Malaysia Veterinary Forum (Archive)

Dr Kwok · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 130 Location: Selangor

hello all of us final year students are looking for jobs now. however we actually have very little knowledge regarding the outside world as what we study could be out of date. :shock:

anyone can tell me what is the current situation of animal feed industry? nornally where do we import the raw materials, how we formulate feed ...... what is the government involevement in this industry ? sorry i just simply ask .. :oops:

Dr Koi · Joined: 11 Jan 2006 Posts: 3 Location: Selangor

Hi,

Livestock industry is a very challenging industry. The current trend is AGP(Antibiotic Growth Promoter) free production as EU had ban AGP started from 01/01/2006. Currently, some of the Malaysian farmer is starting adopt that trend as they are exporting their production to oversea.

As you know, 70% of the cost of livestock production is taken up by feed, which mean the feed industry is really huge. Currently, integrator is racing to lower their cost of production especially the feed cost to yield extra profit. However, the technical know how in Malaysia is still very limited as compare to oversea. For example, in European Country, they can manipulate the broiler feed so that the broiler grow more breast meat with the same broiler we have Malaysia. From that, we can tell how advance they are in animal nutrition.

Looking at this, there are much demand for Animal Nutritionist in Malaysia as most of the company is looking forward for more efficient livestock production.

For those who are interested to further their study in Animal Nutrition, please go ahead but you must be very sure that you really want this profession, otherwise don't waste you time.

Hope my short discription on Livetsocks and Feed industry is clear.

Cheer!!!!!!
:)

Dr Koi
Livestock Veterinary Technical Manager

Dr. TanDY · Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:15 pm Post subject:

The AGP problem is thought to be one of the main causes of the VRE emergence. Some farmers are scared now because if their products are positive for VRE they will be banned from exporting.

Dr Kwok · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 130 Location: Selangor

Thank you Dr. Koi for your reply

Dr Free · Joined: 20 Jan 2006 Posts: 33 Location: ASEAN

For future of live stock industry.. there is a trend that we can see in the future.

I will try to point out 10 major point for discussion sake.

Trend no. 1: Continued consolidation at all levels of agriculture.
Technological advances have continuously and simultaneously increased farm productivity and reduced the number of hours required to farm.

In Malaysia, from historical point, in the 60s, 70s and even early 80s there used to be about 60- 70% backyard live stock farmer. They are the major supplier of protein source to the whole population in Malaysia. However as Malaysia population begins to grow, it became inefficient. It is time consuming and waste of valueble resource. Furthermore importation from another third word contry is much more cheaper.

In order to be competitive, farmer have to go for commercial farming. This means all the small time farmer will have to remodel their farm to a commercial farm or they force closed down (being uncompetitive). From more than a thousand of back yard farmer in the past, now there are only less than 300 farm providing 80-90% protein source in Malaysia.

Trend no. 2: Increasing government and regulatory influence.
Demands for traceability from the "farm to the dinner plate" will vastly increase record keeping requirements and documentation. Consumer wants and demand goverment bodies to monitor the safety of the food that they eat.

Trend no. 3: Rising impact of globalization on local markets.
The most likely impact of the WTO and AFTA process will be steady migrate of labor-intensive production such as vegetable and lifestock, to many cheaper cost of living country. We already can see the major industry player for cars, telecomunication and IT shifting their business to Thailand, India and China. Over here they will produce it cheaply and export it globally. So.... what is stopping this trend in livestock industry as well? For example, Singapore buys pork and broiler meat from Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and even Brazil ,by passing Malaysia, even though it is logisticaly closer. Globalization makes quality and price of the produce an more important factor than logistic.

Trend no. 4: Continued development of niche markets.
Genetic engineering will bring about output traits such as better FCR, higher nutrient content, more disease resistant crop. Omega egg is what we have at the turn of the 21st century. Who knows, what we will have in near future. I won't be surprise anticancer drug can grown out of fruits such as our humble papayas.

Trend no. 5: Continued technology advances.
Better technological improved chemicals and machinery will continue to narrow the gap between most efficient and least efficient in cost of production. Rapid advances in technology will lead to 24/7 field operations and continue to accelerate the amount of a single hectare a producer can produce with relatively low-cost labor and large scale equipment.

