The RAPCO Poultry course participants work through an experiment to determine egg-specific gravity.
Thirty participants from 11 countries attended the RAPCO Regional Animal Production Courses (RAPCO) poultry course on August 11-15, at the Kansas State University (KSU) International Grains Program (IGP) Institute Conference Center in Manhattan, Kansas. The IGP Institute partnered up with United States Soybean Export Council (USSEC) to hold the annual nutrition-based course.
“The partnership helps to continue the technical program under RAPCO that allows Latin Americans who import U.S. soybeans and soybean meal to better understand and utilize its nutritional benefits and how to improve their operations,” said Carlos Campabadal, IGP Institute specialist in feed manufacturing and grain storage, and course manager.
Throughout the course, participants studied a broad range of topics including digestive systems, poultry diets, and approaches for reducing the toxic effects of mycotoxins in poultry, among others. One participant, Fernando Ramíerez, felt that the course was good for any individual involved in the poultry industry.
“There are a lot of things that we know but because we do these tasks daily, we forget how important they are. We have a tendency to overlook the normal duties,” Ramíerez said. “But when you come here, you start to notice all the details and you realize that you are missing some little things that we have a lot of impact on in production.”
In addition to attending the lecture series from USSEC representatives and IGP faculty, participants were able to tour the KSU O.H. Kruse Feed Mill to expand their understanding of feed manufacturing and plant operations.
Production manager at Cargill Meats Central America, Jerónimo Bonilla, said that the tour was the most important part of the course for his team.
“We are now managing our own feed mills whereas before we would buy our feed. Touring the feed mill was a big opportunity for my business in particular,” Bonilla said.
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