ISSUE 2 SPRING 2017 cobbcares.com INSIDE New cobbcares.com website launched 2-3 Using genetics to improve health and welfare 3-4 Looking forward to the next 100 years Cobb North American Flock Awards Sharing research with CP Group Growth of Asian market Page 8 Page 9 Top honor for Shandong Fengxiang Company, one of China s largest poultry integrators. The Cobb stand at the VIV Asia exhibition in Thailand - a region where demand for Cobb products is growing fast. 5 6-7 Top award for Cobb flock in China 8 Market share doubles in Australia 9 New Cobb MV male introduced to Brazil 10 Wimex visit builds on success in Russia 11 Go ahead for New Zealand grandparent project 12 First joint WIT workshop for Saudi poultry industry 12
cobbcares.com Balancing performance and welfare key to global success of Cobb products The new cobbcares.com website describes in detail how attention to the health and well-being of our birds influences all parts of our global poultry business. Cobb regards animal welfare as an important moral and ethical obligation for the chickens on which it depends. The new website uses photos and videos to emphasize our welfare commitment, our efforts to produce healthy birds and our focus on employee education and awareness. In this edition, we focus on the Cobb Cares section. The objective of this section is to provide a bird s eye view of our poultry farms and hatcheries, and to highlight the poultry supply pathway for those who may not know how chickens are raised or produced. In the next two editions we will look at the other sections of the website - Education and Awareness and then Healthy Birds. Cobb Cares illustrates our approach to excellence and daily care throughout the company. Sub-categories in the Cobb Cares section provide a detailed description of our farms, hatcheries, the transportation of chicks, The new cobbcares.com website is dedicated to animal welfare, highlighting the company s commitment through its many educational programs, flock management and poultry health initiatives and its genetic selection process. The website can be accessed at cobbcares.com or by visiting cobb-vantress.com under the About Cobb tab. We re taking a proactive approach, said Joel Sappenfield, Cobb president. Sites like this are important because they allow us to be transparent with our direct customers, consumers and the poultry industry. Our commitment to animal welfare is not only the right thing to do, it is an important moral and ethical obligation we owe to our global customers and, most importantly, to the chickens we breed, raise and distribute worldwide. Animal welfare has been a focus at Cobb for a long time and has become an increasingly important topic for consumers. As an industry leader, Cobb recognizes there is a need to openly discuss animal welfare and poultry care. Cobb s goal with the new site is to provide a tool that can be used for education and to provide an in-depth look at the company s programs. The new, interactive Animal Welfare website is divided into three sections: Education and Awareness, Healthy Birds and Cobb Cares. Each section features information on Cobb practices to advance animal welfare in each of these three areas. By telling our story in a positive and educational format, we hope to better inform our customers, their food service customers and consumers, and the general public, about who we are, what we do and why animal welfare is such an important part of our business, said Dr Kate Barger Weathers who helped design and develop the content for the new site. With so much discussion and attention around practices and production for broilers and breeders, we believe this website is a prime tool to help us connect all areas of the poultry supply chain from our position as a primary breeder to our direct global customers to consumers. 2
and the health programs and biosecurity requirements we use to keep our birds healthy. The photos in the section include actual Cobb facilities, employees, farmers and activities demonstrating how Cobb cares for our flocks so that the chickens can grow, develop and mature correctly. To keep chickens healthy, strict biosecurity requirements are essential to reduce the introduction of disease. As such, Cobb recognizes that many people may wonder what the inside of a chicken house looks like, how chicks hatch, how we transport chicks to customer farms near and far, and what it means to keep chickens disease-free. By including the Cobb Cares section on the website, Cobb believes that it will be an important educational resource that can be shared with schools, communities where Cobb has a hatchery or farms, with retail and food service leaders, with prospective employees and even with the families of Cobb employees. Dr Kate Barger Weathers, director of animal welfare at Cobb, commented: We recognize that a lot of people have never been on a farm and may not understand the links between breeders, hatcheries and day-old chicks. When talking to my family and friends, or giving a presentation to university students and community groups, this website is a great resource to help them understand where I work