Trend no. 6: Increasing capital/finance pressures.
Competition for deposits among banks will cause them to seek the safest, best returning investments. Due to financial volatile in the late 90s and melt down of several major player, bank are playing safe. Thus there will be much more emphasis by banks on comparative performance among their borrowers in return to assets and return to equity (management ability). Increasingly they will court the stars in their portfolio and balk at new loans to lesser managers. This mean newer enterprenuer entering the field will be more likely to be deprive of financial support

Megatrend no. 7: Increasing focus on animal welfare.
First, you must distinguish between animal welfare and animal rights. The SPCA, for example, is about animal welfare…sparing animals physical pain and suffering. And the livestock industry generally promotes animal welfare for both economic and moral reasons. But some NGO which I care not to name, it's a question of animal rights … likening animal agriculture to human captivity, slavery, cannibalism. When concern for animal welfare mutates into a demand for animal rights, you have a huge problem. It's already happened in Europe and U.S. where some food retailers are already dictating more "humane" production practices that have no basis in animal performance. There is a fine line between animal welfare and animal right. We may not see it in Malaysia yet but it will definately come as our society improve.

Trend no. 8: Greater demands for environmental conservation.
Taxpayers will increasingly demand for conservation practices on farmland in production. You can expect tougher and tougher environmental standards for life stock producer. Another positive development will be gradual awareness among environmental that biotechnology offers the best hope of saving rain forests, wetlands and other natural habitat by making it possible to feed future population growth on existing farmland.

Trend no. 9: Job creating rural development.
Agricultural GDP is shrinking steadily, even in rural district. The need to create good paying jobs for small to mid-sized farmers is driving heavy emphasis on rural development. Expect heavy emphasis on bringing about a biobased revolution because of proven benefits in human health, the environment, the rural economy and increased energy independence. Another major development effort will be offering broadband internet access in rural America so farm families can participate in explosive growth in telecommuting jobs and home-based business opportunities. Still another rural development tool may be tax incentives and credits to encourage rural businesses.

Trend no. 10: Increasing emphasis on food safety.
Due to ignorance of public knowledge in safe food storage, handling and cooking procedures, food safety was already a growing issue. HACCP and GMP will continue to be used as a yardstick to control food safety.

Already EU ban antibiotic to be used as growth promoter. Previously, it is a common practice for farmer to mix sub-therapeutic level of antibiotic in the feed to increase growth rate. The reason for the ban is due to the concern to public health. The rise of superbug, VRE is a major issue to human race. It may take some time for Malaysia to adapt to ban uses of AGP. Nevertheless it will definately happen in future, just the matter of when.

Dr. TanDY · Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 12:23 pm Post subject:

Great post Dr Free!

Dr Free · Joined: 20 Jan 2006 Posts: 33 Location: ASEAN

Just of sharing what i can see in my job. Hopefully somebody will benefit from it.

Dr. TanDY · Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 9:03 pm Post subject:

Dr Free wrote: Hopefully somebody will benefit from it.

This is what I like about forum. You only need to answer once and hundreds or thousands of people might get the benefit from reading your post. :lol:

varanus · Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 469

Kwok wrote: hello all of us final year students are looking for jobs now. however we actually have very little knowledge regarding the outside world as what we study could be out of date. :shock:

anyone can tell me what is the current situation of animal feed industry? nornally where do we import the raw materials, how we formulate feed ...... what is the government involevement in this industry ? sorry i just simply ask .. :oops:

What do you mean what you learn in UPM is outdated. This is so insulting. I wonder what your teachers will say if they see this. Stop being spoon fed. The books might be outdated, that's what the journals are for. That's what the newsletters are for. How many journals in the vet library have you read? Or do you know how many journals and newsletters in the vet library. You should be thankful the vet faculty has its own library, as well as computer lab, which you can search for even more journal not subscribe by the faculty.

Dr. TanDY · Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 7:38 pm Post subject:

Quote: What do you mean what you learn in UPM is outdated. This is so insulting. I wonder what your teachers will say if they see this. Stop being spoon fed. The books might be outdated, that's what the journals are for. That's what the newsletters are for. How many journals in the vet library have you read? Or do you know how many journals and newsletters in the vet library. You should be thankful the vet faculty has its own library, as well as computer lab, which you can search for even more journal not subscribe by the faculty.

varanus, that's "biasalah".

Go to ask around any student in any university, sure they have something to complaint. Like the subject is too hard and dull, the curriculum is not right (outdated), the facility is not good compared to other places, the lecturer is not competent enough (lack of experience or donno how to teach), the exam questions are irrelevant (as if they are set up just to torture the students and to deduct their marks), the system is too slow, and even the food in the canteen is not tasty enough for them.

However in most cases, I think they complaint just because they like to complaint. It might not be what they actually meant. I think that's probably part of the "rebellious traits" in the youngsters.

So just don't take it too seriously. No hard feeling :-)