Ethanol futures fall in US on surge of oil prices

Ethanol futures fell the most in four weeks amid concerns that higher energy prices will curb economic growth, according to analysts.
The International Energy Agency and the International Monetary Fund said oil prices that have surged 25% in the past year will hurt the global economy. “The market’s got overextended,” said Mike Blackford, an analyst at INTL FCStone Group. “It’s enough to cause a bit of a washout this week. Demand is hand-to-mouth. People are only buying as needed.”
Denatured ethanol for May delivery dropped $0.07 (2.6%) to $2.66 a gallon on the Chicago Board of Trade, the largest decline since March 15 and the lowest price since March 31. Prices have risen 12% this year. In cash market trading, ethanol in the U.S. Gulf dropped $0.05 (1.8%) to $2.735 a gallon and in Chicago lost $0.035 (1.3%) to $2.66. Ethanol in New York fell $0.02 (0.7%) to $2.75 a gallon and on the West Coast decreased $0.035 (1.2%) to $2.805.

US wheat prices, demand up as corn prices continue to rise

On April 12, corn futures traded above CBOT wheat prices for the first time in 15 years — an event that analysts said could encourage even more wheat use in feed rations.

Wheat prices have increased by 4.5% in the last three months as demand for the grain's use in animal feed has strengthened and stockpiles have decreased in the wake of rising corn prices, according to the Chicago Board of Trade.
On April 12, corn futures traded above CBOT wheat prices for the first time in 15 years — an event that analysts said could encourage even more wheat use in feed rations. Wheat prices have risen 13% and corn 16% since March 31, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that corn stockpiles were at a four-year low. “The whole grain market is related through animal feed because producers tend to switch from corn to wheat,” said Jonathan Bouchet of Paris-based OTCex Group. “Right now wheat is supported by the corn story.” According to the USDA, feed will account for 18% of global wheat use in the marketing year through May 31, compared with 59% of corn consumption.

Cargill India to enter animal feed business

Cargill India is planning to enter the animal feed industry, an area where the feed requirements for poultry and cattle are expected to increase, according to analysts.
“We have a presence in the northern region as far as cattle and poultry feed are concerned," said Cargill India Chairman Siraj Chaudhry. "For aqua feed, we are dominant in the south. Seeing the growth in demand, we are looking at expansion in these regions.”
Currently, the Indian animal feed industry is broadly categorized into poultry, cattle and aqua feed. It supplies 10% of cattle and aqua feed and 50% of poultry feed in India, according to a Rabobank report. The bulk of the remaining feed is being produced by the unorganized sector, comprised of home and custom mixers. The total production of compound feed for all livestock stands at 17 million metric tons.

Mexico, Singapore halt poultry imports from Missouri over avian flu concerns

Mexico and Singapore have halted poultry product imports from Polk County, Missouri, after a case of avian flu was reported, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Inspection Service.
Mexico stopped imports of raw poultry and poultry meat products derived from birds slaughtered on or after March 4, and Singapore stopped shipments of fresh or frozen poultry meat from birds in Polk County on or after March 30. There was a low-pathogenic influenza confirmed on a flock of turkeys on a single farm in Polk County, said Lyndsay Cole, a USDA spokeswoman. Further testing showed that the birds no longer have the flu strain. 

Ukraine's Agroton to launch eight poultry houses in 2011

Ukraine's Agroton Holding has plans to complete the construction of eight poultry houses for young breeding stock in 2011.
According to the company, the poultry houses will produce hatching eggs, which will be used in Agroton's incubator facilities to produce chickens for fattening. Each group of young breeding stock will include 36,528 birds, totalling 73,056 breeders supplied in 2011.
The first four poultry houses will start operating by the end of April and the remaining four will start operating in August when a second group of breeding stock is supplied. Agroton estimates that it will produce 1.6 million eggs in the fourth quarter of 2011. In 2012 the company plans to produce 8.5 million eggs.

36 billion pounds US chicken produced in 2009

Thirty-six billion pounds of chicken and 5.7 billion pounds of turkey were produced by U.S. meat companies in 2009.

Thirty-six billion pounds of chicken and 5.7 billion pounds of turkey were produced by U.S. meat companies in 2009, according to the American Meat Institute's "The United States Meat Industry at a Glance."
In addition, the poultry industry processed 8.7 billion chickens and 246 million turkeys, contributing to the largest segment of U.S. agriculture. Of the meat consumed in the U.S., 36.8% is poultry, according to the AMI.
Total meat and poultry production in 2010 reached more than 92.1 billion pounds, up 1.2 billion pounds from 2009. The U.S. exported 3.7 million metric tons of poultry and poultry variety meats in 2010, down 4.4% from 2009. The value was also down slightly, .42% at $4.25 billion.

Study reveals method to verify organic eggs

The presence of a synthetic carotenoid confirms that the egg is not organic.

Studies conducted at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, a leading agriculture school in Western Europe, have led to a method to distinguish between organic eggs and generic eggs.
According to the information released, high-pressure liquid chromatography is used to examine the composition of xanthophyll pigments in the yolk of eggs. It is a universal practice in Holland and Germany to incorporate synthetic carotenoids in feed to produce a deeply pigmented yolk. These synthetic compounds are forbidden in organic diets. The presence of a synthetic carotenoid confirms that the egg is not organic, irrespective of claimed status.
Pigmenting agents containing xanthophylls are derived from marigold petals and are “natural,” although a solvent extraction process is used and renders these additives unacceptable according to NOP rules. Accordingly, supplementary pigment for organic eggs in the U.S. is derived from alfalfa.