Neovia has announced it will become the majority shareholder of Hi Nutrients, a leading player on the premix market in Nigeria. Through this acquisition, Neovia is gaining a foothold in a promising market in which the company wants to draw on Hi Nutrients’ premix market position to develop and roll out its international premix brand Wisium’s portfolio of products and services.

BASF has released Natuphos® E, a new generation phytase which helps aquaculture animals, pigs, and poultry better utilize phosphorous and other key nutrients. BASF will be launching the product in Vietnam, and BIOMIN Vietnam will be responsible for the distribution in the country.

KnipBio, Inc. announced that it has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant by the National Science Foundation to study how changes in diet can alleviate enteritis and other diseases in aquaculture. The company will investigate more than a dozen specific components in its KnipBio Meal™ (KBM) aquafeed ingredient to determine which can act as positive nutritional factors in both growth and gut biome composition of the model salmonid species rainbow trout. The study will be conducted over the course of one year and, if successful, may lead to additional funding to commercialize the findings. 

Aller Aqua has announced the opening of Aller Aqua AM in Armenia. "We have been present on this market for 20 years and followed the great development of aquaculture in the country. With this initiative we strengthen the availability of our products and show our continued support of the fish farmers and the ongoing development of the aquaculture industry in Armenia.”

AgriProtein, which is currently developing six Generation One (G1) factory models around the world, has announced that it has received a further investment of USD $105 Million into its UK holding company. With the consolidation of its group headquarters into London, AgriProtein continues to expand its international, project development and leadership teams. John Diener former CEO of Gold Coin has joined as Group COO, with Mark Williams taking on the role of Group CFO and factory project finance. Andrew Bernard, a leading worldwide organic feedstock expert, has also joined the UK based team.

The Fabricators and Manufacturers Association (FMA) presented Bühler Aeroglide with a safety award at the 10th Annual FMA Safety Conference in Chicago, Illinois. “We are pleased to receive this award for the fifth consecutive year. We’ve developed a strong commitment to safety awareness during the past few years, with training and professional development that has increased workforce engagement, while recognizing an inclusiveness of all employees. This award reflects the goals of our in house safety program.“

The Flint Hills Resources Fairmont ethanol plant has nearly completed installation of Maximized Stillage Co-Products™ (MSC) technology. MSC produces a high protein fish and animal feed ingrediet from a portion of the distillers grains produced during the ethanol making process; Flint Hills expect to begin producing their NexPro™ branded protein ingredient this summer. “NexPro is a combination of corn protein and spent yeast. The combination contains about 50 percent protein and contains elevated levels of amino acids such as lysine, which is essential for growth animals. With its excellent protein content and improved amino acid profile, NexPro is a great alternative to traditional feed ingredients like soybean meal and corn gluten meal.”

Corbion has announced that it has completed the acquisition from Bunge Limited of Bunge's stake in the SB Renewable Oils, a joint venture that operates a facility in Brazil specializing in the production of algae ingredients for aquaculture and animal feed. Corbion is now 100% owner of the plant in Orindiúva, which employs around 170 staff.

Veramaris, the DSM and Evonik joint venture to produce omega-3 oil from marine algae, held a topping-out ceremony last weekend at its new production site in Nebraska. Construction is progressing on schedule, and commercial quantities of algal oil will be ready for delivery in mid-2019. Pilot-scale quantities are already being supplied to selected feed producers and farmers for market development. Once operational, the Nebraska plant will have an annual production capacity that could meet roughly 15 percent of the total current annual demand for EPA and DHA by the global salmon aquaculture industry.

Aker BioMarine was named the most innovative company at the 2018 European Business Awards. The company was one of 13 winners of the competition, which began last year with over 112,000 businesses from 34 countries. In cooperation with major educational institutions, Ayer BioMarine conducts innovative research such as incorporating krill in fish feed and the development of eco-harvesting technology.

Biomin has launched a Bahasa version of its new corporate website. The new site features an improved newsletter design, a stronger species-focus to help users quickly navigate their way to the most relevant information, and more.

Novus International, Inc. announced an eight percent price increase for its methionine hydroxy analog feed supplement products, effective immediately. These products include ALIMET®, MHA® and MHA® SP feed supplements. Prices quoted will take into consideration local market conditions, and all existing contracts will be honored.

Lallemand Forward Scholarships will again be offered for students in the United States, Mexico and Canada who are pursuing degrees in agriculture. The 2018 program offers: three $2,500 undergraduate scholarships, one $3,000 master’s program scholarship and one $3,000 doctoral scholarship. “Our continued investment into the program is driven by our company goals of enhancing knowledge and production practices, while continuing to help drive the animal agriculture industry forward.”

Subsidiaries of Tyson Foods, Inc. have agreed to buy the poultry rendering and blending assets of American Proteins, Inc. and AMPRO Products, Inc., the companies announced today. The acquisition is expected to enable Tyson Foods to recycle more animal products for feed, pet food and aquafeed and expand its presence in the animal feed ingredient business

Prairie AquaTech has broken ground on its new soybean meal plant in South Dakota. The new 300,000 square-foot, $60 million facility at Volga will add 35 employees to the current staff of 30 people. The factory, expected to be operational in 12 months, will be able to produce annually about 30,000 tons of a major protein component that will go into fish feeds.

Lallemand Animal Nutrition shared the results of three new studies at APA 18. These studies, conducted in partnership with ShrimpVet Laboratory at Nong Lam University, encompass the development and evaluation of functional feed ingredients to help address important shrimp health issues such as Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) challenge, or white feces syndrome (WFS), as well as the development of integrated bioremediation strategies for pond water management. Among other findings shared, the research group found that its product YANG can help contribute to reducing the severity of EHP and WFS outbreaks and related loss of growth.

ADM has opened its new, high-tech premix facility in Effingham, Illinois. The new facility, located in the Effingham Industrial Park, features state-of-the-art technology including automation within receiving, batching, packaging, and loadout, as well as multiple batching systems with simultaneous weighing for high efficiency and high output. “Today’s pet food and animal nutrition customers have higher standards for quality and process controls than ever before, and our new plant in Effingham has the industry-leading technology needed to meet and exceed their needs.\"

Ab E Manufacturing is starting construction on its headquarters in Waterloo, Wisconsin. The facility will specialize in providing manufacturing and scale-up solutions to help animal health and nutrition innovators bring bio-functional feed ingredients to market. “Novel discoveries require equally novel manufacturing and processing techniques, especially when it comes to bio-functional ingredients. By making specialized processes like encapsulation more accessible, we can generate the high-quality product needed to make significant advancements in this space.”

Alltech will honor its late founder Dr. Pearse Lyons with the presentation of two awards during ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE18). The Alltech Medal of Excellence, Alltech’s highest distinction, will be awarded to Dr. Lyons for his work as a visionary scientist and innovator. Additionally, Dr. Lyons will be recognized with the Alltech Humanitarian Award for his philanthropic spirit.

A study found that KnipBio’s single cell protein KBM has the potential to replace terrestrial proteins as a key ingredient in rainbow trout diets. Feed trials found no significant difference in weight gain or feed conversion rates for trout fed a diet containing up to 10% KBM compared to standard trout diets. Also, populations fed KBM experienced an average 85% decrease in mortality compared to the control group. "The trials provide further evidence that KBM is a safe and effective alternative to soy as a protein source in aquaculture and are consistent with prior feed trials on whiteleg shrimp, Atlantic salmon, and smallmouth grunts. While additional research remains to be done, we are encouraged by the growing mountain of evidence that KBM can reduce mortality when added to finfish and crustacean diets."