Land O’Lakes launches nutritional additives focus

Land O’Lakes Inc. has launched a nutritional additives focus within its animal nutrition business. Known as PMI Nutritional Additives, the business will work with all feed nutritionists, manufacturers, veterinarians and producers seeking to deliver value, efficacy and strong results through their livestock feed.
PMI Nutritional Additives is focused on products that optimize performance in animals in two key areas — nutrient utilization and gut health and integrity. There are several nutritional additives available for poultry, swine, dairy and beef cattle, and more will follow.
“Within the animal production industry, Land O’Lakes’ animal nutrition business delivers proven feed solutions backed by extensive research know-how both in-house, through our animal nutrition Ph.Ds, and in the field,” says Dave Hoogmoed, chief operating officer for animal nutrition. “With our nutritional additives business, we’re extending our research capabilities, partnerships and distribution to meet the needs of a growing segment of customers.”
In addition to extensive research capabilities, PMI Nutritional Additives products are backed by practical insights and expertise in how to use products in U.S.-based formulations as well as a deep understanding of the health, management and nutrition dynamic within each specie group. Strong partnerships with industry-leading companies across the world ensure access to advanced feed components providing diverse feed additive competency.
“This is a natural and exciting extension of our quality, innovation and expertise,” says Tim Makens, general manager of PMI Nutritional Additives. “We really view this as another way we can work with our partners to ensure the highest levels of performance in America’s livestock.”

InVivo NSA acquires Welgro nutrition business in Indonesia

InVivo NSA’s acquisition of Welgro confirms the company’s strong development ambitions in Asia and also strengthens the company's presence in a high-potential market—laying hens in Indonesia.
InVivo Animal Nutrition and Health is a worldwide leader in its sector with a turnover of € 1.5 billion, and operates in 28 countries. With previous experience in Asia, the company now has the means to accelerate its development in the region and consolidate its current positions in Vietnam, Indonesia, China, India, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia.
The Indonesian company Welgro, which has 110 employees and an industrial plant with a capacity of 150,000 tons located south of Jakarta, falls exactly within the strategy. In the complete poultry feed market, Welgro is not only recognized for the quality of its products but has a strong trademark—Gelang Merah.
This acquisition will enable InVivo to accelerate the development of its complete feed range in Indonesia and strengthen its market share.
Having opened a second plant in Surabaya in 2013, this further investment confirms Invivo’s growth ambitions in Indonesia and provides a solid response to the challenges of market growth, demand for quality feed products and the need for an efficient distribution network.
Along with Latin America and Africa, Asia is one of the company’s three priority investment areas. It has a high potential for growth given the population growth and the diversification of demand for animal protein as a result of higher standards of living. For this reason, the company has been accelerating its development in Asia over the last 2 years: new plants in Indonesia and Vietnam, a new river loading dock in Vietnam, a move into the Philippines, plant construction projects and several potential acquisitions under consideration
Hubert de Roquefeuil, CEO, says, "InVivo NSA has an ambitious development plan for Asia, based on two pillars. Consolidating our established positions thanks to an active strategy of targeted acquisitions in our five main activities and increasing our presence in Asia as well as strengthening our export business in Southeast Asia."