as a poultry veterinarian, what we do as a company, and how we care for our flocks and produce chickens with good welfare, health and production characteristics. Sites like this allow us to be transparent with our customers, consumers and the poultry industry. Using genetics to improve poultry health and welfare Dr KATE BARGER WEATHERS, director of animal welfare, Cobb-Vantress, explains how health and welfare gains have been essential to improved breeder and broiler performance. Thirty years ago, more than a dozen poultry breeding companies supplied the poultry industry with broiler breeder genetic stock. During this time, breeding companies focused selection to improve conformation, carcass yield and feed conversion. As the demand for poultry meat and the world population rapidly increased, genetics companies were expected to provide broilers that went beyond proven performance, yield value and efficient production they also needed robustness characteristics allowing broilers to thrive in variable global conditions. Today, only three primary breeding companies remain - those that actively work to balance health and welfare traits with performance traits. Due to the greater efficiencies in broiler production and the increased availability and affordability of poultry meat, broiler producers and primary breeding companies have been criticized over the past five years by non-governmental organizations. It may be easy for these critics to be concerned about faster growth, improved feed conversion and increased meat yields that are all linked to performance efficiency in broilers. Unfortunately, these same groups do not highlight the health and welfare advantages that have allowed broilers to become so efficient. These advantages include: years of progressive genetic selection improved veterinary and sanitary standards enhanced poultry nutrition advanced ventilation equipment innovative technology that allows farmers and scientists to better understand bird health, flock activity and poultry behavior so that the industry can better meet the needs of birds as they grow and develop. continued on page 4 3
cobbcares.com Today, only three primary breeding companies remain - those that actively work to balance health and welfare traits with performance traits. For example, with advanced technology, the primary breeders have been able to reduce the incidence of metabolic diseases that can be exacerbated by sub-optimal nutrition and environmental and geographical factors. Without the long-term commitment of primary breeders to improving health and welfare traits, broilers would not be as efficient or as robust as they are today. Raising and producing healthy birds for our customers is our main goal. As one of the premier broiler genetics companies, Cobb is focused on using innovative research and technology to select the best birds for the next generation of chickens. We evaluate each pure-line chicken for traits that will positively improve the health, welfare and production of each subsequent generation. Of the 55+ traits involved in our selection program, over half of these are directly related to health and welfare characteristics. The welfare and performance outcomes of breeder and broiler flocks are based on management (daily care and husbandry), environment (nutritional, veterinary and biosecurity provisions to safeguard flock health and welfare) and genetics. While the outcome of this multifactorial equation (G x M x E) is complex and may vary around the world, we know that genetic selection for improved health, welfare and performance traits is a serious responsibility. Choosing individual chickens for the next generation is important for our goal of improving the physical characteristics and welfare outcomes for future breeder and broiler chickens. The first step involves traditional evaluation of each bird. Specifically, trained farm staff, scientists and PhD geneticists carefully choose the most desirable pure-line birds by evaluating physical and behavioral characteristics of individual chickens. This is known as the phenotypic selection. This on-farm selection process integrates a hands-on approach to evaluation of birds with highly sophisticated technology commonly used in human medicine such as ultrasound, lixiscope (bottom left) and pulse oximeter (left) devices. These devices and the handson selection provide an accurate and holistic assessment of bird leg conformation, anatomical characteristics, cardiovascular function, muscle development, and skeletal integrity. Phenotypic selection has been and will continue to be used to improve desired traits in domesticated species. However, by incorporating advanced technology and innovative methods, we can also advance the genetic selection process of individual chickens. Cobb geneticists estimate the genetic merit of each pedigree chicken based on a combination of performance data, family history and the DNA profile. The combination of this information is used to select the best chickens for multiple health, welfare and performance criteria. In other words, the chicken with the best individual performance data may not be selected to be used in the breeding program if the genetic merit evaluation highlights negative traits for health and welfare. As a result, genetic selection can be used to positively impact the future welfare outcomes of each generation of chickens while also selecting against undesirable traits in an individual pure-line chicken or family of pure-line chickens. Certainly this is an exciting time to be part of this journey of understanding animal welfare and the journey of genetic selection to improve the health and well-being of poultry. 4
