Straightforward and really user-friendly

Transcription

1 Hedensed Gruppen March 2018 Sraighforward and really user-friendly We can walk around he sheds and check he animal daa on an ipad or smarphone, or we can si in he office and work wih he same daa on a compuer, relaes Per Eriksen. I s fanasic o work wih. We can walk around he sheds and check he animal daa on an ipad or smarphone, or we can si in he office and work wih he same daa on a compuer. WeighLog is really sraighforward and user-friendly, i s simple boh o ener and o delee daa in he weighing program. And seing up and moving he load cells? No a problem. So says Per Eriksen, owner of Båslund Mink near Billund in Denmark, where he has 5,700 females. Per invesed in he weighing sysem in 2016 and has been working wih i for a full season. Wih WeighLog, you can be absoluely sure of geing he acual weigh average once you have disribued he load cells correcly even if he sysem is se up in a shed ha is slighly warmer or colder han he ohers. In addiion, you can focus on daa for a specific shed or a specific cage o see how he animals weigh is progressing in relaion o oher pars of he farm, adds Per Eriksen, who coninues: We can see how well he animals are doing if heir weigh is going up or down and he sysem gives us a clear overview of growh during he year, as well as a good sense of weigh loss in he winer monhs up o flushing. Simply pu, WeighLog is a huge help in our everyday aciviies, especially in he winer monhs and he growh season. Labour saving Per Eriksen describes he weighing program as a labour-saving aid, because i auomaically provides growh daa abou he animals on a daily basis, and sends he daa insanly o he compuer. Previously, wo of us had o go around weighing he animals manually, and i ook beween 45 minues and an hour every week, he relaes. Regular, consan developmen Wha is more, WeighLog daa can be used o confirm ha he animals are showing regular, consan developmen in he growh season, and ha he females are mainaining heir fa layer in he suckling period. We can see when we need o pay aenion o he females, when hey begin o lose weigh, and when hey sar o feel sressed. This pus us in a beer posiion o conrol he feed flow so hey ge enough o ea, emphasises Per Eriksen, before adding: Probably he greaes advanage of he WeighLog sysem is ha i provides us wih a consan sream of daa so we can always keep rack of how well he animals are progressing. This makes i much easier for us o manage he animals in he winer monhs, for example. And, of course, we save a lo of man hours because we no longer have o weigh he animals by hand. Has an effec on feriliy Per Eriksen is in no doub ha he improved opporuniies o conrol weigh loss and growh will have an effec on feriliy among he females, and on skin sizes. Wih WeighLog, we re ready for a fuure where more and more hings will be linked up elecronically and run from a compuer, he says. Righ now, he is ineresed in he possibiliy of having daa abou he local oudoor emperaure included in he WeighLog sysem, and in being able o rack emperaure in he winer monhs o check for parallels o feeding/weigh loss. I would be a huge plus, says Per Eriksen, who also manually weighed he animals used in he elecronic sysem so as o doublecheck he measuremens. His conrol measuremens revealed a difference of jus 25 g. And ha s fine by me, he says. n Is all sawdus he same? Per Normann Peersen, CEO and owner of Dansk Træmel A/S, explains he imporance of using ligh sawdus when processing he skins in drums. WelFur paves he way o improved skin prices And 2020 will mark a definiive end o non-cerified skins. Hello o new CEO of HG In his own words, he new CEO of HG is a bi of a nerd, especially when i comes o IT. Mee him on he back cover page. Page 2 Page 12 Page 16

2 Opimal skin cleaning is synonymous wih opimal qualiy and perfec under wool, which produces a higher proporion of velve skins. In addiion, improved cleaning qualiy ranslaes ino reduced sawdus consumpion, explains Per Normann Peersen from Dansk Træmel A/S. Ligh, high qualiy sawdus more cash in he bank PelsAvisen is published by Hedensed Gruppen A/S No. of copies DK: UK: PL: 600 Ediors Jens Jørgen Madsen (ansv.) Michael Chrisensen Jens Villadsen Henrik Morensen Olgierd Jakubowski Phoos Svend Pedersen HG arkiv Tex Knud Erik Jensen Priner OTM AVISTRYK Herning-Ikas Thanks o he adverisers Beafence Dansk Træmel Special hanks o Hans Schmid Andersen Per Eriksen Per Normann Peersen Peer Tegllund Vejlevej 15 DK-8722 Hedensed Phone Surface and volume. These are he defining feaures of he mink skins ha mink farmers sell. A bi like he young girl heading ou on a dae on Saurday nigh her hair is se up beauifully and shining. This is precisely wha mink skins need o do, and hen say looking good for 4 5 monhs. One crucial precondiion is herefore how well he skins are cleaned in he peling cenre. And a precondiion for good cleaning is using he righ sawdus. Ligh sawdus. When he sawdus is ligh, his indicaes ha i s been made using fresh beechwood. This, in urn, means ha he sawdus won negaively affec he cleanliness of he skins which is unforunaely he case wih reddish, darker sawdus, says Per Normann Peersen, CEO and owner of Dansk Træmel A/S, which supplies sawdus o HG. He adds: Opimal skin cleaning is synonymous wih opimal qualiy and perfec under wool, which produces a higher proporion of velve skins. Wha is more, improved cleaning capaciy ranslaes ino reduced sawdus consumpion. Addiional earnings of EUR 4.00 per sack No all sawdus is of equally high qualiy, and according o Kopenhagen Fur, he difference beween good and poor sawdus can be as much as hree qualiy poins. In February 2016 mink prices, his ranslaes ino EUR 0.1 per skin. If you use a sack of sawdus o process 50 skins, he improved sales price for he skins will correspond o addiional earnings of around EUR 4.00 per sack. If he sawdus is no ligh, his will likely resul in colour ransfer o he skins. This is paricularly apparen on ligh ypes, which currenly accoun for around half he oal volume of skins. And if he skin s puriy raing is bumped from 1 o 2 or perhaps all he way o 3 on accoun of he dark sawdus, his could cos you a lo of money per skin. The difference beween a puriy raing of 1 and 3 is en per cen of he skin price (currenly EUR 3.4), so jus five per cen moving he wrong way will cos more han EUR 6.7 per sack of sawdus. Effecive dus cleaning Effecive dus cleaning is anoher benefi you achieve by using sawdus of he fines qualiy, and his is also imporan ou of consideraion o employees boh in he peling cenre and in he soring deparmen a Kopenhagen Fur. emphasises Per Normann Peersen. Dus is classed as a carcinogen, he adds, and makes he poin ha dus is also ough o shake ou of mink skins and will herefore diminish he colour and he skin puriy. Finally, dus has a derimenal effec on vial pars of he peling machines. Good sawdus coss less han EUR 0.3 per skin. The consequences of impuriies or poor qualiy skins cos a lo more a he end of he day. The calculaion speaks for iself. A disinguishing feaure of Dansk Træmel A disinguishing feaure of he producion process a Dansk Træmel is he use of fresh beechwood. Using wood from fresh beech runks means ha we ourselves deermine how he sawdus is made. This is in conras o he pracice of using cas-offs from he furniure indusry and he like, where he wood has been processed for oher purposes. All ess and rials also show ha our sawdus helps achieve opimal skin cleaning. says Per Normann Peersen, who coninues: I s imporan o us ha our producs are as effecive as possible. We achieve his by selling various ypes and qualiies of sawdus including special producs adaped o differen peling processes, which we ve developed on he basis of in-deph knowledge of mink skins and many years of experience. Our special producs also go furher han oher producs on he marke, which reduces consumpion and helps save on he resources used in he peling process. From he ime he beech runks are cu up a he saw mill, i akes only a few minues before he sawdus is dried in a hi-ech drying and heareaing insallaion which is wha produces he pure, ligh sawdus. And sawdus wih a large, rough surface can clean and absorb quickly. Furhermore, he sawdus conains jus eigh per cen waer, and as waer weighs four imes as much as sawdus, he low waer conen means more sawdus for your money. Two facories for superior delivery reliabiliy Dansk Træmel operaes wo facories, one in Esbjerg and one in Lunderskov. The laer is a compleely new faciliy, buil because he company needed addiional capaciy o handle demand. And i s never good o have o disappoin cusomers who are asking for your producs, saes Per Normann Peersen firmly. We were hi by a couple of small fires a our facory in Esbjerg, fires ha could have become really serious if we d been unlucky. Wih wo facories, we can guaranee significanly superior delivery reliabiliy and flexibiliy, which is somehing large peling cenres in paricular are keen on, he adds, before concluding: We can now also deliver sawdus in loose weigh, which means lower coss for boh us and he mink farmers. n