Evonik begins methionine production at Alabama site

Evonik has started Mepron production at its Mobile, Alabama, site in the U.S. Thus, the plant goes into service after 15 months, according to plan. Mepron is a formulation of the amino acid methionine specially developed for dairy cows by Evonik’s animal nutrition business line.  
"With this investment, we strengthen our position in North America as a leading company to offer innovative solutions to the market. This investment opens up new growth opportunities for the animal nutrition business and for Evonik in North America,” said Dr. Ralph Sven Kaufmann, member of the executive board and chief operating officer of Evonik.  
“The Unites States is our most important sales market for Mepron,” said Dr. Emmanuel Auer, head of the animal nutrition business line at Evonik. “So, it was important for us to serve our customers out of our new own production facility.” The U.S. has the world’s largest stock of high-yielding dairy cows and produces about 12.5 percent of the world’s milk.  
High-yielding dairy cows have particularly high methionine requirements. In conventional animal feeding, such requirements are covered by protein-containing feeds. In contrast, the use of Mepron in dairy cow rations allows the amount of crude protein in feeds to be reduced, with no loss of output. This in turn reduces feed costs, eases metabolism in the animals, and reduces nitrogen excretion.
“In this way we’re contributing to more sustainable milk production, from which all sides benefit,” said Auer. 
Methionine counts among what are known as essential amino acids, which higher organisms must ingest with their food. Without adequate methionine dairy cows cannot optimally metabolize the protein in their feeds. In contrast to the situation for pigs and poultry, however, methionine must be specially “packaged” for ruminants so that it reaches the small intestine of the cow, where it can be absorbed. Without such a protective coating it would be degraded by microorganisms already in the first stomach.  
Evonik’s Nutrition & Care Segment produces and markets four essential amino acids for advanced animal nutrition: MetAMINO, Biolys, ThreAMINO, and TrypAMINO. Mepron, a protected DL-methionine for high-yielding dairy cows, and CreAMINO, a high-grade creatine source, complete the product portfolio.  
Evonik’s animal nutrition business line translates over 60 years of experience in manufacturing essential amino acids for animal nutrition into solutions that meet the evolving needs of its customers in over one hundred countries. As we now expand our scope to innovative nutritional feed additive solutions beyond amino acids, our customers can continue to count on us to take nutrient effectiveness ever further and keep delivering value along with consistent quality. Around the planet, our products and services are and will be key to producing healthy, affordable food with fewer natural resources and a smaller environmental footprint.

Nutreco renames animal nutrition research division

Nutreco has brought its global animal nutrition research centers under the Trouw brand by renaming the facilities Trouw Nutrition R&D.
With production facilities in 25 countries and sales in more than 90 countries, Trouw Nutrition is Nutreco’s global animal nutrition brand. Renaming its R&D centers is part of Nutreco’s objective to accelerate innovation in closer contact with customers and will help in bringing technology faster to the market.
“Our R&D strategy remains unchanged and our innovative strength is focused on three areas: life start; health and welfare and feed efficiency,” says Leo den Hartog, director Trouw Nutrition R&D. “We believe that technological advancements in animal nutrition must play a central role in improving the environmental footprint of the food industry as a whole and in feeding a growing world population.”
The Trouw Nutrition research centers encompass a broad range of scientific disciplines, including nutritionists, veterinarians, animal physiologists, molecular biologists, microbiologists, immunologists, biochemist and technical engineers. In-house research is conducted by over 100 experts and is complemented by more than 50 long-term research collaborations with leading universities, research institutes and other organizations.
Trouw Nutrition R&D encompasses five livestock research centers operating in the Netherlands, Spain and Canada.
 Nutreco’s fish feed business and its research facilities continue to operate under Skretting brand.

Bussan Biotech renamed as Lallemand-Biotech

Lallemand Animal Nutrition has announced that Bussan Biotech Co. Ltd, one of Japan’s leading distributors of functional feed additives, has changed its name to Lallemand-Biotech Co. Ltd, effective August 1, 2015.
Tim Pollock, director of operations and strategic development for Lallemand Animal Nutrition said, “The change of name of Bussan-Biotech to Lallemand-Biotech better reflects the new ownership structure of the business following the acquisition by Lallemand Animal Nutrition on March 27, 2015 of 75 percent of  Bussan-Biotech’s share capital.”
 Lallemand Animal Nutrition is committed to optimizing animal performance and well-being with specific natural microbial product and service solutions. Using sound science, proven results and knowledge, Lallemand Animal Nutrition develops, manufactures and markets high value yeast and bacteria products ? including probiotics, silage inoculants and yeast derivatives. Lallemand offers a higher level of expertise, leadership and industry commitment with long-term and profitable solutions to move our partners Forward.

