On hand for the presentation were Alltech’s Tyler Bramble (r) and Dr. Alan Wessler, MFA Inc. MFA is an official animal health and nutrition partner for the games. They join more than 60 other organizations who have also partnered with Alltech for this first time competition in the United States. The games will be held in Kentucky from Sept. 25 to October 10.
I talked to both Tyler and Alan about their partnership and what it means to each company this evening.
You can listen to or download my interview with Tyler here:
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Alltech has once again sponsored the IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism awards. Ten young agricultural journalist winners have been announced. Their awards will allow them to attend this year’s IFAJ Congress, which Cindy will be attending.
The IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism awards recognize the leadership potential of young members from countries belonging to IFAJ. Recipients each receive 1,000 Euros to support their participation at an IFAJ Congress. Winners of the 2010 IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism awards are:
Andrea Bahrenberg, Germany
Liza Burger, South Africa
Jesus Colmenarejo, Spain
Margaret Donnelly, Ireland
Tatjana Kren Hlebic, Slovenia
Aleksandar Radovic, Serbia
Soledad Ricca, Argentina
Lilian Schaer, Canada
Terhi Torikka, Finland
Sarah Trickett, UK
“We live in a fast-paced world that demands an increasingly global perspective for professional communicators,” says IFAJ President Mike Wilson, USA. “Through this partnership with Alltech, the IFAJ can provide young journalists with that perspective by networking with other colleagues at our annual congresses.”
“Alltech firmly believes in the power of the younger generations and in their ability to change the world,” says Alltech President Dr. Pearse Lyons. “Through their articles and broadcasts, these young people can bring the latest technological breakthroughs to the farmers and influencers in all parts of the world. It is the adoption of these technologies that will help agriculture bounce back in 2010.”
Alltech is now marketing its own line of Angus beef. I think my grill needs some of this! Alltech Angus represents a Kentucky Proud partnership between Alltech and Critchfield Meats that brings you home-grown goodness in every bite. This high-quality Angus beef is raised on Kentucky family farms to deliver a tender, delicious beef choice for you and your family. Critchfield Meats and Alltech are both family-owned operations working together to serve Central Kentucky the highest quality meat products. Feel good about the food you feed your family.
What’s new with Alltech? That’s a good question and one I posed to Billy Frey at the NAFB Alltech Trade Talk booth recently.
According to Billy one of the things this year is the fact that crops are still in the fields and that means a greater chance of molds and mycotoxins. He says that one of their core competencies is being able to understand how they will affect feed and animal nutrition. He says they’ll continue doing new research, especially since they have their new Nutrigenomics Center. They have a number of new products in the pipeline.
I asked him how the World Equestrian Games are going since Alltech is the sponsor of the games in 2010. He says almost 200,000 tickets have already been sold and it’s going to be a great place for promoting the brand.
Alltech has opened a state-of-the art energy generation facility in Senta, Serbia.
According to the company, the new plant encompasses many cutting edge technologies and instead of using conventional fuel, it uses the waste from the yeast factory as a raw material. This waste is converted into biogas which is used to power the new co-generation plant, which is the first of its kind in Serbia and one of the first in Europe.
Pictured celebrating the opening of the plant in Serbia are Dr. Bojan Pajtić, current prime minister of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia; Dr. Pearse Lyons, President of Alltech and Mr. Zoltan Pek, Mayor of Senta.
Wrapping up the Global Dairy 500 Conference was Dr. Pearse Lyons, Alltech President. Dr. Lyons summarized many of the presentations with a series of take home messages. The focus was on the future of dairy farming, the integration of a brand, methane production, cow comfort, tourist attractions, education, milk marketing with nutrition also being a key topic. Additionally, a strong message that came out of the presentations was to “record the data” and that body conditioning is critical. As Dr. Lyons said, “Talk to the cow and the cow will talk to you.”
During his closing remarks Dr. Lyons introduced the Agri Aware program that Alltech has sponsored. The educational program for school children of all ages now has it’s first video module featuring “A Day in the Life of a Dairy Farmer.” We watched the video and then Dr. Lyons called on participants to go back home, take the program and have it translated into their languages.
