Poultry Digest April/May 2015

poultrydigest www.primarymedia.com.au

Volume 30, Number 5

April/May 2015

Third time lucky visiting solar saver

Testing the efficacy of Vaxsafe ST vaccine Salmonella and eggs from production to plate

RSPCA Australian Animal Welfare Seminar AECL 21st Industry Forum held in Adelaide

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Volume 30, Number 5

Waverly Phillipson (left) from the Modern Group with broiler farmer Ken Wake.

April/May 2015

EDITORIAL & DESIGN EDITOR: JOURNALIST/PHOTOGRAPHER PRODUCTION EDITOR

Peter Bedwell Alex Bedwell Rosemary Embery

ADVERTISING Peter Bedwell Mob: 0419 235 288 Email: primarymedia@bigpond.com or ilvaril@iinet.net.au

SUBSCRIPTIONS Features Page 18: Third time lucky visiting solar saver

by Peter Bedwell

Page 30: Testing the efficacy of Vaxsafe ST vaccine

by Y. Abs El-Osta, S. Mohotti, F. Carter, S. Kuchipudi, R.Youil, G. Underwood, P.C. Scott and C.J. Morrow

Page 44: Salmonella and eggs: from production to plate (Part 1).

by Harriet Whiley and Kirstin Ross

News Page 4: AECL 21st Industry Forum held in Adelaide Page 10: RSPCA Australian Animal Welfare Seminar: ‘Why welfare matters’.

Page 26: Intensive ag must reduce costs says Nuffield scholar New Products Page 38: Energy saving poultry shed dimmable lighting Page 42: Managing aviary birds is easy with Bolegg Gallery multi-tier system Page 40: New Polytex thermal curtains for Poultry Industry Page 50 Danisco launches advanced phytase Axtra PHY Page 52: Roxell develops CE-approved Quad heater

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All material copyright (editorial and advertisements) and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the publishers. Whilst every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of the contents of POULTRY DIGEST, the publishers do not accept any responsibility or liability for the material herein.

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NEWS

AECL 21st Industry Forum held in Adelaide The Australian Egg Corporation Limited held its 21st Industry Forum at the Stamford Plaza Hotel in Adelaide from May 20-21, 2015.

For a relatively small industry the turnout for this event is amazing as is the quality of the speakers and the information they deliver.

Above all of that however is a simple number – 220. That’s not how many people attended, though it is around that figure, but the number of eggs each Australian consumes on an annual basis!

No wonder then that consumers, retailers, health experts as well as (sadly) regulators and animal/consumer activist groups are all so interested in the industry: because Eggs are Big! If Jono McCauley, the Director of creative strategy at AECL’s advertising agency, Elevencom achieves his aim, stated at the Forum, Australians will soon be eating 240 eggs PPPA. The new campaign, based on TV and social media, builds on the icons of past campaigns but moves the emphasis to the start of the day with slogans such as ‘Eggs are the simply amazing way to start your day’ and ‘unbeatable for breakfast’.

The focal point for the new ads are the antics of comedian Jimmy James Eaton whose cranium is by a remarkable coincidence not unlike the product he so assiduously promotes.

Jimmy later entertained dinner guests at the spectacular National Wine Centre of Australia where after drinks and canapés (sponsored by Big Dutchman) an excellent dinner (sponsored by Moba) was appreciated by all.

The first speaker in Forum Session 1 was Jackie Healing – General Manager Coles Brand & Quality who expanded on ‘The future of Coles and Eggs’.

“Customers tell us that they want their eggs to be fresher and not from birds kept in cages, however they also say that they can’t afford to pay any more,” Ms Healing stated.

She then further explained that a worrying trend of ‘lack of consumer confidence’ was probably driven by a rising cost of living. Real wages had hardly increased for a prolonged period, which was contributing to the cost consciousness of shoppers today. w

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7 1. Jackie Healing, General Manager, Coles Brand & Quality. 2. AECL Chairman Jeff Ironside. 3. Shane Landon, Senior Manager Food Supply, Heart Foundation. 4. Jono McCauley, Director/Creative Strategy Elevencom.

5. Kate Harcher, Sydney University. 6. Dr Greg Parkinson, Avian scientist.

7. Dr Kapil Chousalker, University of Adelaide.

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She also expressed some concerns about quality leading to high level of rejections and the possible under investment in grading and packing.

“The cage free policy was part of continuing ‘the welfare journey’ that was a key component of our egg sales strategy.

“There has been some difficulty in getting consumers to understand what barn eggs (as applied to the cage free initiative) actually meant,” she said.

Shane Landon, Senior Manager Food Supply, Heart Foundation spoke on the topic of ‘Eggs and the Heart Foundation’.

The egg industry alliance with the Heart Foundation has proved to be an enduring partnership that may have moved on from the cholesterol debate to one of helping to reduce obesity.

Interesting statistics were shown revealing national obesity levels were in general far greater in rural and regional areas than in the inner city suburbs of capital cities. Inactivity was considered as a key factor.

His talk concluded with a simple message, ‘An egg a day for healthy adults’.

Jono McCauley next presented details of the ‘Making eggs unbeatable’ strategies.

No doubt the presentation, prepared some days before the Forum, showed a healthy increase in consumption to 217 eggs PPPY which was welcome by delegates but incorrect.

Bang up to date statistics revealed

by AECL CEO James Kellaway on May 21 had that figure at more than 220 eggs PPPY. “We need to use consistency of message to make eggs ‘unbeatable’ for years to come,” Mr McCauley concluded.

The Forum 2 session on May 20 was given over to more scientific aspects of the industry.

Kate Hartcher from the Poultry Research Foundation at Sydney University, spoke about her PhD studies, shortly to be completed, on severe feather pecking in free range layer hens.

Kate described her experiments including, “the effects of beak trimming and environmental enrichment in the rearing period, the use of predictive behavioral tests in the rearing period and the use of behavioral tests in birds performing feather-pecking”.

Other aspects of her research include tests on feather eating and investigating the association between feather pecking, fearfulness and range use as measured by RFID technology.

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One conclusion is that there is plenty of scope for further research into this topic.

“There is potential for genetic selection against (undesirable) traits to eliminate them from the population as there is thought to be a genetic component to feather pecking activity,” Kate concluded.

Veteran avian scientist Dr Greg Parkinson discussed the possibility of ‘The great leap forward for the egg industry by achieving flock uniformity’.

His conclusions on the topic, after revealing much research on bird weight and diet was that, “weight management in lay was important and that control of obese birds was very important,” Greg said.

“Equations accurately predict required feed intake and feed can be allocated without impacts on production,” he concluded.

The final paper in this session was presented by two former research post graduates that have found valuable work relevant to their considerable skills.

Dr Kapil Chousalker, now a Senior Lecturer at the University of Adelaide and Dr Kylie Hewson R&D Project Manager at AECL, reviewed practical ways to protect consumers from Salmonella.

Kapil described the various processes around the reporting of salmonella outbreaks and his charts revealed a near doubling of cases particularly in the later summer periods over a five year period.

Kylie Hewson mirrored Kapil’s concern over the statistics of Salmonella.

“Australia wide there has been a significant increase in human salmonellosis cases and in some States the cases have doubled just in the past two years,” Kylie commented.

Possible causes for this significant rise were many and varied but included better and faster diagnosis leading to a higher notification rate, also changes in eating habits – eating out more – more catering and increasing consumption of organic and raw egg bases dishes,” she said.

In more detail, poor refrigeration and handling of potentially dangerous ingredients and even the use of absorbent cardboard trays (rather than recycled plastic material) where a cracked egg could develop into a potentially toxic element in certain conditions.

Solutions to the problem, Kylie suggested were firstly a through chain

CONTINUED ON PAGE 53 w

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4 1. Kylie Hewson, R&D Project Manager, AECL. 2. Peter Mathews, AAS spoke about PIX. 3. Abe Moses, Farm Extension Services Manager AECL. 4. Greg Mills, Go-Ahead Business Solutions.

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NEWS

RSPCA Australian Animal Welfare Seminar: ‘Why welfare matters’ On May 1 2015, RSPCA Australia held its Animal Welfare Seminar at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra with the theme ‘Why animal welfare matters’.

“Animal welfare is and always has been core business for the RSPCA,” said Heather Neil, CEO of RSPCA Australia, in a statement to explain the reasons for hosting the seminar.

“How much does ensuring the welfare of animals actually matter in today’s society and in our ‘humancentered’ day to day lives?

“You don’t need to be an activist or a radical to regard animal welfare as a priority issue, and nor does this mean that animal use should be abandoned altogether,” she said.

“The latest figures released by RSPCA Australia show that more than 220 million farm animals lived a better quality of life thanks to the RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme in 2014.

“Tough but fair, is how RSPCA approved producers describe the scheme which has seen more than 842,000 layer hens, 773,000 pigs, 990,000 turkeys and 313 million meat chickens benefit from the RSPCA’s standards since the scheme started.

“We’re incredibly proud of the positive impact that the scheme and its many dedicated producers have made to the welfare of some of Australia’s most intensively farmed animals,” said Ms Neil.

“The scheme is part of the RSPCA’s efforts to improve the lives of animals and is underpinned by robust, science based animal welfare standards and rigorous on-farm assessments.

“RSPCA approved products are the trustworthy choice to supply this consumer driven demand.

“At the same time, our standards provide a starting point for industry, retail and government to develop animal welfare policies that will result in truly meaningful improvements to the lives of the millions of farm animals across Australia,” Ms Neil stated.

Bidda Jones, Chief Scientist RSPCA Australia, welcomed delegates and the first speaker, Professor Paul McGreevy, animal behavior and animal welfare science expert from the University of Sydney who explained ‘Why animal welfare matters in veterinary education’.

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Andrew Wilkie, the independent member for Denison in Tasmania, explained ‘Why animal welfare matters to me’.

Perhaps the most relevant speaker for the poultry industry was Jackie Healing, General Manager, Brand and Quality at Coles supermarkets.

‘Is it just a ‘nice’ to do? A retailer’s perspective’, was her topic.

Ms Healing and Mark Field (now head of product technology ‘Coles’ brand) were very much involved with the establishment of the RSPCA approved broiler chicken meat scheme, firstly with Hazeldene Chickens and then into ever expanding production volumes through other integrators.

Their experience with similar (but different in certain aspects), RSPCA supported protocols in the UK market, certainly gave them a greater understanding of the market potential in the suddenly more competitive retail sector in Australia.

Apart from broiler meat production, RSPCA approved schemes for both barn laid and free range layers have also achieved market penetration in recent times.