2016 FIAAP Animal Nutrition Conference call for papers

WATT Global Media announces the call for papers for oral presentation at the 2016 edition of the FIAAP Animal Nutrition Conference, an event dedicated to the application of feed ingredient and additive technology to enhance animal feed formulations and performance.
The one-day conference will be held on March 29, 2016, and will be co-located with the VICTAM International exhibition and its related conferences at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Center (BITEC) in Bangkok, Thailand.
Abstract submissions for the 2016 FIAAP Animal Nutrition Conference’s call for papers must be received by October 15, 2015.
Content evaluation team will judge the merits of abstracts based on various criteria, most importantly that the submission is noncommercial in nature and highlights the latest research and information in areas pertinent to the animal nutrition, such as antibiotic replacement or reduction strategies; processing; formulation; and new developments involving feed ingredients and additives.
The proposed abstracts should be original to the 2016 FIAAP Animal Nutrition Conference and feature leading-edge innovations and compelling insights to aid attendees in optimizing their animal feeding programs.
To submit an abstract or to view the event’s full list of submission criteria, please click here.

About FIAAP Nutrition Conference

FIAAP exhibitions and conferences cover the ingredients and additives used within the formulation of animal feeds and are attended by senior executives from all over the world. The conference is geared toward the interests of nutritionists, feed formulators, feed manufacturers, etc.
 Presented by WATT Global Media, the 7th FIAAP Animal Nutrition Conference will take place March 29, 2016, in Bangkok, Thailand, and will be co-located with VICTAM International. The 2016 VICTAM International event combines the FIAAP, VICTAM and GRAPAS exhibitions (and their respective conferences) under one roof at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Center (BITEC) in Bangkok, Thailand, March 29-31, 2016.

Royal De Heus makes strategic entry into the Balkans

Royal De Heus has signed an agreement for the acquisition of 100% of the shares of the Serbian company Proteinka. By means of this acquisition, De Heus is making an entry into the Balkans that is focused on the future. This step is in line with De Heus' aim of further broadening its country portfolio and building up a position in a region where the animal husbandry sector is predicted to develop quickly in the future.
Proteinka, based in Sabac (northwest Serbia), produces mixed feed for cattle, poultry and pigs, and has a production capacity of approximately 80,000 tonnes.
The Serbian market currently consists of numerous smaller animal husbandry farms run as family businesses. The total volume of professionally produced mixed feed is approximately 1.5 million tonnes in a total market of 3.4 million tonnes. Serbia is rich in local raw materials, such as corn, wheat and also soya.
Today, many smaller operations still mix their own local raw materials with concentrates. The expectation is that these small livestock farmers will grow their farms over the years ahead. The need for high-quality mixed feeds, as an additional boost to increased efficiency of production, will rise strongly as a result. De Heus will be able to introduce its knowledge and experience of nutrition, production of mixed feeds, raw materials and farming systems to support Proteinka and its customers in this more professional environment.
Given its strategic location in northwest Serbia, Proteinka is favorably placed geographically, with respect to livestock farming areas as well as commercial opportunities in the neighboring countries such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia. Expectations for these countries are that the animal husbandry sector will also develop rapidly.
Koen de Heus, CEO of Royal De Heus, said of the acquisition: “With the purchase of Proteinka we are taking a major step in the Balkan region. Animal husbandry in this region will develop rapidly. Given Proteinka's knowledge of the local market, combined with our worldwide knowledge of nutrition and stable management, we see many opportunities for supporting local livestock farmers in this increasingly professional environment.”
The day-to-day leadership of Proteinka will be in the hands of Serbian manager Neno Cipcija, who has broad experience in the agricultural sector.

John Patience receives New Frontiers in Animal Nutrition Award

The FASS New Frontiers in Animal Nutrition Award, which is similar to a lifetime achievement award, was awarded to Patience during a conference of animal science societies in Orlando, FL. A committee of FASS members selected Patience for the honor, and it was presented by Rick Bonander of Adisseo on behalf of AFIA.
This is the 68th year AFIA has presented the Nutrition Research Awards, and the 12th consecutive year the organization has sponsored the FASS award. The purpose of the New Frontiers in Animal Nutrition Award is to stimulate, acknowledge and reward pioneering and innovative research relevant to animal nutrition. The award recipient must demonstrate outstanding and innovative contributions to nutrition research concerning animals that benefit mankind and/or the nutritional value of food from animals.
Patience's research focuses specifically on swine nutrition in the areas of energy metabolism, ingredient evaluation, feeding and management in the nursery and finishing barns, and provides Extension support to the Iowa pork industry.
"John's expertise and accomplishments in swine nutrition have greatly impacted the industry in the continual process to understand pig health and digestion," said Richard Sellers, AFIA senior vice president of legislative and regulatory affairs. "He is dedicated to the field and well known in the industry; an ideal recipient for the award."
In 2008, Patience received AFIA's Non-Ruminant Nutrition Research Award presented with the American Society of Animal Science. He has earned numerous other industry awards including two prestigious Lifetime Achievement Awards, one with Alberta Pork Congress in 2008 and the other with Saskatchewan Pork Development Board in 2007. He is also involved with the American Society of Nutrition, American Society of Animal Science, Canadian Society of Animal Science, Canadian Society of Nutritional Sciences and other professional affiliations.
Patience earned his bachelor's degree in animal science and master's degree in animal nutrition from the University of Guelph. He later earned his doctorate in nutritional biochemistry from Cornell University.