3 Hedensed Gruppen March 2018 WeighLog: he managemen ool of he fuure Given ha feed accouns for around 40 per cen of producion coss, i is essenial o make he very mos of your feed by keeping a close check on fa levels and growh. mink auomaically wih WeighLog is he managemen Weighing ool of he fuure on mink farms. Tha is he commen from Johan B. Sørensen, HG sales supervisor for he weighing sysem ha helps ensure daily growh and opimal fa managemen. Given ha feed accouns for around 40 per cen of producion coss, i s imporan o opimise fa managemen and growh so as o make he very mos of your feed. This is precisely wha daa from WeighLog help you o do. And a he end of he day, his means more skins sold per female and a higher skin price, adds Johan B. Sørensen. The WeighLog sofware requires a se number of reliable weigh measuremens from each load cell every day for he weigh o be acceped as reliable. Facs abou he daily weigh developmen of he mink can be used o check wheher he farm has chosen he opimal feed sraegy. During growh periods, he sysem can be used o check wheher he mink are puing on enough weigh wihou inerrupion in wha are ofen highly changeable weaher condiions. Especially in periods of ho weaher, daily weighing figures can be used o find he opimal approach o feeding on an ongoing basis, and farmers can experimen wih he number and iming of he daily feed rounds. In he immediae fuure, WeighLog will be developed o include a benchmarking funcion so ha farms can compare heir daily growh figures wih he op en per cen. During he fa managemen and suckling periods, farmers can check wheher he mink are slimming appropriaely so ha hey almos reurn o heir November weigh immediaely before giving birh. In he space of a year, maybe wo, we should be able o use daa from he farmers wih he highes ki resuls o prepare a guiding weigh curve so ha farmers can use WeighLog daa as an aid o increasing lier size, predics Johan B. Sørensen. Define periods, colour ypes and so on yourself Wih WeighLog, you can decide for yourself which periods you wan o see graphs for, which colour ypes you wan in he cages and so on. The weighing sysem can be used for up o 45 differen colour ypes. You need 12 load cells per ype in order o generae an accurae image of he ype s growh. This means ha for hree colour ypes you need 36 load cells, which ranslaes ino an annual cos including ineres, depreciaion and licence fee of a lile more han EUR 1, If you have 10,000 skins, you need o opimise he size or ki resul by six per cen for he invesmen o pay off. By way of an illusraion: an improvemen in size (+EUR 4.00 per skin) of six per cen on 10,000 animals would mean ha 600 animals will generae an exra size profi of 600 x EUR 4.00 = EUR 2,400. In addiion, an improved ki resul (from five o six kis, for example) would improve he invesmen calculaion even furher, explains Johan B. Sørensen. Soluions for feed cenres Used in feed cenres, WeighLog can provide an indicaion of how good and asy he food was yeserday and hus help farms o pinpoin he bes suppliers. You canno run analyses on ase. Only he mink can answer ha quesion by acually eaing he feed. If a feed cenre supplies enough farmers, our feed cenre soluion can quickly show wheher he feed is producing he desired resul, says Johan B. Sørensen. As a WeighLog user, you decide wheher he feed cenre is o be able o see your daa wih your name, or wheher he daa should be supplied anonymously. Bu by linking up your feed cenre in he WeighLog plaform you will, over ime, be able o view he weigh developmen of your own animals compared o ha achieved a oher farms ha have chosen he same feed cenre. New smarphone app As he laes developmen for WeighLog, HG has recenly launched a smarphone app. Unforunaely, we have noiced ha he many differen smarphones use differen operaive sysems, and his can produce unfamiliar inerfaces if you access WeighLog via he inerne insead of from a home based compuer as you normally do. Therefore, you need o use he new app for iphone and Android on your smarphone. In fuure, you will be able o use he app while sanding nex o he load cells o ener he ype and sar/check weigh direcly, and o calibrae he load cells, relaes Johan B. Sørensen, and goes on o emphasise ha HG currenly recommends calibraing four imes per year, as he load cells are acually aking weigh measuremens every second of he day, 365 days a year. Of course, in ime you will also be able o access much of he same informaion via he app as you can hrough your compuer, he concludes. n WeighLog facs u 95% of he animals are suiable for auomaic weighing. u Weigh wo animals in he same cage. u Accuracy of 99% on he average weighing of 12 animals from day o day. u Accuracy of 98% on a single animal over hree days of weighing. u Always a minimum 200 g difference per animal. u Minimum 800 g weigh for animals o be weighed. We recommend removing exising shelves from he cages. Fi he load cell ogeher wih he ki drinking sysem, if appropriae. Calibrae he load cell four imes a year. Always make sure o updae he sysem when adding/moving animals. A WeighLog soluion comprises: u a load ransmier for six load cells u a load gaeway ypically one per farm u a load cell per cage comparmen. 3

