Poultry business update: What did you miss this August?
We’re keeping our finger on the pulse and bring you a summary of the latest business updates from the global poultry industry from August, including Cheggy’s introduction in Brazil, a strategic investment made by Hendrix Genetics, and Betagro’s backing of a new poultry bacteria product in the US. This and more from the global poultry industry.
In-ovo sexing technology ‘Cheggy’ used for the first time in Brazil
For the first time in Brazil, the Cheggy machine has been installed and is operating successfully, identifying the sex of chicks while still in the egg, providing a new way to manage male chicks that are not used in egg production. With its first application in Latin America, the innovative in-ovo sexing technology from German company Agri Advanced Technologies GmbH (AAT) (a subsidiary of the EW GROUP) has reached another international milestone.
Hendrix Genetics strengthens its poultry innovation with strategic investment
Hendrix Genetics is expanding its poultry breeding program with the investment into a pedigree facility in the Netherlands which will support the growth of Hendrix Genetics’ Layers and Traditional Poultry Breeding Program. Equipped with a modern hatchery and a setup of rearing and production houses, the facility is designed to support advanced breeding and enable precise data collection. A key feature is the integration of Real-Time Feed Stations, which enables accurate monitoring of individual feed intake. The facility will also contribute to accelerating genetic progress in several critical traits, including egg production persistency, livability, animal welfare, and eggshell quality.
Ross UK Flock Awards recognises top-performing flocks and the people behind them
Aviagen welcomed customers to Chester for the 25th annual Ross Flock Awards, which aims to recognise the achievements of UK producers whose flocks, depleted in 2024, ranked among the top 5-7% of Ross 308 breeder flocks worldwide. The Top Flock Award went to Pilgrim’s Europe for achieving an impressive 173.4 chicks per hen housed. The UK average reached 156.1 chicks/hh, which is an increase of 3.5 chicks from the previous year.
BarnTech becomes GalliNova – a fresh identity
BarnTech B.V. is now GalliNova B.V., which the company says reflects its mission to deliver smarter, more humane, and efficient solutions for poultry farms. “From improving workflow to enhancing animal welfare, our solutions are designed to help farmers meet both operational and ethical goals. The main goal is to provide technologies that save time, reduce animal stress, and promote humane practices, without ever compromising performance,” said the company. GalliNova’s flagship solutions are the Poultry Hawk, which streamlines routine farm work, saving time and effort while making poultry management safer and more practical, and H2H Euthanizer, a welfare-focused alternative to cervical dislocation.
Betagro Ventures backs BiomEdit’s poultry bacteria product
Betagro in Thailand, through its venture arm Betagro Ventures, has partnered with global allies to fund BiomEdit, a US-based pioneering animal health biotechnology company, in its Series B round. The investment will support BE-101, BiomEdit’s lead candidate for preventing necrotic enteritis-related mortality in broiler chickens, with the goal of sustainably improving poultry production efficiency. BE-101, which will be marketed as Optavant once licensed, is a probiotic vectored antibody (pvAb) product designed to help poultry producers combat necrotic enteritis in poultry by neutralising Clostridium perfringens toxins.
Cobb-Vantress Announces 2025 Cobb Research Initiative grant recipients
Cobb-Vantress has announced the recipients of the 2025 Cobb Research Initiative grants. This year, 7 innovative projects have been selected for funding. The initiative aims to advance the science of poultry genetics by fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration. The recipients are:
- Marcelo Veiga (Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil): Embryonic and fetal development of Cobb chickens at different incubation temperatures.
- Nilva Kazue Sakomura (Sao Paulo State University, School of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences): Metabolic evaluation of different temperature programs in Cobb broiler chickens.
- Craig Coon (University of Arkansas): Ideal amino acid ratio and optimum digestible lysine intake for breeders in prebreeder and peak production phases using the indicator amino acid oxidation technique.
- Hui Yu (The Ohio State University): Investigating alterations in satellite cell heterogeneity during growth selection and their role in the pathogenesis of wooden breast myopathy.
- Lonneke Vervelde (Royal GD Animal Health): Intestinal organoids as a phenotyping tool to screen genetic lines for microbial resilience.
- Guoming Li (University of Georgia): Development and validation of an intelligent system for individual tracking and phenotype extraction in group-housed broiler chickens throughout the production cycle.
- Stephanie Richter (Georgia Tech Research Institute): Leg defect digital morphometrics.
Cargill to acquire Mig-Plus, expanding animal nutrition business in Brazil
Cargill has announced its binding offer to acquire 100% of the operations of Mig-Plus, a family-owned company specialising in animal nutrition solutions for multiple species, primarily swine and ruminants, with a product portfolio that includes premixes, feed concentrates, and complete feeds. The agreement between the parties has been formalised, and the completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval. Founded in 1991, Mig-Plus is headquartered in Casca, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and currently operates two facilities with approximately 450 employees.
Kemin Industries acquires Hennessy Research Associates
Kemin Industries has announced the acquisition of Hennessy Research Associates, which specialises in the research and development of vaccines for infectious diseases of animals and is skilled in the biological manufacturing processes, in vitro test development, lab animal and host animal challenge model development, and USDA ELISA Reference Requalification methods.
DSM-Firmenich releases results of its mycotoxin survey
DSM-Firmenich has released the results of the World Mycotoxin Survey from January to June 2025. Some 10,868 samples were collected and analysed from 81 countries, resulting in 53,382 analyses. Deoxynivalenol, zearalenone and fumonisins mycotoxins were most frequently found, with the highest regions of mycotoxins found in North, Central and South America, South Asia, China and Taiwan.
