WORLD OSTRICH ASSOCIATION

Mission Statement

"To Represent The International Ostrich Industry Through Communication, Dissemination of Information and Provision of Industry Standards"

Newsletter No. 46 – January 2007

1.     Seasons Greetings

2.     January 2006

3.     WOA Publications

4.     Marketing

5.     Country Liaison Reports

1.     Seasons Greetings

Your directors wish you all a happy holiday season and prosperous 2007.

We are a small industry and reviewing the achievements for 2006, we can see that the World Ostrich Association has some importance within our industry.  The newsletters have many articles worthy of a second reading.  This newsletter will highlight some of the discussions and achievements and encourage you when rereading the newsletters to note how different aspects interrelate to each other.

2.     January

The newsletter last January discussed 3 subjects of significant importance to our industry – Published Papers, Benchmark Ostrich Production Targets and Avian Influenza.

Published Scientific Papers

We discussed the papers presented during the World Ostrich Conference in Madrid and their continued failure to approach ostrich research in an up to date manner that supports commercial production. 

Ostrich Benchmark Production Targets

Benchmarking is an essential management tool for producers to evaluate their performance against measurable targets.  January’s newsletter reported the development of benchmark targets for Ostrich, with the final document published with the February newsletter.  These benchmark targets are an important instrument and set very achievable targets.  It is crucial to aim for these targets to achieve commercially viable production. 

Avian Influenza

The spread of H5N1 was not as devastating as feared, but remains a serious threat.  The H5N2 strain that hit the industry in South Africa continued to be a challenge for their industry for most of the year, with normal meat exports finally resumed in November.

The WOA published the Avian Influenza Guidelines for Ostrich in January. 

3.     WOA Publications

The WOA now has a number of publications to support its members and a commercial ostrich industry in addition to the above 2 mentioned documents. 

Another publication produced during the year is the “Guide on how to value Ostrich”.  This document is an extremely important document as it puts into context the importance of the “productive value” of farmed Ostrich.  The document raises the importance of farm records – a basic for all livestock production, not just to satisfy traceability, but also to assess genetic performance and the commercial viability of the production.

We also discussed in April the importance of understanding the “productive value” of Alfalfa (lucerne) and how to calculate that value.  World Ostrich Association member, Blue Mountain, published a document on this subject that they have made freely available to Ostrich producers. 

The WOA already have “Carcass Grading”, “Meat Yield Classifications” and “Factors Influencing Meat Quality”. We added “Leather Grading” and “Factors Influencing Skin and Leather Quality” later in the year.  

All these documents are available for down load at the web site, with the exception of the Alfalfa document, which is available at the Blue Mountain Ostrich web site.

4.     Marketing

Developing the markets continues to be high on the agenda of concerns for many members.  The grading systems are an essential marketing tool.  Many articles throughout the year discussed different aspects of markets and marketing and how grading fits into marketing.  In July, we discussed the market potential, the barriers to achieving that market potential and the opportunities for those overcoming those barriers.

We know talking to many of our members that poor production continues to be a major barrier, resulting in insufficient production to service markets and/or costs of production too high as a direct result of the poor production. 

5.     Country Liaison Reports

One reason given for joining the World Ostrich Association is to learn about the industry and activities in other countries.  Your directors pass on information as we receive it, but regular reports from those on the ground in your own country are always welcome.  We received two such reports during the year.  The first from Iran in January, containing excellent information future plans.  The second in September from Saudi Arabia, reporting many of the problems other countries have experienced. 

In October, the articles discussed ways other industries have enabled smaller producers to increase value to compete in the market place through the development of value chains. 

We will continue to report on different aspects of agriculture and the markets as they affect our industry.  We will always welcome reports from your own region.

We wish you all a happy and successful 2007.

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