4 Securing Wha Maers Beafence Beafence produces produces all ypes all ypes of securiy of securiy fencing, forres-area fencing, fores-area fencing, barbed fencing, wire, garden barbed fencing, wire, mink garden and fencing, fox wire, and mink a broad and assormen fox wire, and of welded a broad and assormen woven producs of welded for he and farming woven indusry. producs for he farming indusry. Beafence is he undispued world leader in he producion of wire mesh soluions - largely because he Beafence company is never he undispued compromises world on leader sandards in he producion and qualiy of arges. wire mesh soluions largely because he company never compromises on sandards and qualiy arges. Wih 11 manufacuring unis and a worldwide sales nework, Beafence is represened in more han 100 counries. Wih 9 manufacuring unis and a worldwide sales nework, Beafence is represened in more han 100 counries. Beafence is he only company on he marke ha manufacures all wire grades used in he fur indusry: Beafence Zinc Aluminium, is he only Zincalu10*, company on galvanised, he marke sainless ha manufacures seel, woven all wire and grades plasic-coaed. used in he fur indusry: Zinc Aluminium, Zincalu10, galvanized, sainless seel, woven and plasic-coaed. Today, he plasic-coaed wire comes wih he srong Zincalu10 under Zincalu10 he coaing. is a new coaing developed by Beafence. I has an increased aluminium percenage in he coaing compared wih he radiional Galfan or Zincalu coaings. Sal spray esing according o ISO 9227 shows an improved corrosion resisance. This new ype of coaing, ogeher wih a proprieary producion process of Beafence guaranees an excellen corrosion resisance. *NEW: Securing Wha Maers 4

5 Hedensed Gruppen March 2018 Will he Chinese do o mink wha hey ve done o seel? Accouning for he producion and consumpion of half of all he seel in he world, China conrols he price of his valuable resource bu hings were very differen jus 15 years ago. China currenly produces and consumes more han half of he 1.5 billion onnes of seel manufacured every year around he world. Bu his was no he siuaion jus 15 years ago when Chinese producion had a bes a minimal impac on he global marke. Since hen, however, developmen in China has moved a lighning pace, wih he counry invesing huge sums in he seel indusry. As a resul, China conrols seel prices oday and is influence has a decisive effec on he global seel indusry. Half he world s seel producion moved o China wihou us in Europe noicing anyhing. You ll hear people alk of The Black Box, China s abiliy o make moves behind he scenes, emphasises Michael Chrisensen, he new CEO of HG. He goes on o ask he imporan quesion: Is here a corresponding Black Box in he mink indusry? Bough up disused seel rolling plans The Chinese success in seel sared in he early 1990s and 2000s when Chinese buyers began purchasing disused seel rolling plans in he Ruhr Disric in Germany, for example. They hen disassembled hese plans and sailed hem back o China where hey were reassembled and reproduced. This resuled in a sring of seelworks lining he banks of rivers 300 km from he eas coas of China. Since 2008, China has made huge invesmens in an ulra-modern, efficien producion seup, carving ou a conrolling role for iself in he seel secor. In sark conras o his, much of he seel producion elsewhere in he world in he Unied Saes and he EU, for insance is behind he imes, relying on old, worn-ou seel mills. The Chinese producion apparaus acually has he capaciy o produce 70 per cen of he world s seel. Tha is why China has such a srong influence on seel prices, says Michael Chrisensen, before coninuing: Seel producion is one of he mos heavily polluing processes in he world, and China is baling major problems wih polluion in numerous secors. One good example of China s influence and power o ac was demonsraed in he case of how homes were heaed in he cold, norhern reaches of he counry in auumn In order o limi polluion, he Chinese governmen dicaed ha from November 2017 o he Chinese New Year in he middle of February 2018, less seel was o be produced, bu in reurn he Chinese people could urn up he hea in heir homes. The cu in producion was necessary o compensae for he increase in air polluion from he coal-fired CHP saions ha supplied he disric heaing, and i insanly caused he price of seel o rise on he global marke. Correspondingly, when Chinese home owners were insruced o urn down heir heaing again on 16 February, China ook he brakes off seel producion again. This nealy proves how much influence China has on he seel indusry oday. Ore, scrap and charcoal Seel producion involves boh ore and scrap used seel from bridges, railway racks, he driver s side door from a VW Passa and so on. I all goes ino making new seel. Recycled seel accouns for around 50 per cen of new seel producion, and is manufacured using elecriciy, whereas charcoal is crucial o he producion of seel in blas furnaces. Energy has a major effec on seel prices, as do ranspor coss. Fully hree per cen of oal global producion is sainless seel, where wha is known as black seel has alloy elemens added in he form of nickel (ypically 18%) and chromium (ypically 8%). These wo elemens affec seel prices by a facor of each, which means ha sainless seel ypically coss four imes more han ordinary black seel. In simplified erms, he price of seel is affeced by a facor of 0.2 on scrap prices, and by a facor of 0.4 for boh chromium and nickel, so chromium and nickel accoun for fully 80 per cen and play a decisive role in seing he price. Boh elemens and alloy elemens feaure heavily in baeries for he elecric vehicles of he fuure, so nickel and chromium may soon be in shor supply. This would make sainless seel exremely expensive, if developmens in he field of elecric vehicles progress as expeced. Consumpion of sainless seel is on he rise. Traded in US dollars The fac ha seel is raded in US dollars also has an effec on seel prices. We canno coun on coninuing o enjoy he benefi we have had hus far in Europe due o he favourable exchange rae, because he dollar rae is expeced o rise. Seel prices are regulaed hrough rade on differen exchanges, which is a sysem we are familiar wih as regards mink and Kopenhagen Fur, says Michael Chrisensen, who adds ha he high emphasis on CO 2 quoas and ecofriendly producion in Europe is skewing he compeiiveness of European seel manufacurers in relaion o China. Europe consumes around 170 million onnes of seel every year, of which Denmark uses a million onnes or 0.07 of global consumpion. The Unied Saes consumes 120 million onnes, of which 80 per cen sems from expensive domesic producion from hree American seelworks. Cusoms barriers and presiden Trump s much-vauned America Firs concep are serving o keep seel prices high in he Unied Saes. Wha abou he mink indusry? Is wha happened o seel abou o happen in he mink secor as well? In jus five years, China has disruped he very basis of he mink indusry and now accouns for more han 40 per cen of global skin producion. So should mink farmers fear for he fuure, or should we ry o find new opporuniies in China? Whaever happens, we need o prepare for he siuaion o change in he fuure, and mus aemp o prise open he Chinese Black Box for mink in ime, says Michael Chrisensen, before adding: We a HG aim o power developmen and conribue o securing he Danish mink indusry in paricular and he European one in general by bringing o bear he full weigh of he compeence and knowledge we possess in our organisaion. We are focused on how we can avoid surprises in our secor like he ones ha hi he seel indusry and we are always ready o discuss condiions and developmens wih our cusomers and parners. HG suggess making use of he following ools : u Accepance and greaer undersanding of how mink producion is being run in China. u Working o mainain he high level of qualiy we have buil up in Europe. u Ensuring ha he WelFur concep is disseminaed, achieved and implemened before u Inroducing digialisaion on he farms premises o help reduce producion coss wihou compromising on WelFur commimens. Here, we are hinking of opimisaion iniiaives such as he WEIGHTLog sysem. In fuure, we ll need o use all he resources a our disposal o develop machines and farm soluions wih he capaciy o suppor our goal of creaing compeiive producion in Europe, concludes Michael Chrisensen. n 5

