Latest News

Gerard Albers has taken over the chair position of Margareta Håård
During the annual meeting of 2009 in Rome, the chair position of the EFFAB board was handed over by Margareta Håård (VikingGenetics) to Gerard Albers (Hendrix-Genetics). Margareta Håård has taken on this position for several years. EFFAB have much appreciated Margareta's chairmanship, and are glad the board can still profit from her experience for some time. We look forward to  collaborating with Gerard Albers.

EADGENE & SABRE Industry days 2009 in Rome
The EADGENE and SABRE Industry days on the 3th & 4th of June in Rome were very successful.
The goal of the EADGENE & SABRE Industry days was to present before industry the major results of interest for the industry, and to further encourage the integration of research and industry. Several presentations concerning new technologies and innovative research projects were held. These days we very good for expanding and creating new networks and finding mutual interests between the breeding industry and research companies. For the presentations of the days, please look at www.eadgene.info > Events > Industry Days 2009 or www.sabre.info > News & Events > Industry Days 2009

FAO-EFFAB meeting in Rome
At 3 June the EFFAB members have met with the Animal Health and Production Division of FAO to exchange views and get acquainted. The Access and Benefit Sharing dossier of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was discussed. Moreover, the mutual interests were explored. FAO and EFFAB will work on a Memorandum of Understanding.
The Food and Agricultural Organisation have hosted the EFFAB annual meeting and SABRE EADGENE industry days in June 2009. We would like to thank FAO for their hospitality.

BECOTEPS
The BECOTEPS (Bio-Economy Technology Platforms) project started its activities on 1 March 2009. BECOTEPS is a coordination and support action funded by EC DG Research  under the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (226526) of the Knowledge Based Bio-Economy Network (KBBE net).
FABRE TP is one of the nine participating technology platforms in BECOTEPS. Three workshops will be organised on Food Feed chain (September 2009, Newcastle upon Tyne), Non Food Chain (October 2009, Brussels) and Sustainability (November 2009, Brussels). The results of the workshops will become input into a White Paper on KBBE.
Through FABRE TP, EFFAB has an important contribution to creating opportunities for a strong business climate for the European Farm Animal Breeding and Reproduction Industry.

EFFAB moved office and a change in staff.
2009 comes with two changes for EFFAB.
The office moved to Wageningen and Marjolein Neuteboom is the successor of Angela van der Sanden.
Since the foundation of EFFAB in 2005 the office was based in the Institute of Pig Genetics (IPG) building of in Beuningen, the Netherlands. For EFFAB as a one-man organisation a good place to start. However, an independant and growing organisation representing many breeding companies should one day move forward to a more independant location. Therefore, since the 1st of January our new office is in Wageningen.
Not only the location of EFFAB is changing but also a staffmember is moving forward. After several years of hard work Angela van der Sanden has decided to pursue a new career path in February. The successor of Angela is Marjolein Neuteboom. She graduated in Animal Breeding and Genetics at Wageningen University and started working for EFFAB at the 1st of December.

Gerard Albers (Hendrix-Genetics), a new EFFAB Poultry Board Member.
We welcome Gerard Albers as the new EFFAB Poultry Board Member. He replaces Ken Laughlin (Aviagen) per 1 October 2008, who will retire.
Gerard Albers is the Director of the Hendrix Genetics Research & Technology Centre and a member of the Management Committee of the company. The Research & Technology Centre supports the Hendrix Genetics breeding divisions for layer chickens (ISA), turkeys (Hybrid) and pigs (Hypor) with up to date expertise and technologies that are shared between the genetic selection programs of the various species. These technologies include molecular genetics, statistical genetics and bio-informatics, reproduction technology and breeding information technology. The Centre runs collaborative projects with major academic institutions and companies around the world.

EFFAB established a 150% increase of EC funding for the breeding sector
EFFAB has made itself stong for its members. In Brussels EFFAB is representing its members for over 10 years already, indicating their needs and requests. This work was clearly succesful if we analyse the course of the funding level dedicated by the European Commission. The EC clearly recognises the importance of animal breeding and reproduction in the European society. EFFAB certainly has played and is still playing an important role in this. Keeping animal breeding and reproduction on the EC's agenda.

Sperm sexing concerns cleared off by the Code of Good Practice
One of EADGENE members has been questions by a Dutch political party. This political party was concerned about the sperm sexing activities of this member. The Dutch Minister of Agriculture has indicated its trust in the Dutch breeding organisation in question, as it has adopted the Code of Good Practice. Code-EFABAR. This Code sets out the goals of animal breeding organisations, the way in which these goals are pursued, and the rules or standards that govern the activities of breeders. The Code is a tool that can be used by breeding organisations to provide insight in how they work. The adaptation of this Code by the breeding organisations answered the questions of the political party, by taking away their concerns.

Svensk Avel has certified the Code of Good Practice.
If you whish to know more about the Code, please click here

Succesful FABRE Society Meeting. At Wednesday 16 April the FABRE-TP Society Meeting took place. The meeting was attended by over 55 attendencees and followed by the internet by 30 people, with a top of 45 people.
During the meeting the following topics in relation to Farm Animal Breeding and Reproduction were discussed: Social Responsibility and Competitiveness, Diversity and Distinctiveness; Biotechnology, Genetics and Reproduction; Knowledge base - biotechnology, genetics and reproduction. The meeting ended with a discussion panel on these topics. All presentations are available at the FABRE website.