Weekly Overview: Polish Meat Processor to Acquire Pig Breeding Business
POLAND - Polish meat processor Gobarto S.A. (formerly PKD Duda S.A.) has signed a preliminary deal to acquire local pig breeder PPH Ferma-Pol sp. z o.o. from Poland’s Ministry of Treasure.The contract is worth about PLN 22 million (€4.9m).
As part of the deal, Gobarto declared it will invest at least PLN 10 million (€2.2m) in the company within a 48-month period following the acquisition.
In other news, researchers at the University of Illinois, US, have examined how added fat may affect the digestibility of nutrients in pigs.
Dr Hans H. Stein, professor of animal sciences at Illinois, set out to determine the effect of the relative concentrations of saturated (SFA), monounsaturated (MUFA), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of minerals in diets fed to pigs.
The apparent total tract digestibility of calcium, phosphorus, and sulfur was increased in pigs fed diets containing soybean oil, corn oil, palm oil, or tallow compared with pigs fed diets containing no added fat or choice white grease.
Added fat did not affect the ATTD of potassium, manganese, sodium, or zinc, although there was a tendency for magnesium digestibility to be greater in pigs fed diets containing soybean oil or corn oil, compared with pigs fed diets containing tallow or choice white grease.
In disease news, African Swine Fever (ASF) has been reported in Kenya, South Africa, Russia and Ukraine.
In all four countries outbreaks were reported on commercial and backyard farms. In Ukraine, an outbreak was also discovered after two pig carcasses were found in a dumpsite near Shpola city. Laboratory tests of samples taken from the pigs gave positive results for ASF.