As part of the same event, the first ever Ross Parent Stock (PS) Flock Awards for Belarus were also celebrated. Both took place in a picturesque country hotel near Minsk.

The format of the seminars was determined by the attendees in advance. At the end of winter, Aviagen asked GP and Parent Stock (PS) customers to choose topics for this year’s presentations, which became a winning formula for a tremendously successful event.

Presentations were varied and began with Tyark Osterndorff, Eastern Europe Business Development Director, Aviagen LLC, who talked about Aviagen’s training programmes and schools in the Eastern European region. Zoltan Marton, one of Aviagen’s veterinarians, made a well-received presentation about what causes leg problems in PS and broiler stock and discussed how to prevent them. Robert Roszkopf, a Regional Business Director at Aviagen Kft, presented an analysis of the European poultry market and asked guests to compare the best European production data with their own results, which created a lot of enthusiasm in the audience.

Tyark Osterndorff commented: “We were delighted to see such interest in the presentations that we had on offer this year. The Aviagen team did a terrific job in covering the long list of suggested topics for discussion that we received from PPR Broiler and its PS customers. The buzz created was an indication that the “custom made” format of the seminar was a great success.”

Csaba Suszter, Technical Service Manager, talked about the critical points in male management which was met with expert professional interest from the audience, together with an avalanche of questions and discussions between representatives of different farms. Petro Kuretchko, Technical Service Manager, prepared a presentation on the best management procedures for final grading and moving birds from rear farms into production, while Vlada Zima, Sales and Technical Manager of Aviagen KFT, introduced delegates to the European legislation on the control of Salmonella.

Best Ross Parent Flock Award winners

During the post-seminar dinner, the Best Ross Broiler Flock Awards for Belarus were presented. The winners were Agrocombinat Dzerzhinsky with PF Druzhba and Smolevichi Broiler as runners-up. This was followed by the first ever and long awaited presentation of the Best Ross Parent Flock Awards for Belarus. PF Druzhba became the first winner of this award with PF Rassvet second and Broiler PF Vitebskaya third.

Yuri Fesin, Director of PPR Broiler, commented: "Very interesting presentations and a professional seminar atmosphere in beautiful natural surroundings – this is how I want to describe the annual joint seminar organised by Aviagen and PPR Broiler. The Best Broiler and Parent Flock Awards celebrated the highest achievements of the Belarusian poultry producers."

Petro Kuretchko added: “We would like to congratulate our Ross Parent Stock and Broiler Flock Awards winners on achieving such outstanding results. This is testament to the genetic potential of the Ross 308 and the hard work and dedication of our customers to ensure that this potential is realised in their operations.”