“In 2014, according to ABARES statistics, there was a total of 587.3 million meat chickens produced in Australia.

“During that year approximately 202 million chickens were raised under the (RSPCA) Approved Farming Scheme Standards, therefore around 34% of all chicken grown in Australia during 2014 met the approved RSPCA standards.

“For 2015, this figure is projected to rise to more than 70% of the total of meat chicken production,” a statement from RSPCA Australia revealed.

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1. Jackie Healing, Coles. 2. Prof.

Paul McGreevy, Sydney University.

3. Terry Nolan, Nolan Meats.

4. Andrew Wilkie, Member for Denison, Tasmania.

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Market update: Low rates effect your business The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) decided to leave the overnight cash rate at 2.25% at their most recent March and April meetings after somewhat surprising the markets back in February with its first move in the cash rate for more than a year, cutting from 2.50%.

As the market was already pricing in a 100% chance of a cut by May we only saw around a 0.10% dip in the three and five year swap rates (as swap rates are forward looking and are based on market expectations). Marker speculation indicates a 70% chance of a cut to 2.00% at the May meeting.

Other key points as to why the RBA eased monetary policy in February are: Deflation fears across many economies, especially in Europe which has embarked on its own Quantitative Easing program, similar to the US. Essentially, the European Central Bank (ECB) is purchasing longer dated assets (such as bonds) to help push longer term rates lower and provide incentive for firms to borrow and invest.

Central banks across the globe cutting rates in order to align with lower GDP growth. 25 central banks globally have eased their cash rates this year.

Australian inflation remaining in the lower end of the 2-3% target band.

Plummeting commodity prices resulting in a falling terms of trade (a barometer of a country’s wealth) and disincentives to invest in mining activities. The fall in commodity prices has also had a major impact on the Federal Government budget. The falling oil price will also potentially affect future LNG sale contracts.

Low wage growth Rising unemployment as more mining projects complete construction and move into production, it takes less labour to run a mine than construct one.

Political uncertainty (both domestically and abroad e.g. Greece).

A lower cash rate has a number of implications for the Australian economy.

Lower rates lead to asset price appreciation (the main aim of loose monetary policy), which may result in overheating of the housing and equity markets. It’s worth noting that capital city property prices have risen sharply in Sydney and Melbourne while other capital cities have only experienced subdued growth of around 3%.

The RBA also mentioned it believes risks in commercial property are

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beginning to build. Despite vacancy rates remaining high and weaker leasing conditions, commercial property prices have increased. This appreciation in price is due to ‘yield compression’ where, in the hunt for higher returns, investors are purchasing commercial property and accepting lower capitalisation rates.

A lower cash rate assists in the devaluation of the Australian Dollar, something that the RBA has been pining for to assist the Aussie economy transition away from mining and into services, construction, and agriculture.

While the AUD was buying around 98 US cents for much of last year, it has fallen back to about ~78. The RBA has noted in its February minutes that the AUD still “remained above most estimates of its fundamental value, particularly given the declines in key commodity prices”.

Most market commentators and economists are predicting a further devaluation in the AUD against the USD. Some of this leg work will be assisted by the US Federal Reserve, which is currently deliberating on when to lift the Federal Funds Rate. Once the Fed starts lifting its cash rate, it’s expected that the AUD will continue lower. Some market commentators are calling a AUD/USD in the 60s by the end of 2015.

Interest Rate Risk Management Interest rate risk, like any market risk (foreign exchange, commodity price) or business risk (counterparty risk, management risk, business continuity risks, staffing risks), requires constant management to ensure your business is protected from adverse events.

The two extremes of an interest rate exposure are being: 100% variable – 100% exposed to rising interest rates; or 100% fixed – 100% exposed to falling interest rates (an economic cost).

In order to take a risk neutral position, a starting point may be to consider hedging half your exposure.

That way you have the same amount of exposure to rising and falling interest rates. Other considerations include where current rates are positioned in the interest rate cycle, your borrowing time frame, how much risk you are prepared to take, choice of hedging instrument and how your business is leveraged to the economic cycle.

For example if interest rates are at historical lows this may be incentive (depending on an individual’s personal circumstances) to fix a larger proportion of your debt for a longer time frame.

Borrowers will often take the view of staying 100% variable. This has been a good strategy over the past six years (post GFC) as we’ve seen the Reserve Bank cut rates to record lows. However, as we near what is potentially the bottom of the interest rate cycle, interest rate risk management is something all borrowers should be putting at the top of their to do list (again, depending on their individual circumstances).

Fixed rates are forward looking and are a reflection of market expectations of the variable rate for that specific period. Short term rates (one-two year) currently remain reasonably anchored close to and below the current variable rate as the market is pricing in the possibility of one or two further rate cuts in the near future. In the medium term (three-five years) fixed rates are trading at very low premiums to the current variable rate which we believe presents good value and therefore an opportunity to consider some interest rate risk management strategies.

Are you already locked into a fixed rate? For borrowers that are already fixed, the current “flatness in the yield curve” presents opportunities to restructure your current fixed rate into a lower fixed rate for a set period, via an interest rate swap product. This can be done by building the cost of breaking an existing fixed rate into a new fixed rate for a longer term, effectively spreading the cost over the period. As this cost is worn through the interest rate this may not impact your Loan to Valuation ratios or your cash balance and result in lower financing costs for you today.

Separate to a standard Fixed Rate Loan there are many strategies and tools available to assist borrowers in managing their interest rate risk.

“Every borrower’s situation is different and the best way to find a solution that fits your particular situation is to get in touch with your Suncorp Bank Manager or Treasury Representative and have a discussion regarding your current position,” said Ben Gierisch, District Manager – Agribusiness.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 40 w

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Ken and Jane Wake on their property at Binna Burra.

Third time lucky visiting solar saver

By PETER BEDWELL A couple of months ago Waverly Phillipson, Commercial Manager for the national renewable energy company the Modern Group, called Poultry Digest to discuss the potential for solar power in saving the poultry industry from energy costs.

Waverly told us about Ken Wake’s broiler farm at Binna Burra near Byron Bay in NSW and how he had dramatically reduced his power bills by going solar.

We agreed that Poultry Digest should visit the farm and talk to Ken about his experience in saving with sunshine.

That proved to be the easy bit as the storms that have lashed SE Queensland

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and Northern NSW recently caused two cancelled trips but on the third attempt we made it.

The weather in SE Queensland on May 8 was perfect as Poultry Digest and Waverly drove from Coolangatta Airport to Ken and Jane’s property at Binna Burra.

Normally we don’t mind a bit of overcast weather, particularly in the middle of the day, as harsh sunlight can make on-farm photography as much, or more of a challenge, than grey skies.

However seeing as his story was about solar energy we were glad to enjoy a prime component of the story – sunshine!

Waverly did point out that a good quality solar set up like the one installed

by Ken, would still perform in overcast conditions given Australia’s high levels of UV. “Anyway many of the advances in solar equipment design have taken place in Northern Europe where grey skies are more prevalent than the brilliant sunshine we enjoy in south east Australia,” Waverly said.

Much has been said about the beauty of the Bangalow area of Northern NSW as young city dwellers flocked there in the 1970s to establish hippie colonies.

Today hand decorated Kombi vans from that era are still a feature in the region.

Backpackers and other tourists from around the globe appreciate the lush countryside and fabulous beaches.

The location of Ken and Jane’s farm however, stands out.

The fast flowing Byron Creek forms a natural moat around the 60-acre farm with just 200 metres of road frontage.

So not only is it picturesque, it ensures good biosecurity for the broiler farm that was once a pig farm, a Charolais stud, then modified for horse agistment and rider training and is now an Inghams RSPCA broiler code operation.

The three sheds, built about 20 years ago, house 75,000 birds and though of older curtain sided design they are tunnel ventilated: an ideal set up for an RSPCA operation.

Ken Wake’s career is an interesting one – an airline pilot for first Air New Guinea, then Singapore Airlines, he ended his long aviation career in Hong Kong in a pilot training role for Cathay Pacific.

Fifteen years ago he acquired the Binna Burra farm as an investment that was run by a farm manager and his family.

Then four years ago he and Jane

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returned to Australia after Ken retired and gradually took over the running of his farm.

After a period, while enjoying the farming life, he didn’t appreciate the ever rising power bills, or the prospect of them being even more out of control in the future.

So when Ken returned to his farm a few years ago and saw how power bills were spiralling out of reasonable control, and likely to get worse as state governments rushed to sell of the ‘poles and wires’, he took considered action and invested in a solar alternative.

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So has the Wakes’ strategy worked?

“Well we’re just over two years in and close to a complete return (in another one and a half years) on the investment. In selecting the equipment we opted for high quality German designed and developed products that have a guaranteed long life span, and we just happened to install the solar when the Australian dollar was at an all time high, which turned out to be a bonus,” Ken said.

In short Ken didn’t opt for a ‘least cost’ option.

“Also that calculation is based on historic energy costs and not what energy providers, possibly privatised, might charge in the future,” he added.

Waverly points to the fact that the Tier 1 solar panels they installed are regarded as ‘state of the art’ and engineered for both longevity and performance.

“The panels use specially developed glass and solar cells that are warranted for 25 years of efficient production.

“Similarly the three power input inverters are regarded as being of the best quality and most efficient standard,” Waverly stated.

“Conversion to solar is an ideal way to reduce a chicken farmer’s dependence on grid electricity supply and rising costs of production.

“An analysis of Ken’s first quarter electricity invoice showed a saving of $2,202.00. In total, his energy costs have reduced by around 47%,” Waverly said.

“I had a staggering saving of $4,400.00 over six months. I haven’t had an invoice that low in many years,” said Ken. Prior to walking over to the sheds we discussed the farm’s move to RSPCA protocols.

“I can see that consumers approve of RSPCA having an overview of our production methods and how retailers can use that to their advantage.

“The aim of the protocols is to improve bird welfare and that has definitely been achieved, and will continue to improve in the future.

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“I am keen to comply in running our farm to the required standards as long as I know exactly what they are and how we are expected to achieve that compliance in the medium and long term,” Ken said.

“If it helps our industry and my integrator in particular, to build consumer confidence I’m all for it.”

Ken in two extended careers, has proved to be a master of adaption both on the flight deck of a 747-400 and today running a broiler farm.

He has a forensic eye for detail.

He spots a curtain that is not quite fitting flush with the shed wall and later a leaking O ring on one shed’s water filtration system.

“We may need to improve air flow in the sheds and I’m looking at how we can achieve that,” he said.

In answer to the question over litter re-use Ken explains that with a good and reliable source of wood shavings, he cleans out after each batch, but is prepared to consider options should circumstances change.