Confidence in the future Looking forward to the next 100 years Right: Ellen Machado and Cassiano Bevilaqua from Cobb Brazil. Below: Cobb president Joel Sappenfield (right) speaking with North America general manager Todd Wilson. After 12 months of celebrations of the first 100 years of Cobb, the company is now looking ahead to increasing investment to grow in markets across the world. This confidence in the future was reflected in the Cobb booth at the IPPE show in Atlanta, Georgia, where the company was exhibiting for the 61st time. Joel Sappenfield, who attended the show for the first time as Cobb president, has more than 25 years of experience in poultry. He was delighted to meet customers not just from North America but many of the other 120 countries where the Cobb breed is supplied. Having celebrated our centennial in 2016, we are excited and ready for the next 100 years. Our continued commitment to research and development, as well as our investment in expanding our facilities and supply chain globally will lead the way toward a successful future. Roger Vessell, Cobb director of world marketing commented, The value of our relationships with our customers has been and always will be the key to Cobb s success. As we expand our footprint in new regions we look forward to extending the Cobb family around the globe. The Cobb display again featured the restored 1929 Ford Model A chick truck, which was unveiled at the 2016 show. This replica of the vehicle that delivered Cobb chicks to customers in Alabama during the late 40s and early 50s was a popular photo opportunity for attendees and exhibitors alike. 5
Cobb North American Flock Awards Wilkesboro complex wins top Cobb500 award The Tyson Foods breeder complex at Wilkesboro, North Carolina, is the winner of the top US Cobb500 performance in 2016 for total egg production/hen housed. This is the third year running for this complex to receive an award, having topped the Mid Atlantic Region in the previous two years. In 2016, the Wilkesboro complex produced 177.42 total eggs/hen housed in a survey of the US industry with production figures all adjusted to 65 weeks. This complex housed 36 flocks, representing over 500,000 hens housed. Cliff Lee, breeder hatchery manager, Tyson Foods, gives credit to his team members for this accomplishment: Tom, Ronnie, Daniel, Roger, Susie and the vaccination crew work hard every day to get top results and they take a lot of pride in their work. These good people keep us heading in the right direction. We communicate every day about what is happening and work closely together as a team. Taking care of our birds and our team members is the ultimate goal. Certainly it s a challenging job - but good communication, accountability, team effort and hard work makes it that much easier. Tyson Sedalia wins West Region Award Fieldale Farms wins East Regional Award As the top Cobb500 West Region performer, Sedalia s flocks totaling more than 443,000 pullets achieved an average of 170.80 total eggs/hen housed, 165.47 hatching eggs/hen housed with 85.14% hatchability and 140.91 chicks/hen housed with average depletion at 64.42 weeks. Pilgrims wins Cobb Package Flock Award Located in Baldwin, Georgia, Fieldale Farms won the award for the best Cobb500 complex in the East Region, the company s fourth year as the top performer. Totaling more than 990,000 pullets, the Fieldale complex averaged an overall performance of 175.45 total eggs/hen house with 85.44% hatchability and 145.41 chicks/hen housed with average depletion at 63.22 weeks. IPB wins Cobb500 SF Flock Award The top Cobb500 package flock award was presented to Pilgrims Nashville, Arkansas. The MX x 500FF flock on Dewayne Carver s breeder farm near Ozan, Arkansas, achieved 188.20 hatching eggs/hen housed, with 87.93% hatchability and 160.51 chicks/hen housed. International Poultry Breeders (IPB) of Rison, Arkansas, and the Steve and Tanja Burton Farm teamed up to win top Cobb500 slow feathering flock in the US. The Burton Farm flock, located near Glenwood, produced 180.04 total eggs/hen housed, making it the top in the US for the Cobb500SF. 6