You can listen to Dr. Lyons remarks below. And don’t forget to check out my photo album from the event. If you didn’t attend you can see what you missed!
Participants in the Global Dairy 500 Conference were treated to a horse show and dinner at the Kentucky Horse Park. Our visit included seeing multiple horse breeds and riders dressed in traditional costume. I spoke with one of the riders mounted on an Arabian horse named D’artagnan. He’s 11 years old and on loan to the Park by his owner. You can listen to my interview below.
I also shot a video clip which includes an interview with the other horses and riders.
Besides hanging around with us and getting in lots of photos we also had a ring show that included a set of miniature horses pulling a wagon. I thought you’d enjoy seeing them.
At an international conference like the Global Dairy 500 Conference translators are absolutely necessary. We have many of them here. During a break this morning I spoke with Irina Zablith (right) who is not only a translator but a veterinarian from Brazil. She’s translating into Portugese.
She says it’s simultaneous translation. They do get some pre-talk information like power point slides but not an actual written speech. She says it becomes challenging at times when a speaker talks very fast.
Irina says the global market has grown to the point of needing more translations so she started working with groups of Brazilians who would travel to other countries and needed her service. She travels to conferences like this several times a year.
You need go no further than any dairy farmer here at the Global Dairy 500 Conference to know that the big issue is money. Take Daniel Williams, seated to the left in the photo. Daniel has an 800 cow dairy in Madison, GA.
When it comes to challenges he says right now it’s “money.” That includes becoming more efficient and watching what you spend and on what. He thinks the Conference has been very helpful, especially one of the morning speakers the first day.
Like others I’ve spoken with, he says that all dairy farmers in the world are having trouble making it right now. He thought that getting to talk with other farmers has made him feel better about where he’s at with his operation right now.
This is what the moon looked like tonight after a full day of the Global Dairy 500 Conference. This is a hand held shot on the way back from the Alltech Lexington Brewery.
Right now I’m charging my batteries and uploading some video after uploading more photos to the online photo album. I’ll have a lot more coverage of the event coming up.
After the morning sessions and lunch the Global Dairy 500 participants sit at discussion tables. These breakout sessions are very lively and interactive and on many different topics. I followed along with one led by Brent Lawrence, Alltech. Brent handles the southeast territory of Florida and Georgia. At his table were dairy farmers from the USA, Germany, Korea and the Ukraine. He says the main topic dealt with the sustainability of the dairy industry. They discussed the need to educate the public and be environmentally friendly.
I shot a video clip so you can get a true feel for what the sessions are like.
The Global Dairy 500 Conference is a truly international one. There are farmers here from all over the world which requires a lot of translators who are working very hard in their booths at the back of the conference presentation rooms.
One of the groups I ran into early is from Germany. They were all enjoying an early sample of Bluegrass Sundown, a blend of bourbon, coffee and Irish Cream. It is fantastic btw. I had to sample as well.
In the middle of this happy group is Henry. He spoke very good English so he got volunteered to speak with me. He has about 450 dairy cows and also row crops on his farm. He says he’s always on the search for new technology because it will make him more efficient. Henry echoes a comment I’ve heard a number of times today and that is that dairy farmers globally are suffering with the same problems, namely the price of milk.
He says the economy is the biggest challenge facing him and getting better production. He says he spoke to a farmer from Ohio who has just moved out of the dairy business due to the economics. He is looking forward to talking with other farmers.
Providing the first remarks on the program for the Global Dairy 500 Conference was Dr. Pearse Lyons, founder and President, Alltech. The theme of his opening remarks was to answer the question, “Is there a future for dairy in these turbulent times?”
Dr. Lyons addressed the real challenges in the dairy business internationally. The Conference has attendees from all over the world and they all nodded in agreement as he made these opening remarks. He pointed out how volatile markets and prices are having a serious impact on the industry right now. So education and efficiency become extremely important and that’s part of the purpose of the Conference itself. So when it comes to the “crisis” Dr. Lyons challenged attendees to see it as a time of opportunity and character.