A shiny new Italian Grillo walk behind rotivator is probably his Plan B on that issue but he does say that “it is a versatile and very useful piece of equipment around the farm”.

With the sun well across the yardarm we toast Ken and Jane’s efforts and their enviable lifestyle.

Jane has plenty of ideas about how to develop their farm and situation in one of the world’s premier tourist and lifestyle locations.

With the challenge of energy costs

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1. Ken and Jane Wake maintain an immaculate property – Ken has a keen eye for detail. 2. Enclosed cool pad section reduces disease risk and helps to extend cool pad life. under control they have achieved a smooth transition to the RSPCA broiler protocols and thus remain a viable

business in an ever changing industry and still growing market for safe and healthy protein.

Ken Wake’s ‘Modern’ Solar Power equipment The commercial Modern Groups Commercial solar plant installed on Ken and Jane Wake’s farm was specifically designed to reduce electricity consumption from the grid during periods when it is most expensive.

“Key components are Tier 1 ET Solar Photo Voltaic panels that are recognised as being the ‘gold standard’ in solar power for both performance and longevity.

“The panels are manufactured using the best quality solar cells, low iron, high impact glass and components mean that they will perform well beyond the 25 year performance warranty,” Waverly Phillipson said.

“They can generate over 156kWh of electricity per day dependent upon weather conditions but will perform in both full sunlight and overcast conditions.

“Once installed, tested and

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commissioned the system requires little maintenance other than a clean from time to time and an annual health check.

“The 3 10kW inverters turn the DC power generated by the PV panels into 240volt AC current that can be utilised by the sheds electrically powered equipment.

“The inverters we use are state of the art and extremely efficient with minimal losses during conversion.

“While Ken’s system is not designed to supply surplus power back to the grid, he does end up selling quite a bit during the low load periods particularly when the sheds are empty.

“The system can in the future be expanded to generate more power or even using advances in battery technology to further reduce dependence of the grid.

“The original concept of significantly reducing energy costs

both now and in the future for Ken’s broiler operation has been achieved.

“Since Ken’s installation has been in operation there are now even more cost effective energy saving options available to farmers and specifically to those in the Poultry industry.

“The recent Federal Budget offer of tax exemption on a spend of up to $20,000 for capital equipment, and renewable energy subsidies when combined with the increasing requirement to reduce energy costs, will provide a further incentive for broiler farmers to ‘go solar’” Waverly said.

The panels used on the Wake farm are highly rated under the Bloomberg New Energy Evaluation Scheme coming in at number three in a field of more than 180 products.

“As the number two product is not available in Australia, number three is not a bad place to be,” Waverly concluded.

NEWS Video resources for schools The Poultry CRC has teamed up with the NSW Department of Education & Communities (DEC) to produce a number of videos outlining the fundamentals of keeping chickens in schools.

A series of nine videos (ranging from three minutes to seven minutes) has been made available online via LearningNSWDET and Poultry Hub’s YouTube channels. This will also soon be made available on Scootle (the National Curriculum online database).

The films are targeted at schools that are new to keeping chickens, providing information and useful insights from a school already using poultry in their classrooms, with some expertise from Poultry CRC researchers and veterinarians. The titles of the films are: • Choosing your birds • Housing requirements • Feeding and watering • Poultry behaviour • Routine management and holding a. Bird health and external parasites

b. Bird health and internal parasites c. Bird health and disease • Show bird preparation “With the number of schools that are keeping poultry on the rise, we saw a need for good quality teaching resources for schools that are new to poultry” said Poultry CRC Education Coordinator Liz Roan.

“With the inclusion of Sustainability as a key curriculum area across all subjects, and Food and Fibre Production now included in the National Technology Curriculum, more schools are looking into keeping poultry at school and teachers are looking for good resources.

“The addition of short, informative films which can be referenced via the updated Animals in Schools website will be an invaluable tool in helping teachers make a good start,” she said.

Investment in school education is a long term proposition which will generate future support for industry in terms of public understanding as well as future personnel.

Correct information must be provided to schools so they can easily comply with animal welfare legislation.

Videos such as these reduce the chances of negative outcomes for the birds and engage students with the science behind the practices.

The advantage of producing materials for schools and educating school students is that it is possible to educate young people before they acquire negative or incorrect knowledge. This can only be to the industry’s long term benefit.

Additionally, the development of this resource gives the CRC reach beyond our lifespan, where we are no longer able to post out physical resources to schools.

“It complements the work we have already done in the production of the chick embryo development animation.

“The quality, visual appeal and availability of these videos will no doubt have an ongoing impact in schools across Australia (and hopefully across the world),” said Liz.

Tyson Foods strives to eliminate human antibiotics from broiler chicken flocks by 2017 Tyson Foods, Inc said recently it is striving to eliminate the use of human antibiotics from its United States broiler chicken flocks by the end of September 2017.

The company will report annually on its progress, beginning with its fiscal 2015 Sustainability Report.

Tyson Foods has already stopped using all antibiotics in its 35 broiler hatcheries, requires a veterinary prescription for antibiotics used on broiler farms and has reduced human antibiotics used to treat broiler chickens by more than 80% since 2011.

“Antibiotic resistant infections are a global health concern,” said Donnie Smith, President and CEO of Tyson Foods.

“We’re confident our meat and poultry products are safe, but want to do our part to responsibly reduce human antibiotics on the farm so these medicines can continue working when they’re needed to treat illness.”

“Given the progress we’ve already made reducing antibiotics in our

24

broilers, we believe it’s realistic to shoot for zero by the end of our 2017 fiscal year.

“But we won’t jeopardise animal well-being just to get there. We’ll use the best available treatments to keep our chickens healthy, under veterinary supervision,” Mr Smith said.

Tyson Foods is also forming working groups with independent farmers and others in the company’s beef, pork and turkey supply chains to discuss ways to reduce the use of human antibiotics on cattle, hog and turkey farms.

Those groups will begin meeting this summer.

Tyson Foods’ international business is committed to taking similar measures on antibiotic use in its global chicken operations but has not set a timeframe.

Tyson Foods plans to work with food industry, government, veterinary, public health and academic communities, and provide funding, to accelerate research into disease prevention and antibiotic alternatives on the farm.

The company is also getting input from its Animal Well-Being Advisory Panel, which is made up of independent advisors.

“One of our core values is to serve as responsible stewards of animals – we will not let sick animals suffer,” Mr Smith said.

“We believe it’s our responsibility to help drive action towards sustainable solutions to this challenge by working with our chicken, turkey, beef and pork supply chains.”

Mr Smith said this recent announcement will not materially affect the company’s financial performance.

NEWS Intensive ag must reduce costs says Nuffield scholar Managing costs is important to all businesses, but in the intensive world of meat chicken production, it’s critical.

For New South Wales farmer Guy Hebblewhite, keeping expenses under control on his Tamworth chicken farm is getting more and more difficult.

“Our costs are increasing at a great rate – electricity and gas costs on our farm are going through the roof and so to achieve some sustainable long-term growth prospects we need to actually keep a lid on those expenses,” he explained.

Guy decided there was a real opportunity to reduce his gas and electricity costs by using the manure produced on the property to create biogas, which is produced by the breakdown of organic material through anaerobic digestion.

Further capitalising on that, Guy wanted to utilise heat from the process to create a renewable energy source, and so in 2013 he embarked on a Nuffield Scholarship to study how businesses around the world were tackling the same problem Starting in Canada after the Nuffield Contemporary Scholars Conference in 2013, which brings together all scholars studying in a particular year, Guy then also went to the USA, before then completing his individual studies in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany in June 2014.

“I went all over the place, it was absolutely fantastic learning from farmers who had actually adopted the anaerobic digestion and biomass technology in whichever industry they were in, whether that be a dairy, turkey farm, or just be a stand-alone unit built to utilise biogas and biomass opportunities,” he explained.

In terms of costs of the technology, Guy saw the good and the bad, with a considerable financial outlay for large operators using a biogas system.

“That technology was costing into the one or two million euros at that stage overseas, but the equivalent systems in Australia are up around the two million dollar mark, so they are very heavy capital investment options.

The good ones were operating very well, however I did actually see a couple of these units in Germany that had gone into receivership due to high ingredient input prices,” Guy recalls.

However, despite the high capital

26

costs, the benefits of generating electricity and heat from the units cannot be ignored.

“The banks in Holland now will not fund these projects without the heat being utilised in some way, so they’ve actually said, great that the electricity is produced, and we can generate that electricity very happily, but the heat must be used in some form,” Guy explained.

So what can Guy implement on his northern NSW property, and recommend more broadly to his industry, as a result of his Nuffield learnings?

He believes it all starts with thinking outside the square about the technologies available and, most importantly, seeing beyond the short term cost to the long-term benefits.

“We’re very happy to keep on paying our bills every month to the electricity and gas companies, but rather than doing that we could actually look at utilising a model I think that could actually pay off these investments a lot quicker, potentially over a four to seven year period and then actually be operating on free energy.

So we just need to think outside the square, it’ll certainly be an investment model that needs to join with the theory of how to actually get these sites established, but it can be something that is actually very exciting for the industry into the future,” Guy said.

Guy’s scholarship was supported by the RIRDC Chicken Meat Program.

You can watch Guy presenting his findings at the Nuffield Australia conference in Launceston here https:// vimeo.com/108885983 and follow him on Twitter here @GuyHebblewhite.

Nuffield Australia provides opportunities to Australian primary

NSW farmer, Guy Hebblewhite producers and managers between the ages of 28 and 40 to travel the globe investigating a research topic important to them and Australian agriculture.

The organisation is currently taking applications through to the June 30, 2015 for the 2016 scholarship program.

A $30,000 bursary is provided to successful applicants to carry out their study over a two-year period.

To keep up with the latest from our organisation, please connect with us at www.nuffield.com.au, on twitter @ nuffieldaust and #nuffieldag, and on Nuffield Australia’s Facebook page.

To advertise in Poultry Digest contact Pete Bedwell on 02 9797 2406 or 0419 235 288.

Please not our address is now 250 Hawthorne Parade, Haberfield NSW 2045 Email: primarymedia@bigpond.com

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HEALTH FEATURE Testing the efficacy of Vaxsafe ST vaccine administration at 2 woa.

This regimen was designed to protect short-lived birds (broilers) against S. Typhimurium challenge, but to date has not been widely adopted.

Recently it has been used by injection in broiler breeder Salmonella control programs in Australia, combined with killed vaccines with great success.

In order to extend the duration of immunity till the end of life for layers, a new vaccination program needs to be developed and tested.