Mar-Jac Poultry Farm wins Cobb500 FF award Top Cobb700 award for Pilgrim s Marty Clark, of Clark Hill Farm in Jackson County - part of the Mar-Jac Poultry Complex in Georgia - gained the award for the top fast feathering Cobb500 flock with 193.91 total eggs/hen housed. Marty s father, Willie, started raising broiler breeders in the early 1970 s with Central Soya before switching to Mar-Jac Poultry. Marty took over the breeder houses in 2008 and has become one of Mar-Jac s most consistent producers. In the annual Cobb-Vantress US flock awards Pilgrim s at Marshville, North Carolina, achieved the top 2016 performance for the Cobb700 flock on Jeff and Jennifer Ambrose s farm - achieving 178.33 hatching eggs (143.18 chicks) per hen housed with 81.82% hatchability. From left: Hutch Porter (Mar-Jac breeder manager) and Marty Clark (grower) with Jeff Steed of Cobb. In presenting the award Neil Sidden, Cobb associate director of technical services, stated: The Pilgrim s live production manager Josh Leigh, breeder manager Joe Raper and his team are always looking for ways to improve production and hatch with their breeders. They work with a proactive group of growers who take consistent care of the birds and notify their technical representatives of any issues with the hens and roosters. It s a real pleasure working with a group like this who understand just how much value their breeding stock brings to the company. Awards for Boire & Frères in Canada Couvoir Boire & Frères, in Wickham, Quebec, is the latest winner of the award for the top Cobb500 breeder performance in Canada based on chicks per hen housed. The award was presented to Alvaro Sanchez, Couvoir Boire & Frères production manager, by David Engel, Cobb-Vantress technical service representative for Eastern Canada. The group was also presented the award for the top individual Cobb500SF flock. Ranked on adjusted chicks per hen to 65 weeks of age, the company averaged 147.08 chicks/hen housed on all of their flocks. Their flock at the Math-3 farm won the award for the most chicks on one Cobb500SF flock, averaging 153.34 chicks/ hen housed. This is a great accomplishment by Alvaro and the group at Boire, said David Engel. This group has consistently had great performance with the Cobb500SF and for the 2016 sold flock year their performance with the Cobb500SF was the best in Canada among all locations using slow or fast feathering Cobb birds. Awards were also presented for the Cobb500FF flock that produced the most chicks and the best overall flock ranked on total eggs. Both of these awards went to Cor Kapteyn who produces hatching eggs for Curtis Chicks, a division of Maple Lodge Farms. His Cobb500FF flock at Port Hope, Ontario, produced 189.27 total eggs/hen housed and 153.63 chicks/hen, adjusted to 65 weeks of age. This is the second award to Mr Kapteyn for producing the most total eggs in a Cobb flock. 7
Asia-Pacific region Sharing latest research with CP Group Cobb senior leaders visited Charoen Pokphand in Indonesia, Thailand and China to introduce the company s latest research and development to the CP Group. The Cobb group was led by Joel Sappenfield, president, Roy Mutimer, vice president of Asia-Pacific and EMEA regions, Pelayo Casanovas, general manager of Asia-Pacific, and Dr Steve Bolden, director of the World Technical Support Team. Year over year, we have delivered to our customers an improvement of 0.02 to 0.025 FCR and 45-50 grams increase in weight gain on a 42-dayold broiler consistently over the past 20 years, Dr Steve Bolden commented. However, as a direct result of continual investment in our research & development program, growth rate and FCR improvements are expected to accelerate even more with our 2017 parent stock. Joel Sappenfield presented a Chinese painting of a rooster and hen to the CP Group. CP has been one of the most important customers for Cobb in the Asia-Pacific region, he said. We thank them for their ongoing business and look forward to establishing even deeper business ties with CP Group. CP is a Thai conglomerate company located in Bangkok. It is Thailand's largest private company and is one of the world's largest conglomerates. This Chinese painting was presented by Joel Sappenfield to Lv Pan, vice chairman of CP Foods China. World class performance secures Fengxiang award Top parent award for a Cobb flock in China has been won by the Shandong Fengxiang Company, one of the country s largest poultry integrators with a processing capacity of 100 million chickens per year. The winning flock achieved 150.6 chicks/breeder to 65 weeks of age. We are here to recognize outstanding breeder performance, said Pelayo Casanovas, Cobb general manager for the Asia Pacific region. Fengxiang s latest flock with 150 chicks is world class. It shows that genetics are important, but being professional and attention to detail management is even more important. Many congratulations to the Fengxiang team for such an achievement! He added: Fengxiang and Cobb share the same vision for the future of China s poultry industry and, more importantly, our core values are very similar. We commend Fengxiang for their professionalism and drive for excellence. Wang Jinsheng, president of Fengxiang Company, said: We thank Cobb for providing us with parent stock chicks of the highest and consistent quality, combined with first class technical service, which allows us to capture the genetic potential of the Cobb breed. Pelayo Casanovas presenting the award to Wang Jinsheng. 8
