Alltech On Programmed Nutrition

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Chuck

The closing general session of the Alltech Symposium features a number of speakers. First up is Dr. Karl Dawson, Center for Animal Nutrigenomics and Applied Animal Nutrition, Alltech. His theme is “Programmed Nutrition.” A very interesting concept. He was introduced by Dr. Pearse Lyons as Mr. Genomics since he has created or been involved in the creation of so many new words that end in genomics.

Dr. Dawson says he’s more optimistic about the future of animal health and human nutrition than he ever has been. He then walked us through many of the projects Alltech is working on in this area via the Center that he manages. Some quotes that really caught my attention from his talk include:

“Performance & product quality are not influenced by the genes but ultimately determined by gene expression.”

“You are what your mother ate.”

“It’s not just what we feed but when we feed it.”

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Alltech Discussion Dinners Get Social

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Chuck

Discussion dinners on a variety of topics were held last night at the Alltech International Symposium. I attended the Communications dinner which had a focus on social media. Pictured are our discussion moderators (l-r) Damien O’Reilly and Billy Frey. I will be sharing an interview with Billy in next week’s ZimmCast.

Our dinner discussion provided an interesting insight into what people in agribusiness know, or think they know, about social media. Most of those in the room were either personally involved or professionally in their business. Some comments that caught my attention included:

A European participant said that not many farmers are involved in social media. I don’t know what the environment is across the pond but here in America I would disagree with that to a certain extent. So many farm companies and member organizations have been conducting training programs and encouraging farmers to get involved in the online discussion that I believe we have “a lot” of farmers involved in social media.

Another participant wanted to know how you “control” what people are saying about your company or products. Control is a red flag word to me. You have no control! No matter what your desire is, you can’t control what people are saying. However, Billy made a good point about how you can “manage” the conversation by being involved and engaging people even if they write something negative about you or your company. I always say that they’re going to talk about you whether you join the conversation or not.

A student participant startled everyone by telling us to “get off Facebook.” She said there’s no way you can believe anything you read on it and she didn’t like the idea that a company would check up on an applicant by looking at their Facebook page. Sorry, young lady. Facebook along with other social media channels are open to everyone and I highly encourage you to be careful about what you post anywhere. On the point of believing what you read, I agree to a certain extent. You need to be careful about what you read and that includes product reviews. One participant was sure that his competition was paying people to write negative comments about his products online. He didn’t have proof though. But I certainly believe it does happen. I’m just not sure how much.

It was a very good discussion but showed me that there is a long way to go when it comes to companies integrating social media into their marketing communications mix. One other comment that I appreciated was on the subject of ROI for social media expenses. He asked why it is that companies don’t have a clue what the return is on their advertising expenses for traditional media and yet want to know exactly how many widgets they sold by investing some dollars in social media. Good question. It’s kind of like a double standard. Several participants said that their use of social media had positive returns for their business.

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Winners of Alltech Farming Film Festival

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Chuck

Alltech held their first ever Farming Film Festival this year with their Symposium theme of Game Changers. They invited people to tell their “game changing” story of an innovation that helped them on their farm. The first and second place winners were picked by a panel that included myself as well as Dale Miller of National Hog Farmer and Hoard’s Dairyman’s Lucas Sjostrom. Third place was determined by the highest number of online votes.

First place was awarded to Adam Dotson who submitted Good Shepherd Cheese, which told the story of a sheep farm in Kentucky. You can watch it below. Second place went to the video Cow Comfort, entered by Jonathan Klingenfus who explained how his family farm turned a crisis into an opportunity. Third place was awarded to Lauren Chase’s Telling The Montana Family Ranching Story.

I spoke with Allie Hembree, North American Public Relations Coordinator, Alltech, about the Farming Film Festival and other new technological features of this year’s Symposium. She says participation in the festival was great and they plan to do it again next year. Listen to my interview with her to hear what else is new from Alltech at this year’s event. Allie Hembree Interview

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

The Alltech Game Changers Debate

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Chuck

Alltech Symposium Great Debate The Great Debate has become a feature of the Alltech International Symposium. This year it is being called The Game Changers Debate. The goal is to “identify the game changers that will allow agribusiness to respond to relentless commoditization and innovate for a greener future.”

