Stockfeed output rises
Livestock feed production grew three per cent globally to 1.103 billion tonnes in 2018 according to US animal nutrition company, Alltech.
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Its annual survey of 144 countries and nearly 30,000 feed mills reported the stockfeed industry had grown an average of 2.76pc annually in the past five years.
Predominant growth was in the layer, broiler and dairy sectors.
Leading processors, China, the US, Brazil, Russia, India, Mexico, Spain and Turkey produced 55pc of the world’s feed from 59pc of its mills.
The Asia-Pacific region produced 36pc of global tonnage, with China delivering a leading 188m tonnes, or 10m more than next placed US.
Increased Asia-Pacific production was driven largely by India’s 13pc growth in dairy, layer and broiler feeds, while Pakistan, Myanmar and Laos also expanded strongly.
A 4pc rise in global aquaculture feed output came on the back of strong Asia-Pacific and Europe growth, notably Vietnam, India and Indonesia, adding 1.58m tonnes.
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Bligh to talk rural banking
In the wake of this week’s release of final findings by the Royal Commission Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry Misconduct, the Australian Banking Association chief executive officer, Anna Bligh, addresses the Farm Writers Association of NSW on February 22.
The former Queensland Premier will discuss the Royal Commission’s impact on the rural financial services industry.
The midday forum at Sydney’s Grace Hotel is expected to draw a big crowd and early bookings are recommended.
Farm Writers also hosts Tess Herbert, the immediate past president of the Australian Lot Feeders Association, and former Red Meat Advisory Council director, at its informal Agribuzz function at National Australia Bank House in Sydney on February 13, from 5.30pm.
- For details visit www.nswfarmwriters.org.au
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High profile Availer chair
Former managing director at global investment firm, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), Tony Schultz, will become Adelaide-based agtech company, Availer’s first chairman.
He will work with co-founders Remo Carbone and Andrew Grant to commercialise proprietary and ground-breaking technology for the food, wine and agriculture industries.
Availer’s proprietary laser spectral analysis technology brings real time lab-quality measurement data and analytics tools to red meat and wine production and distribution industries.
Availer is poised to commercialise its MEQ Probe System which uses medical-grade lasers, nanoscale biophotonics and advanced algorithms to objectively measure meat tenderness.
The MEQ Probe secured $500,000 in funding from Meat and Livestock Australia, Teys Australia and other industry partners last year to assist its development to provide a more consistent measure of meat eating quality.
Mr Grant said Mr Schultz’s expertise and international experience would help Availer take Australian agtech innovation to global markets.
He had an extensive background in investing, public and private capital raisings, and business growth in a career which has spanned roles in Australia and the US with firms such as Westpac Banking Corporation, Halliburton and Duke Energy.
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Hemp gets Washington’s help
US President Donald Trump’s pre-Christmas signing of the latest American Farm Bill legislation has legalised commercial cultivation and sale of industrial hemp in the US for the first time in more than 80 years.
The Farm Bill legalises hemp as an agricultural commodity and removes it from the controlled substances list.
It allows hemp researchers to apply for competitive federal grants from the US Department of Agriculture, makes hemp eligible for federal crop insurance and gives states the opportunity to be the primary overseers of hemp production.
The legislation as being hailed by the hemp lobby as giving new opportunities for farmers caught in the trade war between China and the US a chance to grow new products for the construction, health care, and manufacturing sector.
USDA Secretary, Sonny Perdue, said the US looked forward to developing markets for hemp.
“Agriculture needs new products,” he said.
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New Inghams director
Poultry producer and processor, Inghams Group, has appointed former George Weston Foods chief executive officer, Andrew Reeves, to its board.
Mr Reeves also sits on the boards of Credit Union Australia; New Zealand’s Keytone Dairy processing business; NetGet Limited, and chairs the CSIRO joint venture, The Healthy Grain Company, and has held senior roles at brewing and beverages companies Lion Nathan and Coca Cola Amatil.
“Andrew’s executive experience working with the operational environment and extracting knowledge from best in class operational leaders has given him a deep understanding of supply chain challenges,” said Inghams chairman, Peter Bush.
“He is a prominent figure within the fast moving consumer goods industry and has accumulated a depth of knowledge in value-added food products.”
Inghams has also begun searching for a new chief financial officer to replace Ian Brannan who will depart the company after four years in mid 2019.
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Plastic waste alliance
Giant farm and industrial chemical business BASF has co-founded a global alliance of nearly 30 companies to advance solutions that reduce and eliminate plastic waste in the environment, especially in the ocean.
The Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW) has committed over $1 billion with the goal of investing $1.5 billion in the next five years to help end plastic waste in the environment.
Solutions will be developed to minimise and manage plastic waste, including the promotion of strategies helping to enable a circular economy for plastic products.
Ocean Conservancy research shows plastics in the ocean predominantly originate from litter on land, mostly spread through rivers and predominantly 10 major rivers mainly in Asia and Africa.
BASF’s board of executive directors chairman, Dr Martin Brudermüller said many of these rivers flowed through densely populated areas which have a lack of adequate waste collection and recycling infrastructure, leading to significant waste leakage.
“Plastics are efficient materials that can save resources and enable health, safety as well as convenience benefits for society, but the benefits could be contradicted if plastic waste are not used, disposed of or recycled in a responsibly.