During the International Poultry Expo I met Adele Douglass, CEO, Humane Farm Animal Care. This is the organization that has created the Certified Humane program. To display their logo a farm has to: “Meet the Humane Farm Animal Care program standards, which includes nutritious diet without antibiotics or hormones, animals raised with shelter, resting areas, sufficient space and the ability to engage in natural behaviors.”
I learned that there are several organizations attempting to create a type of a label or brand to achieve similar results and that they don’t all see eye to eye. HFAC has created a chart comparing the five main organizations which you can download here (pdf). Personally, I really don’t see the need for an organization like this at all, much less competing ones. Most farmers I know take very good care of their animals. I’d rather see efforts like this aimed at the humane treatment of human beings instead! There are lots of educational resources for farmers that teach them how to take good care of their livestock and if they are or want to be successful then they do.
Adele says she got started on this after visiting farms and seeing conditions she didn’t like. She doesn’t understand why farmers use cages and gestation stalls for example. So she decided to create a certification program after studying one in the UK. She sees a distinction between meeting an animal’s behavioral needs and whether or not they’re producing well. In the first year of the program there were 143,000 animals enrolled in the program. In 2010 that number was 26.5 million.
What do you think? Do we need these types of programs? Adele says the farms enrolled with them make more money. What is your experience if you’ve tried this type of program?
Interestingly, this week’s AgChat topic is animal welfare! It will feature a guest from a different organization, Tim Amlaw, American Humane Certified. So from 8-10pm Tuesday, join in the online conversation.
Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsor, Growmark, locally owned, globally strong, for their support.
The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our a Subscribe page
Snow. We all complain about it, at least in my household we do. We have to shovel, the car is a mess, it’s cold and the garage floor is covered in gravel brought in by our tires. But, I’m slowly learning to love it again because my 2-year-old looks like the Michelin Tire Man in his snow suit and it makes me laugh.
As the sun came up over the hill last week, it made the snow appear as though it had been dusted with glitter. And, it gives off a gentle blue hue just before suppertime. It’s the beauty of the season, but for farmers, it also means ground moisture for planting in the spring.
To put it in numbers, 12 inches of snow can provide farmers almost one inch of additional soil moisture in the soil profile. That moisture could increase corn yields by as much as 8 to 12 bushels per acre. That moisture is especially valuable to dryland crops. And, hopefully irrigation won’t have to be used as early in the growing season which will also help farmers save money.
It’s nature’s way of preparing the soil for the coming year. And instead of complaining, I guess we better enjoy it because if you wait five minutes, the weather might change and we’ll be complaining we need rain.
The Georgia Peanut Commission Board of Directors will be holding a public hearing for peanut farmers to determine the need for increasing peanut assessments which fund programs of the commodity commission. The hearing will be held Wed., Feb. 9 at 4:00 p.m. at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus, NESPAL.
Kimberly Clark has joined the Nebraska Corn Board staff as ag program manager to coordinate ethanol programming.
Joe Winn has joined the Lessing-Flynn team as a copywriter and project manager.
Recent findings from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development indicate that young people in 4-H are three times more likely to contribute to their communities than youth not participating in 4-H.
Virtus Nutrition now has the first iPad dairy app.
The Virtus Nutrition app hosts a wealth of information for dairy producers, nutritionists and others interested in the latest on Omega fatty acid technology for improved dairy cattle nutrition. Download this app to access the Omega Value Calculator, which provides detailed analysis of the value of feeding Prequel 21 (omega-6s) and StrataG (omega-3s) to transition cows and early breeding cows. Find out how many additional pregnancies, and subsequently calves, that these omegas can have by reducing early embryo loss on your dairy. Explore the key research that explains the impact that the omegas can have by improving both milk production and reproduction in dairy cows.
Key Features
CALCULATE the omega value in your herd by entering basic herd information and generating a series of graphs to show the impact Omega Nutrition can have on your bottom line.
BROWSE through the product pages to learn more about Virtus Nutrition’s calcium salts of fatty acid products.
SEARCH the research and article pages to learn more about the science behind feeding omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids to dairy cows.
Do you dread the long walk to the cooker or oven just to check on your meat temperature? No longer. Not with iGrill and your iPhone (or iPod Touch or iPad). iGrill is revolutionizing the way we cook & grill today!