6 Bowing ou afer 40 years in he indusry On 1 February 2018, i is 40 years since Johannes Nielsen joined he mink indusry as a sales consulan. He has now chosen o reire a he end of March. Johannes Nielsen embarked on his commercial career afer leaving high school and compleing his naional service. The firs sep on he ladder was an appreniceship a P. Conradsen in Frederikshavn, Denmark, where he spend six days a week working wih provisions for fishing cuers, ice-breakers, he naval saion and he Sena Line ferries. I was one of his good friends and colleagues who finally convinced Johannes, afer almos en years wih P. Conradsen, o swich o he mink indusry as a sales represenaive in The area around Frederikshavn hosed a colony comprising 30 or 40 hobby farms, each wih females. Back hen, mink farming was a secondary job for many people, even hough here were some large-scale farms as well, relaes Johannes. So he job descripion of sales represenaive wasn as clearcu as i is oday When new supplies of wire arrived from Bekaer (now called Beafence), he sales saff and office workers were sen ou o help unload he deliveries by hand. And hen he rucks were sen souh again, carrying loads of frozen fish desined for expor markes such as France, recalls Johannes, who has acually specialised in wire during his long career. Generally speaking, he farms in Denmark a ha ime were ypically se up around he fishing harbours, where hey had easy access o feed for he animals. In Juland, here were many farms along he wes coas, which was o become Johannes primary sales region, iniially wih Jasopan (Jasopels oday) and hen, from spring 2005 onwards, wih HG as his employer. His second home Alhough he had a wife and wo children in Frederikshavn, Johannes spen every week from Tuesday o Friday saying in he same room a Hoel Fjordgården in Ringkøbing. In fac, i became his second home o such an exen ha afer he hoel compleed a major renovaion and refurbishmen projec, he gave hem he clear insrucion: Make sure o pu my old chair back! And hey did. When Jasopan was ou demonsraing new fleshing equipmen, Johannes always said: Jus le he young ones have a go! One of hese young ones was Jens Villadsen, who is now HG s Sales Manager for Scandinavia. Johannes is no a grea fan of change, generally speaking and especially no when Jasopan decided o bring in compuer sysems for regisering orders and so on. We know his for a fac from Hans Schmid Andersen, who was involved wih Jasopan in he 1980s as Chairman of he Board and consulan, asked wih coming up wih good ideas for ways o sreamline he business. He runs his own consulancy company oday, bu clearly remembers evens from his previous occupaion. A one poin, we discovered ha Johannes was sill filling in order forms by hand, jus like he always used o do. All he new-fangled compuer nonsense wasn for him and so his wife, Aase, had o learn he sysems and spen every weekend doing he compuer work for him. One of he bes Hans Schmid Andersen has an imporan poin o add o he sory, however: Johannes is an exremely personable man and one of he fines sales represenaives I ve ever known. So he could do hings however he waned o. The secreary naurally ook over he digial par of he work so Johannes could concenrae on he mos imporan par of he job: he cusomers. I d say ha i was almos impossible for oher sales reps o convince Johannes cusomers o ry somehing new. And I simply canno imagine ha any of our compeiors HG, for example would so much as dream of sending anyone on a charm offensive o he island of Bornholm, because all he farmers here were Johannes cusomers. And he was happy o handle he work all on his own wihou anyone else geing involved. Jens Jørgen Madsen is quick o confirm ha Johannes is one of he mos skilful salesmen he ever knew: hard-working, empaheic and wih all he facs and figures a his fingerips. While i is rue ha o sar wih, Johannes wife Aase helped wih enering he orders, over he pas 10 years Johannes augh himself o do all he compuer work even in he mos recen IT updaes. 6

7 Hedensed Gruppen March 2018 From a hos of hobby farms o full-ime operaions The secor as a whole has, quie naurally, undergone significan changes over he course of Johannes career: Professionalisaion. In a word, ha s wha s happened, he says, and explains: Danish mink farmers have seriously specialised in heir chosen profession helped on heir way by he echnological developmen which means ha compuers and machines do mos of he heavy lifing oday. There are fewer farms, bu hey re much bigger. Those are some of he main aspecs of he developmen I ve winessed. Cusomers for generaions Alhough Johannes is an exraordinarily good sales represenaive, he doesn feel ha s anyhing o boas abou: I remember he firs ime we had he chance o demonsrae an air-powered fleshing machine. Everyone here was hugely impressed by his echnological marvel, which was soon insalled in he numerous peling cenres along he wes coas. Because he crucial quesion was: has my colleague a he farm nex door bough one? When I nodded yes, here was nohing else o discuss. Well, I simply have o have one as well. Times were good back hen. In recen years, Johannes has acually been visiing he second generaion of he same family in many places. When you ve been doing somehing so long ha you know several generaions of he same family, i naurally adds a special dimension o he work you do, he says. Through his sales work, Johannes has had occasion o visi and experience all kinds of wonderful places all over Europe. He is now moving home permanenly o Frederikshavn, where he will be changing professions o Lover of life. No fuss, hanks... Johannes doesn wan any fuss on he occasion of his 40h anniversary. Bu he will be working on HG s sand a he rade fair in Herning, where he hopes o have he chance o say an informal hank you and goodbye o colleagues, friends and acquainances in he indusry. On behalf of he enire HG organisaion, I would like o hank you for your fanasic inpu. We wish you nohing bu he bes for he fuure and we ll miss you! says Jens Jørgen Madsen. n Quick and easy skinning Wih machines, ranspor and grid conveyors from HG, you can se up a quick and simple workflow for he saff in your peling cenre no maer how many skins you wish o produce per day. Once he bodies have been processed in he self-empying body drum, hey are released ono he grid conveyor ha sars and sops auomaically. This means here is always a mink ready for he operaor a he Combi Cu saion, which cus he mink and loosens he ail and hind legs. The cu mink are hen ranspored by conveyor o he Quick Skin machine ha handles he res of he skinning process. HG is happy o help wih ips and ideas abou how o se up he skinning line mos appropriaely depending on available space and he desired capaciy a he peling cenre. n 7

