On Sept. 16, Aviagen^® France welcomed close to 50 Parent Stock (PS) producers representing 11 customers to a hybrid in-person/virtual seminar. The attendees had previously submitted 2019 PS results, and one goal for the event was to celebrate the year-on-year improvement of Ross^® 308 PS throughout the country. (The face-to-face event followed social-distancing and other regulations in compliance with French government guidelines.)

Benchmarking customer performance data

Another major focus for the event was benchmarking based on a database of 2,055,040 PS. The following criteria were considered and highlighted in the presentations:

• Average Ross 308 performance in France
• Average production curve (measuring parameters such as laying rate, egg weight and hatchability)
• Customer result comparisons with each other
• French achievements benchmarked against other European Ross PS customers

Presentations cover data, best practices and future outlook

The line-up of Aviagen speakers and topics included:

Jean-Charles Bethuel, Technical Manager for Aviagen France, spoke on the breeder performance of French Ross customers compared to other European countries and the year-on-year improvements.

Béatrice Moreau, Technical Service Manager for Aviagen France, shared management best practices for the Ross 308, including the environmental needs of males.

Lorenzo Rossi, Regional Technical Manager, Aviagen Europe, analyzed the PS benchmarking data in a European context, and also emphasized the importance of adapting bird management to various production environments.

Aviagen Limited UK General Manager Magnus Swalander explained Aviagen’s unique breeding approach that balances breeder and broiler performance with optimum health, welfare and sustainability traits, employing innovative tools for bird selection. He also shared the future performance potential for the Ross 308, which has continually improved throughout the years.

Thierry Rolland, General Manager for Aviagen France, highlighted the company’s commitment to customers throughout the country, mentioning recent investments in the local infrastructure that resulted in the addition of nine new grandparent facilities.

“I sincerely thank our valued customers for their loyalty, and congratulate them on a clearly impressive breeder performance,” commented Thierry. “Our team is committed to their success, and we work hand-in-hand with our French producers to help them get the best results.”