Cargill said the initial focus of the $2 million project will be customized solutions relating to ruminants with a poultry center to follow by the end of 2017. When the poultry center is completed and operational, research at the TAC will extend to poultry gut health and maximizing production efficiencies while using local ingredients for poultry nutrition. The poultry center will house 2,000 broilers and 2,000 layers. Cargill developed the Izmir TAC through a partnership with an existing commercial dairy farm owned by the Egesay Animal Agriculture Food Industry and Trade Company Ltd.
“The Egesay farm is a typical Turkish, family-owned farm representative of a large part of the Turkish market and ideal for performing practical field trials,” Guillaume Smeets, Middle East, Turkey and Africa regional director for Cargill’s animal nutrition business, said in a news release. “Having access to the farm’s 150 lactating cows will enable us to evaluate how to incorporate different, locally produced raw materials into the rations of cows in different production phases, particularly as they relate to heat stress periods. Furthermore, silage and roughage can be of different qualities, so it’s important to evaluate the nutrient value to animals of locally produced ingredients.”
Scott Ainslie, global strategic marketing and technology director for Cargill’s animal nutrition business, said climate and availability of raw materials represent significant challenges for dairy and poultry customers in the Middle East, Africa and Turkey.
“This new TAC will enable Cargill Animal Nutrition R&D and applications teams to evaluate and test Cargill global technology under local conditions, such as heat stress,” Ainslie explained. “Ultimately, our TACs allow us to more quickly deliver new products and services in the region, marketed under the Provimi brand, that meet the specific requirements of our customers for their locations.”