8 Danish mink farmers skin prices pulling ahead Jens Jørgen Madsen, former CEO and curren Chairman of he Board of HG, looks back on 25 years of fanasic developmen, and forward owards an exciing fuure for he mink indusry. A round 20 years ago, Danish mink farmers ravelled o counries including he Neherlands o learn abou he pel indusry and how o raise large mink. The siuaion has now reversed, wih fur farmers from all pars of he world coming o Denmark o learn how o obain higher skin prices. In jus 20 years, Danish mink farming has worked is way up he rankings o op posiion measured in skin prices. Norway and Spain are among he counries closes o Denmark in his regard, bu oherwise here is a large group of counries where farmers earn 25 per cen less per skin on average han heir Danish counerpars. If we measure he cos price of producing a mink skin, Denmark is placed a he opposie end of he scale, so i is imporan o Danish farmers ha he 25 per cen in addiional cos comes o more han he EUR 8,00 difference in he cos price. Mink farming has a significan impac on Danish social economics, accouning for 5 10 per cen of he ne surplus on he balance of paymens. Denmark is hus he only counry in he EU o enjoy a surplus on is rade balance wih China on accoun of sales of mink skins. So wha is i ha has aken Danish mink farming o is posiion of global leader? This is he quesion we pu o Jens Jørgen Madsen, CEO of HG unil he end of January 2018, and now Chairman of he Board. Jens Jørgen has worked in he mink indusry for 30 years he las 25 of which were spen a HG and has been in ouch wih a grea many fur farmers all over he world. I s been a fanasic journey, because he mink indusry is one of a kind: i s a small club comprising around 3,000 farmers in Europe, he says, before going on o highligh several facors behind he success of Danish mink farming. Uniy in Danish mink farming The uniy you find in Danish mink farming plays a key role. We have he capaciy o make he mos of he various houghs and ideas pu forward by he farmers, and we have seen he mos skilful farmers aking he lead, consiuing he Board of Direcors of Kopenhagen Fur. This is a highly skilled board which has succeeded for more han 20 years in aracing he mos compeen managers, such ha Kopenhagen Fur remains an exremely wellrun, cooperaive business ha has proved is capaciy o earn money and shared profis in he amoun of EUR 0,7 1,3 per skin over he years, says Jens Jørgen Madsen, who coninues: Anoher key facor is he Scandinavian livesock culure, where showing consideraion for animal welfare is deeply-rooed in our DNA. We ake pride in fussing over he mink during he year and looking afer hem which has a beneficial effec on skin prices. The elie Danish fur farmers are ofen qualified skin assessors, rained in a nework where knowledge and developmen are disseminaed freely o he benefi of he enire secor. Have somehing he ohers don Jens Jørgen Madsen also highlighs he fac ha wih cooperaive culure a is impressive bes, Danish mink farmers have somehing farmers in oher counries simply don have a all. The cooperaive sociey is buil on an hisoric basis of sanding ogeher and working side by side o develop and o share knowledge wih one anoher, so ha everyone can grow individually and as par of somehing bigger. I would be ideal if we suppliers could do he same hing. Each of us devoes large sums of money o proecing ourselves wih paens and hen baling one anoher over minor poins and infracions and we do so in a secor as small as he mink indusry, where boh funds and ideas would be beer pu o use reinforcing he developmen of new machines, equipmen and processes, o everyone s benefi. Funds for PR, lobbying work and research Over and above funds for profi sharing, Kopenhagen Fur s capaciy o earn money also generaes a lo of money for PR, lobbying work and research which is imporan, emphasises Jens Jørgen Madsen. Research and consulancy are he cornersones of progress. If hese had o be paid for direcly via a subscripion fee charged o all farmers, he budge would be much igher han i is in Denmark, where he coss are covered in par hrough he profi from Kopenhagen Fur, he says. When he secor runs ino difficulies which happens from ime o ime we would no have a chance in he face of our opponens were i no for his exra cash. Whereas farmers in oher counries have o go around and ry o collec funds o face his bale, he Danish mink indusry is ough o ake on because he secor has he funds, i has a kind of war ches o figh wih, he says, recalling he Operaion X TV programme from Even hough our opponens were using unlawful mehods agains us, and even hough hey presened a heavily skewed image of he secor, i was quie a wake-up call for he mink secor. We ook he criicisms seriously, ook he lead in effors o ensure improved welfare, and urned a negaive ino a posiive, affirms Jens Jørgen Madsen. He adds: When he mink indusry was hardes pressed on ehical issues, he Danish farmers succeeded in jus one monh in changing heir behaviour, aking a long hard look a hemselves and asking: wha can I do o ensure mink farming can coninue in Denmark? Broad poliical accepance and respec In conras o he siuaion in many oher counries, he mink indusry enjoys broad poliical accepance and respec here in Denmark, says Jens Jørgen Madsen. I d even go as far as o say grea respec. And his respec and accepance sem from he indusry daring o do somehing iself o change 8

9 Hedensed Gruppen March 2018 In addiion o his jobs as Chairman of he Board and ambassador for HG, Jens Jørgen Madsen also spends ime aking care of he animals a he family farm. We caugh him ensuring ha here will be new kis laer on his spring. he saus quo. Through he WelFur cerificaion scheme, for example. Bu i s essenial ha we don ake his accepance for graned; we need o keep working hard o earn he respec i expresses, he adds, before freely admiing ha: The fac ha fur farmers conribue 5 10 per cen of he ne surplus on he balance of paymen probably doesn hur eiher. Denmark free from Aleuian disease Anoher reason for he success of he indusry is ha Danish mink farmers have made huge effors o cleanse Denmark of Aleuian disease resuling in Denmark becoming he only counry in he world o have almos compleely eradicaed he disease. I is a disease ha ypically coss he indury EUR 8,00 per skin, parly hrough higher coss and lower skin prices. No-one can see ino he fuure, bu... No-one knows he fuure, bu you can choose he fuure you wan o have and hen work o make your vision come rue, commens Jens Jørgen Madsen philosophically. We a HG are sure ha mink will coninue o be an aracive indusry, and ha fur will coninue o be aracive in he world of fashion. We believe in he solid crafsmanship. We believe in he message of back o naure and he value of fur as he oldes iem of clohing we have. We believe ha animal welfare and innovaion will prove imporan in mink producion, wih full raceabiliy from consumer o animal, which is why even more emphasis will be placed on animal ehics issues in he fuure. And we believe ha opimising farming work and producion hrough he inroducion of more auomaed work processes and digialisaion of boh he collecion and sharing of knowledge, he adds, before highlighing wo major risks and facors of uncerainy ha he secor will always have o conend wih: price flucuaions and poliical opposiion. Farmers canno eliminae hese risks enirely, bu hey can become less vulnerable o hem. Price flucuaion can be combaed by consanly reducing coss, improving qualiy/size (= higher skin prices), and building up liquidiy reserves so as o secure he financial freedom o ac. Poliical opposiion can be ackled by promoing welfare for animals and employees, and having his explained and acceped in he poliical environmen demonsrae he socieal imporance and he responsibiliy you are showing o yourselves, he mink and your business, says Jens Jørgen Madsen. His key asks in he fuure In he fuure, Jens Jørgen Madsen will have wo main asks a HG. One is o serve as Chairman of he Board wih he usual responsibiliies and asks a chairman has o handle regarding he managemen and key parners on boh cusomer and supplier sides. He is also o devoe a lile more ime o developmen projecs. The second assignmen is new and exremely exciing: I ll be aking on he role of ambassador for HG and, almos cerainly, for he indusry as a whole. In his role, I ll be working on muliple frons. The poliical fron: explaining he business of a mink farmer and wha he indusry is doing for animal welfare and he social economy. In addiion, racking consumer demand for fur and esablishing where hey place emphasis wih regard o susainabiliy and raceabiliy. The secor-relaed fron: pleading our case o fur farmers all over he world, sressing he imporance of behaving decenly in all areas of sociey, especially in he field of animal welfare. And, of course, lisening o fur farmers alk abou he challenges facing hem and elling hem how HG can help each and every one of hem o become a beer fur farmer from he financial perspecive as well, says Jens Jørgen Madsen, before summing up his new role as follows: In he fuure, I ll be using my experience and my knowledge o make a significan conribuion o achieving HG s vision: World leading parner improving fur business hrough welfare and innovaion. n 9