Previous studies have shown that Vaxsafe ST when given with regimens including an intra-muscular injection can provide useful protection against S. Typhimurium challenge and heterologous challenge with S. Infantis, and to a lesser degree S. Virchow challenge (Sharp et al. 2012).

These experiments did not define the duration of this immunity and the cost of administration would be an impediment for general adoption in the layer industries.

In this study, the current vaccination program for Vaxsafe ST was modified to include a third dose delivered by drinking water at 6 woa followed by a fourth dose administered by intramuscular (IM) injection at 10 woa.

For the first three vaccinations, Vaxsafe ST was delivered at a dose of 107 cfu in water.

For the fourth vaccination, it was tested at a dose of 107 delivered in diluent, or mixed with Nobilis EDS+ND killed vaccine. Nobilis EDS+ND is a combined vaccine for the immunisation of chickens against Newcastle Disease and Egg Drop Syndrome ’76.

The Nobilis EDS+ND killed vaccine consists of an inactivated antigens prepared as a water in oil emulsion.

At 2 and 6 weeks of age all birds in shed A were vaccinated with Vaxsafe ST (107 cfu/dose) in drinking water as per manufactures instructions.

At 10 weeks of age, two groups of 125 birds were selected from shed A and vaccinated by IM injection (0.5mL/ dose/bird) into the pectoral muscle with one of two Vaxsafe ST formulations (in Marek’s diluent or mixed with Nobilis ND/EDS killed vaccine).

A vial of freeze dried Vaxsafe ST vaccine (1000 doses/vial) was resuspended in 3 mL of Marek’s diluent and then added into 1000 doses of the killed vaccine and mixed by shaking.

Birds in shed B remained unvaccinated against Salmonella. At each of 6, 20, 35 and 55 weeks post IM vaccination, ten birds from each of the vaccinated groups and ten birds from shed B (control shed) were transported to a research facility, and placed into isolators.

At 48 and 24 hours before the administration of the challenge, all chickens from all groups received vancomycin (60 mg per bird per os in 0.6mL). (Modified from Marcq et al., 2011).

The challenged consisted of freshly cultured 109 cfu/dose of wild-type ST or SI. Chickens were monitored for clinical signs throughout the study and screened for Salmonella shedding with cloacal swabs being taken on days 0, 2, 7 and 14 post challenges.

The presence and concentration of live Salmonella in swabs was determined by titration in RappaportVassiliadis (RV) media (after resuscitation in Peptone broth) and identity confirmation on XLD and SMID plates followed by specific wild-type ST or SI PCR based methods.

All data collected from the vaccinated and challenged birds were compared with those collected from the control groups in order to assess efficacy of the vaccine.

Methods A total of 26,000 Salmonella free commercial Hy-Line layer birds were vaccinated at the hatchery by coarse spray at day of age.

The birds were transported to a commercial farm and reared in cages in shed A as per the normal farm management procedures. A group of 26,000 birds were left unvaccinated and transported separately to the same farm and reared in cages in shed B.

Results No clinical signs were observed in any of the vaccinated groups immediately after vaccination, or throughout the study.

Prior to each challenge time-point, cloacal swabs were collected from chickens on the farm from both sheds A and B and screened to ensure that the birds were not infected with Salmonella.

Also just prior to challenge, cloacal swabs were collected from birds in all

By Y. ABS EL-OSTA, S. MOHOTTI, F. CARTER, S. KUCHIPUDI, R. YOUIL, G. UNDERWOOD, P. C. SCOTT and C. J. MORROW Vaxsafe ST (Bioproperties Pty Ltd) is an aroA deletion mutant vaccine for the control of Salmonella Typhimurium in chickens. It is registered for spray and drinking water applications and has been shown to aid in the control of Salmonella in short lived birds (such as broilers).

The main objective of this study was to test efficacy of Vaxsafe ST with a new vaccination program aimed at lengthening the duration of immunity for the full productive life of layers.

The first dose was delivered by spray on chicks at one day of age followed by two doses administered orally at 2 and 6 weeks of age (woa) respectively, and a fourth dose administered by intramuscular (IM) injection at 10 woa.

All vaccination doses were administered at 107 cfu/dose.

For the fourth IM dose, the vaccine was delivered in two different formats, mixed in diluent or in a mixture with Nobilis EDS+ND vaccine (Intervet).

At 16, 30, 45 and 65 woa respectively (that is at 6, 20, 35 and 55 weeks post IM vaccination) a sample of the vaccinated birds, was transported to a research facility and challenged with wild type S. Typhimurium (ST) or S. Infantis (SI). Salmonella shedding of vaccinated birds were compared with a control unvaccinated (challenged) group in order to assess efficacy of the vaccine.

Vaxsafe ST delivered in either diluent or with Nobilis EDS+ND killed vaccine, provided protection against strong homologous (ST) and heterologous (SI) challenges compared to the unvaccinated birds.

Introduction Vaxsafe ST is a registered vaccine produced by Bioproperties Pty Ltd. The statement of claims for this vaccine is as ‘An aid in the control of colonisation

by S. Typhimurium’.

The vaccine has been shown to reduce the excretion of virulent S. Typhimurium and provide chickens with an aid in protection against challenge by this strain.

The registered method of administration is by spray on chickens at one day of age followed by an oral

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groups. All these results were negative for Salmonella.

In the positive control groups, the infection profile for ST was quite different to that of SI in terms of the number of organisms shedding, as well as the duration of the infection.

Nonetheless, shedding from the positive control ST and SI groups was relatively high, indicating a good rate of challenge.

Shedding of S. Typhimurium and S. Infantis There was a reduction in mean shedding of ST (see Figure 1. Panel a) in vaccinated chickens at most time points.

Chickens challenged at 6 weeks after the IM vaccination with Vaxsafe ST combined with Nobilis EDS+ND showed a significant reduction the amount of ST shedding by day 14 after challenge.

However, in chickens challenged at 20, 35 and 55 weeks after the IM vaccination, Vaxsafe ST delivered in either diluent or combined with Nobilis EDS+ND showed reduction the amount of ST shedding by day 14 after challenge.

There was a reduction in shedding of SI in all vaccinated groups over the 3 sampling time points (days 2, 7 and 14) when compared with the unvaccinated positive control group.

Shedding from the positive control remained high even at 14 days post challenge (see Figure 1. Panel b).

Significant reduction (p<0.05) in SI shedding in vaccinated groups compared with the unvaccinated groups (positive control) was obtained when Vaxsafe ST was delivered in diluent for challenges at 6 and 20 weeks after vaccination.

Interestingly, a significant reduction (p<0.05) in SI shedding compared with the positive control groups was obtained for both injected presentations of Vaxsafe® ST (in diluent and mixed with Nobilis® EDS+ND) for the challenged at 35 and 55 weeks after vaccination.

Discussion This experiment lacked the power to cope with the stochastic nature of the Salmonella challenge shedding data, but trends were consistent and the demonstration of significant effects at later time points (in the case of the heterologous SI challenge) would allow the reasonable conclusion that some protection existed at earlier points.

This problem may be overcome by Bayesian analysis of the data similar to a recent paper by Arnold et al (2014).

These trends were a decrease in excretion in day 2 swabs in ST challenge in vaccinated groups and then all groups had similar rates of

32

clearance.

The SI challenge organism appears to be able to colonise the hens with cloacal shedding results from day 7 and day 14 being similar while in vaccinated groups these usually appeared to be being cleared.

This suggests that the immunity from the Vaxsafe ST vaccine primes the hen and this broad immunity can be rapidly mobilised in the gut of the chicken to reduce excretion of heterologous serovars.

By day 14 the rates of shedding were similar in most cases whether the vaccine had been mixed with the killed NDV/EDS or just administered separately in diluent (Figure 1).

The vaccination regimen described illustrates potential for protection against ST egg contamination, and may provide a broad general Salmonella protection.

Large numbers of layer hens in the field have now been vaccinated with similar IM regimens and it is well

tolerated and rearing is reported as unaffected.

Transient depression after vaccination (Groves and Sharp 2012) has not been observed in this experiment and has not a problem in the field to date.

The Egg Layer industry should have the confidence from this work, previous work (Sharpe et al 2012), and positive experiences with similar vaccination regimens using Vaxsafe ST in the broiler breeder industry, to begin investigating the advantages of this technology.

Ackowledgements: This research was conducted within the Poultry CRC, established and supported under the Australian Government’s CRC Program.

We would like to thank Cheryl Colson and the team at animal housing facility at the APCAH at the University of Melbourne. Thanks also to Dr Nilhan Fernando and Dr Arif Anwar from Scolexia Pty Ltd. References available on request.

Figure 1: Shedding of ST and SI in vaccinated and control groups challenged with wild type ST or SI at 6, 20, 35 and 55 weeks after IM vaccination with Vaxsafe ST delivered either in either diluent or mixed with Nobilis EDS+ND killed vaccine.

Means with error bars (standard error). Sampling/Data points are a 2, 7 and 14 days after challenge.

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NEWS RSPCA calling future leaders in animal welfare to step forward RSPCA Australia has unveiled a prestigious new award which recognises the contribution, achievement and vision of a future leader in the field of animal welfare - The Hugh Wirth Future Leader in Animal Welfare Award.

Dr Hugh Wirth AM is one of Australia’s best known animal welfare advocates.

His commitment to the RSPCA spans more than five decades having played key roles within the organisation since the mid-1960s, including as a Board Director, President of RSPCA Victoria (a positon he still holds) and President of RSPCA Australia, a position he held for 26 years.

This award is in honour of the incredible contribution he has made to animal welfare throughout his lifetime.

“Dr Wirth has played an integral part in the history of the RSPCA here in Australia, he has helped shape the organisation along with animal

welfare more broadly both nationally and internationally,” said Ms Eileen Thumpkin, President RSPCA Australia.

“In honour of the important role he has played the RSPCA has created a new award which will recognise future leaders in the space of animal welfare.

“RSPCA Australia is calling on individuals from all walks of life who can demonstrate their commitment to animal welfare and the philosophy and policies of the RSPCA, whether this is through their employment, study, research, personal interest or volunteer activities to apply now,” she said.

The Awardee will present the Hugh Wirth Animal Welfare Oration, an original speech that sets out their vision for improving animal welfare in Australia and providing animals with ‘a life worth living’ at the 2016 RSPCA Australia Animal Welfare Seminar.

For more information please visit: www.rspca.org.au/hugh-wirth-award

Dr Hugh Wirth AM.

2015 AgriBusiness Innovation of the Year Award Next instruments has announced that the company was presented with the 2015 AgriBusiness of the Year Award at the Wimmera Field Days, held in Horsham, Victoria in March.