SRUC awards Professorship to Dr. Jos Houdijk

The Scotland Rural College (SRUC) awarded Dr. Jos Houdijk with a Professorship in Animal Nutrition and Health today.
Based at Roslin, in a building shared by SRUC and the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Houdijk is one of Europe’s leading livestock nutritionists, and has a great ability to engage with farmers and agri-industry. Under the pseudonym Dr. Poo, he is a popular figure at festivals and other events introducing children to the excitement of science!
Addressing the audience gathered for the graduation ceremony, Professor Geoff Simm, Vice Principal Research, described how Dr. Houdijk’s fundamental research has provided the international scientific community with an understanding of how nutritional stress affects the way livestock can cope with disease.
“His work on protein nutrition in sheep has stimulated farmers and the feed industry to improve protein supply around the critical period of lambing, while his research into protein nutrition for weaner pigs has contributed to industry trends to reduce total protein levels in pig diets,” said Simm. “Meanwhile even more farmers are now growing chicory to feed sheep since his experiments showing the plant helped control parasites like worms. Today he is Head of SRUC’s newly formed Monogastric Science Research Centre, which has some 30 staff studying issues linked to nutrition in pigs and poultry.”
Dr. Houdijk was commended for the way he works with livestock farmers and the feed industry to identify problems and then design high-quality research to address them. His published work has been cited nearly 1,500 times by other researchers across the world.
Renowned for being an enthusiastic and engaging lecturer, he has been an active committee member of the British Society of Animal Science for almost 20 years, serving on its conference program committee. The animal nutritionist is currently responsible for implementing novel initiatives to increase the visibility of UK Animal Science for the benefit of academics and industry. Similarly he is a long-standing member of the Nutrition Society and is currently Deputy Editor of the Nutrition Society’s prestigious
Nutrition Research Review
journal.

DuPont Animal Nutrition releases video featuring industry experts

DuPont’s Animal Nutrition Division has worked with a number of leading industry experts to record a video on the topic of “Maximum Efficiency in Swine Production.” The recording was made during the Danisco Animal Nutrition seminar at the World Pork Expo and includes the following presentations:


• “Improved liveability with xylanase inclusion”- Dr. R. Dean Boyd, Technical Director, The Hanor Company - discussed new data on how xylanase can be used not only to counter variability and improve carcass uniformity, but in a prebiotic context to support gut health.
• “Fast and reliable prediction of corn energy value for swine diets” - Dr. Chris Iiams, Senior Research Scientist at DuPont Pioneer - explained the extra benefits NIR calibration/technology can offer to swine nutritionists already using published information on corn digestible energy (DE) from various sources or for producers using models other than DE.
• “The influence of the intestinal microbiome in promoting efficient swine production”- Dr. Marcus E. Kehrli, Jr., Director, National Animal Disease Center, USDA Agricultural Research Service - looked at the relevance of recent research work on the gastrointestinal microbiome of several other animal species with regard to swine. He also looked at how this research might be used to address common healthy swine production challenges.
The videos can be downloaded in chapters from the Pig Progress website. The presentations given are also available for download on animalnutrition.dupont.com.