10 Dansk Træmel expands Wih he opening of our new facory in Lunderskov near Kolding, Denmark, we ve more han doubled our capaciy. Our faciliy in Esbjerg has been finding i more and more of a challenge o keep pace wih he growing demand for high-qualiy sawdus. Demand has really aken off over he pas few years, wih Kopenhagen Fur placing grea emphasis on he qualiy of he sawdus and is significance for he end produc. We are now once again in a posiion o accommodae he demand and he influx of new cusomers. The broades range on he marke coupled wih grea flexibiliy l 15 or 22 kg sacks paper or plasic l Number of sacks per palle o order l Big bags wih weigh o order l Unpackaged produc delivered by dumper ruck, vacuum pump ruck or walking floor ruck l Delivery or collecion from Esbjerg or Lunderskov l Wide range of special mixes o order so you can be sure of precisely he mix ha bes maches your peling plan. Freshly produced, highqualiy sawdus delivered o you when you need i! Dansk Træmel A/S Gl. Lifsrupvej 3, 6715 Esbjerg Øsmarken 1-5, DK 6640 Lunderskov Tel

11 Hedensed Gruppen March 2018 Provides overview and is open o furher developmen WeighLog is a grea everyday aid. I can see a lo of poenial in he weighing sysem going forward, says Peer Tegllund. I s a good invesmen because i provides overview. Furhermore, he sysem can be developed o include even more funcionaliy, so i has a solid fuure. Bank on i! Tha is how Peer Tegllund summarises his immediae experience wih WeighLog, which he has been using for he pas en monhs a his wo farms where he has a oal of 10,000 females. The farms are locaed near Frederikshavn in Denmark, and operae under he name of NRR Minkfarm. I check WeighLog before I head ou ino he sheds o see he animals. The measured average weigh les me know wheher we need o increase or decrease he feed which is imporan; really, really imporan. The daa in he weighing sysem help show wha we need o focus on, and how he animals weigh is developing. As we have wo farms, we have access o a consan sream of daa abou where hings are working bes, and we can compare he wo farms. For example, we can check if we fed correcly over he weekend. And once we have a lile more experience wih WeighLog, we can sar o ake weaher condiions ino accoun especially if i s paricularly cold or windy, explains Peer Tegllund, who adds ha he always looks a he overall picure for he wo farms. Is he average weigh on he way up or down? The load ransmier can be conneced o six load cells and ransmis he daa wirelessly. Grea poenial WeighLog is a grea everyday aid. I can see a lo of poenial in he weighing sysem going forward, i.e. once we re fully familiar wih i. You need o have a bi of experience wih he sysem before you can make opimal use of i, he says, and highlighs he winer monhs and he gesaion phases as he periods when using WeighLog offers he greaes benefis. However, he is quick o add ha: We recommend removing exising shelves from he cages. Fi he load cell ogeher wih he ki drinking sysem, if appropriae. Calibrae he load cell four imes a year. The weighing sysem is grea all year round and we do use i all year. Everyone can conribue ideas Overview is he keyword for Peer Tegllund, who clearly expecs ha WeighLog will be able o provide an overview of more areas in he years o come han i can oday. A lo of hings will be developed on he basis of daa, curves and graphs in he fuure, and I m convinced ha all us mink farmers will have he opporuniy o pu forward ideas ha can be used in he weighing sysem. This somehing HG is paricularly good a: picking up on ideas and developing hem. And when we can see how much farher ahead developmen is in he areas of chicken, pig and cale farming wih regard o feed and feeding sysems, here is cerainly enormous developmen poenial in our secor, concludes Peer Tegllund. n 11

