Bac Lieu reviews FAO-funded project on shrimp farming
A FAO-funded project has identified the causes of shrimp breeding failure in Soc Trang and Bac Lieu province, it was reported at a seminar held by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of southern Bac Lieu province on July 21.
The project, began in 2016, was a joint effort of the Soc Trang and Bac Lieu departments of agriculture and rural development, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Research Institute for Aquaculture No.2.
Participating scientists and specialised engineers attributed shrimp breeding failure to dramatic changes in the local environment as a consequence of climate change, poor investment in pond’s conditions and equipment, and farmers’ lack of knowledge and expertise.
Based on the finding, the project has helped 20 farming households pilot a sustainable shrimp breeding model through providing them with shrimp fry and training in farming techniques. As a result, they have earned higher incomes and gradually mastered technological application.
Speaking at the event, FAO chief representative in Vietnam Jong Ha-bae said FAO will work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s agenciesto work out advanced shrimp farming models adaptive to climate change in order to ensure farmers’ livelihoods and protect the environment, contributing to the sustainable development of the shrimp sector.
Source: VNA. Date: 2017-07-24
Vietnam wastes at least 1 billion USD yearly on over fertilisation
Vietnam wastes at least 23 trillion VND (1 billion USD) annually on fertilisation, experts said and called for replacement of conventional fertiliser with more hi-tech products.
Le Nhu Kieu, vice head of Soil and Fertilisers Research Institute under Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Science, said that about half of the amount of nitrogen fertiliser fed to plants gets released to environment, 70-80 percent of phosphorus fertiliser amount was kept in soil and 50-60 percent of urea fertiliser amount was either evaporated or eroded.
On average, in Vietnam, plants and crops received only 35-40 percent of the fertiliser given to them, he said.
About 11 million tonnes of inorganic fertilisers are used in the country on a yearly basis, he said.
The leaked fertiliser pollutes water, impoverishes soil and makes it hard to restore the soil’s quality.
“Overuse of chemical fertilisers also threatens human and other living being’s genes, as it could cause genetic mutations, which will bring diseases for crops,” Kieu said.
Kieu told khoahocphattrien.vn that it is time to promote “hi-tech fertilisers” to increase productivity and be safer to the environment.
Compared with conventional fertilisers, the hi-tech fertilisers can help increase productivity up to 20 percent.
Using conventional nitrogen fertiliser on rice, farmers usually lose about half of the fertiliser amount. The loss can drop 20 percent when hi-tech fertilisers are used.
Mai Van Quyen, former vice head of the Institute of Agricultural Science for southern Vietnam, said that major fertiliser producers are using new technologies.
For examples, scientists are applying urea liquefying technology makes high-nutrient NPK (Nitrogen – Phosphorus – Postassium) and working to produce other substances that can be easily absorbed and released more slowly to the environment.
The slow-release fertilisers - or controlled-release fertilisers - are polymer-coated.
The thickness of polymer coats allows different absorption speeds.
Quyen said that some polymer-coated fertilisers can be used for five months to nine months, which helps reduce the frequency of fertilizing.
Proper fertilisation also helps avoid diseases and eutrophication – an excessive richness of nutrients in soil.
Despite of advantages, hi-tech fertilisers have not been used widely in Vietnam’s farms.
Trinh Thi Diep – a fertiliser seller in Thieu Duy commune, Thieu Hoa district in the central province of Thanh Hoa said that her customers preferred conventional fertilisers because of lower prices and quick visible affects.
“They use nitrogen fertiliser today and see its effect in tomorrow, as the leaves growth much greener,” Diep said.
Experts say that farmers lack proper understanding about new fertilisers.
Business and relevant agencies need to boost communication to show farmers the effectiveness of hi-tech fertilisers.
Source: VNA. Date: 2017-07-24
Mengniu grows in B&R markets
China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd, one of the country's biggest dairy producers by revenue, plans to launch more products to suit local preferences in Canada and Indonesia this year, its top executive said.
Such business expansion opportunities are arising from China's growing trade with countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative over the past four years, especially in fast-growing markets such as India and Southeast Asia.
The Belt and Road Initiative, comprising the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.
Mengniu, which is based in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, will continue to invest in traditional dairy production bases such as New Zealand and Australia, as well as in the United States and European countries to produce quality dairy resources.
