February 19, 2014
 

International Production & Processing Expo(IPPE) 2014

Frosty weather cannot stop 24,000 attendees from attending America's largest poultry, feed and meat industry exposition.

 

by YANG Yang

 

TheInternational Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) 2014 was held at the Georgia Congress Centre in Atlanta, Georgia, USA from January 28thto 30th. Comprised of three integrated trade shows:the International Poultry Expo, International Feed Expo and International Meat Expo, IPPE is the world's largest annual exposition for the poultry, feed and meat industries.

 

Despite unusually cold weather and a heavy snowfallthat nearly paralysed Atlanta'shighways and public transit system, IPPE 2014attractedmore than 24,000 attendees and 1,148 exhibitors, including5,000 visitors from around the world.

 

Leading companies with exhibtions at this year's IPPE included ADM, Agranco Corp. USA, Alaso, Alltech, Aviagen,CevaBiomune, Cobb-Vantress, Diamond V, Danisco Animal Nutrition, Incubator Supply Inc. - ISI,Jamesway Incubator Company Inc., Jefo,Muyang, Kemin, Marel Stork Poultry Processing, Mosaic Feed Ingredients, Sealed Air Cryovac,Soybean Meal Information Centre,and Zoetis.

 

IPPE 2014featured 410,000 square feet of exhibit space, where a large number of companies highlighted their new products and technologies. Exhibitors displayed the latest innovation in equipment, supplies and services utilised in the production and processing, further processing and packagingof poultry, feedand meatproducts.

 

Besides the returning programmes in IPPE 2014, the three hosts -AFIA, AMI and USPOULTRY- also sponsored several new educational programmeswith experts sharing insights on industry issues, includingVIV international Pork Production Summit, Poultry Plant Tour to Tyson Foods plant in Cumming, Georgia,Sanitary Equipment Design Principles Workshop, Antibiotics Workshop,Fall Protection Short Course, New Approaches to Ground Poultry Pathogen Reduction, How to Export Feed & Feed Ingredients to the US, Meat and Poultry Research Showcase,and Biosecurity - Revisiting the Basics and Implementing New Strategies.

 

At the VIV International Pork Production Summit,the programme co-sponsored by Dutch-based trade show organiser VNU Exhibitions, the pressing issue - recent cases of porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDv) in the United States was discussed. Dr Mary Battrell, senior production swine veterinarian at Murphy-Brown LLC, shed light on what veterinarians have learned about the disease this time, "What is known is this virus has a high mortality rate - up to 100% of very young animals die - and the virus is very stable, capable of remaining in an environment for weeks, which can lead to ongoing losses," he said. "Basically, the bottom line is you need to lock your farm down. There's a lot of positive ways PEDv can get into a farm. We need to put a lot of emphasis on biosecurity."

 

In his presentation on "Biosecurity: Real World Biosecurity Strategies to Minimize Animal Health and Food Safety Risks", David Shapiro, DVM, director of veterinary services at Perdue Farms,stressed the need to set priorities for reducingthe risk of disease transmission, "If you have a set of biosecurity rules and procedures so exhaustive that the document would do serious damage if dropped on your foot, you don't have a plan, you have a problem. Biosecurity rules are intended to reduce risk, but if they are incomprehensible, overwhelming, ignored, outdated or essentially useless, it's time for an overhaul."Dr Shapiro also reviewed essential biosecurity procedures inpoultry production at the talk.

 

As the largest protein-consuming market, China's increasingly important role in the pork industry was acknowledged by James Kenwood, managing director of Rabobank International at this year's show. Kenwood said that with pork representing about 75% of all protein consumed in China, it could be good news for the United States, as the world's number one pork exporter is benefitting from rising East Asian demand for swine meat.

 

Ma Chuang, vice secretary general of Chinese Association of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, shared his thoughts from a Chinese perspective. He noted that as beef and mutton prices have soaredin China, pork has become a more affordable option for consumers.

 

Building upon the success of the previous show in 2013, IPPE 2014 once again proved to be a good venue to learn, share experienceswith experts,and networkwith industry professionals from all around the world.

 

Jeff Cannon, president and CEO of Diamond V, praised the successful event, "IPPE's a great value as the world's leading food, feed, and animal industries trade show," said Cannon, who is also the current chairman of the American Feed Industry Association. "It was also a unique opportunity to explore crucial issues affecting the food industry worldwide."