Among the highlights of the report are profit for the period up 32 per cent. Headline earnings per share rose six per cent and cash at the end of the period was 690 million rand (ZAR) – up 43 per cent. Dividend declared increased by 14 per cent.

Chris Venter, CEO of AFGRI, commented: "In today's results, AFGRI reported a 32 per cent improvement in consolidated profit over the previous financial period, earnings per share attributable to shareholders increased by 30 per cent from 72.7 cents per share to 94.7 cents per share and the Group's cash position improved by 43 per cent to end the period with cash of ZAR690 million."

During the period under review, AFGRI has made significant progress in implementing the One AFGRI strategy via the disposal of five non-core business units (Seed unit, Tsunami Companies, the Lowveld and Natal region's retail stores and the Western Cape debtors' book.)

"What remains to be sold is the cash management business, Deposita and the Australian operation. We continue to assess appropriate buyers," added Mr Venter. He went on to say that the sale of non-core assets demonstrates real progress in aligning the Group with the grain value chain in the AFGRI focus area.

AFGRI is committed to growing its investment in the food sector having recently acquired Rossgro Chickens and the remaining minority interest in Midway Chix. Purchasing Rossgro Chickens is a strategic move for AFGRI, by increasing the abattoir capacity to the intended goal of just over a million chickens per week. AFGRI's overall poultry business is now more complete in its ability to supply day old chickens and take these through to the abattoir.

"The Delmas abattoir and the Rossgro abattoir are only eight kilometres apart and we will be able to join together marketing and sales forces. Our contract growers are also the same, so overall the deal has fantastic synergies for AFGRI," explained Mr Venter.

AFGRI Foods
The Foods division, representing the more industrial elements of the Group and comprising of AFGRI Animal Feeds, AFGRI Poultry and Nedan oil business, units performed above expectation, posting a profit before tax of ZAR196 million (2009: ZAR168 million), an increase of 17 per cent.

The key external drivers impacting on AFGRI Foods is GDP growth, consumer spending and the sustained low retail price of chicken. These factors impinged upon the foods sector although AFGRI Foods has reported improved results overall.

In total, Animal Protein reported a profit before tax of ZAR171.2 million – an increase of 11 per cent on 2009's ZAR153.7 million.

Nedan experienced their best year ever with results being driven by a 28 per cent increase in sales volumes and an improvement in gross margins.

Prospects
Mr Ventner concluded: "Following the global recession AFGRI has emerged a stronger and more aligned business, with a clear vision of the future which includes the grain value chain, expansion into the food sector and Africa, whilst remaining committed to South Africa.

"As the Group nears the completion of its restructuring programme, the remaining core operations provide it with a diversity of products and services and a broad and loyal customer base."

 

www.poultex.com

The case is a 33 year-old female from Qaluibia governorate. She developed symptoms on 17 August, was hospitalized on 24 August, where she received oseltamivir treatment, and died on 26 August.

Investigations into the source of infection indicated that the case had exposure to sick and dead poultry.

The case was confirmed by the Egyptian Central Public Health Laboratories, a National Influenza Center of the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance Network (GISN).

Of the 112 laboratory confirmed cases of Avian influenza A(H5N1) reported in Egypt, 36 have been fatal.

www.who.int

Mr Agnew was at pains to point out that the egg industry believes that as much as 29 per cent of EU egg production will still be from caged birds when the ban comes into force.

Commenting after the meeting, Mr Agnew said: "The Commission is burying its head in the sand on this issue. Its representative at the meeting, ironically, an Englishman called Newman was not prepared to speculate on what might happen if a significant number of hens are still in cages. His line is 'it will be alright on the night', despite the fact that financially, let alone logistically the industry believes that 29 per cent of EU production will still be in cages on D-Day. He was not prepared to discuss suggestions that battery cage eggs must not leave the country of production. He would only say that the Commission is constantly reminding member states of their obligations. No mention was made of any attempt by the Commission to either encourage or force them to comply with the ban.

"Once again, I championed the obvious solution of creating an extra number '4' classification to be used to identify colony-produced eggs but Mr Newman failed to answer because he believes that there will not be a need for it. The potential disaster here is that English egg producers have invested heavily in the infrastructure needed to comply with the ban and having met the deadline, will find themselves in unfair competition from suppliers outside of the EU or from member states who have not met the deadline but have been allowed extensions."

Mr Agnew made the Commission's options very clear during the Committee meeting: "You have no Plan B, so on 1st January 2012 you will have to make a choice. Either you ban 29 per cent of production, which will be replaced by imported eggs from outside the EU, which of course will be produced in battery cages, or you give the non-compliant member states more time, resulting in eggs from different production systems being put on the market under the same label."

 

www.thepoultrysite.com

This is the first exhibition in the Ukraine that is dedicated exclusively to animal farming. Victam, international trade show for the feed business, will have its own pavillion at the show. Agricultural trade exhibition "Kiev AgriHort", which was organized by ITE / BTO will be re-branded and move into Animal Farming Ukraine.