Jeffrey Lu, chief executive officer of Mengniu, said the company has also started to adjust its strategies in China. It is building three digitally enabled plants for long-term growth and to serve as manufacturing bases for exports to countries in Asia.
In line with China's industrial and consumption upgrading boom on the back of the Made in China 2025 initiative, Mengniu invested in a digitally enabled plant in Jinhua of East China's Zhejiang province. The aim is to ship more dairy products to Southeast Asian markets through the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
Last year, Mengniu signed a cooperation agreement with the Tibet autonomous region for joint efforts to build a modern pasture and a dairy factory. The partnership is expected to boost Mengniu's revenue.
The company plans to take advantage of Tibet's unique environment and resources to create pure and healthy dairy products to serve local consumers and also cover South Asian markets such as Nepal and India.
Some 1,500 cows have been raised in the pasture to date. The plan is to set up a production facility with annual capacity of 50,000 metric tons after the first-phase factory is completed in its neighborhood.
"Encouraging dairy consumption is a reflection of economic success in many markets related to the Belt and Road Initiative. The types of foods people eat now include health food and convenient food," said Lu.
"I think it's a combination of quality and innovation that is linked to growth and demand. Those two factors came together to create a big market," said Lu. "The biggest opportunity for us is the closer connection with consumers in the Belt and Road markets as well as in the home market."
To date, Mengniu's products have entered markets including Hong Kong, Macao, Mongolia, Singapore and Myanmar. Its portfolio ranges from regular-temperature products to low-temperature and frozen products.
It has also formed partnerships with suppliers in Canada and Indonesia this year.
Cows with an automatic milking equipment in Hengshui, Hebei province. [Photo provided to China Daily]
According to Mengniu's 2016 financial report, revenue grew 9.7 percent year-on-year to 53.8 billion yuan ($7.9 billion.
"Going overseas always brings challenges, particularly from a cultural perspective. Running a business in less familiar economies requires us to know the local culture, work with the locals, gain a thorough understanding of the legal environment, regulations and laws," said Lu.
"We developed new products to meet the preferences of local consumers in Hong Kong, Macao and Indonesia. In New Zealand, 80 percent of our staff are locals," he said. "After we acquired a large company in Australia in 2016, we retained 95 percent of their local employees."
Mengniu is also the largest shareholder of Anhui-based Modern Farming, showing the domestic dairy giant's shift to pasteurized milk and other low-temperature dairy products to get ahead of its international rivals.
Modern Farming is the country's leading farm company, with the largest number of cattle. It is also a leading provider of raw milk. The company operates 27 farms with over 220,000 cows. This move will allow Modern Farming to produce pasteurized milk, yogurt and pure milk.
To ensure product safety, Mengniu has been working with Germany's Siemens AG to build an internet-based system that is able to generate over 400,000 pieces of qualitative data a day.
Li Gang, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing, said: "Learning from experience in overseas markets and gaining advanced industrial technology will help Chinese dairy producers secure market share and further compete with foreign companies. So, they should keep diversifying their distribution channels and product portfolios in global markets."
Source: China Daily. Date: 2017-07-24
U.S. rice to be exported to China for first time
For the first time, U.S. rice farmers will now be able to export rice to China, according to a new agreement announced today by Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue.
The agreement comes after more than a decade of negotiations between U.S. Department of Agriculture officials and the Chinese government.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue called this agreement "an exceptional opportunity" with "enormous potential for growth" in a press release.
China is the largest consumer, producer, and importer of rice, as the nation eats the equivalent of the entire U.S. rice crop in under two weeks, according to USA Rice, an industry association. Each year China fills its plate with almost 5 million tons of imported rice, according to the USDA.
When China joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001, U.S. rice imports were barred due to strict pest and pathogen protocols between the two countries, according to USA Rice spokesman Michael Klein.
However, a decade of negotiation has left American rice industry leaders confident. "We have high food quality standards in the U.S. and this is something the Chinese are very interested in," Klein said. USA Rice worked with USDA on this agreement and Klein noted that it will likely be months before rice is shipped due to final required inspections.
Rice is typically grown in six states: Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas.
