This new facility is set to become a critical part of the global research and development ecosystem within Cargill’s animal nutrition and health division, which currently comprises four innovation centers located in the US, The Netherlands, Norway and Chile as well as nine technology application centers.
In partnership with Shanxi Changrong Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd (Chnagrong), the global innovation center will be located inside a new 2,500 sow swine farm to be built by Changrong, in close consultation with Cargill.
The farm is planned to cover an area of 308 mu (20.5 hectares).
Changrong will manage the farming operations while the research side will be run by Cargill.
The US agribusiness giant said it is planning to conduct independent and proprietary sow-related research projects there, with the goal of serving swine customers globally.
The facility is set for completion in August 2022.
China is the world’s largest pork market covering around 50% of the world’s pork consumption and production. “Setting up a global innovation center in China is in line with market demands and will enable Cargill to provide tailored solutions for China and Asia customers.”
US sow focused partnership
Cargill is increasingly focused on plugging knowledge gaps in sow nutrition and health.
In July this year, the company announced it entering into a multi-year agreement with US consultancy, Carthage Veterinary Services, aimed at expanding such research, with the partners outlining how insights are lacking within the swine industry around delivering the best nutrition and conditions for females to optimize performance from gilts.
The three main objectives of this research alliance are:
- Optimizing sow performance and health
- Delivering more and healthier pigs into the pork supply chain, and
- Supporting producer success/profitability.
The agreement includes four to five research studies per year, looking at diet formulation, innovative solutions through micronutrition, use of technology and operational interventions. Data points will include extensive measurement of gestation and lactation feed intake of individual sows, litter weights, individual pig weights, pre-wean mortality and other parameters relevant to the trial objectives.
The companies said they will share key insights from the trials with the wider industry.