12 WelFur paves he way o improved skin prices From as early as he nex season, WelFur-cerified skins will be available from Kopenhagen Fur, SAGA Furs and NAFA he hree players which, ogeher, accoun for almos 95% of aucion sales worldwide. And 2020 will mark a definiive end o non-cerified skins. A nimal welfare is high on he consumers agenda, and people oday are also keen o know he full sory behind he producs hey are buying. A he same ime, appreciable poliical pressure is being brough o bear on our indusry in general from a variey of sources including social media. The Neherlands will be ceasing producion enirely in 2024, and oher counries are expeced o follow sui. There are approximaely 4,000 fur farmers sill operaing in Europe, lined up agains prey much he res of he world: 1 mink farmer for every 2 million people. Tha s why i s hugely posiive ha we now have he WelFur scheme as a uniform, sysemaic ool for assuring, measuring and documening a high level of animal welfare a fur farms. The new sysem generaes boh ransparency and raceabiliy in skin producion, which is an aspec ha is increasingly in demand from consumers, says Moren Aagren, a member of HG s inernaional sales eam, by way of an inroducion. Moren has buil up in-deph knowledge of wha assessors from he inernaional inspecion and cerificaion organisaion Balic Conrol ake ino accoun before approving an operaion under he WelFur scheme. He spen he winer monhs holding lecures on he opic a seminars organised by he naional fur farmers associaions in Greece, Ialy and Spain. WelFur cerificaion isn somehing ha s been imposed upon us by an exernal auhoriy. The scheme was creaed and is adminisraed by our own European umbrella organisaion, Fur Europe. I s buil on 30 years of experience wih fur farming, which has been consolidaed and processed hrough sudies a seven European universiies, he emphasises. 12 The four welfare principles This work resuled in he four welfare principles used o evaluae each farm: u Good feeding u Good housing u Good healh u Appropriae behaviours The cerificaion process comprises hree inspecion visis: One in he winer season (1 January 20 February) One in he ki season (5 May 1 July) One in he growh season (23 Sepember 30 November). During he firs visi, he assessors ask quesions abou he managemen of he farm and selec approximaely 90 cage comparmens ha are flagged for wo ypes of observaion: one animalbased (he healh of he animal) and one resource-based (care and equipmen). The observaions are regisered in a complex sysem ha generaes a poins score beween 0 and 100 for each of he four principles, where 100 is bes and 50 is neural. Good feeding Good feeding naurally means ha he animals mus no go hungry or hirsy for long periods. The assessors herefore check he physical condiion of he animals and allocae a score. In addiion o feed managemen, he waer supply for he animals is a crucial parameer. Jus like people, animals need waer o survive, and i s errible if he animals don have consan access o fresh waer. This is clearly refleced in he WelFur scheme. For example, farms score 100 poins for an auomaic waering sysem wih clean drinking valves and circulaing waer ha can be kep fros-free in winer and cool in summer i.e. a sysem where he pipes are insulaed and can be warmed if necessary. The same sysem wih clean drinking valves bu wihou insulaion/heaing scores 63 poins, explains Moren Aagren, who adds: Ki valves conneced o an auomaic waering sysem also score highly for obvious reasons. When he kis consanly have ready access o fresh waer, more of hem will survive and hey will quickly grow big and srong. Good housing Good housing has o do wih ensuring ha he animals have sufficien space and comfor. In his conex, Fur Europe has chosen o copy he minimum requiremens laid down for cage sizes in he EU indusry sandards from Farms ha fail o comply wih hese requiremens can simply wave goodbye o any chance of obaining WelFur cerificaion. Cage sizes For mink ha have a cage o hemselves or share a cage wih one oher mink, and for females wih kis, he individual cage mus feaure a leas 2,550 cm 2 of space. Cages mus be a leas 30 cm wide and a leas 70 cm deep (excl. he nesing box). And cages wihou an upper sorey mus be a leas 45 cm high. For each exra animal in he cage, here mus be an exra 850 cm 2 of space an exension ha can be achieved by adding an upper level o he cage ha is a leas 40 cm high (unless he naional minimum is 45 cm, as i is in Denmark). Floor space per cage comparmen 2 mink Min. 2,550 cm 2 3 mink Min cm 2 = 3,400 cm 2 4 mink Min cm 2 = 4,250 cm 2 The naional legislaion in some counries allows farmers o have hree animals in he space which, according o he WelFur cerificaion scheme is only sufficien for wo. In such cases, he cerificaion scheme allows he farmers o choose wheher o add anoher level o increase he floor space or o remove one of he animals, saes Moren Aagren. Nesing boxes All year round, he animals mus have access o a nesing box wih pleny of sraw ha hey can pack, and he box mus be large enough o accommodae all he animals in he cage comparmen a he same ime. The nesing box mus be dry, and he wire around i mus no be rused or oherwise damaged such ha i risks causing physical injury o he animals. Moreover, he nesing box mus be free from fleas. Nesing boxes wih an inser score higher han boxes wihou one, and boxes made of wood score higher han plasic models. A shed level, he animals mus be proeced agains exreme weaher condiions, such as ho sun, high oudoor emperaures, srong winds and draughs. Good healh The assessors naurally check he healh of he animals. They mus be free from physical injury and illness, which he individual farmer mus ensure hrough appropriae managemen of he farm. In addiion, he killing process mus be painless boh during he peling season and when necessary for oher reasons. When i comes o killing, here are only hree scores in he poin sysem, relaes Moren Aagren: 100, 27 and 0. Appropriae behaviours Anoher aspec of good farm managemen is o ensure ha he animals enjoy good social ineracion. Disquie and inappropriae behaviour ypically arise if he animals are moved ofen, while bie injuries and sereoypical behaviour can be avoided by furnishing cage comparmens wih biing oys and shelves. For example, if you have a sof biing oy and a shelf in each cage comparmen, you will score 75 poins in his area; while a single play ube in he cage scores 19 poins, says Moren Aagren. Beer animal welfare higher skin prices Once he hree inspecion visis have been compleed, he farm is allocaed a welfare score. Bes: more han 55 poins on all four principles + more han 80 poins on wo of hem. Good: more han 20 poins on all four principles + more han 55 poins on wo of hem. Accepable: more han 20 poins on hree principles + more han 10 on he las one. Farms ha score lower han ha are considered unaccepable under he WelFur cerificaion scheme. Once a farm has been graned cerificaion, i will be subjec o a series of rolling inspecion visis from Balic Conrol. I is herefore a maer of doing as well as possible on all parameers. If you record a high score, his ranslaes ino a firm foundaion for running a good business. HG has no doub ha here is a clear link beween good animal welfare and high skin prices: u Good feed more and bigger kis u Good housing fewer damaged skins u Good healh reduced moraliy u Appropriae behaviour sronger kis Our poin is quie simple: he more he animals hrive, he more of hem you can breed, and he bigger and more aracive hey will be. This is synonymous wih higher skin prices, explains Moren Aagren, making he poin ha 2020 is no all ha far away...

13 Hedensed Gruppen March 2018 HG Sandard block 1 (2.54 cm) 12 (30.48 cm) 36 (91.44 cm) In an HG sandard block, he floor area measures 12 x 36 = 2,787.1 cm 2. How you can expand HG 3D 18 (45.72 cm) Eye-opening peling course for office and warehouse saff One soluion ha is ideal for convenional 2-row sheds is o add he HG 3D supersrucure o a sandard block This feaures angled rear wire and plasic dividers. Toal area for movemen: 3, cm 2. HG 3D verical 18 (45.72 cm) Anoher soluion used in sheds where here is pleny of space above he cages is a sandard block wih a supersrucure feauring verical rear wire. The dividers can be made of wire or plasic. Toal area for movemen: 3, cm 2. HG Soreyed block In a large shed wih a specially buil 2-row seup, i is possible o work wih four animals per cage comparmen. The soreyed block from HG mees he space requiremens. Toal area for movemen: 4,412.9 cm 2. These are jus a few examples of he differen cage configuraions HG provides. Please do no hesiae o conac us for addiional informaion and deails of oher soluions. n I n he middle of he busy peling season las year, mink farmer Jens Friis from Ryomgård opened he doors of his peling cenre o six employees from HG s inernal sales eam and goods shipping deparmen. The purpose of his slighly unorhodox visi was o give hese office and warehouse wallahs some insigh ino wha an ordinary working day is like a a peling cenre during he peak season. Jens Friis has his own peling cenre and runs hree farms wih a oal sock of 11,000 females. One of he firs-ime visiors o he peling cenre was Emil Dalgaard. Before joining he HG eam las summer, Emil was a member of he Danish armed forces, serving as a guard a Karup air base. As such, he was a complee novice in he world of mink farming and has remembered prey much everyhing from he visi: We didn do he acual skinning, bu we did have he opporuniy o ry cuing, fleshing, filling drums and puing he skins on pinning boards. I ook us righ ou of our comfor zone especially he girls from he office, perhaps cuing like a kind of surgeon! A he same ime, however, we learned a huge amoun. I hink we gained a lo of insigh ino wha he working day is like for our cusomers during heir busies periods. We are now familiar wih he enire procedure, and we know how and how quickly he differen machines work. This naurally means ha we all have a beer undersanding of why hings have o move so quickly if a cusomer is missing a spare par or has o deal wih some oher irriaion in he peling cenre. I was Henrik Morensen, one of he old sweas a HG, who originally came up wih he idea of giving he office and warehouse saff he chance o experience wha goes on in real life. And he s glad ha hey made i happen. I s imporan ha everyone in our organisaion can relae o he challenges farmers ypically face during he peling season. So I d like o say a big hank you o Jens Friis for opening he doors o his operaion and aking he ime for a whole day o give our in-house saff some exra raining. I means a grea deal o us as a supplier ha all saff who inerac wih he farmers can see how everyhing looks from a mink farmer s perspecive, he concludes. n 13