One farmer, Chris Crutchfield, 42, is a third-generation rice miller in California and called the closed Chinese market "frustrating," and that he is "very appreciative" of Secretary Perdue for pursuing this agreement.
This rice decision comes two weeks after the announcement that U.S. beef would again be allowed in China. To celebrate the beef agreement, Secretary Perdue joined U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad in Beijing and sliced a thick cut of Nebraska prime rib to celebrate.
For American rice farmers, Crutchfield said that any celebration will likely be subdued as many in the U.S. rice market try to respect the crop and its cultural relationship to Asian history.
However, Crutchfield added, "I imagine that some farmers in the States will say a toast tonight at dinner, over rice."
Source: CBS. Date: 2017-07-21
Indian Poultry Farms Are Breeding Drug-Resistant Germs
Indian poultry farms aren’t just rearing chickens — they’re also breeding germs capable of thwarting all but the most potent antibiotics, researchers found.
Random tests on 18 poultry farms raising about 50,000 birds each in India’s northwestern state of Punjab found that two-thirds of fowl harbored bacteria that produce special enzymes, known as extended-spectrum beta-lactamase, or ESBL, that destroy most penicillin- and cephalosporin-based antibiotics. Of tested birds destined for meat consumption, 87 percent had the super germs, a study published Thursday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives showed. That compared with 42 percent of egg-laying hens.
Farms supplying India’s biggest poultry-meat companies routinely use medicines classified by the World Health Organization as “critically important” as a way of staving off disease, an investigation by Bloomberg News showed last year. The latest research, the largest of its kind in India to date, highlights the consequence of this for the nation’s food supply.
“This study has serious implications, not only for India but globally,” said study author Ramanan Laxminarayan, director at the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy in New Delhi, in a statement. “We must remove antibiotics from the human food chain, except to treat sick animals, or face the increasingly real prospect of a post-antibiotic world.”
Mutant Germs
Worldwide, animals receive about twice the volume of antibiotics that humans do. Much of it is administered in doses that speed growth in livestock, but aren’t strong enough to kill all the bacteria, leaving mutant germs to not only survive, but thrive and potentially spread.
That’s alarming veterinary and medical experts, who say the practice is stoking infections that no medicine will cure. Drug-resistant diseases have the potential to cause a level of economic damage similar to — and probably worse than — that caused by the 2008 financial crisis, the World Bank said in September. It could add as much as $1 trillion a year to health-care costs by 2050 across the globe.
Of the 16 farms in Punjab that answered questions on antibiotic use, all used the medicines to treat sick birds and to stave off disease, while two-thirds also used the drugs to spur chick growth. The researchers compared drug use with levels of resistance present in 1,556 E. coli specimens collected from more than 500 birds.
Superbug ‘Reservoirs’
“Our findings suggest that antimicrobial use for growth promotion promoted the development of reservoirs of highly resistant bacteria on the studied farms, with potentially serious implications for human health,” Laxminarayan and colleagues wrote in the study.
Farmhands who handle the birds often wear open-toe shoes, providing “a conduit of entry for resistant bacteria and resistance genes into the community and hospitals, where further person-to-person transmission is possible,” they said.
“Withdrawal of non-therapeutic use of agricultural antimicrobials in India would be prudent to protect public health,” the authors said.
‘Ecological Problem’
Antibiotic resistance is an “ecological problem that spans humans, food-animals and the environment,” Laxminarayan said in an email. Genes that enable bacteria to evade anti-infective agents are widespread, and are frequently transferred between environments and microbial species in India, spurred by indiscriminate use of the medications in both human and veterinary medicine.
“Easy access to high-end antibiotics, inappropriate prescription practices, and lack of awareness are major issues,” he said.
More than 56,000 newborns die annually in India because of bloodstream infections that aren’t cured by first-line antibiotics, Laxminarayan estimated in a paper in the Lancet in October. “It is worrying that resistance-related infections and deaths in India are approaching epidemic proportions.” he said.
Agricultural systems in emerging economies such as China and India have increasingly turned to antibiotic-dependent intensive farming methods in order to meet the surging demand for protein as dietary habits change and incomes rise.
