An evolution in technology

In the early days, companies had “dumb terminals” for data access and applications. These terminals were located on servers in the huge computer facilities of just a very few companies. They didn’t own the software themselves but leased it from these companies. Then came the Personal Computer, and now almost every company can afford an internal networking system.
10 Feb 2010 - 0 comment(s) - Read more »

“Can that satellite look into your barn?”

Well, not yet, but almost. Reading the weekly update of AllAboutFeed my attention was drawn by the article about the EU Harvest 2010 (News 22 Jan). Analists are forecasting the yield of corn, wheat etc….of huge interest for the feed-industry.
25 Jan 2010 - 0 comment(s) - Read more »

Meat and bone meal back into feed

It has been ten years now since the European Commission has banned the use of meat and bone meal (mbm) in animal feeds. There are enough reasons for lifting this ban, but decision making in Brussels is slow. Too long the feed industry has been withheld from a cheap and valuable feed ingredient.
12 Jan 2010 - 2 comment(s) - Read more »

Peanuts and mycotoxins

A few weeks ago I received a question from one of our readers. She asked me if she could feed her backyard potbellied pigs some leftover peanuts and peanut butter. My first reaction was: of course! Why not?
16 Dec 2009 - 0 comment(s) - Read more »

Towards the GREEN feedmill

As the animal feed industry is recovering from the latest financial crisis, the question arises what will be the next challenge that will hit us? With the Copenhagen Climate Summit coming up, discussions on C02 emission and sustainability are booming and make clear that these are the next challenges to face, for every sector.
04 Dec 2009 - 0 comment(s) - Read more »

Mingling manure with feed, good idea?

This is gonna be a shitty blog. In other words, I will talk about manure. The brown, green, solid or sometimes liquid "stuff" that comes out of the back of an animal is often a perfect reference how the animal is doing, whether it is healthy or sick? But it also provides very useful information on the digestibility of individual components of the animal diet. Furthermore, controlling the manure and associated gases becomes more important from an environmental point of view.
21 Oct 2009 - 0 comment(s) - Read more »

Food prices versus global biotech policies

Recently, the issue on global biotechnology policies, in particular the EU policy of zero tolerance for non-registered genetically modified organisms (GMO’s), was raised again when US exports of soya beans and other animal feed ingredients to the EU contained traces of maize GMO’s that have not yet been authorised in the EU.
15 Oct 2009 - 1 comment(s) - Read more »

Celebrity chefs fail to deliver

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the European Feed Manufacturers organisation Fefac, Mairead McGuinness, member of the European Parliament was invited to give a speech.
29 Sep 2009 - 0 comment(s) - Read more »

Is Big Brother getting too big?

The advances in Information Technology have definitely increased the safety of the feed/food supply chain. The track and trace information requirements that are in place from both industry and government compliance and regulations, ensure that the industry can respond quickly to an incident and narrow the scope of any recalls.
18 Sep 2009 - 0 comment(s) - Read more »

SPACE: France facing the crisis

After a fall of agricultural income in 2008 (-11% in real terms, after two years of exceptional growth), French farmers have to face the consequences of the world crisis.
11 Sep 2009 - 0 comment(s) - Read more »