Aviagen Turkeys first 'Technical Talk' receives high praise

Many valued customers were welcomed to our first Technical Talk, which was held on 9th February 2021. Technical Talks are a great way for us to stay in touch with our customers throughout these unprecedented times and allows us to continue providing top quality service during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Customers joined from 18 countries including France, Italy, Spain, Finland, Poland, Germany, Russia and the UK.

The morning started with a company and market update presentation from Clay Burrows, (Managing Director at ATL). Clay outlined the structure of the company; the many diverse pillars which form the EW group, and how many pillars are expanding and moving forward. 

In looking at the current market situation, Clay discussed how the pandemic has impacted the poultry industry, from the oversupply of meat to the rising feed prices. He also gave his projections for the markets going forward, with some reassuring views.

Clay also highlighted that despite the many challenges over the last 12 months, the EW Group has continued to invest and expand. The development of Aviagen’s brand new feed mill in Tennessee, the establishment of Aviagen Turkeys Russia and the expansion of Le Sayec farm facilities and hatchery are just a few examples of this.

To finish Clay announced the launch of the Aviagen Turkeys app which is now ready to download from iOS and Android app stores. The ATL app allows users to quickly access ATL’s product’s performance objectives, provides nutrient specifications for both medium and heavy lines and supports app users in planning essential production events.

Currently the App is available in English, with other languages coming soon.

Dr John Ralph (Director of Research and Development at ATL), gave an insight into ATL’s breeding program and product development. To begin, John outlined the different stages of our breeding program and described how our highly skilled selection team, grades and records multiple traits in order to select the most robust birds with the highest welfare criteria to breed from.

John then moved onto consumer attitudes towards turkey meat. He explored aspects of consumer drivers and how this (amongst many factors) directly influences the selection applied in the breeding program. ATL’s R&D department sets challenging targets for all traits to progress and thanks to our hard-working team, all traits are moving in a favourable direction.

Discussion on the breeding program continued with some examples of how we establish new traits, such as feather coverage, improve existing traits such as footpad health, and evolve the breeding goals. Genomics plays a huge role in the progression of our birds, as this method improves the accuracy of traits measured (compared to conventional methods) leading to quicker genetic progression.

Finally, John summarised a new test product with an increased focus on commercial characteristics and with good robustness and welfare. As part of the commitment to the European turkey market, we continually test novel crosses to assess fit with evolving market requirements.

The Aviagen Turkeys team will be holding a series of Technical Talks throughout 2021 on key topics including hatchery, breeder management, nutrition, and health and biosecurity.

From everyone here at Aviagen Turkeys Ltd, we would like to say a huge thank-you to all of our customers who took the time to attend February’s Technical Talk.