This article is Part 2 of 2 of a series. In the previous partlast week, Elissa Lane, CEO and co-founder of Global Food Partners (GFP), spoke about the challenges to cage-free production and how her consultancy is supporting food businesses and egg producers to make the transition. In this article, Lane shares how the cage-free sector is seeing busier times during COVID-19, and how GFP is broadening its knowledge base for farmers through collaboration.

More egg producers in Asia are keen to transition from cage poultry farming to cage-free operations, with most need for support to change coming from the region.

No matter how you look at the numbers, the world poultry sector is in trouble. COVID-19 is blamed for most of 2020's economic woes but this is not the case for the world poultry sector. Once the most promising livestock protein line, poultry meat production has been growing at slow, disappointing rates long before our coronavirus infected the world economy.

Atwo-year large-scale trial in beef cattle in Alberta, Canada, has successfully demonstrated that a novel feed ingredient, developed by Royal DSM, can be included in commercial feedlot diets to reduce methane emissions by up to 80%, without negative effects on animal health and performance parameters and carcass characteristics, DSM announced on December 16.

Weak Q4 demand, surplus of large-size fish narrows price spreads but exports, prices and revenues less disrupted by COVID-19 than those of Chile.

Q4 lockdowns, bloated inventories abort traditional Q4 rally. Upcoming near convergence of Chilean, Norwegian price to create market bottom. Low output growth to induce a 2021 price rebound.

Rapid economic revival, booming exports to China minimize COVID-19 losses, with a strong 2021 recovery ahead. Exports may hit one million tonnes.

Despite their radically different economic circumstances, eastern and western egg producers performed equally well in the COVID-19 recession, with the best yet to come.

Tight availability of corn in China continued to push up prices while buyers continued to lift prices to secure supplies. Adding to the fears of a supply crunch, worsening disease situation, which hampered deliveries, prompted buyers to accumulate more than they usually do before the Chinese New Year holidays.

Vitamin C producers continued to lift the prices of vitamin C as corn costs surged tremendously to all time high. Feed manufacturers, who were placing orders in preparation for the upcoming Chinese New Year holidays, increased purchases amid fears of a further price hikes and a supply crunch.

Expanding hog feed consumption lent support to the trace mineral markets in conjunction with rising output costs. Prices of copper sulphate and zinc sulphate were higher by 45% and 40% respectively compared with a year ago.

As operation rates dropped due to power shortages, biotin production decreased. Several buyers lifted prices while buyers eagerly placed orders.

DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences has announced on August 27 the opening of a new animal nutrition manufacturing capability in Wuxi, China.

Poultry breeding company Aviagen has added a fourth farm to its great grandparent (GGP) production complex located in Natividade da Serra, state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Brazilian-based meat packer JBS SA posted second quarter net profits close to two times higher compared to analysts' projections thanks to its strong beef and pork sectors in Brazil and the United States, Reuters reported.

Symaga has finished the installation of a new drilling centre, boosting its steel profile automatic processes range with the high productivity of the new model.