Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Coalition for a Sustainable Egg Supply study released

H7N3 avian influenza hits California turkey flock

Danish Crown reducing pig slaughter at Ringsted facility

Ethopia National Poultry Training Centre to open in June

Government invests in Canadian winter wheat production

NFF: Biosecurity bill good for Australia agriculture

Specialty feed ingredients manufacturer changes name

Monday, March 30, 2015

Charles Beard Research Excellence Award nominees sought

Tyson investing $47 million in Nebraska beef plant

Joanne Ivy to retire as American Egg Board CEO

Avian influenza worries hit poultry company stock prices

Israel researcher explores producing chicken meat in lab

  • Freeimages.com/
    Tel Aviv University's Amit Gefen has launched a project to study the possibility of producing chicken meat in a laboratory.
    From WATTAgNet:
    A Tel Aviv University professor has launched a research project studying the possibility of producing chicken meat in a laboratory. The study in Israel is being funded by the non-profit group Modern Agriculture Foundation (MAF), which advocates for laboratory-produced meat, also known as cultured meat.
    The study comes about two years after the creation of the first lab-grown hamburger at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
    According to Amit Gefen, a Tel Aviv University bioengineer with an expertise in tissue engineering, and Shir Friedman, co-founder of MAF, producing lab-grown chicken meat is more difficult than beef. In the hamburger case, researchers accumulated small fibers of a cow’s muscle into a piece of meat. In the new project, Gefen says his plans are to use a single cell to generate a piece of chicken by allowing the cell to divide and multiply.
    Freidman says that the production of cultured meat and poultry could help meet the growing demand for food, specifically proteins. A Reuters report on the year-long feasibility research explains that producing cultured meat and poultry could be valuable because the global demand for poultry and other meat is expected to double by 2050.
    “In the not so distant future we will look back at how we used to raise cows and chickens and put so much effort into getting a small piece of meat,” Friedman said.

Mar-Jac gets tax abatements to build feed mill

American Egg Board, Kevin Bacon team up to promote eggs

Friday, March 27, 2015

Nebraska mulls bill to allow pork processors to own hogs

  • Andrea Gantz
    Nebraska is considering legislation that would make it legal for pork processors to own pigs in the state.
    From WATTAgNet:
    A law in Nebraska that prohibits processors from owning hogs in the state could be overturned if a bill proposed in the state’s legislature is passed.
    Since states like Iowa and South Dakota that border Nebraska allow corporations such as Smithfield Foods or Tyson Foods to cut costs by entering contracts with farmers to raise the animals that are owned by the companies, it puts Nebraska at a disadvantage, said Sen. Ken Schilz, who introduced the legislation. He adds that removing the ban on company-owned hogs could create opportunities for farmers in Nebraska that may not otherwise be there.
    “(Nebraska has) been in population decline for the last 50 years,” he said. “So we’d better start doing some things to entice people to come back.”
    The proposed legislation has its opponents, including the Center for Rural Affairs. Traci Bruckner, a spokesperson for the center, says Nebraska’s ban on packer ownership prevents companies from dominating the pork industry. Bruckner believes that if Nebraska swine producers enter contracts with corporations, they would give up control of the livestock, which is the most valuable part of the farm.
    “We think farmers should own livestock in the state, not packers,” said Bruckner. “If vertical integration was the answer, rural America would be a paradise, and it’s not.”
    But the bill also has its supporters, such as hog farmer Terry O’Neel. He says that Nebraska is losing out to other states that allow corporations to own hogs. O’Neel said that it bothers him that a lot of pigs being raised in Iowa are processed in Nebraska plants.
    “We’re missing out on that opportunity. I’ve seen what’s happened in Iowa. I’m seeing what’s happening in South Dakota. It seems like we’re becoming an island,” said O’Neel.

Wayne Farms files for initial public offering

Jilin Jinyi developing China’s largest egg plant

Rabobank: 2015 global poultry industry outlook upbeat

  • Freeimages.com/bugdog
    The global poultry industry outlook is upbeat, according to a quarterly report from Rabobank.
    From WATTAgNet:
    The outlook for the global poultry industry remains upbeat, but global trade is under pressure from outbreaks of avian influenza, according to Rabobank’s Global Poultry Industry report for the first quarter of 2015.
    In the report, the bank's Food & Agribusiness Research team says that pressure is being felt from the further spread of avian influenza across the globe, with new outbreaks in Asia, Europe and North America.
    "Avian flu is further spreading across the globe and could affect global trade streams, especially as the virus has moved further in Europe to Hungary, and in the U.S. to central states like Minnesota, Missouri and Arkansas," said Rabobank Animal Protein Analyst Nan-Dirk Mulder. "Joint global approaches, optimal biosecurity, and strong monitoring and compensation systems are necessary to stop the spread of the disease."
    Global outlook
    The margin outlook for the global poultry industry remains upbeat, with continuing bullish drivers like high beef prices, lower feed costs and relatively strong demand in most regions.
    However, the global poultry trade is under pressure from avian influenza outbreaks. The exchange rate volatility and turmoil in regions such as the Middle East and Eastern Europe, are leading to lower trade volumes, prices and shifts in trade streams.
    United States
    Rabobank says the poultry sector in the U.S. has a favorable outlook, but some uncertainties remain. The margins are expected to remain high in 2015. The biggest unknown in 2015 is industry expansion.
    Brazil
    The Brazilian poultry market began 2015 bullish despite export challenges, according to Rabobank. The lower oil price will hit the Middle East demand. Still, exports are expected to be strong in 2015, mostly driven by Asia. Margins will be supported by reduction of feed costs as well.
    Europe
    The poultry industry in the European Union shows some recovery and although supply is currently tight, the outlook is threatened by ongoing avian influenza concerns and still closed export markets.
    China
    Entering the first quarter of 2015, China has an ongoing struggle of oversupply due to avian influenza and food safety issues. As a consequence of human avian influenza cases reported, live bird markets were shut down. During the seasonal peak month, poultry retail prices remained flat.
    Russia
    The Russian market remains very bullish on low supply. The outlook remains strong, with expected ongoing tight market conditions due to expensive, limited imported volumes and restrictions on growth.
    Other regions
    Mexico has ongoing avian influenza issues and lower pork prices will soften poultry meat consumption growth. Japan's poultry industry is still bullish despite ongoing avian influenza outbreaks.  In Thailand, the export position is supported by a strong Thai baht.

