Global show, European flavour

The international pig industry was looking forward to VIV Europe, held in April this year in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Volcanic ash clouds, however, closed European air space, keeping the audience away. Yet the show was interesting for those who managed to attend. They found many new and innovative products on display. And the atmosphere was good, with time for conversation.

By Ad Bal and Vincent ter Beek

The last time VIV Europe took place in the city of Utrecht was four years ago. Hence, at this edition everybody involved planned on making the best out of it. Around 560 exhibitors from 37 countries, supplying the global poultry and pig industries, were present and looked forward to meeting over 20,000 business professionals from around the world.
Due to an eruption of the volcano Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland, ash clouds hung all over Europe causing danger to all international air traffic, which is why most airports were closed. As a result, a number of exhibitors were unable to reach the Netherlands in time for the show. The Chinese pavilion for example, was empty. Yet over 85% of the exhibitors had managed to be on display. The larger exhibitors needed time to build their booths and had reached the fairgrounds prior to the closing of the airports.
Visitors from outside the Netherlands sometimes made extreme efforts to be present – some had to travel over long distances by car, bus or train. Show organisers VNU Exhibitions tried everything to get visitors to Utrecht, by offering free parking space, coffees and sandwiches on arrival. Despite the unfavourable situation, eventually over 10,000 visitors from 96 countries managed to find their way to Utrecht and experienced a good show.

Provimi launches one brand strategy
After three years of internal preparation, Dutch animal nutrition company Provimi launched its one-brand strategy on the eve of VIV Europe. Ton van der Laan, CEO, Provimi, explained that the company needed this new strategy, called ‘Shaping Tomorrow’s Nutrition’ to better compete on a global market. In the past, Van der Laan said, Provimi had been ‘a decentralised business’, existing of many brands all over the world, all being strong in their own markets. Provimi’s corporate logo has been rebranded and only a reduced number of international brands will continue to exist, SCA NuTec being one of these. Provimi will continue to be strong in compound feed, feed additives and ingredients.

Innovation for sustainability
The Opening Conference of VIV Europe 2010 focused on long term developments in the industry until 2020. In his opening speech, director Ton Otten of VNU Exhibitions expressed his astonishment about the fact that nowadays a kilogramme of poultry is even cheaper than a can of soda. In his view, this proved that poultry is a very affordable animal protein source. But he added that limits seem to have been reached.
Launching a plea for more leadership, Prof John Hodges, keynote speaker at the opening conference, said he wished to start a discussion on the search for sustainable production methods. He added that the current tradition of overuse is unsustainable and will eventually lead to breakdown. Future leaders have to be like animals before an earthquake, he said. “They start running – they hear it, they feel it, they have to feel the tremors of what’s coming – and take action.”
Dirk-Jan Kennes, Rabobank International, analysed the development of the global meat market and expects a 40% increase in the next 20 years. As soon as their income per capita surpasses US$2/day, consumers start eating meat, Kennes said. Rabobank expects the share of poultry to rise, pork to stay at a constant level and beef consumption to decrease. In addition, he said up to 2020, 70% of the growth of world meat demand will come from Asia. For inputs for feed, Asia will have to rely more and more on import from the Americas, while e.g. China will probably produce its feed and other products locally with input from various crops from the Americas.Finally, Gerda Verburg, the Dutch minister for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, stressed the importance of sustainability, saying that this concept is ‘at the root of a better world’. She added, “Sustainable forms of agriculture can prevent us from turning into the ultimate consumption society.” Verburg listed a number of future focused developments already available in the Netherlands, such as improved housing for poultry and pigs, renewable energy and recovery of fertiliser from manure. PP

At www.pigprogress.net a photo gallery and a section on VIV Europe provides more information.

