Greg Underwood, Hy-Line with John Houston and David Fox, Pepe’s Ducks.

Above: Brian Cosgriff (left) from Aviagen on the stand with other Aviagen staff.

PDFeb/March2013:PDFEBMAR09 4/04/13 3:02 PM Page 43

NEWs In the extensive displays of poultry based equipment the major European based companies dominate, as do US based manufacturers but as VNU’s Director Gerard Leewenburgh commented in the opening ceremony for the 2013 event that China has become a major player in all aspects of poultry production.

As well as endless numbers of stands offering nutritional and animal health products, there were companies offering sophisticated feed milling equipment and increasing numbers of poultry shed equipment including fans, controllers, cool pads and a variety of cage systems for both broilers and layers.

One incident that amused Poulty Digest back in 2005 was when a tribe of Chinese engineers dashed into the exhibition early before the crowds arrived and quickly filled the memory cards of their pocket cameras photographing every detail of the equipAbove left: Aidan Connolly, ment on the Big Dutchman stand.

Vice President, Alltech was At VIV 2013, on prominent display one of the key speakers. was a quite sophisticated cage broiler proAbove: Garry Sanday from duction system which showed interesting Santrev. Left: Peter Schreurs innovations – on those cages was a sign Director Operations Chinarequesting ‘no photos’.

Asia Pacific, Vecomatic also We suppose that valuing intellectual presented a paper. property can be seen as a clear sigh of economic progress!

Speaking of broiler cage production, as in Europe displayed at Eurotier in November 2012, these production systems are just as visible The most affordable litter management in Asia and clearly a key element in device on the market! lowering feed costs in broiler production reducing disease risk and increasing energy efficiency.

PULVERIZES Jansen Poultry Equipment area manager Ron de Zwarte was kept AERATES busy with enquiries about their Bromaxx cage broiler systems: Jansen DRIES was one of the first major European companies to explore the potential of LEVELS cage broiler production in fully enclosed climate controlled housing.

GOOD LITTER MANAGEMENT IS TO KEY TO PERFORMANCE AND PROFITABILITY. Another development in automated climate controlled poultry Perfect for 5 Pulverizes hard caked litter and allows sheds is new controllers with more UÊ >Ì }Ê> ÞÊV> i`ÊEÊÜiÌÊ ÌÌiÀ moisture to evaporate UÊ Õ Ì >ÌV Ê ÌÌiÀÊÕÃiÊÊ capability and easy to use touch 5 Will ride under litter without digging into UÊ7iÌÊ- >Û }ÃÊ> `Ê i`` }Ê >ÌiÀ > ÃÊ the pad screen controls.

UÊ,-* Ê ««À Ûi`Ê >À }Ê-V i iÊÊ 5 Leaves a smooth, soft, well aerated surface There were many Australians pre7iÊÃÌ V ÊÌ iÊvÕ ÊÀ> }iÊ vÊ*À iviÀÌÊ* Õ ÌÀÞÊ sent at the event both as visitors and 5 Low Maintenance, compact and easy to use µÕ « i ÌÊ V Õ` }ÊÌ iÊ*À iviÀÌÊ ÌÌiÀÊ >`iÊv ÀÊ on the stands of the companies they Ü `À Ü }° 5 Available in two sizes with PTO driver or Bobcat options represent.

The VIV Asia event has become CALL US TO ARRANGE AN ON FARM DEMONSTRATION OR REQUEST A BROCHURE BROCHURE AND AND PRICING PRICING an essential destination for Australia growers and poultry producers seekPRO P RO WASH WASH P POULTRY OULTRY PPOULTRY OULTRY S SPECIALIST PECIALIST D DEALER EALER FFOR OR PPRIEFERT RIEFERT A AUSTRALIA USTRALIA ing a technological edge to competi02 0 24 4971 971 2 2347 347 | 0 0427 427 886866 886866 w www.prowashpoultry.com.au ww.prowashpoultry.com.au tive production.

THE LITTER SAVER

POULTRY DIGEST, February/March 2013 43

PDFeb/March2013:PDFEBMAR09 4/04/13 3:02 PM Page 44

NEW PRODUCTs VIV 2013 New shed heating product from sKOV On the Skov stand at VIV Asia 2013, Export Manager Arne Overgaard and Luigi De Clemente from FarmMark were on hand to explain the new heating system available for poultry housing â&#x20AC;&#x153;With Spiraflex finned tubes for heating of the livestock house, you get an efficient and quickly responding heating system ensuring the animals a perfect climate.

Spiraflex finned tubes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; made of steel (boiler tube quality) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; are all-welded and thus ensure a documented high heat output,â&#x20AC;? Arne explained.

Far left: Arne Overgaard and Luigi De Clemente. Above: Luigi with the heating system. Below: Martin Simmons with Zion Halfron.

New touch screen controller from Rotem Zion Halfon, Ppresident and CEO of Rotem Control & Management was on the Rotem stand at VIV 2013 with Australia distributor Martin Simmons OEC to reveal the new Rotem Platinum Plus Touch Screen controller.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s easier to use and features an inbuilt manual plus â&#x20AC;&#x201C; every growerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favourite â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a help button!â&#x20AC;? Martin pointed out.