Cargill expands animal nutrition center in Netherlands

Faced with volatile commodity markets and changing regulations and consumer needs, animal producers are operating in an increasingly complex world. To help them more quickly respond in this dynamic environment, Cargill has expanded and renovated its Global Animal Nutrition Innovation Center in Velddriel, The Netherlands.
"We wanted to find the best way to satisfy the nutrition research and development needs of our customers," said Dave Cook, research &development director for Cargill's animal nutrition business. "So, we designed a facility we believe will promote collaboration among our experts as well as those from local universities to accelerate innovation and allow us to more quickly deliver new products and services to our customers."
Designed to serve dairy, poultry and swine customers, the Cargill Animal Nutrition Innovation Center includes new poultry nutrition research facilities, new guest viewing corridors and the collective knowhow of its Netherlands-based animal nutrition experts.
The $3.7 million expansion and renovation comprises a new broiler grow-out facility and a state of the art broiler breeder facility. Both were designed to meet or exceed all European regulations and to provide additional capabilities. As one example, the new broiler breeder facility allows our scientists to investigate the impact of the hen's nutrition on the performance of its offspring. "We can collect the fertile eggs, incubate them and not only look at fertility and hatchability but also subsequent performance," says Cook.
The Global Innovation Center hosts more than 3000 visitors a year and the new viewing corridors will allow visitors to conveniently view the animal R&D facilities without changing footwear or clothes while improving hygiene standards.
The Velddriel location is one of Cargill's two global animal nutrition innovation centers. It, along with the Elk River, Minnesota, location, serves as the hub of the company's global network of 15 animal nutrition research and technology centers that are working around the clock to explore, innovate and think ahead of the challenges customers face in navigating today's complex and ever-changing environment.

Animal nutrition company Vi-COR bought by Church & Dwight

Church &Dwight Co. has signed an agreement to acquire the assets of Varied Industries Corporation (Vi-COR), a manufacturer and seller of feed ingredients for dairy cows, beef cattle, poultry and other livestock. The acquisition was announced on December 3.
Vi-COR is located in Mason City, Iowa. Its products include Aviator, A-Max, Kulactic, Bg-Max, Acid-A-Pro, Pilot and Celmanax.
“The Vi-COR products are yeast-based feed ingredients for improving livestock digestive health and performance which complement our existing dairy nutrition business. This acquisition meets the company's acquisition criteria: the respective brands are leaders in their categories; we believe the business has growth potential, and is expected to be gross margin accretive to the company,” Church & Dwight Co. said in a statement.
Annual sales of the Vi-COR brands are approximately $25 million, according to a press release from Church & Dwight.
The acquisition was financed with debt and is expected to be earnings neutral in 2014 and slightly accretive to earnings per share in 2015. The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Headquartered in Ewing, New Jersey, Church & Dwight Co. Inc. also manufactures and markets a wide range of personal care, household and specialty products under the Arm & Hammer brand name and other well-known trademarks.

