Agriculture Business Week

With good early bookings, all the signs are that there will be another well attended Pig, Poultry & Dairy Focus Asia 2010. This event is now perceived as Asia ’s leading independent technical conference for anyone involved in modern pig, poultry and dairy production and attracts production managers, QA managers, nutritionists and veterinarians. The event will be held on 1 – 3rd March 2010 at the prestigious Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand.

The event has 90 international experts as its speakers and topical issues such as the use of enzymes and probiotics to improve feed utilisation and animal performance, the effect of health on meat or milk quality, controlling the impact of mycotoxins, optimising reproductive performance and the value of organic minerals are among the topics on the programme.

In addition, the pig programme will consider topics such as intestinal integrity, semen analysis, weaning capacity and boar taint control and the poultry programme will also consider in ovo vaccination, evaluation of feed trials, single stage incubation and salmonella control. The Dairy programme will also focus on calf pneumonia, heat stress, reproductive health management and coccidiosis.

(more…)

Here’s an in-depth look at the world of organic farming for both livestock and organic.

Organic agriculture in the Philippines is still in its embryonic phase when compared to agricultural sectors of other countries. However, organic agriculture in the country is fast gaining ground. Though organic agricultural production is limited, it is steadily growing, between 10-20% annually. The organic market in the country is currently considered as a “niche market.” But producers need not be discouraged. Top marketing experts have predicted that in the coming trends, it is in the niche markets where profits lie. Organic products are also penetrating the major supermarkets with a price premium ranging from 20% to 50% over non-organic products.

The President of Philippines approved a document on the “Promotion and Development of Organic Agriculture in the Philippines” in 2005-Executive Order 481. This recognizes the marketability potential of organic agriculture in the country and also provides government support to the development of the organic sector of agriculture. EO 481 also hopes to establish an organic agriculture program that will adopt and develop organic product markets, the education of more farmers, the extension of assistance to individuals and groups who are practicing and promoting these methods, and documentation and evaluation of the programs.

(more…)

Egg Incubator :

Egg Sorter :

Egg Machines by Abellar Equipment :

(more…)

Have you been wanting to start your own duck business? Here’s a no-nonsense guide to jumpstart your way to success.

Samonellosis is a bacterial disease affecting ducklings. This is caused by Salmonella anatum and S. typhimurium. This disease is characterized by diarrhea and dehydration, ruffled feathers, dry sunken eyes, leg swelling and sudden collapse. Salmonellosis is transmitted through direct contact and ingestion of contaminated feed and water.

Salmonellosis may be prevented by strict sanitation practices, thorough and frequent cleaning and disinfection of feeders and waterers, and maintaining litter and ground to be clean and dry.

(more…)

D. Layer Management

On the average, quail start laying after 45 days from hatching. The production cycle lasts for 300-320 days and within this period the laying efficiency should be maintained at 65%. Some of the major consideration when managing layers are:
1. Feeding – this will be discussed separately

2. Water – like any other bird, quail needs a lot of fresh and clean water. Whenever possible, flowing water should be maintained except when there is supply problem in which case water should be replaced daily and the watering trough must be cleaned everyday.

3. Culling – for large scale operation, it is advisable that massive culling be done regularly, preferably on a quarterly basis or even once every 4 months. Birds that have grown fat, or are sickly and are not laying eggs. This latter condition is manifested by the size of the vent and the conformation of the abdominal parts.

(more…)

Quail by some distinction are classified as “game” or “hunting” birds and as such, should not be compared with chicken, whose requirements are different.

On a commercial scale, quail raising has not attracted the interest of investors because of the lack of data particularly with regards to feeding. Many people who go into quail raising are usually hobbyists who are not income-conscious.

Breeds of Quail

* Japanese Seattle
* Silver
* Negro
* Japanese Taiwan/Chinese Quail
* Tuxedo
* Brown Crosses nos. 1 and 2

(more…)

Management

Housing Equipment

Feeding troughs or feeders

Feeders can be placed inside or along the front of cages. When making feeders, consider the ease in cleaning and avoidance of feed spilage. Feed spilahe may be avoided by placing a metal or wooden strip along the inner mouth of the feed trough.

Waterers

To facilitate cleaning, the shape and size of the waterers should be semi circular, fairly wide and supported by an adjustable bracket to permit easier adjustment. It may have a removal stopper at the drainage end to allow for easier cleaning

(more…)

Chicken broiler and egg production are the most progressive animal enterprises in the Philippines today. The poultry industry in fact began as the backyard enterprise but has shifted to the formation of very large integrated contract farming operations.

The growth of poultry industry in the Philippines has been impressive but its problems include inefficient management and the prevalence of many destructive poultry diseases and parasites cannot be ignored.

This manual provides technology and management know-how for poultry raising which we hope present poultry raisers and prospective poultry producers may find useful in effectively managing their poultry farms and also help them realize substantial financial returns from their enterprise in this period or high production cost inputs.