Western suppliers in all sectors recognise the rapid expansion of the Ukrainian livestock sector and the potential it offers, especially in the animal feed market.  Victam International will therefore be ondisplay with a Victam Ukraine Pavilion during Animal Farming Ukraine 2010. The key product areas for the Pavilion are Feed Technology, Feed Ingredients & Additives, Quality control, Flour Milling, Grain Processing & Storage.

Animal Farming Ukraine 2010 will be organised in Pavilion 3 of the International Exhibition Center on Brovarskiy Prospekt in Kiev. The "IEC" is located and only 10 minutes away from the old city centre.

 

www.worldpoultry.net

The Board of Investment (BOI) has reported that 17 livestock and aquatic breeding and processing projects received investment promotion during the first seven months this year for projects, ranging from farms to processing units, with a combined investment value of more than 4.2 billion baht.

Prominent projects include a 1.03- billion-baht ready-to-eat meal venture from Songkla Canning Plc, and poultry and animal feed production expansion programmes by two major chicken producers and exporters, Betagro Group and GFPT Plc.

Betagro subsidiary, Betagro Foods Products International, received incentives for its broiler chicken farming site in Nakhon Ratchasima. The 528-million-baht project aims to farm 17.36 million chicks a year to feed its production plants in the area.

Krungthai Farm Co received investment perks for three projects in chicken farming and animal feed with a combined investment capital of 845 million baht.

Sukhum Panyakorn, an investment analyst for GFPT, said the Krungthai projects, to be completed by 2012, would add 150,000 chicks a day to the GFPT production lines. This will increase its capacity to 250,000 chickens per day in support of its 1.56-billion-baht joint venture with Japan's leading food company, Nichirei Food Inc. This is meant to make frozen and processed chicken for export which will become fully operational in December with the capacity to produce 30,000 tonnes of cooked products for export to Japan.

Mr Sukhum said the group was also increasing animal feed capacity by establishing a new feed plant in Chon Buri with the capacity to produce up to 500,000 tonnes, increasing its animal feed production to one million tonnes a year.
The expansion, he says, is intended to cash in on the increased import quota the European Union allocated to Thailand this year of 160,000 tonnes, which has.helped increase Thailand's chicken exports to the EU to 93,000 tonnes in the first half this year, a 7.5% rise year-on-year.

Strong demand from Japan and Asian countries drove chicken meat exports in the first half to increase by 8.66% year-on-year to 200,560 tonnes and experts expect exports will reach 400,000 tonnes this year worth 53.3 billion baht, up from 397,069 tonnes worth 52.7 billion baht in 2009.

Kukrit Arepagorn, manager of the Thai Broiler Processing Exporters Association, said Thailand ranks at the top for exports of cooked and semi-cooked products thanks to high production skills in cutting and the ability to produce various products to meet market demand. He said that of the 397,069 tonnes of chicken meat exported last year, 378,809 tonnes were cooked and semi-cooked items.

But for raw meat exports, Thailand lags Brazil and the US, which ship more than 2 million tonnes of mostly raw chicken meat a year. Thailand's large-scale production facilities and product quality, he says, have raised the profile of the Thai chicken industry to become a significant global food source and attract foreign investor

 

www.worldpoultry.net

For more on the recall:
FDA: Feed to be blamed for salmonella in major egg recall
Update: Salmonella outbreak forces second recall of shell eggs
Vaccines could have prevented US Salmonella egg recall
 
Statement The Iowa Poultry Association:
The Iowa Poultry Association wants consumers to understand that we appreciate their concerns and questions relative to the current voluntary recall of eggs. Our egg farmers understand that consumers expect and require a safe, wholesome food.  We accept that calling.
 
Our egg farmers understand that consumers expect and require a safe, wholesome food.  We accept that calling.
The two farms involved have voluntarily participated in the recall due to the potential of Salmonella contamination.  This is an on-going investigation and once a conclusion is reached, we can determine what can be learned.
Consumers who are concerned about eggs they have purchased should look for the plant number and Julian dates described on the FDA website (www.fda.gov) or the Egg Safety Center (www.eggsafety.org). Dates and codes can be found stamped on the end of egg cartons as shown on the FDA website.  If you have any of these cartons, contact the store at which they were purchased.
 
Salmonella in eggs typically is a rare occurrence.  During the 92-day recall notice (Julian dates 136-228) approximately 17.5 billion eggs were produced by farms around the country.  With the recall of approximately 550 million eggs, this represents approximately 3% of the total quantity of eggs produced during that 3-month period.  However, according to the Salmonella Risk Assessment, the risk associated with finding even one contaminated egg is 1 in 20,000 eggs.
 
As with any food source, safe handling and thorough cooking of eggs is key.  The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) both say that thoroughly cooked eggs are thoroughly safe eggs.  Consumers should know that Salmonella is destroyed by the heat of proper cooking.  Eggs should be cooked until the whites and yolks are firm.  For dishes containing eggs, the internal temperature should reach 160 degrees Fahrenheit.


www.worldpoultry.net

"The poultry meat and egg segments of the U.S. poultry industry are completely separate entities. The products never come in contact with each other and are produced at separate facilities remotely located from one another, which fully excludes any possibility of cross-contamination," USAPEEC President Jim Sumner said in a statement to Russia.