Next page: Innovations, VIV Europe, Utrecht, the Netherlands, 20-22 April, 2010

Innovations, VIV Europe, Utrecht, the Netherlands, 20-22 April, 2010

New exhaust fan
Italian ventilation company Termotecnica Pericoli introduced its newly designed EOS53 exhaust fan having an increased diameter of 53 inch (1.35 m) from 50 inch, taking care of a 10% higher air flow and 30% reduction in energy consumption, for any agricultural application. With external dimensions unchanged, the new type of fan is available with three or six blades with a shutter opening either operated by a new flap or through a conventional centrifugal system. The design also includes a vibrations less motor mounting and a stronger propeller hub with aerodynamic pulley.

Growth monitor
Dutch housing management company Fancom introduced eYeScan, an automatic growth monitor for fattening pigs, housed in pens up to approximately 15 animals. The system uses camera technology in pig houses, making an image scan every time a pig starts eating, enabling a computer to accurately calculate an animal’s weight development and present this in graphs and tables. Each image scan is automatically filtered by digital processing and compared to an arithmetic model. There are calibration possibilities for correcting breed traits, so average weight in a pen can be calculated with a maximum deviation of 3%.

Safety injector
German syringe manufacturer Henke-Sass, Wolf introduced the HSW Safe-Matic, a new type of injector, which responds to the needs of having safer injectors as some injectables can also be harmful for users. This newly developed device has three safety mechanisms before a pig can be vaccinated. The 2 ml automatic self-filling syringe can be used universally with bottle adaptor or tubing attachment and can be positioned as required. Standard 50 ml/ 100 ml medication bottles can be replaced quickly and easily due to the new bottle adaptor and the basket, protecting the bottle.

Feed distribution unit
Dutch livestock equipment manufacturer VDL Agrotech presented its Feed Distribution Unit at VIV Europe, applicable to houses with sows, gilts or fatteners. The unit ensures an even distribution of a pre-weighed portion of dry feed in a long trough. This way, a better uniformity is achieved. The charging of the stainless steel hoppers happens through automatically controlled valves. Each outlet has a total capacity of approximately 8.4 litres, or 5.5 kg of feed. When all units are filled, the central pneumatically controlled opening mechanism will open all units for simultaneously feeding in all sections.

Biomin P.E.P. MGE
At VIV, Austrian feed additives manufacturer Biomin introduced its new product Biomin P.E.P. MGE, a feed additive that includes heat-sensitive phytogenic compounds to enhance essential oil encapsulation during production of the product. This way, the company says ingredient bioavailability and efficacy are enhanced, as problems of degradation from high temperatures and oxidation are avoided – both usually leading to a loss in feed quality. The approach leads to a longer shelf life than previous products and improved palatability. In addition, odour issues are tackled.

Prestarter concept
Belgian feed additives company Vitamex presented the full range of its Pops prestarter concept – a supply of feeds for young piglets, consisting of various products, often easily digestible and palatable. Some of these brands were newly introduced to the market, like Weanipops (soluble prestarter in meal form for piglets), Crespina (prestarter in meal form, to be used as creep or weaning feed for piglets of 21-24 days weaning age), Fortuna (prestarter feed in pellets for piglets of 21-24 days weaning age) and Safina (prestarter feed in in pellets for piglets of 21-28 days weaning age – see image).

Manure-to-energy converter
German livestock equipment manufacturer Big Dutchman presented a system for converting poultry manure into energy – and announced to be looking into ways to introduce this system into pig production as well. The idea is to dry all manure with warm air, after which the remainder is pelletised. Both processes strongly reduce the manure’s volume. The pelletised product can be transported in bags or on conveyor belts damage-free. A thermochemical converter can convert the pelletised manure into energy. In addition to manure, other products can be burnt too.

Premix and prestarter
French animal nutrition company Invivo NSA, which emerged after a takeover of Evialis by InVivo, introduced several new products to its range. For pigs, the company introduced Evimix, a premix brand; and a complete new range of prestarter feeds, called Youpig. In essence, the series consists of three consecutive feed products, called Youpig Baby, Youpig 21 and Youpig 28. The idea behind the use of these attractive and sweet prestarter feeds is to make feed attractive at young age, and thus manage stress at weaning and shorten fattening by 3.5 days.