Kathryn (Katy) Wyatt joined the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) as global strategies coordinator in the Washington, D.C., office on July 24. In this role, Wyatt will work with the USGC global strategies and trade policy teams and offer vital administrative support for the Council’s overseas marketing programs.

Blue Ridge Aquaculture has announced the official opening of Blue Ridge Aquafeeds, a feed mill that will supply the company’s internal feed demand as well as the growing aquaculture market. This is the first time that feed milling has been integrated into a successful recirculating aquaculture operation, and marks a milestone in the development of indoor aquaculture. \"Blue Ridge Aquaculture’s expansion is another step forward for Virginia as we solidify our standing as a key player in the nation’s seafood sector.\"

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture, has announced the solicitation for the \"Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) - Phase I, Fiscal Year 2018.\"  Also, the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research will invest up to $5 million for research that will improve economic opportunities for U.S. farmers and increase the supply of domestically-produced, nutritious foods. 

The animal feed industry in Iran got off the ground around 64 years ago concurrent with the industrialization of animal husbandry and poultry farming in the country. “At present, some 645 livestock, poultry and fish feed production units have been registered in the country with an overall working capital of about 300 trillion rials (over $7.92 billion)

Ridley Corporation Limited has announced a mutually successful outcome to the mediation process conducted to resolve the commercial dispute between itself and Huon. A payment of AU $16.6 million was made to Ridley last week, while Huon received AU$4.5 million in compensation. Ridley remains committed to the construction of its new aquafeed mill in Tasmania and is optimistic about the prospects of resuming a positive trading relationship with Huon in the future.  

One of China’s leading aquaculture feed suppliers is drumming up sales of feed for high-value species like pomfret with an ambitious program that recruits farmers and officials into fish nutrition training programs in exchange for sales.  Guangdong Yuehai Feed Group Co is signing agreements with villages in key aquaculture regions, offering training and seminars as part of its “100 Counties, 1,000 Villages” program that sets up alliances with villages with a focus on the regions of Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan.

NOAA\'s National Ocean Service\'s science program has launched the Coastal Aquaculture Planning Portal (CAPP), a tool designed to assist in the planning and siting of coastal aquaculture facilities. Developed in partnership with NOS\'s Digital Coast, the CAPP features more than 20 tools that have applications for planning and siting of aquaculture operations and industries. It was specifically designed to assist managers, planners, and industry with siting aquaculture facilities in locations best suited for aquaculture and that avoid conflicts with other uses and sensitive ecological areas.

NOAA Fisheries Milford Laboratory staff members Diane Kapareiko, Dorothy Jeffress, and Gary Wikfors were honored for creativity, persistence, and scientific rigor during the Department of Commerce 68th Annual Honor Awards ceremony. The team received a silver medal for discovering a probiotic bacterial strain living within a healthy, adult oyster that protects larval oysters from disease, documenting the mechanism by which probiotic effects occur, and ensuring that the strain is safe for use by shellfish hatchery workers.

Through its acquisition of Dutch aquatic feed supplier Coppens International a year ago, Alltech gained direct ownership—for the first time—in a feed company. “When you own the fish feed company, it’s much easier to convince the company to put the algae in the product.” Alltech’s latest strategy for enhancing direct access to aquaculture companies is to provide guidance to up-and-coming operations, thus it became a sponsor of Fish 2.0. Alltech, which has been producing algae commercially since 2011, is positioned well to provide expertise in a field that's a major focus of this year’s Fish 2.0 competition. Algae is the hottest sector at this year's event with over 10% of this year’s semifinalists operating algae businesses.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued the final revised version of Guidance for Industry (GFI) #170: Animal Drug User Fees and Fee Waivers and Reductions. This guidance describes the fees the agency is authorized to collect under the Animal Drug User Fee Act of 2003 (ADUFA), as amended, the information the FDA recommends sponsors submit in support of a request for a fee waiver or reduction, how to submit such a request, and the FDA’s process for reviewing these requests.

Papers are now invited from qualified presenters on new developments in aquatic feed processing and formulation

The International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF) announced their participation in the new International Cooperation for Convergence of Technical Requirements for the Assessment of Feed Ingredients (ICCF), as well as the upcoming International Feed Regulators Meeting. Regulatory authorities and feed and feed ingredient associations from Canada, the European Union and the United States met in Brussels in May to launch the cooperation, which aims to develop and establish common guidance that covers technical requirements for the assessment of feed ingredients, including new uses of existing feed ingredients.

In the position of aquaculture nutritionist, Dr. Sun provides technical support and research expertise for Zinpro's aquaculture customers across the globe. In addition, he develops and implements research protocols, as part of the Zinpro Corporation Research and Nutritional Services (RNS) team, to identify current and future needs for trace mineral nutrition in aquaculture production and provides solutions for customers.

A new version of the IFFO Responsible Supply (RS) standard has been released. The IFFO RS team consulted members and other stakeholders, held workshops with users of the scheme and went back to their multi-stakeholder governing body to approve the changes. These included a new fisheries assessment methodology for the multispecies fisheries, a new Good Manufacturing Practice section and updated clauses covering social welfare and pollution management.

Olam International recently launched the best in class and latest micro extrusion technology fish feed, Aqualis in Nigeria. Aqualis has a high nutritional content and the right balance of protein that ensures better growth and high fish yield.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) as made the Emerging Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Plan available online.  The plan outlines a strategy to detect and respond to emerging animal diseases and define the processes that APHIS will use to identify, evaluate, and respond to emerging diseases in animal populations. Rather than providing a single process to fit all emerging diseases, the VS plan outlines roles and responsibilities across VS business units for evaluating animal health information and determining response options.

Fish processors can make a buck by making use of fish parts they normally throw away, says Kelly Hawboldt, a Memorial University of Newfoundland professor specializing in process engineering. She and her team at the Ocean Frontier Institute are looking at turning waste from all kinds of fish — finfish and shellfish, both farmed and wild — into valuable products such as fuel, road salt and even nail polish. Hawboldt and her team can extract high-quality oil from finfish guts for nutraceutical use and then use the waste from that process — a high-protein fish pulp — as fish meal or animal feed.

A primary ingredient used in catfish feeds in Vietnam is cassava. However, the current production level of cassava is not enough to supply the growing demand. According to a study sponsored by the USGC, sorghum is one potential ingredient to substitute for cassava as a source of starch for feeding Pangasius in Vietnam. Sorghum contains a reasonable amount of protein (10%), higher than cassava, and also contains higher amino acids, similar to corn but relatively higher in tryptophan and threonine.

SouthFresh Aquaculture of Alabama has attained Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification. SouthFresh is one of the few catfish companies in the United States that owns 100 percent of its feed mill. It’s the first U.S. catfish company to earn the distinction of a BAP-certified feed manufacturer. \"Manufacturing a sustainably produced nutritious catfish feed directly affects our end product and is essential in our overall sustainability plan. Controlling the diet of our catfish is a high priority, and SouthFresh’s proprietary enhanced feed blend has proven to show improvement in the health of the fish and feed efficiency.\"

The fodder crop Napier grass is providing new opportunities for freshwater fish farmers, who say it is an easy to grow, low-cost alternative to commercial fish meal. Chiang Rai Fisheries Provincial Office pioneered developing the new fish food, which consists of chopped high-protein Napier grass, rice husk and concentrated feed in the ratio of 6:4:1. The cost for farmers has plummeted from 26 baht to only 6 baht a kilogramme.