Chicken is the most-consumed meat in India. It’s cheaper than other meats and is subject to fewer religious prohibitions or cultural taboos. Consumption has increased more than 30 percent since 2013, out-pacing all major markets, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
A 2015 study predicted the use of antibiotics in livestock could more than quadruple by 2030 in some parts of India, primarily driven by “extreme” growth in chicken consumption. Broiler production is mainly concentrated in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana, the USDA said in a report in December.
Source: Bloomberg. Date: 2017-07-21
China's dairy products quality continues to improve Edit article
Some 99.8 percent of fresh milk and 99.5 percent of dairy products checked last year were up to standard, according to a dairy quality report released Wednesday.
The quality of domestic dairy products continued to improve in 2017, according to the report jointly released by the Dairy Association of China (DAC) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA).
The country's milk industry has recovered from the 2008 safety scandal, when infant formula produced by Sanlu Group, then a leading dairy company, was found to contain melamine, killing six babies and leaving thousands seriously ill.
Spot checks last year detected no illegal additives, such as melamine, the report said.
Some 98.7 percent of infant formulas checked were up to standards, exceeding many other domestically produced food products, according to the report.
Major quality and sanitary indicators were up to the standards of developed countries, MOA official Wang Jiaqi told a press conference for the report's release.
The quality of milk and dairy products has been improved as China has taken a string of measures over the past year, including improving regulations and industry standards and tightening supervision, said Liu Yaqing, deputy secretary of the DAC.
China produced 37.12 million metric tons of milk and 29.93 million tons of dairy products last year, ranking third after the United States and India, the report showed.
Source: China Daily. Date: 2017-07-20
Old foes sugar and corn syrup battle for lucrative Asian market
China's reform of its vast corn sector is spurring a rapid revival of cheaper high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), putting it on a collision course with Asian sugar producers in a battle for the lucrative sweetener market.
Output of HFCS is set to jump 7 percent this year, according to commodities information service Zhuochuang, as cheap corn from a sell-down of the country's giant stockpiles encourages producers to boost output or restart idled capacity.
After stalling in recent years, HFCS production will hit 4.15 million tonnes, about half of the output in the United States, the world's top producer, where corn-based sweeteners account for nearly half of the sweetener market.
Syrup, used as a sugar substitute in soft drinks and other liquid products, is gaining in popularity in China where it sells for a third of the price of natural sugar made from cane or sugarbeets, and makes up about 20 percent of demand for sweetner.
China's producers have also found willing buyers abroad.
"HFCS is changing the structure of the sugar industry in China and Southeast Asia," said Liu Hande, vice chairman of the China Sugar Association. "Consumption of sugar has been declining in recent years."
Coca-Cola China boosted its use of the liquid last year, two industry sources said, and total demand is expected to jump to 4.06 million tonnes this year, up 18 percent from 2016 and almost double levels in 2012, according to Zhuochuang. Coca-Cola China said it could not confirm increased use of HFCS.
China's HFCS demand compares with expected sugar demand this year of nearly 16 million tonnes.
Exports from Chinese producers grouped in the northern province of Shandong and in southern Guangdong province soared nearly 70 percent in 2016 to 454,843 tonnes, worth about $180 million, and are on track to rise again this year.
About half went to the Philippines, followed by Indonesia, Vietnam and India.
Trade Restrictions
The push sparked anger in the Philippines, where domestic output of 2.5 million tonnes of natural sugar in 2017/18 will already outpace demand.
Imports of syrup to the Philippines surged to 373,137 tonnes in 2016, more than 10 times the levels in 2013, according to the Philippine Sugar Millers Association.
Following complaints from domestic sugar producers, Manila placed restrictions on Chinese corn syrup imports in March.
Coca-Cola and other beverage companies in the Philippines, also agreed to boost their use of domestic sugar, according to a statement issued by the Philippines Agriculture Department late March.
In the two months since Manila's crackdown, China's exports to the Philippines have plunged, with May shipments falling to 1,884 tonnes, down from 34,715 tonnes in March, according to Chinese customs data.
Regional pressure for substitution, however, is set to continue with Chinese HFCS prices falling by almost a third from about three years ago to below 2,500 yuan ($368) per tonne, according to industry insiders.
By contrast, sugar futures prices in China remain elevated at about 6,250 yuan per tonne due to high farm costs. In May, Beijing slapped hefty import tariffs on foreign sugar in a bid to protect the industry, a move that is expected to keep prices at a premium for years.
