November 1, 2023

Aviagen's Ross Central Africa enhances customer support with meeting in Zambia

Ross^® Central Africa (RCA), Aviagen's joint venture in Zambia, held its Breeder Distributor Customer Focus Team (DCFT) meeting in Lusaka, Zambia on October 3-6.

Along with Aviagen international specialists and the company's customer support team, attendees explored relevant management topics including open-sided management, fertility, feed quality,

biosecurity, diseases and the importance of data collection.

The seminar began with an overview of Aviagen and an update on its investments as presented by Robert Roszkopf, Aviagen's business manager of Sub-Saharan Africa. Aviagen is investing heavily in the region to meet the increasing demand for Ross 308 Parent Stock (PS).

Andrew Clarkson, technical director of RCA, then gave an overview of RCA's Grandparent (GP) facilities and highlighted the biosecurity procedures that are in place in order for RCA to supply high-quality Ross 308 PS to more than 15 countries throughout the Central African region.

Santiago Avendaño, director of Global Genetics, gave an R&D update, that highlighted the exceptional results achieved by the Ross 308 in yield, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and average daily gain (ADG), which continue to improve year-on-year.

Attendees also took part in an interactive workshop on the second day, led by Ross Central Africa and Aviagen teams, which demonstrated both grading and weighing procedures, which are both extremely important topics for producers to ensure they are maximising the genetic potential of their Ross flocks.

"Our annual DCFT meeting is of great importance to us and our customers," said Andrew Clarkson, technical director of RCA. "Each year, we alternate the main focus of the meeting: this year, the focus is on breeders and next year, our main focus will be on the hatchery. The DCFT gives our customers the opportunity to meet with one another and discuss their experiences and issues within their respective markets, and also allows them to receive expert support from the Ross Central Africa and Aviagen support teams. The topics discussed throughout this years' meeting will provide our customers with the items they require in order to improve their flock performance, which in turn will also further improve their profitability."

- Aviagen