Growing your livestock business, networking at shows

Farmers often get very concerned about the high cost of attending agric related shows especially if it is outside the country. But these shows provide exposure, opportunity for networking and subsequent growth in the business if the points learnt are implemented.

Gbenga Ogunsetan, secretary of the Lagos state Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) says agric shows are very beneficial as they provide opportunity to get business contacts, find out current innovations in the industry that can improve business practices, acquire equipments or other products straight from the manufacturers. He says it also gives manufacturers or service providers the opportunity of showcasing the products they want to introduce to a large audience.

However, most farmers stay on their farms, stay on the same level of production and experience glut even with products that are in very high demand and are usually forced to sell to middlemen who get all the profit while the farmers live in penury.

But farmers who have made the sacrifice of setting money aside to attend functions that provide opportunity for networking in their field of practice usually have good stories to tell. Babs Olayade, a poultry farmer attended this year’s International Production & Processing Expo in USA and has this to say: “I was exposed to modern technology in poultry management at the show. I also benefited from the knowledge acquired in the conference, in the area of packaging and marketing. My egg sales has has increased greatly between January and now. I also learnt about best practices in poultry keeping such as biosecurity.”

Like many growing businesses, some of the things learnt cannot be immediately adopted but kept in view. Olayade adds, “Due to the constraint of my current location, I cannot implement everything yet but I have seen the positive results in those things I have been able to implement. I have also been able to identify a foreign partner that I can represent here who supplies odour control chemicals for livestock pens. I would also be representing a firm supplying packaging materials of international standards for the marketing of poultry products.”

The International Production and Processing Expo represents animal agriculture, from farm to point-of-sale, combining the networking and educational resources of the American Feed Industry Association, American Meat Institute, and United States Poultry & Egg Association. It comprises of the three integrated tradeshows — International Poultry Expo, International Feed Expo, and International Meat Expo. The IPPE features the world’s largest annual gathering of industry leaders and the most comprehensive display of the latest technology, equipment, supplies, and services used by poultry, feed, and meat companies.

For the poultry industry specifically, the funds generated from the International Poultry Expo are reinvested back into the industry in the form of research grants, educational programmes, communications, and technical assistance that benefit all segments of the industry.

Bola Ogundipe of Pathlinks Travels & Tours Nigeria Limited who packages the tours for interested particpants from Nigeria every year says the annual show holding every January is the world’s largest Poultry, Feed and Meat technology exhibition.

He points out that those that attend include over 26,000 industry leaders from over 110 countries, about 1,100 exhibitors ranging from production to point of sale, and that exceptional educational programmes are also scheduled for the entire weekend and the attendee registration fee is one of the most affordable in the world.

The show will be holding January 28 to 30, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He adds, “The International Poultry Expo, International Feed Expo, and International Meat Expo — IPPE features the world’s largest annual gathering of industry leaders and the most comprehensive display of the latest technology, equipment, supplies, and services used by poultry, feed, and meat companies.”

By: OLUYINKA ALAWODE