Looking to the future the key is efficiency and that will come about from the use of new technology. Besides efficiency he urged attendees to focus on more lactations per cow; quality in Production systems; more education; looking for Branding; traceability and to be conscious of the environment. I love his description of the dairy cow as a “walking fermenter.”
The Global Dairy 500 Conference is underway here in Lexington, KY. To get you started watch this video clip prepared to set the stage for the conversation over the next couple days.
I’ll be posting primarily on WorldDairyDiary.com but I’ll have some coverage here too. We’re about to start the opening general session with Dr. Pearse Lyons so stay tuned.
The Global Dairy 500 Conference sponsored by Alltech gets underway today as a group of attendees are on a tour. Alltech’s Allie Hembree is with that group and I’ll have information and photos from the tour later on since I’m traveling to Lexington myself today.
We’re heading into dairy industry time. First up is the World Dairy Expo which kicks off tomorrow. Cindy will be attending along with daughter Carly. They’ll begin posting tomorrow morning here but primarily on World Dairy Diary.
The dairy industry’s spotlight will be trained on Madison, Wisconsin, when the 43rd edition of World Dairy Expo takes place September 29 through October 3, 2009. “Legendary” is the theme of this year’s show – a celebration of the legendary trade show, legendary cows and legendary people that make the first week in October one to look forward to.
Immediately following this week’s World Dairy Expo is the Alltech Global Dairy 500 Conference. I’ll be attending this one. So, ZimmComm will be very dairy focused for the next week. We’ll be looking for what’s new and bringing it to you.
“A global forum where dairy is the only topic and dairy farmers the main drivers”
2008 was a banner year for Alltech on many fronts including the inception of the Global Dairy 500 Conference. Over 300 dairy professionals representing over 40 nations assembled in Lexington to share ideas, experiences, and their own personal vision on the future of dairying worldwide.
Join us in 2009, as Alltech will renew its commitment to producers by again hosting the Global Dairy 500 Conference.
The contest was the brain child of Trent Loos, host of the “Loos Tales” radio show and founder of Faces of Agriculture, and is sponsored by Nebraska TV. The winner will receive an expense-paid trip to World Pork Expo in Des Moines next week. Trent received some 75 entries – which can all be viewed here – and narrowed it down to the six finalists.
Not that we are showing any partiality (vote for Billy!), but our personal favorite is this one here of our good buddy Billy Frey with Alltech cooking pork butt a on Green Egg.
The Alltech International Animal Health and Nutrition Symposium was another overwhelming success in terms of attendance, theme and customer interaction from a personal and professional standpoint. I missed the closing session but thanks to Alltech photographer Tim Webb we have this great shot. And thanks to Alltech blogger Debbie Hildreth, for a short summary of the last session.
Alltech President Dr. Pearse Lyons addressed the audience in today’s general session and issued a challenge …
What is needed ― and what will YOU need ― so you can quickly adopt the technological innovations that will make animal agriculture sustainable?
And three directors at Alltech were on hand to speak to this key message ― sustainability. Their topics comprised: acknowledging environmental threats to sustainability; addressing quality issues that influence sustainability; developing processes, embracing innovations and improving community health to drive sustainability; and positioning your business for sustainability.
So we had great sessions and there were a lot of them on very technical topics categorized by species. Attendees could not only experience wonderful fellowship but get a real world education in production practices and the issues facing everyone in agriculture today. I thought I’d also leave you with an Alltech video which shows the “trade show” portion of the Symposium where attendees could learn more about Alltech products and be entertained at the same time. Let me conclude with special thanks to Dr. Pearse Lyons and his team, including Billy Frey in particular, for allowing me the opportunity to work with them again this year. I hope we get to do it again next year.
One of the things we’ve learned in recent weeks is how many definitions there are for “sustainability.” The Alltech Symposium theme was The Sustainability Principle so it was our primary topic of discussion. At the Great Debate roundtable our panelists each took a turn answering the question, “How do you define sustainability? There were also asked to put that in terms of how the audience should be interested in it.
