ADM Opens Aquaculture Innovation Lab at its Animal Nutrition Technology Center in North America

ADM opens aquaculture innovation lab in North America

ADM has opened its Aquaculture Innovation Lab at the Animal Nutrition Technology Center (ANTC) in Decatur, Illinois. The new facility will expand the company’s...
Heifer International, Cargill and Walmart Foundation partner for Indian farmers

Heifer International, Cargill and Walmart Foundation partner for Indian farmers

Heifer International, Cargill and Walmart Foundation announced that they have become partner to invest in farmer producer organizations in India. Within the scope of...
DSM and CPF Thailand collaborate to improve environmental sustainability of animal farming

DSM and CPF Thailand collaborate to improve environmental sustainability of animal...

Royal DSM and Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL have signed an MOU to implement DSM’s recently launched Sustell™, the first of its kind intelligent sustainability...
Eduardo de Souza Pinto joins Hy-Line International as President of Operations

Eduardo de Souza Pinto joins Hy-Line International as President of Operations

Hy-Line International announced that Eduardo de Souza Pinto will join Hy-Line International in the newly created position of President of Operations effective 1 March...
Manuka Biotech names new commercial head

Manuka Biotech names new commercial head

Manuka Biotech, the marketing arm of Singao Group, named Dr Loi Chia Fei as the company’s new Regional Commercial Director to accelerate growth and...
Russian company to produce feed protein from natural gas

Russian company to produce feed protein from natural gas

Moscow-based GiproBioSintez company received local approval for a project to build a high-tech plant that will produce feed protein from natural gas. Investment in...
Brazil's BRF, Saudi Arabian fund set up poultry joint venture

Brazil’s BRF, Saudi Arabian fund set up poultry joint venture

Brazilian meat processor BRF SA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) to create a joint venture to make...
Covetrus unveils industry-first veterinary operating system

Covetrus unveils industry-first veterinary operating system

Leading animal-health technology and services company Covetrus announced the launch of Covetrus Pulse™, an innovative cloud-based veterinary operating system (vOS) that seamlessly connects veterinarians...
Scoular opens high-speed flax facility

Scoular opens high-speed flax facility

Scoular has opened high-speed flax facility in Western Canada. The facility produces whole and milled flax available in the brown or golden categories for...
Trouw Nutrition, the livestock business line of Nutreco, announced Janssen Varkens as the newest partner to its global network of validation farms.  Trouw Nutrition, Nutreco's livestock business line, announced Janssen Varkens as the newest partner to its global network of validation farms.  With 500 sows and 4200 fattening pigs, the closed swine farm is located in Castenray, near the Trouw Nutrition Swine Research Facility outside Boxmeer, the Netherlands. Janssen Varkens can collect and provide individual pig data on body weight, growth, health, vaccination programme, antibiotic use, and carcass traits from birth until slaughter and from insemination until the end of lactation. In this manner, the full production cycle is captured, and an online data connection is established from feed to fork. MERGING IN VIVO INSIGHTS WITH REAL-WORLD PRODUCTION "Validation farms provide an opportunity to evaluate innovations beyond Trouw Nutrition's internal research environment," said Coen Smits, R&D Director at Trouw Nutrition. "Farm studies under commercial research conditions aim to assess the efficacy and practical application of dietary and management solutions in real-world conditions." The project with Janssen was initiated by the Global R&D department of Trouw Nutrition, whilst the selection of a validation farm was made by Trouw Nutrition's operating company in Benelux, Scandinavia, and France. Selection criteria are carefully specified for validation research, as these farms must be representative of the market and must be led by a motivated farmer who sees value in research conducted on the farm. Commenting on the collaboration, Tom Janssen, owner of Janssen Farm, said, "I see potential in the validation project and the collaboration with Trouw Nutrition, as I like to learn more about innovations in animal nutrition. The trials are set up in a way that is easy to execute, and reliable, individual pig results are obtained that are relevant for research as well as management." Studies on local farms also contribute to customer confidence in the efficacy of solutions for their farm. "Every pig farm operates with unique conditions relative to genetics, feed, water, etc. By carrying out studies in local market conditions, validation farms build customer trust that our solutions will perform in their production environment," said Christian van de Kamp, Sales Manager on-farm products at Trouw Nutrition. DATA DRIVES ON-FARM DECISIONS The validation farm is renovated to execute scientific research and relies on state-of-the-art digital equipment and technologies, allowing researchers to follow every stage of a study. Feed activators are installed in each pen in the farm's farrowing room, permitting the sow to self-select when she wants to receive a portion of the feed. Feed is automatically dispensed whenever she moves her snout up and presses a small button. The feeding system gives the option to randomise two different dietary treatments across the barn, allowing researchers to precisely monitor feed intake of different dietary treatments, as well as feed intake patterns of sows in the farrowing pens. Additionally, researchers can monitor the piglets' body weight and growth over the lactation period. The weighing scales for sows and piglets are equipped with a Bluetooth connection and a link to the data platform, where researchers can log on remotely and follow their studies. Top-dress dosing equipment installed at the feeding station offers adding and mixing capabilities in the gestating barn. This functionality allows different feed additives to be added to the diet. These additives can support the specific nutritional requirements of sows based on the stage of gestation – for example, nutritional technologies that contribute to the growth of mammary tissue during late gestation. A weighing bridge can automatically weigh sows every time they leave the feeding station, allowing researchers to track body weight development in real-time. In the weaning barn as well as the grow-finish barns, computer-controlled feeding systems and water lines deliver accurate reporting on intake and provide the option to randomise different feed - and/or water-treatments throughout the farm. Sensors in the feed bins automatically re-fill feed as needed, and the amount is precisely weighed before going into the feed line. “These renovations allow us to have reliable, accurate, and direct on-farm results that are directly connected to the cloud, where researchers can follow their studies on-demand from their home office”, says Coen Smits.

Trouw Nutrition and Janssen Varkens partnership supports nutrition research from feed...

Trouw Nutrition, the livestock business line of Nutreco, announced Janssen Varkens as the newest partner to its global network of validation farms.  Trouw Nutrition,...