World Ostrich Association Newsletter No. 111
June, 2012

Included in this edition:
South Africa Avian Influenza Update
Hatching Eggs after Extended Storage
Grading and Standards
Production Targets

South Africa Avian Influenza Update
The South African government authorities submitted a further interim report to the OIE on 9th May that can be accessed from this menu.   There were no new outbreaks reported.    An article in South Africa’s Business Day on 10th May reported the culling of a further 360 ostriches at the end of the week.  The report went onto state that it is hoped that this will bring the yearlong culling program to completion.  

The report confirmed how the outbreak has decimated the industry with more than 40,000 ostriches culled since March 2011 and included 3,000 breeder hens.  Farmers did receive compensation, but the report indicated this was not enough to save the businesses and farms of some of these farmers.  Revenue losses as a result of the export ban are reported at more than R800m (approximately US$100m).   Employees in the associated industries were put on hold until the ban is lifted and the industry able to pick up again.

The report suggested that the South African industry contributed 70% of the global industry and that was correct.   Provided they remain completely virus-free for more than three months, it is expected the exports will commence once more, but farmers will have to adhere to far tighter controls than has been the historical norm.   Disease control measures such as reductions in bird density, a limit on bird movements and tightening of health regulations will be enforced.    Farmers will have to improve their bio-security measures which it is suggested will include chlorinating drinking water to prevent the spread of disease by wild birds.

A further measure relates to registration of farms.  Previously only exporting farms required registration but now the EU authorities are demanding that all farms be registered.  This is further evidence of the ever increasing need to work in collaboration.

The report concluded discussing the implantation of standards operated under the EUREPGAP certifications currently practiced by the fruit exporters.  Newsletter  No. 52 discussed EUREPGAP with  Newsletter  No. 55 reporting that EUREPGAP and Veterinary Health Plans as they applied to ostrich.  With the move to GlobalGAP, the links in past newsletters to EUREPGAP are no longer active.  This link covers the EUREPGAP.  As a reminder, GAP stands for Good Agricultural Practices.

Hatching Eggs after Extended Storage
A recent article published in World Poultry discusses work carried out by Aviagen’s specialist hatchery team who are successfully developing a technique to hatch eggs with extended storage time.    To achieve this they are evaluating improved ways of handling, storing and incubating eggs.  They report improvements in hatchability of 2-3% in eggs stored for 7-14 days and significantly higher improvements in eggs stored for more than 2 weeks.  

It is well known that the longer eggs are stored prior to hatching the lower the hatchability and the higher cull rates of hatched chicks.   So why is it necessary to hold eggs a little longer before incubation?   The reason is market conditions. Delayed setting of eggs could be as a result of reduced demand or it could be to meet specific order sizes. 

Figure 1 - ostrich eggs incubating and hatched chicks

The basic principles of egg incubation are the same for chicken and ostrich – but of course the variables in size of eggs are significant.   In addition with ostrich we have to develop sufficient VOLUME production to support the research necessary.    

This YouTube video is produced by an incubator company.  The principles discussed illustrate just how advanced poultry production is today and highlights the importance of every management aspect at each stage of the production chain, and their impact to the overall profitability. 

They discuss how a growing chicken now takes 25% less time to reach the same weight than it did 25 years ago.   In this context they are discussing the importance ever increasing role of optimising embryo development during incubation pointing out that 25 years ago 20% of the time from egg to processing plant was spent in the incubator and today it is 33%.  Figure 2 is captured from the video.

Figure 2 - Comparative Ratio of Incubation Time when reducing Days to Slaughter [source: pars reform video]

The reasons given for these significant improvements in production are the combination of genetics, nutrition and management – the 3 factors that the WOA directors have continued to emphasise. 

In the same 25 years ostrich has gone through various phases from the introduction into different countries and their failures to yet develop to commercial production. The 25 years have provided the opportunity to gain experience and prove the potential that under the right management systems, ostrich can reach the same slaughter weight in less than ½ the accepted time.  It now requires adoption of the knowledge learnt implemented on a large enough scale to ensure it is commercially viable. 

Production Led Marketing or Market Driven
Quoting from Ostrich Farming Feasibility Study of Opportunities in the EU (page 2 – paragraph 3):

“They are working in a production-led market with products seeking outlets which remain poorly developed............................The infrastructure does not yet exist to allow producers to concentrate on achieving a quality product for a known market.”

The important message here illustrates how markets have changed.   The authors recognised that the way markets were changing.  Traceability and Good Agricultural Practices were in their early stages of development.

It is challenging in today’s markets to produce an agricultural product and then market it when ready as opposed to only producing the product when the markets are identified.   The ever increasing need for traceability and the GlobalGAP type of assurance systems required by today’s markets mean that it is now essential to only start producing when the market is known.  

This is the major challenge our industry needs to understand and address and to achieve successfully requires significant investment.

Grading and Standards
In January we published “A Short History of the British Colombia Ostrich Industry” that Stewart G Paulson kindly wrote for us.   He commented about the need for standards and grading systems and we discussed that in greater depth the following month, illustrating the important role the WOA has in setting these standards.

Last month we discussed Feasibility studies and in particular the study produced by John Adams and Brian J Revell from Harper Adams School of Management in England as there were a number of issues that they highlighted as requiring addressing by the industry.   A couple of quotes relating to standards:

“In 1997 S Africa, Israel and other producing countries decided to form an International Ostrich Association (IOA) in order to agree on consistent international standards on which producers and consumers can rely and to facilitate the research needed to assure a future for the industry by combining their efforts”.

“Ostrich meat standards and hide grading standards can now be viewed on the Web site of NOPSA”.

In 1998 the IOA held a strategic analysis as discussed in Newsletter 15 with 15s providing the full report of that session.   

Over the years the NOPSA web site has changed.  Reviewing their site today, it clearly focuses on leather and no other products.  It does still have basic hide standards, but the meat standards are no longer included.  The WOA continue to recognise the need for standards and benchmark standards that assist both producers and our buyers.   As a reminder these are the standards the WOA currently have:

WOA Ostrich Carcass Grading
WOA Ostrich Meat Quality Guidelines
WOA Ostrich Meat Yield Classifications
WOA Ostrich Performance Benchmark Targets
WOA Ostrich Leather Grading
WOA Ostrich Skin Quality Guidelines
WOA Ostrich Welfare Codes

Figure 3 - The Ostrich Value Chain [source: newsletter 77]

Figure 3 is a reminder of the interdependence every process in the production chain is, whether operated as a single company or supporting many small businesses throughout the chain. 

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