Tensions Rising
Traders, analysts and producers say the tensions over HFCS are starting to spread to other countries.
Syrup's rise is undermining industry forecasts that demand for natural sugar will grow in the region's emerging economies as consumption in mature markets like the United States slows amid concerns about the health impact.
"If you have a cheap source of HFCS supply ... this always poses a significant threat to use of sugar," said Stefan Uhlenbrock, senior analyst at F.O. Licht. "It not only happens in the Philippines but also in other countries."
Indonesia's fructose syrup imports hit 107,321 tonnes in 2016, up 55 percent from a year earlier, but are still dwarfed by annual white sugar consumption of up to 6 million tonnes.
"If the (import) amount is big, this can be a threat for refined sugar, because HFCS is basically sweetener, just like refined sugar," said Benny Wachyudi, Chairman at the Sugar Refineries Association.
Source: Reuters. Date: 2017-07-21
Troubles for top beef exporters feed higher global meat prices
Fatter prices for all types of meat may be on the cards as religious and health concerns threaten to curtail supply from the world's top beef exporting countries and leading importer China seeks to satisfy its appetite with other sources.
India exported the most beef in 2016, sending 1.76 million tons abroad, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a figure that equates to 19% globally. The bulk of India's total comes from buffalo meat, which sells for around half the price of ordinary beef. And though roughly half of these Indian exports go to Vietnam, much of that meat is forwarded to China, the top beef consumer worldwide.
But that all stands to change after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government ordered a ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter in late May. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party triumphed in key state elections in March, giving Modi the political muscle to enact the ban. The country's Supreme Court suspended the law on Tuesday. But the party is backed by a Hindu nationalist group that is particularly opposed to the slaughter of cows -- a sacred animal in Hindu tradition -- casting uncertainty over whether India will remain a stable beef supplier.
Beef buyers also are preparing for a lean period from Brazil, based not on politics or religion but rather over questions of safety. The country exported 1.69 million tons of beef last year, or 18% of the world total. But the U.S. on June 22 halted imports of fresh Brazilian beef, citing food safety concerns. Brazilian media report abscesses were found on beef carcasses. This incident comes after Brazilian meat processors were discovered in March to be selling chicken and other products that fell short of sanitary standards.
These quality concerns could give China further reason to take its business elsewhere. The Asian nation imported 812,000 tons of beef in 2016, according to the USDA, beating No. 2 importer Japan by nearly 100,000 tons. Though Japan obtains no beef from India or Brazil, the country still may face rising prices for various meats as China substitutes products from those leading markets with others, according to a major meat wholesaler.
Meat from Australian milk and breeding cattle, sold here in ground form, fetched around 705 yen ($6.18) per kilogram on the wholesale market in early July, up 19% from a year prior. Fewer cattle have been raised due to a drought in the country, eating into supply. Prices on Thai chicken have fattened 5% on the year as buyers shift away from the meat's Brazilian counterpart.
Japan is entering a season of heavy demand for meat. But passing on any rising wholesale prices to the public could blunt sales, said a representative for Tokyo-centric supermarket chain Inageya, if the country's sluggish personal consumption figures are a reliable indicator.
Source: Nikkei Asian Review. Date: 2017-07-19
Canadian pork industry acting quickly on ractopamine finding in China
Pork groups and the Canadian Meat Council are working together to avoid any disruption to exports to China in the wake of a residue complaint from that country.
China says it has found traces of the growth promoter ractopamine in a shipment of pigs’ feet.
“Canadian Pork International, Canadian Pork Council and the Canadian Meat Council are working with the establishment involved as well as with Canadian government officials to clarify this incident and to take corrective actions,” said Pork Council spokesman Gary Stordy. “We are taking this detection very seriously and want to assure Chinese customers that our industry is dedicated to providing consumers a healthy, safe and nutritious product.”
The industry is confident in the integrity of the Canadian Ractopamine-Free Pork Certification Program, which sets the standards for meeting China’s requirements that meat be free of ractopamine, he said.
China was the third-biggest export customer for Canadian pork in 2016, buying 587,100 tonnes of product, behind the United States and Japan.