Kemin discusses lipid challenges and opportunities in nutrition

Profitability, through the utilization and impact of nutrients, combined with animal health, are two of the most important challenges in today’s animal production. Kemin initiated two seminars with leading animal nutrition experts in Germany and Belgium to address these challenges and create a greater understanding of lipid nutrition.
“It is clearly understood that to maintain profits for swine and poultry production, the industry must increase the profitability of meat, while maintaining high animal health and meat quality standards,” said John Springate, president of the animal nutrition and health division of Kemin. “Oils and fats are an important energy contribution that can improve profits; however, their impact is often underestimated. Through discussions with leading researchers, Kemin hopes to raise awareness for the science and strategies behind lipid nutrition.”
The seminar’s first speaker, Julian Wiseman, professor at Nottingham University, said the biological composition and nutritional value of fats and oils varies and can greatly influence animal production. He explained that the degree of saturation, the content of free fatty acids, the chain length of constituent fatty acids and contaminants, are all factors that affect the energy value as well as the age of the animal. The Wiseman equation brings these numerous parameters together into one general equation to accurately estimate the apparent metabolizable energy (AME) of the fat. Wiseman highlighted that proper quality control plays a fundamental role in accurate feed formulation.
Furthermore, Dr. Nicola Tallarico, Kemin technical service manager, discussed the importance of preventing lipid oxidation to ensure quality. To emphasize his point, Tallarico demonstrated the correlation between lipid oxidation and reduced energetic value (ME, DE).
In addition, Tallarico highlighted other negative effects of oxidation. He said that once oxidation begins, essential fatty acids, such as linoleic acid, which have the highest nutritional value and fatty soluble vitamins, will oxidize first, significantly reducing their levels.
Finally, Tallarico discussed the negative effects of damaged lipids on animal production, such as oxidative stress and reduced feed intake, while also reviewing preventive antioxidant protection strategies.
Also speaking at the event, Geert Janssens, University of Ghent professor, discussed the art of burning fat for energy. He focused on the biochemistry of fat digestion and highlighted other nutrients that play a role in fat utilization. In particular, he presented recent research on the role of amino acids.
Furthermore, Janssens described the mechanism of fat deposition in tissues and organs, such as the liver, in the case of improper lipid metabolism. In conclusion, he emphasized that keeping the right balance between nutrients like fats, sugar and amino acids can help maximize feed efficiency, manage heat stress, and avoid problems, such as fatty liver.
Providing insights on how to improve nutrition by evaluating the nutritional and quality profile of oils and fats, Dr. Mauri Di Benedetto, Kemin senior technical service manager, said the company’s Lipid Evaluation Test allows nutritionists to ensure they have accurate, reliable numbers.
According to Di Benedetto, the nutritional value of oils and fats are characterized by the ratio of unsaturated/saturated fatty acids, the level of free fatty acids, as well as the level of moisture and various impurities. Lipids, like many raw materials, come from a wide variety of sources and are prone to large variations in their nutritive value. Traditionally, nutritionists use the standard energy value on oils and fats, which Kemin researchers have found to be quite different from the actual values. Numerous analyses have resulted in up to 30 percent variations in AME values for a single oil type.
To provide nutritionists with accurate, reliable lipid profiles containing the AME values and the oxidative status, Kemin recently launched its Lipid Evaluation Test. This service provides nutritionists with a clear, accurate understanding of the nutritional and quality status of oils and fats in order to make informed decisions on their use, and ultimately, to optimize feed formulations and profitability.
To conclude the panel, the industry specialists agreed that in today’s increasingly challenging production environment, optimizing animal nutrition to improve profits is critical. They concurred that to ensure the highest quality of fats and oils for optimum production, the sources of the lipids should be known as well as the factors affecting their quality and efficacy. Additionally, oils and fats should be accurately evaluated.

Chr. Hansen reports revenue increase for 2nd quarter

Chr. Hansen has reported a strong second quarter for fiscal year 2013/14, highlighted by revenues of EUR182 million (US$253) and 10 percent organic growth. The animal health and nutrition company also reported revenues unchanged from the first half of the previous fiscal year at EUR353 million (US$490 million)
Chr. Hansen CEO Cees de Jong expects the continued financial success for the remainder of the fiscal year.
 "Following a strong Q2 with 10 percent organic growth and solid margin development, we remain on track to deliver on our outlook for the full year, expecting organic revenue growth of 7 to 9 percent and an EBIT margin before special items above 26 percent," said de Jong.
"We have continued to implement our Nature's No. 1 strategy with initiatives to support the future growth and profitability of Chr. Hansen. I am especially pleased with the good performance of both the Cultures & Enzymes Division and the EMEA region in general as well as to see the first sales of cultures for crop protection."