The award was for the CropScan 3000S On Silo Analyser that was launched at the event.

The CropScan 3000S is a unique system designed for measuring protein, moisture and oil in grans and oil seeds as they pass through an auger, along a conveyor belt or through a pnaumatic pipe.

The system consists of the CropScan 3000 Near Infrared Transmission spectrometer, a remote sampling head and a touch screen PC controller mounted onto a trolley for transporting the system around the yard or shed.

The analyser is part of an ongoing product development that started 15 years ago when NIR Technology Systems developed the portable NIR analyser for farmers. Since 2000, NIR Technology Systems and now Next Instruments have introduced a complete range of on-farm analyser technology that includes the CropScan

34

3000H On Combine Analyser, the 1000H On Farm Analyser, the 1000B Whole Grain Analyser and the CropNet Farm Data Management Software.

The CropScan 3000S allows farmers, grain traders and grain processors to measure the quality parameters of their grain in real-time.

This enables the user to monitor the protein, moisture and oil content as the grain is being loaded into a container, a truck or ship.

It allows farmers to blend grain from two silos to ensure that they meet contract specifications. It allows grain processore like flour millers and stockfeed manufacturers to check the incoming loads of grain to ensure greater uniformity in feed stock.

The CropScan 3000S, like all of the CropScan range of NIR analysers, is linked to the CropNet software which can then post data in real-time to the web.

Farmers, buyers and traders can access the web using their smart phones, tablets of office PC to capture grain quality data along with tonnage, storage location, variety and other information relating to grain.

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Telling the whole story about agriculture As owner of a free-range egg operation in the Great Southern of Western Australia, Kate Mason is passionate about connecting with consumers.

Kate had always thought the key to engagement lay in educating the consumer, but she had a reality check not long after departing her Kojonup farm on her 2013 Nuffield scholarship.

“In one of my first meetings during my individual studies, I was talking to an ag consultant in Canada and he said to me ‘forget about it, you’ll never educate the consumer, there are too many people with a vested interest in confusing them,” Kate recalls.

It was that meeting that made Kate actually analyse how agriculture goes about trying to educate consumers, and she quickly realised a different strategy was needed.

“Sometimes I think we are actually creating this fantasy bubble where we are creating our very own sensitive consumer.

“What I believe we need to do is to start telling the whole story about exactly what happens on farms, and we need to see things that go wrong as an opportunity to explain exactly what happens in agriculture,” Kate explained.

Through Kate’s individual Nuffield travel she was able to visit a US enterprise having a strong impact with consumers using exactly this approach.

“Fair Oaks Dairy Farm in Indiana has 37 thousand milking cows which are in housed barns and they want the visitors, who are of course also consumers, to see all 37 thousand of these cows and exactly what happens on that farm on a daily basis.

They’ve actually got a birthing barn and I asked them how they select the cows that they’re using in there to have calves so they don’t have any problems.

He said “No, no, no, that’s not what we’re doing. We want to use those problems as opportunities to explain to the consumer exactly what is happening here”.

Interestingly, while Kate says animal activists are still targeting the high profile dairy operation, consumers are now standing up for the farm.

“Consumers are saying - well I’ve been there, I’ve taken my kids there, we’ve seen everything and we know what’s going on,” Kate said.

In the Netherlands, Kate experienced a similar transparency on farms with the Roundel system, a

36

Kate Mason, Nuffield Scholarship winner housing system for chickens in which they are raised with an emphasis on animal welfare and the environment.

“It’s really amazing – they’re still using everything we’re using in commercial agriculture, but the thing is they’ve put a positive spin on it and they’re explaining it all to the consumer.

“It’s set up in a way that is very friendly for the consumer to come and have a look, and it actually gives them a positive feeling towards the product when they leave there,” Kate said.

In Australia, Kate would like to see a similarly transparent approach for engagement between farmers and consumers, however she believes it’s the first step that will be the hardest.

“I think people worry about what will come from opening their doors and showing all, but while it would be a big step for one person, after one successfully does it other people will follow and it may become a bit more the normality.

In fact, we’re looking at doing

this on our own farm with Katie Joy’s Free Range Eggs – we’d really love to be able to explain to the consumer everything that we do, why we do it and how we do it, because we know that our systems are great,” Kate concluded.

Kate’s scholarship was supported by the Australian Egg Corporation.

You can watch Kate presenting her findings at the Nuffield Australia conference in Launceston at: https:// vimeo.com/110224565 and follow her on Twitter @katiejoyjoy.

Nuffield Australia is currently taking applications for the 2016 scholarship program through to the June 30, 2015, for travel in 2016. A $30,000 bursary is provided to successful applicants to carry out their study over a two-year period.

The organisation provides opportunities to Australian primary producers and managers between the ages of 28 and 40 to travel the globe investigating a research topic important to them and Australian agriculture.

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Energy saving poultry shed dimmable lighting South Australian based company zükt LED Lighting has developed and manufactured a robust IP65 poultry shed light that is energy saving and has the ability to smoothly dim to zero, accurately transitioning through dawn to dusk settings.

“The new luminaire needed to have the necessary light output, light characteristics, and control flexibility to exceed the current RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme Standards criteria,” said zükt Director Ned Wright.

“In addition, very low electricity consumption was required while maximising the growth and feed conversion potential required by the grower.

“The development process was initiated by contact with local growers who were looking for a solution to their new lighting requirements,” Ned said.

“The result was the production of the Big Bird, a dust and water proof integrated LED luminaire that produces 4,300 lumen from just 48 watts, and utilises a DC dimming driver which is able to dim smoothly from 100% to zero with no flickering.

“The dimming features a reduction in the electricity consumption that is linear with the dimming.

“Dimming to 50% of maximum light output results in correspondingly 50% less electricity used,” he said.

“The variation in lighting characteristics in different sites can be fine tuned by setting the maximum light level at the RSPCA standard, making the electricity consumption to achieve the light level as efficient as possible, and the dimming can be done up to, and down from this point.

“Growers will have to ability to fine tune their electricity consumption for lighting, and exactly meet the RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme standard.”

Until recently, zükt had concentrated its activities in the commercial areas of retail, manufacturing and warehousing.

“The company produces a range of LED lighting products suited to new construction as well as converting existing premises to the energy saving LED lighting technology,” Ned said.

“The benefits of our products in our established market revolve around significant electricity savings for the client.

“Local growers alerted us to their new lighting challenge, giving us the

38

Above: zükt LED Lighting director Ned Wright in a modern poultry house with Big Bird luminaires installed. opportunity to develop a product that provides much more than just the electricity savings.

“The zükt Big Bird provides the grower with the ability to fine tune their lighting requirements to suit their own specific requirements.

“Growers have stipulated the features of this luminaire, and we have

given them exactly what they wanted.

“In addition, the price is very good due the cost savings achieved by our small company managing the design and manufacturing process ourselves.

“We could not be more hands on. “ We are now looking for partners to help us distribute our product to Australian growers.”

2015 AVPA AND CPV Conference Key poultry industry issues will be addressed at the upcoming Australasian Veterinary Poultry Association (AVPA) and Commercial Poultry Veterinarians (CPV) joint conference to be held in Queenstown, NZ in October.

The conference is held every six years in New Zealand and offers delegates a valuable opportunity to meet and mix with industry professionals from Australia, New Zealand, USA and Asia.

The revitalised two-day event will feature top international speakers and cover topical industry areas such as antibiotics, welfare, food safety, emerging diseases of poultry and emerging technologies-apps for poultry.

There will also be opportunities for networking with other delegates and speakers during the conference.

Delegates will have two days of conferencing concluding with a Gala

Dinner on the final night at Walter Peak Station, a short cruise across the lake on vintage steamship the Earnslaw.

The conference is being held from October Monday 12 to Tuesday 13, 2015 at Skyline Conference Centre and delegates will be accommodated at one of Queenstown’s leading hotels, the 5-star Hotel St Moritz (Accor).

The conference is now open for registrations to industry professionals (not restricted to veterinarians).

The cost for members (including conference registration, conferencing – with morning and afternoon tea and lunch daily and gala dinner on the final night) is NZD$300. Accommodation is additional and delegates must cover their own transport costs For more information visit http:// www.avpa.asn.au or contact: Kerry Mulqueen, email Kerry@pianz.org.nz or phone 649 520 4300

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NEWS

World Veterinary Poultry Association and Merial announce new vaccination award The World Veterinary Poultry Association (WVPA) and Merial have recently jointly announced the creation of the WVPA-Merial Innovation in Vaccination Award which will be presented to a veterinarian or poultry health scientist for an outstanding contribution to the field of innovation in poultry vaccination.

The first award will be presented during the Opening Ceremony at the forthcoming WVPA Congress that will be held in Cape Town, South Africa on September 7 to 11, 2015 (www. wvpac2015.com ).

It is envisaged that nominations for the award will come from the pure and applied research fields as well as from those involved in the application or monitoring of vaccination and that nominations will come from the research, academic and practitioner

sectors.

The winner will receive €5,000 to help fund his/her on-going professional development or training, as well as a suitable memento of the occasion.

“We see vaccination as a key facet of modern poultry production that is important in all regions of the world”, says WVPA’s vice president, Nigel Horrox, “and we really appreciate Merial’s involvement and support for this award which will give well-deserved recognition to those involved in this key activity, maintaining high standards in poultry health and productivity”.

In sharing Nigel’s views, Dr Stéphane Lemière, Merial Global Avian Technical Services Director, added “Merial plays a significant role throughout the world with innovative products, services and technical advice in poultry vaccination and

looks forward to working with WVPA on this new award which we see as an excellent way of recognising the importance played by individuals in this critical aspect of health management in modern poultry production.

“This is a real opportunity for innovative ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking”.

A selection committee will be composed of WVPA and Merial representatives.

Nominations giving details of the nominated person’s personal details and career to date, together with reasons for nomination (maximum 500 words) should be sent to awards@wvpa. net by June 12.

Full details of the WVPA-Merial Innovation in Vaccination Award can be found in the Awards Application Section of the World Veterinary Poultry Association web site (www.wvpa.net ).

New Polytex thermal curtains for poultry sheds Polytex, a well regarded supplier to the poultry industries of curtains of all requirements, side blinds, brooder and air control curtains has come up with a innovative triple layer thermal side blind for poultry sheds.

“Polytex has had great success with thermal blinds in the piggery industry both in summer and winter, decreasing internal summer temperatures and increasing winter temperatures by up to 15% producing significant reductions in running costs in both heating and cooling,” said David Horsfall, owner of Polytex Tarpaulins.

