Friday Feed Update: What did you miss?

Koudijs starts building feed plant in Ghana

On 6 February Koudijs Ghana celebrated the start of the development of its first compound animal feed factory in Ghana and in West Africa. Koudijs further enhanced its ambitions to strengthen its position in Ghana with this ultra-modern new production facility. Located on a 500 acre-site in Tema, near Accra, the new factory will be one of the largest compound feed production plants in Ghana, with a production capacity reaching 90,000 tons a year. The inauguration was attended by the Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Nature & Food Ms Carola Schouten, the Ghanaian Minister of State in charge of Poultry Dr Nurah Gyiele and the Dutch Ambassador in Ghana, Ron Strikker. General Manager of Koudijs Ghana, Hugo Visscher, said the construction of this plant underlines the strategy of the Dutch Royal De Heus (owner of Koudijs Ghana), to bring its local animal feed and husbandry knowledge to fast-growing and developing countries. Where it has previously built up a strong market position in Ghana, he said, it is now time to start local production to further enhance this leading position.

Bühler strengthens its strategic position and continues to grow

The Bühler Group continued its positive development in 2018. All businesses achieved organic growth. Group turnover increased by 22% to CHF 3.3 billion. The Bühler Group has further strengthened its strategic position by establishing a third business pillar, Consumer Foods. Its new, most advanced animal feed factory in Changzhou, China, is fully operational, and construction of its CUBIC innovation campus in Uzwil, Switzerland is nearing completion.

Denkavit Group and Dinuvet start company Denkavit Iberica

Denkavit Group and Dinuvet have founded the company Denkavit Iberica as of the 1 February 2019. With the start of this joint venture they bundle their activities in the field of Young Animal Nutrition in the Spanish and Portuguese market. The companies have already worked together for many years. The agrifood market is becoming more and more international and is developing quickly. Both companies want to support their partners with knowledge and innovative products in this fast growing Iberian market. Together they can make this possible. This new structure will help to bring new innovations to the local market quicker so customers benefit directly. This step fits well with the ambition of both companies to further increase their market share in the region.

SCiO hand held sensor now also available in the UK

Eurofins Agro UK partners with Consumer Physics advanced on-farm feed analysis solution, already in use by early adopters, such as Harpers Feeds in the UK. The solution uses SCiO™ by Consumer Physics and calibrations developed by Eurofins. SCiO is a novel, hand-held, connected smart sensor that enables farmers and nutritionists to analyse dry matter of a variety of silage types, on-farm, in less than a minute. SCiO enables farm managers, herd managers and nutritionists to troubleshoot variations, adjust rations based on real time data and ensure consistent dry matter across time. Farmers can test dry matter daily and adjust for rain or snow events as they happen with a method that it is as accurate as the existing onfarm alternatives, and much simpler to use, delivering results in just a matter of seconds. The solution is cloud based which allows for regular app updates as part of the service, and will allow for new calibrations being developed by Eurofins, including additional forage types and attributes to be delivered seamlessly to the users.

Roxell launches Titan: A large feed pan for large turkeys

Roxell, manufacturer of automatic feeding, drinking, nesting and heating systems, is launching Titan, a new automatic feeding system for heavy turkeys. In recent years, these birds have undergone a huge evolution in terms of weight. This XL feed solution anticipates the practical problems that come with feeding these more voluminous and stronger turkeys. With Titan, Roxell is putting the largest, strongest and most easy to clean pan on the market. Driving the development of Titan was the question: ‘how can we give turkeys the best possible access to feed and therefore the best chance of growing to their maximum weight.’ The pan is larger than any other pan to accommodate the heavy animals. The circumference of the pan is also 21% larger than Optimax, Roxell’s previous turkey pan. However, the issue with heavy, adult turkeys is not only the extra space they require; they are also stronger. Titan was therefore designed to be more durable than its predecessors. The connection between the pan and the tube at the top is now 20 cm or 8” compared to 5 cm or 2” previously. This provides a larger anchor, which makes an already strong pan much stronger. Cleaning the pan after each flock is now quicker than ever. You click the pan open on the side, which allows you to clean it thoroughly without having to completely remove the bottom pan. For new flocks of chicks, there is also a starter pan: a small, gray bottom pan, which is easy to switch once the birds are 5 to 7 weeks old.

