PHOTO REPORT UPDATE: EuroTier 2014

Looks like pig innovations are to be found here!

And there is something to smile about for the pig industry this year. These smiling balls can be found at the booth of German breeder BHZP.Looks like pig innovations are to be found here!

The number of exhibitors is slightly lower than in 2012 but this is due to the absence of a World Poultry Show. Positive is the addition of many new international exhibitors – so the show even went more international.

So what was there to be found for the visitors?

The day was kicked off by Reinhard Grandke, CEO of the German Agricultural Society (DLG). In a press conference he pointed out that although due to the absence of the World Poultry Show the total number of exhibitors (2,360) is lower than in 2012, but a higher number of international exhibitors (1,147) partly made up for that.

Dr Hans-Joachim Götz, president of the German Federal Association of Practising Veterinarians (BPT) said that veterinarians and doctors need to join forces to improve the common strategy to combat antimicrobial resistance.

Three golden medals have been awarded in the pig industry. From the Netherlands, Schippers received a gold medal for its HyCare concept. Core is to keep piglets in a container during lactation and if desired weaning – after which these containers can be completely disinfected instead of having to disinfect the pig house. The containers can be moved throughout a specially designed pig house.

Big Dutchman received a golden medal for its novel Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) system – a system for cell breakdown of the whole maize plant for feeding to pigs in a liquid form.

The third pig-related gold medal at EuroTier is for German livestock equipment company Meier-Brakenberg, who launched ‘Porky’s Pick Up’, a cart which allows the hands free removal of larger finisher carcasses to up to 130 kg. The carcasses are loaded onto the cart with these sharp edges.

The ‘Swine Mobile’ is an attempt to bring the background of pork production back to the consumers, by informing them about how their meat is produced, to achieve more acceptance in an increasingly critical and sometimes under-informed market.

Innovative Piglet Rearing is the theme of a platform for many weaning-related innovations.

The Netherlands is one of the international countries with traditionally strong presence at the EuroTier, ahead of USA, China or France. Groba is one of the 186 Dutch companies.

Germany of course is topping the list with 1,213 companies present, including e.g. Weda.

French cooperative Cooperl showed its intention to be present in international markets with its presence at EuroTier.

In the nutrition halls, there is equal attention for pigs, poultry and ruminants, for instance with Belgian animal nutrition company Nukamel, which stood out with a unique design.

Austrian-based animal nutrition company Biomin is also present…

…and so is Danisco – the empty booth is just a sign of preparation, as everybody is getting ready for Wednesday’s ‘Future of Enzymes’ Seminar in cooperation with AllAboutFeed.

Danish animal nutrition company Hamlet Protein not only had a booth, but was also overwhelmed by interest for its seminar.

Why? One of the speakers was Claes Erlang, one of the first pig farmers who achieved 40 piglets per sow per year.

His presentation was followed by Søren Møller from the Danish Pig Research Centre, he explained how to reach 40 piglets per sow per year – and what kind of nutrition, health approach and management would be needed to achieve this with as few antibiotics as possible.

The EuroTier evening – traditionally on the event’s first night – was kicked off by Carl Albrecht Bartmer, president of the German Agricultural Society (DLG). He launched a plea to better inform consumers why agriculture is as it is. Too long, he felt, the gap between public and agriculture had been allowed to grow.

Germany’s minister of agriculture Christian Schmidt then stated that Germany’s agriculture cannot survive without ‘abroad’ – it is dependent on exports.

Time for some photo moments – all silver medalists…

…and all gold medal winners – see pictures 7, 8 and 9.

These are not poultry but dairy cows…

…and who wishes to know more about dairy, or about Pig Progress, please visit the booth of Reed Business Information in Hall 20, H16. We are waiting for you!

Most important event of day 2 of EuroTier was no doubt the ‘Future of Enzymes’ Seminar, co-hosted by Pig Progress’ sister publication AllAboutFeed and Danisco, part of Dupont.

Speakers included Nan-Dirk Mulder, Rabobank International presented a global protein outlook. "We see an enormous demand for animal protein in the coming years. Compared to 1980 we need 60% more poultry meat, 42% more pork and 25% more beef in the year 2030."

He was followed by Charlotte Poulsen, Dupont, who delved deeper into the use of enzymes by explaining what they already did to make the livestock sector more efficient.

The third and last speaker of the event, Peter Selle from the University of Sydney, focused on the important enzyme phytase. He raised the question whether phytase is a mature or immature technology.

So what else could be found at EuroTier? Animal health & nutrition company was growing its own plants at their stand…

…German feed additive company Phytogenetics invited visitors to sign their global cow…

…while Diamond V was photographed in a quiet moment…

…the Miavit booth appears over-crowded…

…and DSM chose for a mysterious approach.

For pork producers, various online benchmark and measuring tools were presented – for instance how to figure out whether a sow herd is suffering from lameness or lesions? Zinpro presented this tool which is available in English.

Danish animal nutrition company Vitfoss/Vilofoss presented a similar idea for hygiene status using a traffic light system. Available in English and Bulgarian for now.

Sniff ‘n guess – a little game to test the knowledge of phytogenic substances could be found at the Delacon booth.

Proud to see reprints of Pig Progress articles being distributed here and there at EuroTier – like these in English and German at the Boehringer Ingelhiem booth.