Taiwan to require raising poultry indoors to prevent AI

Vietnamese firms wading into animal feed production sector

  • freeimages.com
    Vietnamese firms are looking to enter the foreign-investor-dominated animal feed industry.
    From WATTAgNet:
    Vietnamese companies have begun to break out into animal feed production in recent years, hoping to take over a larger share of the market, which is dominated by foreign firms.
    Steel giant Hoa Phat Group launched its animal feed subsidiary on March 16, with annual capacity of 300,000 tons. Recently, Masan, An Giang Plant Protection Company and the Hung Vuong Seafood Corporation have entered the animal feed production sector.
    Data from the Viet Nam Animal Feed Association showed that 59 foreign-invested firms and joint ventures own half of the market share, while 180 domestic firms hold only 20 percent, and the remainder is made up by imports. CP and Cargill alone hold a combined market share of 30 percent.
    Because foreign-invested companies have dominated the animal feed sector, animal feed prices have increased 20 percent compared with the regional average price. Higher feed prices also are estimated to have caused trillions in damage to the economy, as animal feed accounts for 70 percent of the husbandry production value.
    To combat the domination of foreign-invested firms, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said the government aimed to create a healthy competitive environment and prevent the formation of monopolies.

Nigeria pays poultry farmers for avian influenza losses

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Petaluma Poultry seeks to expand plant operations

US poultry industry working to eliminate avian influenza

Poultry processor Simmons Foods awarded as 'Distinguished Supplier'

H5N2 avian influenza strikes Kansas backyard flock

Argentina farmers halt crop sales to protest policies

Report: China to maintain increase of US soybean imports

China giving US farmers incentive to plant sorghum

  • USDA
    Farmers in the Southern Plains of the United States are seeing more incentive to plant sorghum this year.
    From WATTAgNet:
    Farmers in the Southern Plains of the United States are seeing more incentive to plant sorghum this year.
    Near the Gulf of Mexico, new-crop cash bids have been as much as $1.50 more than the price of corn, and, in Kansas, 30-40 cents more than corn.
    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates a 400,000-acre increase in sorghum planting this year, but that’s based on a model that may not include China’s forward purchases for the 2015-16 crop year. Nearly 300,000 metric tons have already been purchased by China and other unknown importers for the 2015-16 marketing year.
    Halfway through the 2014-15 marketing year, sorghum export sales have already reached USDA’s forecast, 96 percent of which went to China.
    The popularity of sorghum can be attributed to the dispute over biotech corn in China, but so too can better education of China’s livestock feeders on sorghum and Chinas import tariffs and quotas.
    China imports about 10 million metric tons of feed grains each year, and has a system of tariff rate quotas (TRQ) that limit the quantity of certain grain imports. The TRQ for corn is 2.88 million metric tons, which leaves just over 7 million metric tons to be supplied by other feed grains, such as sorghum.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Poultry partnerships between India, Japan being explored

  • Andrea Gantz
    The Indian poultry industry is hoping to form partnerships with Japanese companies to give the sector a boost.
    From WATTAgNet:
    India’s poultry industry is hoping to expand its export opportunities, and is looking at potential agreements with Japanese companies to give a boost to its poultry exports. A delegation of Japanese companies visited India recently and expressed interest in exploring joint ventures with partners in India for processing poultry products and importing them.
    The delegation was led by Mayekawa Manufacturing, a company that makes cooling and freezing systems as well as compressors for refrigerators and heat pumps.
    During the visit, Mayekawa Chairman Yoshiro Tanaka told Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu that his group has alliances with 24 Japanese companies looking to invest some US$9 billion in India's food processing sector.
    The Indian poultry sector has been reporting a healthy growth of 12-15 percent a year on the back of a rapidly growing middle class and rising incomes. Exports have been low because of cost disadvantages and global concerns over the quality of Indian poultry products following frequent outbreaks of avian influenza.
    "Thanks to mushrooming global quick service restaurants (QSRs) like KFC and McDonald's, apart from local QSR brands, the Indian poultry industry had over the last decade or so begun adopting global quality standards," said a senior executive at a large poultry company, requesting anonymity.
    Presently, India exports poultry products mostly to Oman, Germany, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. It also ships small quantities of egg powder to Japan.

Brazilian chicken exports keep a positive rate

New Congressional Chicken Caucus forming

Arkansas poultry faces trade bans over avian influenza