Inspire forum highlights complex nature of plant NSPs

The inaugural Inspire: Non-starch Polysaccharide (NSP) Forum got underway March 31 with 80 delegates from 23 countries hearing presentations aimed at generating a deeper understanding of the complex structures of plant NSPs and the factors that influence their nutritional impact. It was the first of three sessions across the three days of the Inspire forum looking, respectively, at aspects of the NSP substrate, the impact of fibre on animal nutrition and feed enzyme solutions to improve efficacy and sustainability.
Chairing this first session, AB Vista Research Director Mike Bedford highlighted the importance of understanding how NSPs were synthesised and structured when the target was to achieve effective and targeted breakdown using exogenous enzymes.
The process by which cellulose is synthesised was outlined by Dr. Staffan Persson of the Max Planck Institute. This was followed by a review of the arabinoxylan structure of cereal grains using a fluorescently-labelled inactivated xylanase by Joran Verspeet of KU Leuven, a technique which also highlighted clear evidence of specificity between different xylanases and different arabionoxylan structures.
Stan Cauvain of Baketran then discussed the experience of the breadmaking industry in using xylanases to overcome the water retaining ability of grain NSPs to maintain bread quality. It was problem that had grown considerably as demand for high fibre wholemeal bread increased during the past 30 years.
Cauvain stated: "The problem is that we have very little idea of why xylanase works in breadmaking. We know how to control the results, but we don't know exactly what is happening in terms of the interaction between the enzyme and grain quality."
Cauvain also highlighted the enormous challenge faced by his industry due to the variability in fibre content between flour batches, between flour types and between growing seasons. The inability to reliably predict response to xylanase addition - or the effect of the xylanase inhibitors known to be present in some grains - meant a heavy reliance on extensive and regular trial and error screening, a situation with considerable parallels in the feed industry.
The session closed with a presentation by Per Aman of the Swedish University of Agricultural Science, who discussed the challenges faced when trying to analyse plant fibre.
"None of the methodologies currently used produce exactly the same substrate conditions as found in the animal gut," he stated. "In terms of the characteristics important to animal nutrition, the molecular structure of the fibre component can be hugely important, as can agronomic conditions.
"For example, the branching on the xylose backbone of arabinoxylan molecules dictates the extent of viscosity effects, as well as how and where xylanases can act to break down those long-chain molecules. Differences between growing sites can also exceed varietal differences, and a detailed knowledge of these factors is essential when looking to understand xylanase activity."

Leiber brewer's yeast products receive Halal certification

Leiber GmbH, a German manufacturer of yeast specialty products, announced the company's refined brewer's yeast products are now Halal-certified.
The family-run company relies on monitoring, certifying and monitoring every process when manufacturing its special brewer's yeast products, starting with production, transport and ultimately, further processing. Halal certification by the Halal Food Council of Europe was dependent upon a comprehensive audit, which included certification of production as well as all raw materials used.
"With this important milestone, we are looking forward to meeting the international requirements and the growing trend in safe and high quality animal nutrition products, and are making one further step in this growth market with the successful Halal certification," said Nikolaus Jungbluth, head of Animal Nutrition.

Leiber GmbH appoints Australia sales partner

Leiber GmbH has appointed Dox-al Australia Pty Ltd as its new sales partner for Australia. The appointment marks Leiber's expansion of its sales partnership on the strategically important Australian continent, pushing forward the development of its sales channels, according to the company. Dox-al Australia Pty Ltd will be marketing the complete product portfolio in the field of Leiber's animal nutrition.
"With Dox-al Australia Pty Ltd we have been able to extend our sales network to include a further well-known partner," said Nikolaus Jungbluth, who heads up the animal nutrition department, "And [we have] found a distributor with many years' experience in the animal nutrition sector that implements their targets with a strong local presence to the customer and achieves additional benefits for our customers and new markets."

International Non-Starch Polysaccharide Forum 2014

The inaugural Inspire: International Non-Starch Polysaccharide (NSP) Forum addressing the development and use of NSP enzymes in animal nutrition is set to take place between March 31 and April 2, 2014, in Pitlochry, Scotland.
Sponsored by AB Vista, a leading global supplier of micro-ingredients to the animal feed industry, the Inspire Forum 2014 will bring together over 70 leading academic and industry experts in NSPs and NSP enzymes for three days of technical presentations and discussion workshops.
"Bringing this collective expertise together provides a fantastic opportunity to promote open discussion, and will create a unique forum for debate on the wide-ranging issues relating to NSPs in animal nutrition," states Dr. Nell Masey O'Neill, AB Vista's Research and Development Manager.
"By clarifying NSP misunderstandings, highlighting the mechanisms by which NSP enzymes act and examining the reasons behind product performance, Inspire Forum 2014 will also seek to define those potential directions for future development most relevant to the needs of the marketplace."
A full agenda, plus confirmed speakers, will be released during the coming months, and posted to the dedicated website.