The iGrill combines standard function, technical innovation and impeccable style to produce the most complete cooking thermometer on the market today.
Equipped with long-range Bluetooth®, useful Apps and a range of amazing features, iGrill turns your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad into your own personal Sous-Chef.
This year’s International Poultry Expo/International Feed Expo has done very well on attendance as was expected. Here are some summary statistics just released by the organizers:
The 2011 International Poultry Expo and International Feed Expo drew over 20,000 poultry and feed industry leaders from all over the world. In addition, the show had over 900 exhibitors, almost a 12% increase from last year. Sponsored by U.S. Poultry & Egg Association and the American Feed Industry Association, the annual Expo is the world’s largest poultry and feed industry event of its kind.
“We were excited about the number of exhibitors and attendees on the exhibit floor,” said 2011 USPOULTRY chairman Gary Cooper, Cooper Farms, Oakwood, OH. “We were up in numbers in both areas from last year. We are very pleased with the great turn-out for this year, and the excitement on the floor has been tangible.”
This morning I met the Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture, Gary Black, and sat down with him to discuss the impact of the show on the state and hear his outlook for Georgia agriculture. He says that one of his key goals is to help the general public better understand how important agriculture is to the state. One example he points to is making a number of changes in his department’s offices which will provide more in-office educational opportunities working with various farm groups. He also says that they are working on a plan to utilize social media in their efforts to reach out to the non-farm sector. Other subjects we talk about include alternative energy production and challenges to farming.
Thanks to the work of researchers at Dow AgroSciences, LLC, who have been collaborating with a University of Missouri researcher, a new weapon may be on the horizon to eliminate superweeds.
As a truly global company Novus International supports outreach and education programs in many countries. One of those is African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD). As a part of this fellowship program Novus hosts a researcher at their headquarters. Currently that is Salome Mutayoba, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania.
Established in 2008, African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) is a project of the Gender & Diversity Program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It was launched following a successful three-year pilot program in East Africa with support from the Rockefeller Foundation from 2005-2008.
AWARD is a professional development program that strengthens the research and leadership skills of African women in agricultural science, empowering them to contribute more effectively to poverty alleviation and food security in sub-Saharan Africa.
Our goal is to help them increase their contributions in the fight against hunger and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.
Salome teaches poultry nutrition and management and conducts poultry research. She says she is using her time at Novus to analyze feed stocks since in her country poultry farmers have problems obtaining good feed. They also don’t have resources to do good analysis of potential feed options.
While speaking with Thad Simons, Novus International President/CEO, I got to congratulate him on his 2010 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year in Distribution and Manufacturing Award and on the 20th anniversary of the company.
“Innovation with Integrity” is going to be the company theme for the 20th anniversary. They will be celebrating all year long beginning this month, with events and customer appreciation dinners at Asian-Pacific Aquaculture in Kochi, India and here at the International Poultry Expo in Atlanta, Georgia.
“ ‘Innovation with Integrity’ has been a central attribute of Novus’ culture from the beginning. Our heritage has been built on developing innovative, science-based health through nutrition products for livestock, pets and people,” explained Thad Simons, President and Chief Executive Officer of Novus. “We are very proud of our global network of employees, customers and partnerships and excited to embark on a year of celebration with the many people who support our continued growth and success.”
The company was founded in 1991, and today, has employees working in over 90 countries, serving more than 3,000 customers worldwide. Novus has facilities including corporate offices, research and development laboratories, and manufacturing operations in more than 35 countries, as well as offices with field staff in an additional 60 countries.
In my interview with Thad I asked him about the unique design of their exhibit which includes “living walls.” It is a visual testament to the importance of sustainability to Novus. In the photo Thad is standing in front of one of the living panels.
Farmers can prepare to “grow the feed, not the weeds” once again, anywhere they want, with the complete deregulation of alfalfa that has been genetically engineered to be resistant to Roundup.
USDA made the announcement today. “After conducting a thorough and transparent examination of alfalfa through a multi-alternative environmental impact statement (EIS) and several public comment opportunities, APHIS has determined that Roundup Ready alfalfa is as safe as traditionally bred alfalfa,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.
This means that, for the first time since 2007, U.S. farmers will have the choice to plant Genuity® Roundup Ready® alfalfa, which makes Monsanto very happy.