After being advised about the incident by the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued an advisory to the industry that “China is looking at this violation as a systemic failure in implementation of the Canadian Ractopamine-Free Pork Certification Program which could affect future pork exports to China. Furthermore, the Chinese authorities are testing Canadian pork for ractopamine at a wider level.”
The agency has suspended exports of pork to China from the establishment, which has not been identified, said Ron Davidson, vice-president of the Canadian Meat Council. “Product en route to the Chinese market from this specific establishment is also being recalled and the plant involved will not ship until further notice.
“At present, the establishment is liaising with its suppliers and the CFIA in the conduct of a comprehensive review of all the factors associated with the shipment,” he said. “As soon as the preliminary investigation is complete, a report containing the analysis and findings will be submitted to the CFIA for onward transmission to China.”
“We look forward to receiving more information and reviewing the compliance with the program at all levels of the supply chain,” Stordy said. “The Canadian pork industry values its relationship with China and looks forward to continuing a strong trading relationship.”
Ractopamine as a feed additive is allowed for beef and pork in Canada, the United States and Mexico but banned in about 160 countries including the European Union, Russia, China and Taiwan even though the Codex Alimentarius says it’s safe to use with appropriate withdrawal periods. Canada also allows it to be used in finishing heavy turkeys.
Source: GlacierFarmMedia. Date: 2017-07-19
China's High-rise Hog Hotel
Hog barns—stacked eight stories high. The photos from Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey traveled around the Twitter-verse lightning fast, raising eyebrows and slackening jaws of U.S. producers and industry leaders. We all want to know: “How do you manage that manure?”
Northey, on a trade mission with the Iowa Soybean Association in Guangxi, in south-central China, says the buildings were part of an expansion project with Chinese feed mill and pork producer Guangxi Yangxiang Co.
With land coming at a premium in China, pork producers are looking for ways to maintain animal production numbers, on fewer acres. The company already has a boar unit—1,500 boars, with plans to go to 5,000.
Northey said in another part of this mountain, they were building four high rises—each eight stories of sows with the ninth story for ventilation equipment.
“This was to be 30,000 sows on this side of the mountain, and another 10,000 sows just kind of across the mountain. All these animals are served by one feed mill.”
From the sow facilities, the 10-day to 3-week old pigs would be transported to nursery and finishing facilities farther down the mountain, or sold on contract to other producers.
“As far as they knew, and as far as we knew, this is the first more-than-two-story hog facility in production,” Northey says. “They said there are some two-story facilities out there, but this is the first eight-story building with pigs in it. There looked to be three [buildings] up, and another one in process. So potentially four buildings, with 7,500 sows per building. Just amazing.”
So How Would it Work?
Northey says they only saw the buildings from a distance, but here are a few ideas on how the buildings might look on the inside:
- Scrapers under each floor.
- A dedicated water and waste water system. He says in this case, they plan to separate waste water, dry the manure and haul it down the mountain. There seems to be some incentive or requirements in siting new facilities that would encourage integrated waste management for large operations.
- Ventilation for each floor. Basically, Northey says to think of it like single story buildings stacked on top of each other—there would need to be air intake and outtake measures for each floor. Some extra consideration would need to be taken on the structural side, with each floor being able to handle the weight of the animals and the building overall.
- Elevators to move animals and people to and from each floor.
- Multilevel ways of moving feed, both from the feed mill to the facility and within the facility itself. Likely there would either be an auger or pressurized air-driven delivery system.
Biosecurity was a major talking point for Chinese pork producers.
“They talked about it all the time,” Northey says. The placement of sows and boars near the top of the mountain, and have pigs move down the mountain to finishing facilities were one way to improve biosecurity. “They believe the isolation away from other pigs is a huge part of what they were building. This was very biosecurity driven—they wanted to build this facility miles and miles away from other producers, and their employees would be limited in their exposure to pigs on other farms.
The group Northey was traveling with was able to get a closer look at the boar facility, but went through stringent protocols. “They suited us up, washed our van and then we could get within a ½ mile of that facility to look at it,” he says.
“You have both the concentration of this many sows in one location that you would worry about, but if you could limit the exposure to other pigs, I think they believe they will have less disease than other facilities would have,” he says.
Source: AGWeb. Date: 2017-07-19