Friday Feed Update: What did you miss?

Elanco Hemicell™ HT available in the EU

Elanco’s Hemicell HT is now available in the European Union for use in broilers, turkeys and pigs following approval by the European Commission at the end of 2018.
Hemicell HT is a feed enzyme targeting ß-mannans. ß – mannans are anti-nutritional fibres found in many vegetable feed ingredients, notably soybean1. ß-mannans have a negative health impact when ingested, causing unnecessary gut inflammation and activation of the innate immune system. Hemicell HT breaks down these ß-mannans in feed, preventing this unnecessary gut inflammation and results in improved Intestinal Integrity and nutrient utilisation of the animal.

DSM launches Balancius™ in the EU

DSM announces that Balancius™, the latest innovation developed within its Alliance with Novozymes, is now available in the EU. Balancius™ is a microbial muramidase designed to support gastrointestinal functionality thereof optimising the feed efficiency and consequently supporting the sustainability of broiler production. By including the product in the feed for broilers, feed producers can improve feed conversion ratio by 4 – 6 points (3%), translating to significant cost savings. The product has also been shown to substantially increase breast meat yield and to enhance animal welfare through drier litter. To date, Balancius™ is available in EU, in most Latin American countries and in the USA while launch in South-Asia is expected in the coming months.

BioMar completes acquisition of Alitec Pargua

BioMar Group has acquired the 50% remaining shares in the Chilean factory Alitec Pargua. The transfer of shares took place this morning in Puerto Montt, leaving BioMar as the sole owner of the former joint venture. On June 5, the Chilean competition authorities confirmed that the acquisition by BioMar of Alitec Pargua did not trigger a pre-merger review. As announced in March, BioMar Group and AquaChile entered into an acquisition agreement that would give BioMar full ownership of the Chilean factory Alitec Pargua, in which AquaChile held a 50% interest. The acquisition follows the change in ownership of AquaChile, who was acquired last summer by the Agrosuper group. The Alitec Pargua transaction ends 10 years of successful collaboration with AquaChile. Beyond this operation BioMar Chile continues the commercial relationship with AquaChile. This transaction is an important step for BioMar Chile as the company will get access to a significant volume of flexible production capacity. BioMar Group has by the investment again reinforced the company’s commitment to Chilean aquaculture.

Positive EFSA opinion for Digestarom® DC for poultry

On 11 June 2019, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) published a favourable Scientific Opinion on the safety and efficacy of Digestarom® DC (Biomin) in broilers, layers and minor avian species. “This represents an important step in achieving EU authorisation of Digestarom® DC as a zootechnical feed additive,” commented Dr Antonia Tacconi, Global Product Manager Phytogenics at Biomin. “We always appreciate the scientific and rigorous work of the FEEDAP Panel in reaching its conclusions,” she added. The triple-action formulation of Digestarom® DC incorporates the innovative Biomin® Duplex Capsule technology that ensures the plant-based active compounds are delivered where they are needed to be most effective.

The 3 modules include:

1. promoting appetising and endogenous secretions,
2. gut microbiota modulation and
3. gut protection.

Kemin launches new vision and logo for the future

Kemin Industries, a global ingredient manufacturer, unveiled its new global vision and logo to align the company strategically for 2042 and beyond. The new vision, ‘Kemin strives to sustainably transform the quality of life every day for 80% of the world with our products and services’, lays the groundwork for strategic growth and priorities for the company with operations on 6 continents and a portfolio of more than 500 speciality ingredients. By 2042, the world’s population will reach approximately 10 billion people. For Kemin to transform 80% of the world’s population – approximately 8 billion – people must encounter Kemin products 5 times each day. From sunrise to sunset, a person may have eggs for breakfast, feed their pet, wear jeans, take a supplement and purchase bakery items or meat at the market – all opportunities that include Kemin ingredients. Along with this vision, the new Kemin logo reflects the company’s focus on future growth while respecting its history through a thoughtful evolution of the Kemin brand identity.

Alltech Coppens to inlcude net energy in formulation

Aqua nutrition specialist Alltech Coppens is the first aquafeed producer to consider net energy in its formulation of aquafeed, going the extra step in order to ensure dependable feed performance. The formulation not only neutralises the natural variation of the raw materials in the feed, but also focuses on the differences in the efficiency of the different macronutrients. Most aquafeed companies formulate their feed based on fixed digestible protein and energy levels, which can in part impact the variation in quality of raw materials when fish feeds are formulated in a flexible way. This means that although the crude nutrients (e.g., protein, fat) might differ slightly between batches of feed, the digestible energy on which the feed is formulated will stay the same between batches.

Danish Vilofoss acquires Spanish company

Premix and nutrition company Vilofoss, owned by the Danish DLG Group, has acquired Complementos de Piensos Compuestos (CPC), a Spanish family owned business close to Pamplona in the province of Navarra, northern Spain. CPC produces 15,000 tonnes per year with a turnover of € 16.1 million. Including this acquisition, Vilofoss has 16 factories in 7 countries in Europe and a smaller stake in a vitamin factory in China.

DSM: New concept for piglets

RoviSol Piglet is the name of DSM’s new concept for piglets. RoviSol Piglet builds on experience of VevoStart, but the new concept also considers more that can help achieve optimum gastrointestinal functionality. Recent studies at ILVO, Belgium, concluded the use of a nutritional solution that supports and improves the piglets’ digestion and digestive tract does make it possible to achieve better productivity than with a medical solution.

Skretting launches breakthrough tuna diet

A new diet aimed at helping tuna farmers avoid the biosecurity risks and sustainability issues associated with bait-fish diets has been launched by Skretting. Now available in Japan, MaGro is a soft extruded feed for bluefin tuna that has been created using patented production technology. The arrival of the breakthrough is ideally timed for Japan’s tuna farmers, who are seeing rising consumer demand for Japanese bluefin in domestic markets and further afield, including Asia and North America. The pellet can be squashed, without breaking. Due to this unique soft texture tuna easily accept the diet.

Triott showcases GrainCam and Progress MonoRoll HE

The Dutch feed and food specialist Triott demonstrated 2 breakthrough production technologies at the recently held Victam International show in Cologne (June 12-14). Both technologies enable feed mills to take quality, efficiency and sustainability to the next level. The PTN Progress MonoRoll HE (High Efficiency) is the world’s first and only single-roll pellet mill. It delivers a 20-25% increase in energy efficiency versus conventional pellet mills. Furthermore, the MonoRoll can achieve a higher output within the same operation period. The GrainCam by Ottevanger is a unique digital imaging solution that monitors everything in the grain mixing process from kernel size distribution and shape, to cross-contamination, to grain discolouration – a completely new but hugely significant quality parameter for the feed industry. The result: increased product quality and consistency plus improved productivity.

Van Aarsen introduces Hot Start Steam Mixer and split-grinding

Dutch feed equipment producer Van Aarsen also demonstrated 2 new innovations at the Victam International show. The first one is the Hot Start Steam Mixer that helps improve the conditioning process by ensuring a guaranteed and accurate heat treatment. It helps to optimise the feed safety while minimising spoilage. Next to the Hot Start Steam Mixer, Van Aarsen has also improved its steam systems. High steam quality is of great importance for quality feed production. Steam quality directly affects the quality of the conditioning process. The Dutch company also launched the split-grinding, that helps optimise the nutritional value of the feed by splitting up one batch of raw materials into 2 sub-batches which are separately dosed and grinded. Afterwards these sub-batches are collected and mixed together and from there processed together. Split-grinding is an alternative solution compared to pre-grinding or post-grinding.