Positive atmosphere and good attendance at IPE 2011
The international poultry scene gathered again in January at the annual International Poultry Expo (IPE) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Suppliers and producers from around the world met in a positive atmosphere. Apparently this years show was a good venue for paving the way to new business.
By Ad Bal
Concurrently with IPE, the International Feed Expo (IFE) also took place in the Georgia World Congress Center. Altogether 900 suppliers were on display at the show, which attracted well over 20,000 visitors, an increase of 13% compared to last year. To a certain extent this could be attributed to the fact that companies of the Show-Co group were on display at this years IPE. Show-Co members are important market players and therefore will attract quite some audience. But not just this, poultry producers showed their interest in investing, which made this years IPE a good meeting place.
Apart from many business meetings, IPE was surrounded by a large number of seminars, workshops and educational programmes. Prior to the show, the Scientific Forum took place which attracted 1,200 attendees. The forum is an annual meeting that allows information exchange and stimulates scientific research in poultry related topics, including pathology and environment, nutrition, physiology, and processing and products. Also the annual Hatchery-Breeder Clinic was held for the first time concurrently with the forum and show. Previously this was a separate event in July.
New products showcase
To a limited extent, new products were also launched at IPE, like in the field of LED lighting technology. Various companies displayed their products, such as Next Gen and AgriShift. Benefits of LED systems are low energy consumption and a long lifecycle. Also the light colour and temperature are beneficial for poultry production.
In the field of layer housing, US poultry producers seem to show interest for alternative systems. In the state of California, traditional cages will be banned from 2015, so producers from that region seemed particularly keen. But not just that, also egg producers from other states are showing interest for alternative housing systems. To some extent this is driven by demands from their customers like McDonalds. However, producers also seem to understand that public opinion may force them into a new direction. Big Dutchman was showing their Avech enriched colony housing system, for which they are getting a “seal of approval for humane housing” from the American Humane Association.
Plasson introduced Water On Demand (WOD), allowing easy control and management of pressure in all drinker lines from one central place. Pressure regulators in existing systems can easily be retrofitted, enabling WOD to be installed.A new product of Centurion Poultry is the Sagitta brown broiler line of their PureLine Genetics division. This is a dual purpose strain that is aimed at producing a high number of hatching eggs, high hatchability and good growing, feed efficient offspring with good liveability. Initially, Centurion was targeting a niche market, primarily in the US with this bird. However, customers in Canada and Latin America are also showing interest. Centurion also plans to introduce the Sagitta strain in Europe, Asia and Africa.
Innovax to more countries
Intervet Schering-Plough announced that their “Innovax” recombinant vaccine will be available for the world market from now on. This doesn’t automatically mean that it is approved by the authorities everywhere, but in a number of countries like in the Middle East, it will be available.
Two years ago, ISP launched Innovax, a vaccine that is applied in ovo or to day-old chicks, in the Americas. There are two versions: Innovax ND-SB which protects against Newcastle and Marek’s Disease, and Innovax ILT which protects against ILT and Marek’s Disease. Due to local legislation, the vaccine is currently known as “Fusion” in Mexico, and in Colombia it can only be sold under the brand name “Innofusion”.
During a seminar at IPE, customers from Latin America shared their experiences with the use of this vaccine under commercial conditions, with other producers from the Americas. In his presentation, Dr. Germán Galvis, President of Grupo San Marino de Colombia, told the audience that they have good experiences with Innovax. They can now offer added value to their customers by offering fully protected chicks for their entire productive lifecycle. For them this is an advantage from a competitive point of view. This coming March, at the VIV Asia tradeshow in Bangkok, Thailand, Intervet Schering-Plough will introduce Innovax to the Asian continent.
Celebration time
Various companies took the chance to celebrate milestones at IPE. Such as Novus who are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, focusing on “Innovation with Integrity”. Through this theme, Novus seeks to leverage technology and innovation to expand the capability of best practice agriculture to meet the world’s growing demand for food.During a Novus meeting at IPE, Charlie Arnot, CEO of the Center for Food Integrity addressed the audience on how the research and development initiatives from the poultry science community matters in the “big picture” of how consumers will gain trust in today’s food system.
Hubbard is celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2011. From the small flock of chickens with which Ira and Oliver Hubbard began the business in 1921, Hubbard has grown to be a major international broiler breeding company. Throughout the major changes in the breeding business over the past 90 years, Hubbard managed to keep up. Their aim is to continue to play a vital role in the industry. Throughout the year they will celebrate their anniversary activities.
Kemin celebrated its 50thanniversary at IPE and they also organised their annual poultry summit. There, speakers commented on the new feed safety Bill of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA intends to have audited all high risk feed facilities within five years and all low risk facilities within seven years.
Regarding salmonella, Richard Sellers of the American Feed Industry Association said that mash feeds are at greater risk than pelleted feeds. Also high protein meals are at risk, especially when the seed coat is broken, he added.
Finally, US layer breeding company Hy-Line are celebrating their 75thanniversary this year. This started at IPE with a major hospitality meeting in the Atlanta aquarium. A new corporate house style marks the 75 year milestone of Hy-Line.
Good starting point
These events and various other new products and memorable facts were colouring this years show in Atlanta. A good starting point for organising the 2012 edition, which will for the first time take off one day earlier than usual. The 2012 edition is scheduled to run from Tuesday to Thursday, with the side events running concurrently. With that, IPE organisers are hoping to keep exhibitors and visitors in Atlanta and make the show worth visiting for three full days. 2012 will tell if that expectation becomes reality. At least the 2011 edition turned out to be a successful event.
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