“Polytex is currently working with the poultry industry in the supply of thermal curtains on a new project in one of the cooler areas of NSW in view of significant reductions of heating costs as over against using normal single layer poultry blinds.

“As always the proof is in the actual application but all those concerned are confident in the whole project being a great success,” said David.

For further information contact Polytex on 1300 059 003 or you can email: info@polytex.net.au. You can also visit the website: www.polytex.net.au

Market update: Low rates effect your business – (continued from page 14) “A tailored solution can then be suggested based on those discussions.

“As Australia’s leading regional bank, Suncorp Bank is committed to helping agricultural communities grow and producers achieve their financial goals.

“Founded on a rich agriculture heritage spanning more than 110 years, Suncorp Bank has a healthy understanding of the Poultry Industry with experience in existing operations

40

and funding new farm constructions. To write the next chapter of your own success story talk to your local Suncorp Bank Agribusiness Manager today,” Mr Gierisch said.

This publication has been prepared

by Suncorp-Metway Ltd ABN 66 010 831 722 and its contents are subject to change.

Suncorp-Metway Ltd does not warrant or represent that the contents of this publication are accurate, reliable, complete or current and it does not accept any liability for any

loss or damage arising out of the use of or reliance on all or any part of this publication.

This publication is solely for informational purposes and does not take account of the objectives, financial situation, knowledge, experience or needs of any specific person.

Anyone proposing to rely on or use this publication should independently verify and check the accuracy, completeness, reliability and suitability of its contents and should obtain independent and specific advice from appropriate professionals or experts.

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NEW PRODUCTS

Managing aviary birds is easy with Bolegg Gallery multi-tier system Vencomatic has introduced its new aviary system for layers: the Bolegg Gallery. This multi-tier system combines user friendliness with an economic design, said the company.

“While birds can follow their natural behaviour resulting in optimal laying performance, it allows you to collect eggs in an efficient way, preserving the quality after lay,” said Simon McKenzie, Area Sales Manager for Australia and New Zeland.

“As it is getting more difficult to find skilled labour, the importance of an easy to manage system is growing. The Bolegg Gallery uses vertical space to increase the number of birds per m2 floor area. Its open structure simplifies inspection.

“The winchable back walls allow nest inspection and the tree-concept offers a good overview and access to all levels.

“At the heart of the Bolegg Gallery you’ll find the Vencomatic laying nest. This nest is based on Vencomatic innovations, such as the Vencomat, the tipping floor and the egg belt.

“The design of the Vencomat ensures minimum contact with the eggs. With the perfect angle of the nest eggs gently roll away directly after lay protecting them from damage by the birds.

“All three tiers of the Bolegg Gallery are equipped with egg belts, enabling automatic collection of all eggs. A tipping floor closing mechanism prevents littering the nest at night and allows dirt and dust to fall off easily when closing the nest.

“The system offers an hygienic environment through the combination of the nest and the wiremesh floor.

“The design combined with easy operation makes managing aviary birds easier than you think,” said Mr McKenzie.

“Vencomatic Group is known for its innovative and sustainable systems for the poultry industry. Combining three well-known brands – Vencomatic, Agro Supply and Prinzen - Vencomatic Group offers a full range of innovative systems for all types of poultry farms worldwide.

“For more information please visit www.vencomaticgroup. com or contact marketing@vencomaticgroup.com

NEWS BEC Feed Solutions management changes BEC Feed Solutions, Australia has announced management changes in order to support Asian business development.

The company announced the appointment of Ton Hovers as General Manager Indonesia, to direct and support the development of BEC’s growing premix and feed additives business based in Indonesia.

Mr Hovers has been COO of BEC’s Australian operations for the last four years.

Mark Fitzgerald has been appointed to the newly created position of General Manager (Australia & NZ) and will assume full responsibility for all aspects of BEC’s premix and feed additives business across Australia and New Zealand.

Mr Fitzgerald comes to BEC with 30 years experience in senior executive positions in the intensive livestock, food production, animal nutrition and stockfeed sectors in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, the company said.

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Aviagen Management Essentials De Wet Nortje

Technical Service Manager, Australia, New Zealand & Asia De Wet has 23 years experience in a large integrated company before joining Aviagen ANZ in 2012.

“Monitoring hatchery hygiene is important for embryos and chicks during a period when they are susceptible to microbial challenge. It lays the foundation for a healthy chick at placement,” comments De Wet.

Hatchery Hygiene Monitoring Objective Maintain a hygienic hatchery environment to ensure good quality and Salmonella free chick supply.

Key Points 1. Cleaning and disinfection is a key daily process of the hatchery and its success should be monitored regularly (at least once a month), by taking samples for viral, bacterial, fungal and Salmonella testing.

2. Monitor hatchery hygiene by taking samples from each room of the hatchery. It is essential to include drains and exhaust fans.

3. Follow hatching egg movement, from clean to dirty rooms, use clean gloves in every room.

4. Sample interior surfaces, by use of sterile cotton swab (15cm by 20cm in size) or petrifilm and streak onto Macconky agar, Tripticase Soy Agar (TSA) and Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA). Agars should be incubated at between 25 to 37°C depending on the type of agar and growth promotion requirements. (See manufacturer recommendations) 5. Sample the air for bacteria and fungi by use of open exposure sampling for 10-20 minutes or air sampler for 1 minute with TSA and SDA. 6. Sample water from humidifiers such as spray nozzles, disc and ultra sonic humidifiers together with tap water, cabinet sprayers for vaccination, thaw bath water and Marek’s vaccine diluents.

Above: Ton Hovers (left) General Manager Indonesia and Mark Fitzgerald, General Manager, Australia and NZ.

JBS to seek aquisitions JBS SA, a Brazil-based meat and poultry company, has changed its mind about not pursuing acquisitions in 2015, with the company’s CEO stating that JBS is looking for acquisition opportunities in North America, South America and Australia.

JBS CEO Wesley Batista said the company will definitely be looking at potential acquisitions in the chicken and pork sectors, as well as the packaged food sectors.

Batista’s comments are a direct departure from what he said during the JBS quarterly earnings call on March 11, when he said the company would not pursue acquisitions in 2015, and instead focus on organic growth, with a particular emphasis on finalising its acquisition of Australian processed foods maker Primo Group, growing its US pork operations and processed foods division.

7. Examine embryonic fluid by doing egg breakouts at 11-14 days. A pinky colour in the embryonic fluid may be evidence of mild contamination. A severe contamination is usually easily identified by smell and appearance.

8. Check air flow from clean to dirty areas to check if any contaminated air is returning to clean areas.

9. Review general cleaning and disinfection procedures, egg fumigation both in hatchery and farm, water chlorination, air supply, humidifier maintenance, when any unacceptable results are found.

Photo 1. Surface monitoring with petrifilm

43

HEALTH FEATURE

Salmonella and eggs: from production to plate (Part 1)

By HARRIET WHILEY1 and KIRSTIN ROSS1 Salmonella contamination of eggs and egg shells has been identified as a public health concern worldwide.

A recent shift in consumer preferences has impacted on the egg industry, with a push for cage-free egg production methods.

There has also been an increased desire from consumers for raw and unprocessed foods, potentially increasing the risk of salmonellosis.

In response to these changes, this review explores the current literature regarding Salmonella contamination of eggs during the production processing through to food handling protocols.

The contamination of eggs with Salmonella during the production process is a complex issue, influenced by many variables including flock size, flock age, stress, feed, vaccination, and cleaning routines.

Currently there is no consensus regarding the impact of caged, barn and free range egg production has on Salmonella contamination of eggs.

The literature regarding the management and control strategies post-collection, during storage, transport and food handling is also reviewed.

Pasteurisation and irradiation were identified as the only certain methods for controlling Salmonella and are essential for the protection of high risk groups, whereas control of temperature and pH were identified as potential control methods to minimise the risk for foods containing raw eggs; however, further research is required to provide more detailed control protocols and education programs to reduce the risk of salmonellosis from egg consumption.

Introduction Worldwide, Salmonella is one of the most prevalent causes of foodborne illness. Globally, the annual incidence of foodborne salmonellosis is conservatively estimated at 80.3 million cases, but other estimates range from 200 million to 1.3 billion cases.

In the United States alone it was estimated that non-typhoidal Salmonella spp. are responsible for one

44

million cases of domestically acquired foodborne illness annually.

A study from the European Union estimated that only one out of every 57 cases of salmonellosis is reported.

This study also demonstrated that the annual incidence of salmonellosis in each of the European Union member states varied between 16 and 11,800 per 100,000 people and that the incidence of salmonellosis in each country correlated significantly with the presence of Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis in laying hens, suggesting this was the primary source of infection.

Contamination of eggs and eggshells has been identified as one of the major causes of foodborne Salmonella.

In the United States between 1985 and 2002, contamination of eggs was identified as the source of 53% of all cases of Salmonella reported to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The two most commonly identified causative agents of foodborne salmonellosis are S. enterica serotypes Typhimurium and Enteritidis.

Both serotypes have the ability to colonise the reproductive organs of hens (the oviduct and ovary) and are major causes of foodborne illness.

Globally Salmonella Enteritidis is more commonly linked to contaminated eggs, except in Australia, where the majority of egg-related foodborne salmonellosis is caused by Salmonella Typhimurium.

Salmonella contamination of eggs is a complex issue that is influenced by many variables, making it difficult to implement appropriate management strategies.

There are two pathways for eggs to become internally contaminated with Salmonella.

Direct contamination occurs during the formation of an egg in the reproductive tract of hens (including the ovary and oviduct); whereas, indirect contamination occurs after an egg has been laid and Salmonella contaminating the outside of the egg penetrates through the shell membrane.

These pathways for contamination can be influenced by the egg production process, storage, handling and food preparation.

In recent years, there has been shift driven by consumers for more humane methods of egg production, causing a shift from conventional battery cage housing systems to free-range production.

There has also been a shift in consumer eating habits with increasing demand for raw and unprocessed foods.

The increasing popularity of unprocessed home-made foods containing raw eggs such as mayonnaise, certain sauces and raw egg based deserts like ice-cream, tiramisu and even milkshakes potentially increases the risk of salmonellosis.

Currently, publications assessing the impact that various methods of egg production have on Salmonella contamination are conflicting, which makes it difficult to implement informed legislation to ensure food safety.

This manuscript reviews the current knowledge regarding Salmonella contamination of caged, barn and free range egg production processes. It also explores the various methods for control during production and at the point of use and how this can be influenced by the consumer.

Discussion of current management policies and identification of gaps in knowledge will help inform future management protocols to ensure the safety of consumers.