USAPEEC's response was in reaction to an Interfax report in which Russia's food safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said it sought information on the egg recall and that the recall could be a potential obstacle to U.S. poultry meat exports to Russia.
 
USAPEEC is the trade association of the U.S. poultry and egg industry that is dedicated to increasing exports of U.S. poultry and eggs worldwide.
 
Russia just recently began accepting U.S. poultry after banning the product for much of the year because a chlorine disinfectant used here violated its food safety policy. U.S. producers shipping to Russia now use a different disinfectant.

www.worldpoultry.net

The system may also help ease the egg farm's impact on neighbours who have sued Olivera over noxious ammonia emissions from its manure lagoons.
Construction of a manure digester should begin in October. Methane and other flammable gases produced by the digester will probably be burned off until the fuel cell is delivered early in 2011.

In a 22-day process, wastes flowing through the digester will emerge, heat-sterilized, as peat moss-like solids suitable for animal bedding and liquids to be used as soil amendments. Once the fuel cell is in operation, emissions will be minimized.
 
"The exhaust gas from the fuel cell is pretty much water vapor,"  a spokesman of G3 Power Systems said. It will give off very little nitrogen oxides or sulfur oxides. "Our exhaust is very clean."
 
Power plant manufacturer FuelCell Energy Inc. announced earlier this month that it had sold a 1.4-megawatt fuel cell power system to G3 Power Systems for the Olivera project. According to FuelCell Energy, emissions are negligible, because there is no combustion.
 
The power plant will meet roughly all the power needs of the egg ranch, and heat from the fuel cell conversion process will go to the anaerobic digester, boosting its efficiency.
 
"Renewable biogas applications, such as this project for Olivera Egg Ranch, demonstrate how a fuel cell can help food processing and agricultural operations manage their waste streams, improve their economics and generate clean electricity," said Chip Bottone, senior vice president of FuelCell Energy.

www.worldpoultry.net

This is the second time Ross has been involved with the event, which was organised by Lohmann Tierzucht and shows the scale of knowledge which Ross customers can call on as part of the Wesjohann Group. A number of equipment and veterinary suppliers also sponsored and attended the event.

Ross Technical Managers, Waleed El Deeb and Hosam Amro gave presentations on Ross brooding and critical age management and the event was also attended by Michael Garden Business Manager, Middle East, Turkey and Africa and John Maguire, International Business Manager. Feedback from attendees has been very positive. Other presentations included; incubation and hatching egg management, hatchery management and eggshell quality.

John Maguire said:
“This event is quickly becoming a ‘must do’ for the poultry industry in this area. Not only is it a great place to learn about the latest developments and techniques but the activities in the evening give everyone a chance to meet new people and talk about the industry with like-minded people. Having a forum to share ideas and experience is invaluable.

“For that reason we’d like to pass our thanks to Lohmann Tierzucht for inviting us to be part of this meeting again and we are glad that everyone was able to take away a positive experience from this.”

As always, a number of social events also took place which gave everyone a chance to make new friends and catch up with old ones while sharing advice and insight into the poultry industry. Social events included a Nile cruise and a light show at Egypt’s famous pyramids.

ENDS

About Aviagen

Aviagen is the world's leading poultry breeding company, developing pedigree lines for the production of broiler chickens under the Ross, Arbor Acres and L.I.R brand names.  The company is based in Huntsville, Alabama, USA with a number of wholly-owned operations across Europe, Latin America, Brazil, India, and Australia, New Zealand and the USA and joint ventures in Europe, South Africa, Turkey and Asia. Aviagen employs 2,000 people and has a distribution network serving customers in 120 countries.  For further information please visit www.aviagen.com.

 

www.grayling.com

Steve Harris, Managing Director of Meriden Animal Health will be attending the Pork Expo: ‘I am delighted to be working with Imuvet & to be supporting them at this prestigious event.  The launch of Orego-Stim® in Brazil is set to be an exciting milestone for us.’

Rodrigo Pulici, Vice-President of Imuvet commented ‘We are looking forward to strengthening our partnership with Meriden and bringing the many benefits of Orego-Stim® to the Brazilian market’

Dr Gene Jin, Managing Director of Meriden (Guangzhou) Biotech Co. Ltd, will also be attending the event and presenting a paper entitled ‘Phytogenic Feed Additives in Swine Production: Theory & Practice’ in the International Forum.

Orego-Stim® is the 100% natural feed additive/flavour used globally in the diets of a variety of commercial livestock species to enhance and maximise overall performance, increasing financial returns. Orego-Stim® not only improves the functioning of the gut, but is renowned for other interesting properties.

The Pork Expo takes place on the 14th – 16th September 2010 at the Estação Embratel Convention Center in Brazil.  For more information please visit www.porkexpo.com.br.

 

Meriden Animal Health Limited