“This is great news for farmers who have been waiting for the green light to plant Roundup Ready alfalfa,” said Steve Welker, alfalfa commercial lead at Monsanto. “USDA’s action gives farmers the choice to enjoy the benefits of this product, including superior crop safety and high-quality yield opportunity.”
The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is also pleased by the USDA decision. “This is the right decision,” said Wisconsin farmer Jim Zimmerman, vice chairman of NCGA’s Trade Policy and Biotechnology Action Team. “A clean, full deregulation is the best decision for producers and lets farmers plant the kind of alfalfa they choose this spring.”
The USDA announcement comes just one week after the U.S. House Agriculture Committee held a hearing to review the biotechnology product regulatory approval process where biotech alfalfa was in the spotlight and Secretary Vilsack testified.
Let the complaining by those opposed to genetically modified crops begin!
The biggest crowd in the trade show at the International Poultry Expo/International Feed Expo today was at the Novus International booth. Having a former NFL player/coach and Hall of Fame member didn’t hurt. Dick Butkus was there signing autographs and talking with all the customers and attendees who came by. Thanks to James Hermann, E-Marketing Mgr. for Novus for taking my photo.
I was able to talk with Dick and he told me about a program he’s very committed to called, Play Clean. He started it with his son a few years ago. Here’s what the mission of Play Clean is. To educate and encourage high school students to make the right choice of playing clean – that is, training hard, eating well and playing with attitude, instead of resorting to illegal and dangerous steroids and performance enhancing products.
He says attending a poultry show “is kind of unusual” although his parents raised chickens and he did too once upon a time. He pointed out that he’s learned how important it is to the health of chickens to be raised in cages unlike what some animal activist organizations would have you believe. Pictured is the whole Novus team here with Dick.
Working with Novus International yesterday I conducted several interviews that I’ll be featuring here on AgWired. To start out, I talked with Scott Carter (left). Scott is the global poultry market manager so he was a good one to provide an overview of how important the poultry market is for the company. He says it’s the market they started in and their largest customer segment.
There are several key issues that Novus is addressing in the poultry sector right now that Scott says include feed efficiency, gut health and feed safety. I always like to learn what’s new and he points to their IDEA assay:
IDEA™ assay allows users to determine the protein and amino acid digestibility of feed ingredients. IDEA assay analyzes the ingredients in a formulation in order to optimize feed balance and nutrition. IDEA is an excellent tool to help users screen different batches and sources of a given ingredient and gives them the opportunity to use alternative feed ingredients.
The American Feed Industry Association recently created iFeeder, the Institute for Feed Education and Research. To learn more about it I spoke with AFIA President/CEO, Joel Newman. He says the mission of the foundation is “To sustain the future of food and feed production through education and research.” He describes the challenge faced by the feed industry which is summed up on their website:
Today the average U.S. farmer feeds 144 people. In 1940 that number was only 19 people. We’ve made great progress but we have a long way to go. Today 1 acre feeds 1.6 people. By 2050 1 acre must feed 4 people. To feed the world in 2050, investment in agriculture must reach $83 billion per year. This equals a 50% increase in investment from current levels. The U.S. feed industry is a critical part of this chain.
Only through education and scientific based research done today will our future generations be able to support the increased world food demand.
Joel says that one of the things the foundation will work on is communication to audiences outside of the industry including the consuming public to help them better understand the safety of the food they eat. Of course social communications plays a role in that!
Potential presidential candidates for 2012 were already testing the waters in the all-important Hawkeye State this week, appearing at the 5th annual Iowa Renewable Fuels (IRFA) Summit.
Former speaker of the U.S. House Newt Gingrich spoke to a full house of more than 700 at the summit in Des Moines on Tuesday. Gingrich supports all types of energy and strongly believes in the ability of modern agricultural technology to grow enough crops for all purposes. “The people who talk about food versus fuel are just plain flat wrong,” he said. He said if anyone is to blame for any food shortages, it is the European opposition to using genetically engineered crops.
Probably the biggest applause came when Gingrich gave his opinions on the U.S. EPA. “One of the things we are working on at (his action network) American Solutions is to develop an Environmental Solutions Agency to replace the Environmental Protection Agency,” he said.
Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a conservative Republican who served two terms in the U.S. House and two terms in the Senate, closed out the summit by telling his story of being a biofuels convert.
