Jata Emona d.o.o. and Pivka d.d., two leading poultry producers in Slovenia, recently held a technical seminar and their inaugural Ross flock awards. The event focussed on the performance of Ross stock within the Pivka operation and was attended by over 50 company broiler farmers.

Aviagen place a strong emphasis on customer feedback and performance data. All customer information is fed back to the R & D team to help ensure that the selection process can maintain the excellent performance seen by Ross products across the globe. Flock awards offer an opportunity to reward and thank farmers for their hard work and data collection. The top awards went to Berta Zafred, Albert Karuza and Tomaz Strancar.

At the technical seminar Production manager Tomaz Knafelc, responsible for PS flocks at Jata Emona d.o.o, and Jasna Perc, Area Broiler manager at Pivka d.d., were joined by the Aviagen team. Jonny Harrison, Regional Technical Manager, introduced Kruno Bosilj, Technical Service Manager, to the audience. Kruno is taking over responsibilities from Janos Molnar, who is transferring to the Aviagen KFT Grandparent department. The presenters offered technical advice and support regarding the performance and profit impacts of poor litter quality, inadequate ventilation and the importance of good nutrition.

Tomaz Knafelc commented: "We have been delighted by the performance of our Ross stock and these flock awards are an excellent way of recognising the work carried out by our broiler farmers. We intend to hold flock awards on an annual basis from now on and hope to see continual improvement in performance."

Jonny Harrison, Regional Technical Manager added: "We are really impressed with the overall performance of Ross stock within Pivka and are delighted to see such strong results. The collection of performance data is a vital tool in the enhancement of existing and the development of new products so we are delighted that Pivka are supporting us in this."