Titan is a new automatic feeding system for heavy turkeys that anticipates the practical problems that come with feeding these more voluminous and stronger turkeys. Photo: Roxell

ADM completes acquisition of Neovia

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has successfully completed its € 1.544 billion acquisition of Neovia. “The addition of Neovia represents a major milestone in the execution of our strategic plan to become a global leader in nutrition,” said ADM chairman and CEO Juan Luciano. “This acquisition, our largest since we added WILD Flavors in 2014, instantly creates a premier global leader in animal nutrition, while simultaneously providing a strong platform for future growth. It meets our returns objectives, expands our geographic reach, and helps us continue to expand our portfolio and better serve our customers.” In the animal health and nutrition space, the company has made a series of expansions and investments in recent years, including: Building and renovating 3 specialty animal nutrition plants in China and 4 plants in the US, acquiring pet treat manufacturer Crosswind Industries, expanding pet food ingredient manufacturing capabilities in North America, investing in state-of-the-art value added complete feed manufacturing facilities in North America, entering into a partnership with China-based Qingdao Vland Biotech Group and building a cutting-edge research lab in California to develop and commercialise animal feed enzymes; and purchasing Protexin, a leading provider of probiotic supplements for human wellness as well as a variety of animal markets, including aquaculture, equine, livestock and companion animals.

Ohly launches Ohly-GO® Wall

To overcome the variability in performance of yeast cell wall products, the company Ohly (ABF Ingredients group) is introducing a new yeast cell wall product produced from primary cultivated yeast by hydrolysis: Ohly-GO® Wall. This product combines the health benefits of Mannan Oligosaccharides (MOS) and β-glucans, allowing it to fight microbial infections by two modes of action: pathogen binding as well as immune stimulation.

DSM announces joint venture with Nenter to produce Vitamin E

Royal DSM, a global science-based company in Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Living, announced that it intends to create a 75/25 joint venture with Nenter & Co., Inc., which will include all Nenter’s production and related assets for Vitamin E. The joint venture will acquire and operate the Vitamin E production facilities in Jingzhou, Hubei, China and have a minority shareholding in Nenter’s Shishou facility, also in Hubei, China. The joint venture will exclusively produce Vitamin E for DSM subject to existing supply agreements of Nenter, and there will be a profit share agreement in place between DSM and Nenter. The joint venture will strengthen DSM’s global supply chain footprint, enabling the company to offer locally produced Vitamin E in China and Asia Pacific, next to its facilities in Switzerland. This will support DSM’s strategic actions to reduce its working capital requirements by simplifying its supply chain. The transaction is subject to several regulatory approvals and expected to close in Q2/Q3 2019. As of the date of gaining control DSM will consolidate the entity.

EW Nutrition and United BioMed form strategic partnership

EW Nutrition and United BioMed (UBM) will cooperate to serve the Egyptian and Middle East markets for animal nutrition. UBM is a trusted partner and can look back on more than 20 years of experience in these markets. Customers will benefit from this partnership by having access to the products and services of EW Nutrition. A contribution to solve the need of minimising the input of antibiotics in animal production is one of the goals when combining the complementary portfolios of EW Nutrition and United BioMed.

EW Nutrition and United BioMed will cooperate to serve the Egyptian and Middle East markets for animal nutrition. Photo: EW Nutrition

DuPont breaks ground on new European headquarters

DuPont Industrial Biosciences officially broke ground on its new site at the Leiden Bio Science Park in Oegstgeest, the Netherlands. The state-of-the-art, multidisciplinary facility will utilise the tools of modern biotechnology to make industrial processes more efficient and products more sustainable.

The bio-based solutions created in Leiden will have a direct impact on some of the most pressing societal issues of today: reducing food waste; reducing the environmental impacts of livestock farming and improving animal health; producing renewable fuels; and lowering environmental impacts in the textile and laundry industries. The building will serve as the new EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) headquarters for DuPont Industrial Biosciences.