Egg production processes Studies comparing Salmonella contamination in the different egg production processes have yielded conflicting and inconsistent evidence.

This is due to the complexity of confounding factors and variables.

These factors include flock size, flock age and stress caused by rehousing, weather, transport, initiation of egg lay and moulting.

Another difficulty with interpreting results is the variation in the contamination pathways.

Factors affecting Salmonella contamination of eggs differ for direct contamination within the ovaries and indirect contamination of environmental samples.

Currently, the conflicting evidence surrounding the influence of housing systems on Salmonella contamination still causes serious debate. A study by the European Food Safety Authority

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HEALTH FEATURE v

tested faecal and dust samples from 5000 egg production sites across 25 European countries and concluded that cage flock holdings were more likely to be contaminated with Salmonella.

However, a more recent review by Holt et al. concluded there was no general consensus as to which egg production housing system resulted in less Salmonella contamination.

This review was criticised by Greger who stated that Holt et al. had misrepresented data published by The European Food Safety Authority by only citing individual studies from four countries, representing less than a quarter of the total study.

Gregerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rebuttal stated that presenting individual studies rather than a cumulative review of results allowed readers to have a more in depth and informative comparison of results.

By presenting the data this way it raised the question as to why five of the studies showed higher incidence of Salmonella in free range housing compared to caged housing, which was contradictory to the rest of the studies.

Answering this question may provide a better insight into the factors which may be promoting Salmonella contamination.

These publications demonstrate the complexity of this issue and indicate that there is not a singular answer.

As the egg production processes are currently undergoing rapid change it is important to identify the specific factors that promote Salmonella contamination as this will ensure the best management practices for the future.

Direct contamination Internal contamination of eggs with Salmonella occurs in the reproductive organs during egg formation.

!

Both S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium have been demonstrated to have the ability to colonise the reproductive tract of hens, however S. Enteritidis is more frequently isolated from the internal contents of eggs due to its ability to adhere better to reproductive tract mucosa compared to S. Typhimurium.

Internal contamination is an important issue, not only for human health, but for the egg production industry, as Gantois et al. observed that hens infected with Salmonella had decreased egg production which did not improve within two weeks post-infection.

Currently there are limited studies investigating the effect of different housing systems on this contamination pathway. Gast et al. compared Salmonella contamination of hens in conventional cages and colony cages enriched with perching, nesting and scratching areas.

Hens were orally dosed with 1.0 Ă&#x2014; 107 CFU of S. Enteritidis for 5 to 6 days prior to euthanisation and testing of internal organs.

S. Enteritidis was detected at significantly higher frequencies in the livers, spleens, ovaries and oviducts of the hens housed in the conventional cages compared to the hens housed in the enriched cages.

It was suggested this could be due to housing parameters such as stocking density or behavioural attributes might affect the susceptibility of hens to disseminated infection.

However, another study by Gast et al. demonstrated experimentally that there was no significant difference in the rate of transmission of S. Enteritidis from infected hens to healthy hens housed in with conventional cages or enriched cages.

The effect of housing on the transmission of S. Enteritidis infection was also explored by De Vylder et al.

Four housing systems were explored using experimentally infected hens. This included a conventional battery cage, a furnished cage (most similar to an enriched cage), an aviary and a floor system.

The spread of infection between hens was slightly more in the aviary and floor housing systems compared to the two caged housing systems.

This was partly reflected with the egg contamination as significantly more contaminated eggs were found in the aviary housing systems compared to two cage and floor housing systems.

It was suggested that the increased spread of infection could be to inherent differences between the housing systems, including hygienic status, air quality and increased physical contact between birds.

Environmental contamination

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Numerous studies suggest that environmental sources present in free range housing have a lower incidence of Salmonella contamination compared to caged housing.

A Belgian study found that 30% (45/148) of dust samples and 30% (45/148) of faecal samples collected from caged housing were positive for Salmonella; whereas, only one out of 148 of dust samples and two out of 148 faecal samples collected from barn and free range housing were positive for Salmonella.

These results were supported by a UK study by Wales et al. who found the incidence of Salmonella in environmental samples to be higher in caged housing (19%) compared to free range housing (10%).

As noted already, the study by Recio et al. which investigated the presence of S. Enteritidis in faeces and

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HEALTH FEATURE v

dust samples from 5310 egg production holdings across the European Union found that free range housing systems had significantly lower Salmonella contamination compared to caged housing systems.

However conflicting evidence was presented by Parisi et al. who used eighty-four certified Salmonella-free Bovan Brown hens to experimentally demonstrate that free range eggs had a higher incidence of Salmonella contamination compared to conventional battery cages.

In this study 5/212 (2%) eggs sampled from three free range housings and 0/212 from three conventional battery cages tested positive for Salmonella.

It was suggested that the higher Salmonella incidence in the free range housing was due to prolonged interaction between the hen and the egg after it has been laid, compared to cage systems when the egg is removed more quickly from the physical proximity to the hen.

Penetration of eggs post-laying Post-laying internal Salmonella contamination of eggs from environmental sources ocurrs through penetration of the shell membrane.

Miyamoto et al. explored the potential of Salmonella to penetrate egg shells by immersing the eggs in S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium solutions at varying times post-laying.

The highest incidence of internal Salmonella contamination occurred when eggs were between 15 min and 3 h post-laying (the shortest time

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period reported) and stored at 25 °C (compared with 3.25 h to 6 h, 1 day and 7 days post-laying).

Refrigerating eggs at 4 °C for 15 min prior to Salmonella exposure significantly decreased penetration of the eggshell.

It was suggested that this was due to reduced growth at the lower temperature.

This indicates that refrigeration of eggs at collection may be a useful tool for minimising internal Salmonella contamination.

However, realistically this is difficult to implement as it will not prevent any contamination that occurs in the housing prior to collection.

The ability of S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium to penetrate eggshells was not significantly different.

De Reu et al. demonstrated experimentally that the age of the hen and eggshell characteristics such as area, shell thickness and number of pores does not significantly influence the eggshell penetration by S. Enteritidis.

Another study by Messens et al. used commercially available eggs and experimentally inoculated them with 2.71 log CFU of S. Enteritidis at 20 °C for 14 days.

The rate of internal contamination was 6% for free-range, 16% of the conventional battery caged and 30% to 34% for the brown, organic, and omega-3-enriched eggs.

Another trend observed in this study was that hens fed corncob mix had a higher incidence of penetrated eggshells compared with the hens given the standard feed, suggesting that feed

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type might affect eggshell permeability.

Production Control Measures There are numerous methods that have been explored to control Salmonella contamination through the production process, one of the basic methods being routine cleaning and disinfection between flocks.

However, the effectiveness of these cleaning routines can be highly variable.

Wales et al. investigated 12 Salmonella-contaminated caged layer houses post cleaning and disinfection and found that none of the 12 housings were completely Salmonella-free.

Another study by Davies and Breslin compared the effectiveness of cleaning and disinfection in free range, barn and cage layer housing and found that there was a decrease in Salmonella contamination observed in free range housing although the soil remained contaminated, but in the barn and cage housing significant contamination remained on the surfaces of buildings and equipment.

Anecdotally it has also been suggested that there may be reduction in contamination as a result of modern farming methods.

For example modern barn systems disposing of faecal material via manure belts would have lower contamination compared with older barn systems which would allow faecal material to pool until restocking.

The cross contamination of wildlife vectors has also been identified as a mechanisms for recontamination of housing.

For example, S. Enteritidis was found to be more commonly isolated from caged housing compared to S. Typhimurium.

One suggestion for the reasoning behind this was the strong correlation between S. Enteritidis and rodent activity which was not observed for S. Typhimurium. Other animals which have been identified as carriers for Salmonella causing recontamination of farms include mice, rats, foxes, cats, flies, litter beetles, ground beetles and centipedes.

Differences in egg production housings systems, climate and region also influence the effectiveness of biosecurity measures implemented against each of these animal vectors, affecting the success of remediation and prevention measures.

Vaccination of hens has had varying success against Salmonella infection, depending on the vaccine and

HEALTH FEATURE the Salmonella serotype. Berghaus et al. demonstrated that a vaccine containing killed S. Typhimurium, S. Enteritidis, and S. enterica serotype Kentucky increased the immunity of the hens and their progeny against these particular serotypes; however, it did not decrease the incidence of Salmonella in environmental samples taken from the housing.

Another study by Arnold et al. found that vaccination did not influence the proportion of hens shedding S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium; however, it did significantly decrease the incidence of S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium present on eggshells compared to the non-vaccinated hens.

Antibiotic treatment is a controversial method for the control of Salmonella due to the early emergence of antibiotic resistant populations.

A study by Li et al. tested fecal samples collected from a commercial layer house over a 78 week period.

Using PFGE they characterized 45 different Salmonella isolates with known serovars.

Of these 45 isolates, 16 (35%) were resistant to at least one of the

15 antibiotics tested against. This included resistance against tetracycline, ampicillin, streptomycin, and ceftiofur which are widely used in the treatment of human systemic salmonellosis.

A more recent study investigated the presence of antibiotic resistant genotypes of Salmonella isolated from broiler hens found that more than 43% of the isolates were resistant to ampicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, ceftiofur, cefoxitim, and ceftriaxone.

This was supported by Adesiyun et al. who isolated 84 isolates of Salmonella from egg productions processes in Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, and St. Lucia and found that all of the 84 isolates displayed resistance to one or more of the seven antimicrobial agents tested.

A high frequency of resistance was observed against erythromycin, streptomycin, gentamycin, kanamycin, ampicillin, and tetracycline.

The presence of antibiotic resistant strains is highly relevant to food safety and public health with regard to treatment of the more invasive cases of salmonellosis.

Another control method was

explored by Fiorentin et al. who demonstrated that orally treating hens infected with S. Enteritidis with bacteriophages isolated from free-range hens was found to significantly reduce the contamination of S. Enteritidis found in the caeca.

A 3.5 order of magnitude reduction of S. Enteritidis CFU/g of caecal matter was observed five days after treatment with the bacteriophage and samples collected up to 25 days after treatment continue to have contamination concentrations compared to infected hens not treated with the bacteriophage.

Harriet Whiley and Kirstin Ross conceived and participated in review design and coordination. Harriet Whiley drafted manuscript and Kirstin Ross provided academic input and both authors approved the final manuscript.

They are both with Health and the Environment, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.

E-Mail: Kirstin.Ross@flinders.edu.au References are available on request.

Part 2 of this paper will appear in the next issue of Poultry Digest.

