Fishmeal is one of the important widely known commercial products.  Fishmeal is produced by processing the fish and its bones.  The processing actually involves removal of oil and other liquid content from the fish and leaving a brownish powdery substance. In some cases the resulting product might be like a cake.  This processed product is called as fishmeal. The process of doing this is referred as fish meal plan mechanization and this processing is done in a fish meal plant.  The resulting product is considered to be very rich in protein and used as a protein source for aquaculture and poultry.  USA, china, Japan, Peru, Thailand are some of the producers of fishmeal.  The complete quantity of fishmeal produced in a year around the world would add up to 6.5 million tons.

Need for fishmeal plants

Fishing is one of the major professions in most of the countries that has sea border and believed to yield more revenue each year.  Half of the fishing catches always results in fish waste and fish that are not usually consumed. Whatever is considered to be a waste in the catches can be used as a valuable raw material for fishmeal plants and made into valuable products.  The fishmeal products can be used as a valuable source of protein for poultry, cattle, sheep and pigs.  Fishmeal can be used for producing healthy fishes and therefore used in aquaculture industry as well.

By-products in Fishmeal plants

Fishmeal plants not only produce valuable protein rich fish meal but also the by-products are equally valuable.  Fish oil is one such substance which can be separated from the fish and used separately.  Fish oil can be used in various other industries like tanning, farming, manufacturing soaps and candles and many more manufacturing units producing paints and related stuff. The fish oil produced every year around the world is around 1 million tonnes.

Manufacturing Fishmeal

Fishmeal is currently manufactured from the catches that are not usually consumed by human beings.  There are no separate ways of collecting the raw materials and In turn resulting in very less production. Also the trimmed products from fish processing units are also used, this contributes about 20% of the raw materials in fish meal plants.  Also the manufacturing units of fishmeal and meat meal need to be placed separately and should definitely not mix up.  There are around 400 fish meal plants which dedicatedly do only fishmeal production worldwide.

Products from Fishmeal

The fish meal produced might be of various qualities based on the raw materials used.  The fish meal produced from fresh and good quality fishes is of high quality. This fish meal is used for aquaculture units to rear fish and other aquatic species.  Another variety of fish meal produced is low temperature meal. This is considered to be highly digestible and therefore used in pig rearing, piglet production and salmon production.  The widely produced fish meal is prime quality fish meal which can be used in any industry.  Another quality is fair average quality fish meal. This is considered to be of lower quality and less rich in protein content. This again can be used in poultry and for pigs.

WASHINGTON, April 10, 2009 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today said that USDA will begin using an improved and more stable system for determining non-recourse marketing assistance loan repayment rates and loan deficiency payment rates for wheat, feed grains, pulse crops, oilseeds, wool, mohair and honey.

“The new method will moderate fluctuations of the loan repayment rate,” said Vilsack. “In keeping with President Obama’s commitment to American agriculture, this decision reduces the effects daily market volatilities have on loan repayment rates and provides more certainty for producers who have taken advantage of marketing assistance loans or loan deficiency payments.”

The 2008 Farm Bill provides Vilsack the authority to establish a loan repayment rate that may be determined as the lesser of the loan rate plus interest and a rate based on: 1) average market prices during the previous 30 days, or 2) an alternative method the secretary may develop.

Complete Press Release on The 2008 Farm Bill

Wheat
U.S. wheat futures have remained extremely volatile on a day-to-day basis. Throughout the month, futures values showed some strengthening, but in the past few days those gains have been lost. International values, however, were pressured last month due to continued exports from the EU and Black Sea region. As the size of the unsold portion of the pool decreases, current price changes will have less significance for the PRO.

More Commentaries

Wheat, Durum and Barley Values Mostly Unchanged in Latest CWB PRO for 2008-09

Winnipeg — The CWB today released its March 2009 Pool Return Outlook (PRO) for the 2008-09 crop year, showing only minor changes in values from last month for wheat, durum and malting barley. Wheat values range from unchanged to up $1 per tonne from the February PRO, depending on grade. Milling durum values range from up $2 per tonne to down $3 per tonne. Malting barley values are unchanged, while Pool B feed barley has dropped by $3 per tonne from last month.

Complete Article

Dow Jones Newswires

January 13, 2009

GRAIN demand fell more sharply than expected as lowered use of corn for ethanol and greater supplies of wheat globally mean higher ending supplies for both commodities.

Ending stocks for corn and wheat for the in both the U.S. and globally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday and quarterly U.S. usage figures for the grains were softer-than-expected.

“The biggest surprise was the ending stocks for corn. [It's] the destruction of the ethanol sector and corn is also seeing competition for feed with the supply of feed wheat,” said Joe Victor, vice president of marketing for Allendale Inc.  Continued

Summary

The 2008 corn crop will be more prone to breakage, and will contain more broken grains. Cleaning and coring can help, along with minimizing the number of handlings. Corn that will be held until next summer will need particular attention to be clean, uniform in moisture, and of the highest test weight available.

[ Complete Article on Corn Breakage ]

Australia exported 46 percent more bulk wheat in October than a year earlier, with new entrants to the market taking advantage of the start of a much larger harvest.

The government’s new wheat export regulator said on Thursday 400,000 tonnes of bulk wheat had been exported in October, up from 274,497 tonnes a year earlier, with 8 newly licensed exporters participating in the sales.

[ Complete Article on Australian Wheat Exports ]

There was also increase in the estimate of global wheat production by the government.

The agency’s weekly update Monday also gave the new crop a favorable rating. The agency estimates 73 percent of the emerging wheat is in good to excellent condition. About 24 percent is rated as fair and 3 percent as poor.

Meanwhile, farmers across the state are making progress on the harvest.

Complete Article

Corn was up 1 1/2 to up 1 3/4, soybeans were up 3 to up 4 1/2, wheat was up 25 1/2 to up 25 3/4 and oats were up 4 1/2.

Corn traded higher although good harvest weather meant supplies were on the rise. Wheat prices jumped with export inspections at 53.7 percent of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s forecast, compared with a five-year average of 43.8 percent.

Complete Article