The Rotem Plattinum Plus (Touch Screen) is available now in Australia and NZ through OEC.

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NEWs Roxell: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;service Deskâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; becomes â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Technical supportâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x153;Technical support of our distributors and customers is of vital importance in an ever faster changing market like ours,â&#x20AC;? said Philip Campe, Technical Support Manager, Roxell. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To this end, Service Desk has been renamed as Technical Support, under the direct management as of January 1, 2013,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Philip is a 47-year old Industrial Electronics Engineer with several yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; practical experience in similar positions.

In his new function, Mr Campe will be responsible for the management and coordination of the departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s activities. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The continuous improvement of our various technical processes also remains an important task,â&#x20AC;? Mr Campe said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our experience shows us that our customers expect us to respond swiftly and flexibly to inquiries and complaints. In recent years we have heavily invested in this

area, and with the new structure we will continue to focus on this,â&#x20AC;? said Bart Roels, International Sales Manager. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To achieve the objectives of his new challenge, Philip can rely on the support of three experienced colleagues,â&#x20AC;? said Mr Roels. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These are Hugo Schoonaert and Klaas Verstraete in their functions as Technical Support Engineers and will be responsible for the technical support of customers and distributors. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In addition, they will organise training sessions, both internally for Roxell service engineers and externally for the technical staff of Roxell distributors. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They will also keep the Product Development department up-to-date on installed systems. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Philip Alleman, Service Engineer, will act as expert of Control-line and ESF (Electronic Sow Feeding). He will also

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NEW PRODUCTs LED Agrilamp lamps to be distributed by HMI Electrical and Agricultural Automation HMI Electrical has announced it will be distributing the LED Agrilamps in Australia along with Agricultural Automation.

HMI Electrical will offer a complete installation service or can prepare the lights in a loom that is simply suspended in the shed with the main part of the installation being carried out by the farmer.

“The 9w lights are completely water proof and shock resistant. Unlike other LED lights on the market, these have been developed specifically for the poultry

market,” said Luke Colla of HMI Electrical.

Luke said he looked at a number of LED lights from around the world and the Agrilamp was the only lamp that met Australian Standards and was ready built to easily fit into a poultry farm environment.

Luke was also very impressed by the amount of research and field trials that Agrilamp company had undertaken to ensure that the lamp provided the optimum light spectrum for optimum poultry performance.

Pro Wash Poultry introduces the Feed Caddy and Priefert Poultry Equipment Pro Wash Poultry is the largest commercial poultry shed washing business in Australia, according to owner and operater Rod and Lisa Grant. The business started their own tunnel ventilated chicken farm situated in the Hunter region.

“From having been growers ourselves, we have a clear understanding of the needs and logistics of poultry farming and our customer base has grown primarily through word-of-mouth referrals,” said Rod. “Our aim has always been to provide a range of services and products that improve farm operations and productivity.

“Over the past seven years the business has continued to expand and now provides a range of services, product and equipment supplies to cater specifically to the Australian commercial poultry industry.”

The range of services includes: • Full or partial shed wash-down service • Spray sanitation and disinfection • Beetle and insecticide spraying

• Licenced fumigation service • Litter conditioning products and services • Equipment and machinery washing • Batch break management and shed set-up service • Relief farm management • Specialised farm equipment and poultry supplies Feed Caddy “This year, we are very excited to introduce the Feed Caddy. This cleverly designed piece of equipment will drastically reduce the time required to set and feed up sheds in readiness for chick placement,” said Ron. “It is available in three size models, from 200kg to 1000kg capacity and enables both the brood paper and feed to be laid down in one simple action.

“The invention of Canadian poultry farmer Andy Maendel, the Feed Caddy is sturdy, affordable and easy to use. We are

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POULTRY DIGEST, February/March 2013

very proud to have been chosen as the exclusive Australasian territory dealer and will be trading as Feed Caddy Australia.”

“We will also be able to supply growers with brood paper rolls. The paper is fully biodegradable and has been patented designed to attract chicks with its unique green colouring and ruffling sound.

“Our first shipment of Feed Caddy’s and paper rolls is on its way and we are taking advanced orders.”

For more information please refer to the website www.feedcaddyaustralia.com.au or call us on 0427 886866/02 4971 2347 Priefert Poultry Equipment “Other products we are representing and are the exclusive Australian agent for incudes the Litter Saver and the Litter Blade,” said Ron. Also, we are the Australian poultry specialty agent for the Priefert Poultry Range of litter management equipment.

“Litter management is at the forefront for growers, not only with the returning popularity of multi-batch litter usage but in particular those moving to the new RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme.

The scheme guidelines state that ‘Litter management equipment must be available on farm’.

“The Priefert Litter Saver is a fantastic machine that pulverizes caked litter, aerates, dries and levels the litter.

“It is very compact and easy to use and by far the most affordable litter management implement on the market. It is available in two sizes with PTO driven or Skid Seer attachment options as does the Priefert Litter Blade used for windrowing litter, said Ron.

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