Our first panelist to tackle this question was Lutz Goedde, Deputy Director, Agricultural Development, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He says the Foundation he works for looks at sustainability “through a very different lens compared to many other organizations.” He then proceeded to say that there are a billion people in the world who live on under a dollar a day and described what that is like. He says that agriculture is the primary means for most of them to get food and earn a living. He says they follow the Bill and Melinda sustainability philosophy that “every person on the planet has the right to live a healthy and productive life.” Next he says that there are normally three dimensions to sustainability which are economic, social and environmental.
Listen to Goedde’s reply here:
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Next up was Dr. Michael Boehlje, Professor, Dept. of Agricultural Economics and the Center for Food and Agricultural Business, Purdue University. He said we could look at sustainability from a traditional farm management standpoint of carrying capacity that recognizes current and future capacity on a global basis and deals with absorbing waste in terms of the economic or production activity you’re involved in. He says that although government is involved in this issue, it will be consumers who “will be the ultimate in terms of whether in fact sustainability practices are adopted and those who adopt them are compensated for them.”
Listen to Boehlje’s reply here:
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Finally we heard an answer to this question from Philip Wilkinson, Order of the British Empire, Executive Director, 2 Sisters Food Group. He said that the definition he would use is the one used by the United Nations but since that has already been brought up by earlier speakers he composed a slightly different one. He says, “A sustainable agricultural system is one which maximizes production by increases in yield while minimizing environmental impact and does not compromise animal welfare.” He says farmers are the logical custodians of the land who can accomplish this. He also quoted a former United Kingdom Minister who summed it us as, “Don’t cheat your children.”
Listen to Wilkinson’s reply here:
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You might look at this picture and say, “That looks like a dangerous group,” but you’d be wrong. We’re just some lovable guys enjoying a frosty end-of-day beverage in the pub at Shrewsbury Hall. This is the pub next door to the Alltech Lexington Brewing Company. In the photo with me are Head Brew Master, Ken Lee (center) and Trent Loos (right). I had not ever visited the brewing company for Kentucky Ale and arrived shortly before Trent. While I was waiting for him I interviewed Ken. Then when Trent and Sarah Muirhead, FeedStuffs, arrived he took a turn with an interview. Sarah took our picture.
Ken says Dr. Pearse Lyons bought the brewery in 2000. His background is in brewing so it’s where his first love is (fermentation). He’s continued to develop the brewery with new products. The main one is Kentucky Ale which is a blend of a pale ale and an Irish red ale. Now they’re taking it and finishing it in freshly emptied bourbon barrels to make a Bourbon Barrel Ale. The barrels come from local distilleries. Distribution for Kentucky Ale is still pretty local but I’m sure there are plans to grow it outward in the future. Ken says they’re going to be challenged to meet demand which will increase when the 2010 Alltech World Equestrian Games take place.
Listen to my interview with Ken here:
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I spoke with Trent about the animal welfare/animal rights issues that seem to be surfacing more and more around the country. We both believe that American farmers care very much for their animals and go out of their way to treat them well. They’re being demonized though by groups like the Humane Society of the United States which has no affiliation with your local animal shelter and works hard at sensationalizing isolated incidents for their fund raising efforts for lobbying against animal agriculture. I also got an update on Trent’s Pork On A Fork contest. The entry deadline for this contest to win an all expense paid trip to World Pork Expo is this weekend so get your pictures in.
Listen to my interview with Trent here:
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Commodity Classic took place in Anaheim, CA. You'll find all of Chuck, Cindy and Joanna's photos here.
Happy Ag Week
It's time to thank our farmers and ranchers for all their hard work to feed us.
In this week's program I interview Linda Tank, CHS, Inc., who is Chair of the Agriculture Council of America, the group coordinating National Ag Day. Learn more about their activities, especially this week in Washington, DC.
The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games is picking up more sponsors and the latest is MFA Incorporated in Missouri. The announcement was made this evening at the Missouri Equine Council Annual Celebration at the Boone County Fairgrounds.
Alltech is now marketing its own line of Angus beef. I think my grill needs some of this!