Lallemand Animal Nutrition introduces Forage Center of Excellence

Lallemand Animal Nutrition, in partnership with the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute (Miner Institute), is pleased to announce the development of the Forage Center of Excellence in Chazy, NY. The Forage Center of Excellence represents a significant investment in forage fermentation and microbiology research.
"At the Institute, we're excited about the Forage Center of Excellence because it fits hand-in-glove with our long-standing research focus on efficient forage-crop use by cattle," says Dr. Rick Grant, President of the Miner Institute.
"As producers strive to feed more forage to their herds, the cutting-edge research from this center will be just what they need to feed forage more profitably."
The Forage Center of Excellence will serve as the Lallemand Animal Nutrition research and development hub for improving forage fermentation and management. Lallemand will have a research team at the Miner Institute focused on this research and discovery, says Dr. Bob Charley, Forage Products Manager, Lallemand Animal Nutrition.
"There is a need for new fundamental silage research and Lallemand wanted to partner with an institute, such as Miner, based on partnership successes with the French national agricultural research institute (INRA) in Clermont-Ferrand and the Monogastric Center of Excellence partnership with the University of Nottingham in the UK," says Dr. Charley. "The Miner Institute was an excellent fit for this research center with their unique combination of facilities and capabilities."

UK grains authority invests in nutrition research

The United Kingdom's Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) is investing £700,000 in research to help update nutrient management recommendations.
Commencing this autumn and focusing on nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and sulfur (S), the four research projects are being conducted by ADAS in collaboration with 12 industry partners who will contribute a further £250,000 cash/in-kind funding.
James Holmes, research manager for crop nutrition at HGCA, stated: "The Fertiliser Manual (RB209) is a crucial source of information. But as farming practices move on, it is essential that nutrient management recommendations keep pace with change. This new work will play a valuable role in updating nutrient management information."
The first project extends current research to help growers maintain an appropriate level of phosphorus in the soil.
Holmes said: "In the last 30 years, fewer fields have received P treatment as growers take 'P holidays'. This, together with the increasing cost of P fertilizers and environmental pressures, has stimulated a lot of debate on the management of P.
"Recent research has shown how P management may need to be adapted in certain soils and has confirmed that growers running down soil P to below Olsen P Index 2 could be approaching a 'cliff edge' of P deficiency and risk not achieving optimum yields, especially when conditions are less than ideal."
The new research will refine understanding of critical soil phosphorus levels and how to satisfy crop demand across a range of soil types, which could include applying 'fresh phosphorus' during the season.
"The use of fresh P applications is particularly interesting and HGCA work has already demonstrated that fresh P fertilizer can be effective in raising winter wheat and oilseed rape yields in plots below Olsen P Index 2. Further P-response trials will be conducted on farms to calculate when fresh P applications could be beneficial," commented Holmes.
Two further projects will focus on the management of nitrogen.
Holmes said: "Current recommendations for N management are based on averages which fail to adequately reflect the diversity in soil types and the large variations in actual field nutrient requirements. There is also increasing evidence that N is being under-applied on some farms."
In the first nitrogen project, a series of on-farm trials will be set up to test a novel 'strip trial' approach, where a standard nitrogen rate is applied along with 50kg/ha more and 50kg/ha less applied nitrogen to alternate tramlines.
Allison Grundy, from GrowHow, one of the project's industry partners, commented: "We are supporting this work with soil analysis and helping growers to set up strip trials. We will help develop a robust data set to produce a better picture of N variability and the proportion of fields that require more or less N fertilizer than predicted by RB209."
The second nitrogen project will look at the nitrogen requirements for winter barley.
Holmes said: "RB209 recommendations for winter barley have not been updated for around 30 years and varieties have changed significantly over that period.
"This project will review N management data and conduct experiments on application rate and timing for two-row, six-row and hybrid winter barley varieties."
The final project takes a look at sulfur management.
Holmes said: "The recent HGCA 'yield plateau' work found that many winter wheat and oilseed rape crops may not be receiving enough S and this could be limiting yield.
"This new research will extend S-response trials, as well as quantify the S supply from applications of manures and biosolids.
Dr. Pete Berry, principal research scientist at ADAS, concluded: "The nutrient research projects have been designed with RB209 in mind. The projects, which will deliver findings over the next five years, will be made available to Defra to assist with future revisions of RB209."