(more…)

Most often many state colleges and universities don’t receive enough funds from the government to meet their various needs in running their institutions. That is why they are forced to undertake what they call Income-Generating Projects.

Just like the Central Luzon State University in Nueva Ecija. The university has wide land that it can use for various agricultural projects to generate income for its own use. Just like raising tilapia, growing rice and corn, breeding of goats and other animals for sale to the public, planting vegetables and other high-value crops, raising poultry and others.

Among its different projects, broiler contract growing is the school’s big money-maker. CLSU is one of the many contract growers of San Miguel Corporation in Central Luzon starting in 1995. Dr. Edgar Orden, the broiler farm’s project manager, said that they started with 12,000 chicks per batch. Today, it has increased to 24,000 birds. Next year, the production could double to 48,000 because two new tunnel-vent houses with a capacity of 12,000 birds each will be constructed soon.

(more…)

Antimicrobial agents, or a group of drugs like antibiotics, antifungals, antiprotozoals, and antivirals, are potent weapons’ against pathogenic microorganisms in veterinary and human medicine, the long term use of animal feed supplemented with low or “sub-therapeutic” doses of antimicrobials has come under the greatest scrutiny.

The main concern is focused on the potential emergence of’ antimicrobial resistance. Scientists have determined that the potential for antibiotic resistance to occur in food borne bacteria exists, but using science-based risk analysis, assess the human medical consequence as low.

It is thought that the mounting problem on human infections are difficult to treat due to antimicrobial resistance rooted in antimicrobial overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics, with antimicrobial resistance in food borne bacteria being only a smaller contributor.

(more…)

You have never been to the Philippines unless you have eaten balut!

This is what most Filipinos tell foreigners who come to the Philippines for the first time. So, perhaps this must be the reason why the members of the rock band Switchfoot ate balut on stage at their concert in the country-to the delight of their Filipino fans!

A balut is a fertilized egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell. It has been the “shocking” topic of some television shows because of its taboo nature in some Western cultures. In two episodes of Survivor: Palau and two episode of Survivor: China, separate challenges featured attempts to eat this fertilized egg. Similarly, Fear Factor frequently uses balut as a means of disgusting contestants. The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir featured balut eaten by several contestants after its introduction by a Filipino-American fighter Phillipe Nover.

(more…)

Alltech’s new technology uses DNA and nutrigenomics to pinpoint an animal’s needs.

At first glance, the new gene chip developed by Alltech, looks like your ordinary memory card. But more than storing thousand bits of information, this small chip uses DNA and nutrigenomics to pinpoint an animal’s needs. As what was explained to us, it would take only one drop of a cow’s blood or saliva to reveal a lot of information on a cow’s potential to produce milk or meat.

In the recently concluded 22nd AsiaPacific Lecture Tour, Alltech’s founder and President Dr. Pearse Lyons sat down with members of the press and excitedly told about what this new technology can do. Dr. Lyons received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University College Dublin, Ireland. After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham in the UK, he worked in the alcohol industry in Ireland, the UK and the USA . He founded Alltech in 1980, and today the company is a leading animal health company with group sales approaching $500 million.

(more…)

Have you been wanting to start your own duck business? Here’s a no-nonsense guide to jumpstart your way to success.

Vaccination and medication programs must be administered to the animals to prevent viral infections and bacterial diseases. Ducklings at age one day to seven days must be administered with antibiotic or sulfa drug preparation through drinking water to prevent bacterial infections like salmonellosis, collibacilosis and staphyloccosis. At age eight to 14 days, ducklings may be given antibiotic-vitamin-mineral mixture through their drinking water to increase the animal’s resistance against bacterial diseases. Ducklings aged 21-28 days may be given multivitamins to increase their resistance.

During stressful conditions like a change in climate, ducks at age two to four months may be given antibiotic vitamin-mineral mixture to be administered through their drinking water. Fowl cholera vaccine may be given to the ducks at age four and a half months by way of intramuscular or subcutaneous injection. An antibiotic vitamin mineral mixture must be given to the animals three days before administration of vaccine and again three days after to combat stress. During the laying months, antibiotic vitamin-mineral mixture may be given when needed. Sulfa drugs should not be administered during the laying period unless absolutely necessary.

(more…)

Encouraging people to invest in agribusiness can be more meaningful if they can be provided with some basic facts.

The domestic broiler industry has undergone a complete circle of starting from loose small farms into the entry of feedmilling companies, becoming integrators by supplying the day-old chicks, feeds, and going into contract growing, and into chicken dressing plants, and retail and institutional selling. And now, except for one or two integrators, the industry is being dominated by small regional players outsourcing their requirements from other small industry players.

Over the years, the likes of Robina Farms, Gen. Milling Corporation, Vitarich Corporation, RFM Corporation, had either completely been out of the industry, or had scaled down their operations that they are no longer their old self and having very little or negligible influence in the industry.

(more…)