“I looked at this issue differently, until 9/11,” Santorum said. “Post 9/11, I went from someone who was skeptical at best of developing domestic sources of energy, to being a grand proponent of such things,” he said. “My pledge to you is to work with this industry to create a bigger and bigger place in the market for domestically produced ethanol and biodiesel.”
Santorum served on the Senate Agriculture Committee during his time in office. “I was the first Pennsylvanian to serve on the agriculture committee in the United States Senate in over 100 years,” he said.
President Obama made some folks in the ag industry happy with his State of the Union (SOTU) address Tuesday talking about the importance of both biofuels and free trade agreements.
Corn farmers and representatives of the renewable fuels industry were especially pleased to hear the president say that America needs to “break our dependence on oil with biofuels.”
“The success of all biofuels hinges on the success of ethanol from corn – on the growth of an ethanol industry that is leading the way, sustainably increasing in economic, environmental and energy efficiency,” said National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Chairman Darrin Ihnen of South Dakota.
Tom Buis, CEO of the ethanol organization Growth Energy, released a video statement in reaction to the SOTU. “Mr. President, thank you again for providing leadership,” said Buis. “The idea is to move this nation forward and we stand ready to work with you and Congress to help achieve these goals because we all know it’s best for America.”
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) was pleased to hear the president address “the sacred cow of oil subsidies” to pay for his initiatives, saying “instead of subsidizing yesterday’s energy, let’s invest in tomorrow’s.” RFA’s Matt Hartwig noted that there’s no need to wait until tomorrow. “There are great technologies available to us today. Current ethanol and biofuel production is already contributing to our nation’s prosperity by adding jobs and reducing our reliance on foreign oil.”
On the issue of trade, President Obama called on Congress to pass the recently finalized agreement with South Korea “as soon as possible,” something that 60 food and agricultural groups and companies encouraged lawmakers to do in a letter sent Monday. “We are hopeful President Obama truly makes the immediate implementation of this trade agreement a priority,” said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Steve Foglesong.
American Farm Bureau Federation president Bob Stallman noted trade agreements pending with Korea, Colombia and Panama would add an additional $3 billion to the U.S. economy through agricultural trade. “These trade agreements are not only important to the bottom line of America’s farmers and ranchers but the economic health of our rural communities and the overall U.S. economy,” said Stallman.
This morning Dave Russell, Brownfield Network (right), moderated a United Soybean Board teleconference at the International Poultry Expo. Participating was Dwain Ford (center), USB Director and a soybean farmer from Kinmundy, IL and Mousa Wakileh, General Manager, National Poultry Co., Jordan. On a side note, I met Mousa on a U.S. Grains Council trip to his country a little over a year ago. It’s always nice to see people from other parts of the world and that’s one of the cool things about a show like this.
The subject of the teleconference was raising U.S. soybean farmer awareness of top customers and the poultry industry is the largest one. You might wonder why soybean farmers wouldn’t be aware of this and why the USB has had an on-going initiative to foster better understanding of this fact. In the teleconference you’ll hear Dwain say that there have been soybean farmers who oppose the growth and development of livestock operations and that shows the possibility that they don’t understand how important it is to their livelihood to be more supportive of their biggest customer.
Soybean checkoff-funded research indicates a significant disconnect between U.S. soybean farmers and their most important end customers. In fact, many U.S. soybean farmers identify their local elevator as their end customer.
Poultry and livestock, both here in the United States and throughout the world, use the vast majority of U.S. soybeans. For example, U.S. poultry and livestock consume nearly 98 percent of the U.S. supply of soybean meal. And poultry farmers use more U.S. soybean meal than any other end user.
High school and two-year college students are invited to apply for a $1,000 scholarship from the CHS Foundation.
Lessing-Flynn was named the newest member of the Intermarket Agency Network.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) is the recipient of the National Association of Wheat Growers’ 2010 Wheat Leader of the Year Award, the wheat industry’s highest public service award.
FBSciences, Inc., has contracted research and development of its proprietary plant growth regulator technologies for seed treatments and crop protection products to AgriThority LLC.
I’m back on the floor for the start of the trade show portion of the International Poultry Expo and International Feed Expo. My coverage sponsor, Novus International, created a welcome invite to their booth. I’ll be there shortly.
The World Agriculture Investment Conference 2011 announces new speakers.