14 Produc news All HG nesing boxes are now available wih a 130 mm hole In our own producion faciliies we are happy o pu ogeher precisely he configuraion/consellaion of cages and nesing boxes you require irrespecive of wheher you wan hem in sainless, ZincAlu or plasic-coaed. All our nesing boxes are available wih 120 mm and 130 mm holes. Call us for excellen offers on nesing boxes, repair wire and finished cages. Troubleshooing wih a compuer insead of a screwdriver WeighLog has brough new challenges from he perspecive of service, bu HG now has a eam of freshly rained service saff. The launch of he WeighLog weighing sysem, which HG ook over six monhs ago, brough new challenges in he field of service for he company, and consiued somehing of a new world for a lo of mink farmers who are no compuer specialiss, bu expers in mink. Rasmus Holm Madsen, Service Manager a HG explains: For us, he challenge comprises he swich from working wih mechanical producs and mechanical soluions, o inerne access and differen operaing sysems for smarphones, compuers and he sofware iself he very brains of he WeighLog sysem. The way we communicae wih mink farmers abou WeighLog is new as well, he says, adding ha he difference beween he previous and he curren siuaion is ha when you are called ou o help wih insallaion or roubleshooing oday, you urn up wih a compuer raher han a screwdriver. New plaform and daily inerne check The firs hing HG did afer aking over he weighing sysem was o give i a new plaform (user inerface) ha provides users wih more informaion and les hem do a lile more hemselves. A key aspec of our ongoing licence and suppor is ha every day, we check wheher he inerne link o our cusomers is working, i.e. wheher we can communicae wih hem. We have processes ha allow us o ackle problems in he early sages, before hey develop oo far. Unsable inerne connecions are ypically caused by an elecronic error or possibly a broken cable, says Rasmus Holm Madsen, who adds: When we ve come a lile farher, I ll be he one calling he cusomers o ell hem here s a problem, raher han hem calling me. We can see when somehing s wrong and where he problem is. In many cases, we can deal wih i before he cusomer has even noiced i. Three on he holine WeighLog suppor akes he form of a kind of parnership involving hree HG saff. One works wih sofware developers o ake care of developmen and improvemens, one is responsible for raining courses for cusomers, and one Rasmus Holm Madsen deals wih roubleshooing in consulaion wih cusomers. Insalls and makes sure i works We also handle he insallaion of he load cells in he cages for cusomers who reques his service. We help hem ge going and make sure ha everyhing s working when we leave jus like when we commission heir machines, concludes Rasmus Holm Madsen. n 14

15 Hedensed Gruppen March 2018 New faces a HG Gie Schmid Purchasing Krisoffer K. Sidelmann Produc developmen Emil Dalgaard Inernal sales Moren B. Andersen Finance/conrol Johan Bøge Sørensen Sales Helle Pedersen Bookkeeping Karolina Golanowska Technical purchases Michał Karpiński Machine producion managemen Angelika Szopińska Logisics and producion coordinaion Alicja Szyszka Produc developmen Marcin Osiński Service We help boos your efficiency, because ha deermines he cos price. We also help boos size, qualiy and animal welfare, because ha deermines he sales price. We a HG undersand he imporance of ensuring ha efficiency goes hand in hand wih qualiy. We have devoed 40 years o powering he developmen of Danish mink farming up o world-class level in close collaboraion wih farmers and aucion houses. This approach allows us o exchange he knowledge and experience ha help promoe produc developmen in all areas of our range. Henrik Morensen Dorhe Anonsen Moren Aagren Olgierd Jakubowski Nikos Papounzas Tonny B. Rasmussen Ejnar Groo Rasmussen Giedrius Gedminas

16 New CEO a HG wih his sighs se on digialisaion See you in Herning Michael Chrisensen, he new CEO of HG, is looking forward o meeing everyone in he indusry: If you have any quesions or commens, or simply wan o say hi, you ll find me a he HG sand. Hope you enjoy he exhibiion! A s of 1 February 2018, Michael Chrisensen has aken over he posiion of CEO of Hedensed Gruppen A/S. In fuure, Jens Jørgen Madsen will serve as Chairman of he Board and as an ambassador for he company. And expand his acive role in produc developmen. Michael Chrisensen is 54 years old and lives in Skanderborg, Denmark, wih his wife Jee. I was acually Jee who convinced Michael o move from Copenhagen o Aarhus in Specialis in seel Michael spen 31 years working for Lemvigh-Müller A/S, he bigges seel and echnology wholesaler in Denmark. For he las 22 of hem, he headed up he company s seel division, where a saff of around 350 deal wih orders from approx. 4,000 cusomers, generaing an annual urnover of around EUR 363 million. In oher words, Michael knows everyhing worh knowing abou seel, and abou how o handle he ups and downs ha ineviably affec a secor sensiive o marke condiions. So wha s his relaionship o fur farming? As Michael sees i, here are pleny of parallels beween he seel and fur indusries: For example, more han 40% of all skins are produced in China. The same applies o seel. In boh segmens, he global marke prices are decided a aucions approximaely 20 of hem when i comes o skins, wih Kopenhagen Fur s being he mos imporan. Seel is raded on a daily basis on six gian meal exchanges around he world, and direc negoiaions also ake place beween seelworks and end users. And boh segmens are exremely sensiive o changes in supply and demand, he emphasises. He also sees anoher similariy beween he wo secors: Boh are circular economies, where nohing is wased and as much as possible is recycled. In he mink indusry, he circle opens where lef-over fish pars from he fishing indusry are ground ino fish meal and make up a large par of he animals feed. The bodies from skin producion are finally used o make biodiesel producs and highly prized ferilizer for Danish farmers. When i comes o seel, all old and used maerial can be meled down o make new producs. This means ha he meal frame in your fleshing machine migh easily have been he driver s side door in a VW Passa in a previous life. And o Julia Robers? As a specialis in seel, he new man in he op posiion a HG would like o encourage all fur farmers o be exra careful when buying accessories ha include galvanised pars: Above all, make sure ha he seel or he produc is approved according o he RoHS Direcive. There s a good reason why we wihin he EU make hese high demands on qualiy. Where he mink indusry operaes wih WelFur, seel has EN 1090 and CE labelling as is primary marks of qualiy. Michael coninues: The galvanised seel shees used in he EU mus only be surface reaed wih Chromium 3. However, here are oher prohibied producs reaed wih Chromium 6, which is a subsance ha can be lehal if i makes conac wih your skin or if you breahe is fumes. You may remember he film Erin Brockovich sarring Julia Robers, which was based on a rue sory. I has o do wih he far-reaching polluion ha has cos he lives of boh people and wildlife in California, and he polluing elemen was Chromium 6. The case is from 1993, and i was acually his sory ha convinced poliicians in Brussels o ake he decision o ban Chromium 6 from seelworks and producs in he EU. Unforunaely, i is sill used in a number of Eas European counries such as Russia and Ukraine. HG and he fuure Even hough Michael has been a member of he Board of Direcors of HG for he pas 15 years, he is no overly familiar wih everyday operaions a a fur farm. However, he is keen o acquire new knowledge and is happy o ake he lead and he freely admis o being a bi of a nerd, especially when i comes o IT. In relaion o he sraegy we re currenly working o implemen a HG, one of my key asks will be o ensure ha we increase he level of digialisaion o benefi our cusomers. One good example of his is he WeighLog auomaic weighing sysem, where we use inricae algorihms and our in-deph knowledge of animal behaviour o help make everyday work easier, reduce concerns and, in paricular, make business more profiable for fur farmers. I m super keen o give developmens of his kind a firm shove, he concludes. n