Australian market share doubles More than 40 customers attended the Cobb Asia-Pacific technical seminar in Sydney at Australia s iconic Intercontinental Hotel. We have already seen the new bird showing excellent breed hatchability, broiler livability and feed conversion. Neal Scanlon, Cobb regional technical service director. Customers from companies in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region included Inghams, Baiada, Cordina, Red Lea, Darwalla, Rooster Poultry, Hi Chick, Crest Poultry, Turi Foods, Woodland s and Bromley Park. We are very glad to be back in Sydney for our second technical seminar, said Roy Mutimer, Cobb vice president of the Asia- Pacific and EMEA regions. A lot has happened since our last conference. We want to share with you our latest production results and more importantly, the genetic progress we have achieved with the Cobb500. As we look ahead, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific remains an important region for our business growth. In the past three years, Cobb has doubled its market share in the Australian market, said Pelayo Casanovas, Cobb general manager for the region. The Cobb500 is the breed of choice in Asia, and we hope to achieve this same goal in the Pacific region. To help make this happen, we have upgraded our genetics for the region with our latest lines now readily available for our customers, including the new Cobb MV male. Investment targets growth of Asian market The expansion of Cobb activities to serve the Asian region was the focus of interest for the company at the VIV Asia exhibition in Bangkok, where its booth attracted thousands of customers from all over the continent. The Asia Pacific region remains one of the most dynamic areas in terms of chicken production, thanks to its population growth and rising economies, said Joel Sappenfield, president of Cobb. With our strategic focus on Asia Pacific, Cobb has invested in a grandparent complex now in production in China and a regional office in Shanghai, and we plan on building a grandparent complex in New Zealand dedicated to supply Asia, said Roy Mutimer, vice president of Cobb for the region and EMEA. From left to right: Roy Mutimer, Charles Calvert, Justina Caldas, Joel Sappenfield, Erol Can and Mark Glavey. 9
Cobb MV male Benefits of new Cobb MV male promoted to Brazilian industry The new broiler breeder product, the Cobb MV male, has been introduced to the Brazilian poultry industry at a series of workshops across the country. The existing MX male was already an improved male, with great feed conversion and high fertility, and now the MV male represents further Cobb evolution. In opening the workshops - in Chapecó (State of Santa Catarina), Cascavel (Paraná), Campinas (Sao Paulo), Para de Minas (Minas Gerais) and Recife (Pernambuco) - Jairo Arenazio, Cobb general manager for South America, said the new male had been developed for greater robustness and adaptability to different environmental conditions as well as superior feed conversion. Among the benefits of the new MV male are reduced feed consumption of about 30 grams per kilogram of live weight and a larger appetite resulting in one to two days less in reaching the final processing weight. Broiler specialist Matthew Wilson, Cobb technical services director for Europe, said development of the MV male began in 2011 with the target of greater adaptability to different processing weights and climatic conditions. In selecting the new line, emphasis was placed on animal welfare, robustness and enhanced disease resistance as well as the performance traits. Breeders and broilers were tested in a very cold climate in Switzerland, in extreme heat in Saudi Arabia, and high humidity in South Africa. The line was also tested using different types of diets based on corn and wheat and, said Mr Wilson, in all cases the MV male showed better welfare traits and economic results versus the MX male. These results demonstrate the full genetic potential of the MV male. In all types of environments, the male excelled in feed conversion and weight gain, and it also showed lower mortality, high fertility and high hatchability continuing characteristics of the Cobb MX male. The existing MX male was already an improved male, with great feed conversion and high fertility, and now the MV male represents further Cobb evolution. The broiler showed higher weight gain of about 90 grams and approximately three points better feed conversion at commercial level. Tests confirmed the product's robustness. 10