What’s new with Alltech? That’s a good question and one I posed to Billy Frey at the NAFB 
Wrapping up the Global Dairy 500 Conference was Dr. Pearse Lyons, Alltech President. Dr. Lyons summarized many of the presentations with a series of take home messages. The focus was on the future of dairy farming, the integration of a brand, methane production, cow comfort, tourist attractions, education, milk marketing with nutrition also being a key topic. Additionally, a strong message that came out of the presentations was to “record the data” and that body conditioning is critical. As Dr. Lyons said, “Talk to the cow and the cow will talk to you.”
At an international conference like the Global Dairy 500 Conference translators are absolutely necessary. We have many of them here. During a break this morning I spoke with Irina Zablith (right) who is not only a translator but a veterinarian from Brazil. She’s translating into Portugese.
You need go no further than any dairy farmer here at the Global Dairy 500 Conference to know that the big issue is money. Take Daniel Williams, seated to the left in the photo. Daniel has an 800 cow dairy in Madison, GA.
This is what the moon looked like tonight after a full day of the Global Dairy 500 Conference. This is a hand held shot on the way back from the Alltech Lexington Brewery.
The Global Dairy 500 Conference is a truly international one. There are farmers here from all over the world which requires a lot of translators who are working very hard in their booths at the back of the conference presentation rooms.
In the middle of this happy group is Henry. He spoke very good English so he got volunteered to speak with me. He has about 450 dairy cows and also row crops on his farm. He says he’s always on the search for new technology because it will make him more efficient. Henry echoes a comment I’ve heard a number of times today and that is that dairy farmers globally are suffering with the same problems, namely the price of milk. 
Providing the first remarks on the program for the Global Dairy 500 Conference was Dr. Pearse Lyons, founder and President, Alltech. The theme of his opening remarks was to answer the question, “Is there a future for dairy in these turbulent times?”
Looking to the future the key is efficiency and that will come about from the use of new technology. Besides efficiency he urged attendees to focus on more lactations per cow; quality in Production systems; more education; looking for Branding; traceability and to be conscious of the environment. I love his description of the dairy cow as a “walking fermenter.”
The 
We’re heading into dairy industry time. First up is the 
You have until 1:00 central time today to 
The 
Our first panelist to tackle this question was Lutz Goedde, Deputy Director, Agricultural Development, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He says the Foundation he works for looks at sustainability “through a very different lens compared to many other organizations.” He then proceeded to say that there are a billion people in the world who live on under a dollar a day and described what that is like. He says that agriculture is the primary means for most of them to get food and earn a living. He says they follow the Bill and Melinda sustainability philosophy that “every person on the planet has the right to live a healthy and productive life.” Next he says that there are normally three dimensions to sustainability which are economic, social and environmental. 
Next up was Dr. Michael Boehlje, Professor, Dept. of Agricultural Economics and the Center for Food and Agricultural Business, Purdue University. He said we could look at sustainability from a traditional farm management standpoint of carrying capacity that recognizes current and future capacity on a global basis and deals with absorbing waste in terms of the economic or production activity you’re involved in. He says that although government is involved in this issue, it will be consumers who “will be the ultimate in terms of whether in fact sustainability practices are adopted and those who adopt them are compensated for them.” 
Finally we heard an answer to this question from Philip Wilkinson, Order of the British Empire, Executive Director, 2 Sisters Food Group. He said that the definition he would use is the one used by the United Nations but since that has already been brought up by earlier speakers he composed a slightly different one. He says, “A sustainable agricultural system is one which maximizes production by increases in yield while minimizing environmental impact and does not compromise animal welfare.” He says farmers are the logical custodians of the land who can accomplish this. He also quoted a former United Kingdom Minister who summed it us as, “Don’t cheat your children.”
You might look at this picture and say, “That looks like a dangerous group,” but you’d be wrong. We’re just some lovable guys enjoying a frosty end-of-day beverage in the pub at Shrewsbury Hall. This is the pub next door to the 
It's time to thank our farmers and ranchers for all their hard work to feed us.