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NEW PRODUCTS Danisco Animal Nutrition launches its advanced phytase Axtra PHY at VIV Russia 2015 Danisco Animal Nutrition, a business subsidiary of DuPont Industrial Biosciences, launched its advanced, highly bioefficacious phytase, Axtra PHY, into the Russian market by hosting a seminar entitled ‘Future of feed and the part phytase has to play’ at VIV Russia on May 20, 2015 at the IEC ‘Crocus Expo’, Moscow in Russia.

The seminar, which featured guest speakers Dr Dimitri N Rylko, who is General Director of the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR) and Dr Peter Plumstead, Associate Professor, Monogastric Nutrition at the University of Pretoria, covered current and future trends in Russian meat production and the impact of factors such as high feed costs and feed quality variability.

They also covered the part that enzymes in general can play in resolving current and future anti-nutrient challenges in pig and poultry diets, with specific emphasis on the latest research around phytase and how it can be used to tackle performance and profitability challenges that the dietary substrate, phytate, poses.

Dr Plumstead said that Axtra PHY, the product around which the phytase research in his talk was based, said that it is proven to deliver superior results when compared to best-in-

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class E.Coli equivalents, including (at 2014 feed costs): • Additional cost savings of $1.08 per metric tonne of pig feed through availability of 20% more phosphorus (P) and calcium (Ca) earlier in the digestive process.

• For poultry, the potential savings are even higher; an additional $1.23 per metric tonne of feed. Phytase can also be used to replace expensive inorganic phosphorus, making further cost savings.

• Availability of 10% additional digestible energy and costly amino acids to the pig through superior phytate degradation in the upper gut.

• For poultry, the percentage is 30%, equating to an additional $1.36 per tonne of feed.

“Our research has shown that these ‘extra phosphoric benefits’ can be amplified using doses higher than 500FTU, as long as the diet contains sufficient phytate, Dr Plumstead said.

Johan Jansen-Storbacka, Regional Industry Leader, Danisco Animal Nutrition EMEA, commented “The new research that we have been revealing at VIV Russia will help producers maximise profitability and performance using our novel phytase, including new evidence that using doses higher than the industry standard of 500 FTU can enable producers to deliver broilers to market two and half days earlier.

Producers were also able to get answers to their specific questions on how best to use phytase.

In a separate talk at the VIV Russia Summit, Dr Peter Plumstead looked into the contribution that feed enzymes in general make to poultry gut health.

All of the presentations given at VIV Russia will be available to download from the DuPont website or PDF copies are avialable by emailing info.animalnutrition@dupont to receive them.

Danisco Animal Nutrition (animalnutrition.dupont.com), a business subsidiary of DuPont Industrial Biosciences, says it helps animal producers around the world maximise the return on their feed investment, improve liveability and tackle environmental and sustainability challenges through the delivery of optimized enzyme, betaine and probiotic feed solutions.

The company says its uniqueness centres on its ability to combine these technologies, many of which are industry ‘firsts’.

It is also part of DuPont (www.dupont.com), which has become one of the most innovative and admired biotechnology organizations in the world, the company says.

DuPont has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials, and services since 1802.

The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders it can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment.

For additional information about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive innovation, please visit www. dupont.com.

PRODUCT NEWS The importance of water quality for optimum performance and vaccination Water is the most critical nutrient for survival of all living species. Poor water quality can lead to suboptimal performance of your flocks.

Lime and mineral scale, bio-film build up and contamination of a watering system will occur with routine usage.

Mineral scale and algae deposition in the drinking lines can lead to reduced water consumption due to narrowing of the lumen over time and has been shown to be a risk factor to live vaccines.

Removal of accumulated bio-film layers and mineral deposits from water lines and nipple drinkers will improve water flow, decrease microbial challenge, and reduce negative impact on vaccines.

Contamination of water will increase the birdsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; exposure to microbial load such as bacteria.Chlorination has been found to be effective to control bacteria, as it has a well documented biocidal residual.

Chlorine residual is the chlorine that stays active in the system to insure continual sanitation. Without chlorine residual, disease-causing bacteria are free to recontaminate the water system through the natural activity of the birds in the barn.

When a chlorine donor is introduced into water, it dissociates into two parts: 1. Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) which is a strong oxidizing disinfectant destroying most organisms in less than two seconds 2. Hypochlorite ion (OCl) which is a weak

disinfectant and can take up to 30 minutes to kill organisms The ratio of HOCl to OCl is determined by the pH value of the water. As such, the effectiveness of free chlorine in water is dependent on the pH value.

At ph 4 to 6, chlorine is mostly in the HOCl form â&#x20AC;&#x201C; which gives maximum disinfecting effect.

PKA is a synthetic pH reducing agent that has FDA approval. PKA dissolves lime and scale, helping to restore and maintain full function to affected water systems.

PKA is approved by the United States National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) for Ph adjustment, corrosion and scale control As PKA is the strongest ph reducer in the market, it can also be used to improve the water chlorination efficacy by reducing the ph to 4.5 to 5.5.

Studies at USDA-ARS, Stephen F. Austin University and University of Arkansas have shown that this product is not harmful to animals and has no negative impact on water consumption.

As mentioned previously, poor water quality can affect viability of live vaccines.

In addition to sanitizing the water lines to keep them clean, live vaccines need a more protected environment to have best effects.

The triple threat of oxidisers, ph imbalance and low tonicity has been shown to reduce vaccine viability. Traditionally,

milk powder has been used to stabilise water during vaccination. Milk powder has poor solubility and does not protect against all the triple threats.

New generation vaccine stabilisers such as Vac Pac Plus International have been scientifically developed to protect live vaccines against the triple threat. The use rate is 100g per 1000L and fully dissolves in water. It also contains a thick blue dye to monitor vaccination uptake.

The use of products such as PKA and Vac Pac Plus International can improve the water quality and assist in improving the health and immunity in poultry flockallowing optimum performance.

(Only Valid Till 30/06/2015)

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NEW PRODUCTS Roxell develops CEapproved Quad heater The introduction of the CE-approved range of the Quad-Glow heater is an important step in the product development strategy of Roxell.

According to Michael Osterman, Product Manager at Roxell, fuel costs are the biggest costs for the poultry business.

“Energy costs have doubled in recent years, and that’s hitting poultry producers hard. In order to meet the specific requirements of the poultry farmers, Roxell developed a Quad-Glow heater, based on more than 80 years of experience in agricultural heating equipment.”

“This Quad-Glow heater has a broad range of high performing, fuel saving models accommodating most commonly used gas combinations.

“The heating system uses fuel more efficiently by converting more of the thermal capacity of the gas to infrared heat and transferring more of that heat to the floor.

“The Quad-Glow can have as much as 25% fuel savings over traditional brooders or space heaters.

“Also the litter is dryer in Quad houses due to heating of a greater floor area, thereby lowering humidity and ammonia levels, giving better bird development and more profit while saving fuel by not heating the exhaust air.

The new Quad-Glow has a ‘Quadrangular’ heat pattern that is more closely shaped the rectangular form of a poultry house.

Visit www.roxell.com to discover more advantages of the Roxell heating equipment.

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NEWS v

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

risk identification report in the form of an on-line tool, a Salmonella Incident Response plan (with trace back investigation).

Critical questions for further research included “reduced cost diagnosis for surveillance and process verification and an examination of the efficacy of procedures such as egg washing, storage and vaccination”.

“AECL is engaging all throughchain stakeholders including regulators, health departments and food service to ensure discussions are based on accurate information,” Kylie concluded.

On the following day the first speaker, AECL’s Farm Service Extension Manager, Abe Moses spoke about creating new career pathways for new employees in the egg industry.

“Right now a Certificate III in Agriculture (Poultry) comprising 4x3 day workshops, would deliver recognised qualifications for employees with a minimum of six months farm work experience,” he said.

Greg Mills, who runs his consultancy Go-Ahead Business Solutions delivered a paper “In eggs we trust – the egg industries social license to operate strategy”.

His Newspoll Peer Reviewed Online Survey based on a sample size of 2644 (that’s larger than many surveys into government popularity) produced findings that should be of major concern to the industry at all levels including farmers.

As such we plan to run a detailed report on his findings in the next issue of Poultry Digest.

Managing Director of AECL, James Kellaway in his paper on farm type and ownership ‘AECL Strategic Planning, The Way Forward’, revealed the changing nature of the industry, the increase, then recent shrinking in not only the number of large farming operations but also those smaller more informal producers.

Brad Tressider, Head of the Tressider Insurance Group, next spoke on a highly topical matter to the layer industry “Insuring against investigations and prosecutions by regulators”.

So important is this matter that Poultry Digest will report in full on the advantages of taking appropriate steps to protect and operate businesses in the poultry sector.

The final speaker in this forum session was surprise guest federal National Party Senator for NSW John Williams affectionately know as ‘Wacka’ Williams, whose long experience as w

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1. Jimmy James Eaton who is the focal point of the new advertising campaign for AECL. He entertained the guests at the AECL Forum dinner.

2. Ad van Lierop, Purchase Manager Vencomatic Group and Simon McKenzie, Vencomatic Area Sales Manager Australia.

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NEWS v

a truckie, shearer, farmer, and rural distributor before entering Federal politics in 2007, made him an ideal speaker to communicate with egg farmers.

Further, his recent acquisition of a small number of hens has increased his focus on the anomalies created by our corporate regulator, the ACCC. The senator expressed sympathies for farmers caught in the murky business of complying with labeling issues that only become clear when the ACCC chose to prosecute them.

He assured his audience that he will, during Senate Estimates hearings, be requiring the ACCC to clarify its position in relationship to egg labeling, and other issues.

He also raised the possibility of working towards a nationally accepted standard on egg labeling.

Poultry Digest looks forward to hearing about the results of such developments – as we are sure do others in both the poultry and retail sectors.

Following the close of the Forum

by AECL Chairman Jeff Ironside, there

Above: Sophie Thompson and Tina Grech from Lienert at the AECL forum. were two Poultry CRC workshops run for growers.

The first was ‘On-Farm Composting’ presented by well known Tamworth based farmer and chair of NSW Farmers Federation Layer Group, Bede Burke Go to http://issuu.com/ primarymedia/docs/pdaprilmay2013web to read about Bede’s enterprise.

The other workshop was conducted

Project4:Layout 1 21/03/14 12:22 PM Page 1

by Dr Peter Scott, on ‘Spent Hen Euthanasia’.

For those that took the time to attend the 21st AECL Industry Forum, the benefits would have been clear – great information delivered in highly focused talks by people who really know what they are about.

Top marks to the organisers and the sponsors who ensure that events like this deliver great value.

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