Cobb Russia Wimex visit builds on success in Russia Picture from left to right; Valery Alekseev, Patrick van Trijp, Irina Khamatshina, Yulia Pavlova, Stephan Klaasen van Husen (Wimex), Lidia Malakheeva and Galina Bukrineva. This visit shows commitment from all parties to make the breed more successful for our customers in Russia. The Cobb technical team in Russia spent three days with one of Europe s leading hatching egg suppliers, Wimex, and its subsidiary Cobb Germany to exchange information on managing parent stock. Having mutual customers in Russia makes it easier to understand how management tools like feed, ventilation and bodyweight control can vary in different regions, but the basics of managing the Cobb parent stock are the same everywhere," said Irina Khamatshina, Cobb senior technical manager in Russia. The Russian team saw all the stages from rearing to production on farms that were able to reach 90.1 percent average hatchability with the Cobb500 last year. With these management tips, we ll try to improve even further the already excellent Russian production results, she added. Patrick van Trijp, accounts manager of Cobb, stated: This visit shows the commitment from all parties to make the breed more successful for our customers in Russia. Wimex exports millions of hatching eggs to the Russian Federation each year, making the Cobb500 the market leader in Russia. First Cobb breeding stock for Tajikistan Cobb Russia has supplied Cobb genetics for the first time into the Republic of Tajikistan. The first batch of more than 3500 Cobb500 female and 500 males were flown by Tajik Air and delivered to the company Rakhmonchon. Mashokir Nazarov, general director of Tadzhik Ptitseprom, an enterprise of the Ministry of Agriculture, called the delivery an historic moment in the country s agriculture. This is the first batch of Cobb breeding stock imported into Tajikistan, he stated. We have high hopes for joint cooperation and increasing the volume of breeding poultry in our country. He said that for several reasons the production on a number of poultry farms had decreased markedly last year with output totaling more than 357 million eggs and 2200 tonnes of chicken meat. From left to right: Abdumagit - poultry specialist; Sherov Davlat - poultry specialist; Professor Komilzoda Davlatdzhon Kayumi - chief academic secretary of TAAS; Valery Alekseev - senior manager tech service, Russia; Mashokir Nazarov - general director of Tadzhik Ptitseprom. However, this year it is planned to produce 400 million eggs and 3200 tonnes of chicken meat. 11
News from around the world New production director in Brazil Alvaro Burin, who has 25 years experience in the poultry industry, has been appointed production director for Cobb-Vantress in Brazil. He will be responsible for coordinating activities at the company's farms, hatcheries and feed mill, located in the country as well as the grandparent and great grandparent performance management. "It is an honor to be part of the Cobb Team, said Alvaro Burin. During my professional career I ve had the opportunity to work for companies who were Cobb customers and have always recognized the unique, top quality Cobb product. New Zealand grandparent project gets go-ahead Cobb has received approval from the Overseas Investment Office to proceed with the purchase of land in New Zealand to develop a facility to produce grandparent broiler breeding stock primarily for the Asia-Pacific region. This is a major new project for Cobb that takes advantage of the favorable poultry health status that New Zealand enjoys, said Roy Mutimer, vice president for the Asia-Pacific and EMEA regions. New Zealand has a lower risk of diseases such as avian influenza, and we intend for it to provide a stable and disease-free point of supply. These are indeed exciting times for Cobb. Asia-Pacific is our fastest growing region, and the new facility will play a major role in providing grandparent stock for our distributors there and also for our own parent stock production complex in China. The new facility will be built at Rotongaro, near Huntly, South Auckland, and represents a US$40 million investment by Cobb and will create a least 70 new jobs in the farm and hatchery complex on a 368-acre (148-hectare) site. The New Zealand Land Information service says the export of high-value genetic stock is likely to add some US$40 million each year to the country s overseas sales. First joint WIT workshop for Saudi poultry industry More than 40 trainees took part in the first scientific workshop organized jointly by the Al Watania Poultry Institute of Technology (WIT) and Cobb for the Saudi poultry industry. During the three-day event Cobb specialists from Europe and Brazil shared their experience with the trainees on poultry breeding, management of broiler breeders and broilers, health and vaccination, ventilation in hot climate and nutrition. The participants greatly appreciated the efforts of Cobb, said Dr Shakeel Ahmad, head of the institute. They found the training sessions very useful in complementing their poultry knowledge and skills. They would like such training programs and workshops to be conducted regularly to benefit the poultry industry of Saudi Arabia. Hosam Amro, Cobb senior technical service manager in the region, stated: The business partnership between Cobb and the Al Watania Poultry Company, not only in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but in the region, is one of the most solid relationships in the Middle East. Since 1998 Cobb has been working closely with Al Watania to provide the best genetics to meet the growing market demand for fresh whole birds and cut-up products. Participating in the WIT training programme is another area of business development where Cobb and Al Watania are working closely together to benefit the future of the local industry. cobb-vantress.com 12