On May 9-10, leading investment groups from across the globe are coming to Chicago to discuss the opportunities and risks in agricultural markets at the World Agriculture Investment Conference USA.
The meeting’s foremost speaker panel – addressing a delegation of institutional and private investors – has recently been strengthened by Warren Weissman of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Rajesh Behal of the Agribusiness Department, IFC.
Following months of research, this forum has been designed specifically to help investors to walk away with the practical information and contacts needed to make an appropriate choice based on varying risk tolerances and return objectives.
Among the timely discussion, Mr. Weissman will take a look at agriculture opportunities throughout Latin America, focusing on regulatory environments and current crop production.
And Mr. Behal will talk on private equity investment in the full agriculture supply chain, exploring opportunities in fertilizer, technology and infrastructure.
This is a truly unique chance to network with key investors, hedge funds and Ag managers, and to effortlessly discover how best to develop the ideal Ag portfolio.
For additional information, registration assistance or questions, please contact George Kiley, Investment Director – World Agriculture Investment Series by email on gkiley@aginvestconference.com, or call on +44(0)207 3757 54
Judging from the results to our latest ZimmPoll, sustainability, is a hot button issue. We had the most results of any survey so far. The question: “What does “sustainability” really mean to the public?” By a big margin, most say “A combination of factors” at 47%. That’s followed by “Farm managed for profit/growth,” 25%; “green,” 13%; “organic,” 10% and “local,” 5%. So I think it’s safe to say that sustainability is not understood to mean any one thing and probably within the ag community as well as the general public. For this reason I don’t see how we can expect people to agree on a definition much less use this word to create meaningful legislation. Your thoughts?
Our next ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “Which tillage practice do you employ on most of your farming operation?” Let us know and thank you for participating.
ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
David conducted a presentation on delivering expert opinion via social media to an audience at the start of International Poultry Expo week. He's got some great information about who consumers trust and how you can use today's consumer behavior to help communicate your message.
During the International Poultry Expo I met Adele Douglass, CEO, Humane Farm Animal Care. This is the organization that has created the Certified Humane program. To display their logo a farm has to: “Meet the Humane Farm Animal Care program standards, which includes nutritious diet without antibiotics or hormones, animals raised with shelter, resting areas, sufficient space and the ability to engage in natural behaviors.”
I learned that there are several organizations attempting to create a type of a label or brand to achieve similar results and that they don’t all see eye to eye. HFAC has created a chart comparing the five main organizations which you can download here (pdf). Personally, I really don’t see the need for an organization like this at all, much less competing ones. Most farmers I know take very good care of their animals. I’d rather see efforts like this aimed at the humane treatment of human beings instead! There are lots of educational resources for farmers that teach them how to take good care of their livestock and if they are or want to be successful then they do.
This year’s International Poultry Expo/International Feed Expo has done very well on attendance as was expected. Here are some summary statistics just released by the organizers:
As a truly global company Novus International supports outreach and education programs in many countries. One of those is 
While speaking with Thad Simons, 
The biggest crowd in the trade show at the International Poultry Expo/International Feed Expo today was at the Novus International booth. Having a former NFL player/coach and Hall of Fame member didn’t hurt. Dick Butkus was there signing autographs and talking with all the customers and attendees who came by. Thanks to James Hermann, E-Marketing Mgr. for Novus for taking my photo. 
To educate and encourage high school students to make the right choice of playing clean – that is, training hard, eating well and playing with attitude, instead of resorting to illegal and dangerous steroids and performance enhancing products.
Working with 
The 
Former speaker of the U.S. House Newt Gingrich spoke to a full house of more than 700 at the summit in Des Moines on Tuesday. Gingrich supports all types of energy and strongly believes in the ability of modern agricultural technology to grow enough crops for all purposes. “The people who talk about food versus fuel are just plain flat wrong,” he said. He said if anyone is to blame for any food shortages, it is the European opposition to using genetically engineered crops.
Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a conservative Republican who served two terms in the U.S. House and two terms in the Senate, closed out the summit by telling his story of being a biofuels convert. 
“The success of all biofuels hinges on the success of ethanol from corn – on the growth of an ethanol industry that is leading the way, sustainably increasing in economic, environmental and energy efficiency,” said 
This morning Dave Russell, Brownfield Network (right), moderated a 
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