Pictured (l-r) are moderator Aidan Connolly, Alltech, Tom Standage, Bus. Editor, The Economist, Hans Johr, Corporate Head of Agricutlure, Nestle and Ben Self, Founder, Blue State Digital. I will update this post after the debate with some audio from the session. Aidan is posing questions to the participants. The first one is “What are the game changers as we move to feed over nine billion people.”

Post Update:

Here are answers to the first question from each of the participants:

Tom Standage Answer Hans Johr Answer Ben Self Answer

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Kentucky Night Dinner Fun

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Chuck

If you’ve followed my coverage of the Alltech International Symposium (this is my 5th year!) then you’ll know it’s not all serious business. It’s also a great opportunity to have some fun and fellowship. This video that Alltech produced from last night’s Kentucky Night Dinner shows you one of those fun opportunities.

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Food & Farming Are Game Changers For Humanity

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Chuck

The author of “An Edible History of Humanity” is Tom Standage, Business Editor, The Economist. He’s actually still presenting on stage but I always say, why wait? Thanks to Aly Rowell again for providing me with an interview she did with Tom.

I have not read the book but perhaps I will after hearing Tom’s presentation. It’s very interesting to hear about the “game changers” in history and their relationship to food and farming. Here’s what the book is about:

This book looks at history in another way entirely: as a series of transformations caused, enabled or influenced by food. Throughout history, food has done more than simply provide sustenance. It has acted as a catalyst of social transformation, societal organisation, geopolitical competition, industrial development, military conflict and economic expansion. From prehistory to the present, the stories of these transformations form a narrative that encompasses the whole of human history.

Tom Standage Interview

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

2011 Alltech Young Scientist Competition Winners

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Chuck

Yakov Cepilov During this afternoon’s general session Alltech announced the winners of their Young Scientist competition. There were 5,000 entries from all over the world.

The Undergraduate Winner is Yakov Cepilov – Novosibirsk State University, Russia. Yakov will receive a $5,000 scholarship as part of his award.

Listen to an interview with Wai-Fun: Yakov Cepilov Interview

Presenting the awards were Dr. Mark Lyons and Dr. Inge Russell.

The Graduate Winner is Wai-Fun Leong – Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia. She will receive a $10,000 scholarship.

Listen to an interview with Wai-Fun: Wai-Fun Leong Interview

The Alltech Young Scientist Award brings together the world’s brightest scientific thinkers from colleges and universities across the globe. To compete for the top prizes, undergraduate and graduate students are asked to register and submit a scientific paper on an agricultural topic such as veterinary science, animal feed technology, agricultural developments or agriculture management.

The 2012 competition will comprise of 10 regions. The 3 best regional winners on each category will then have the opportunity to compete in the Global Phase, which will take place in Lexington, Kentucky, USA at Alltech’s Annual International Animal Health and Nutrition Symposium in May 2012. Undergraduate and graduate students will compete separately at each phase.

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Transforming Your Company is a Game Changer

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Chuck

As part of the game changing experience that 2,200 people are having here at the Alltech International Symposium Damien McLoughlin, National University of Ireland, spoke about transforming your company using five ideas from companies that have done so in a big way.

Damien says that the whole idea of game changing has been driven by marketing efforts in the technology sector. One of the key companies he points to is Apple computers. I can relate to that! He says it’s not a matter of trying to copy what Apple did to change its whole image but rather the idea of investing in management innovation. The one piece of advice he wants people to take away is, “You have to invest in having the right people around. You have to provide them with the time to think about these ideas. And then you have to have confidence that those idea might actually work out.”

Damien McLoughlin Interview

The interview with Damien was conducted by Aly Rowell, Lloyd Bell Productions. Aly is conducting interviews for people like me who did not get their own interview. Thanks to her and Alltech for making this available. Great idea!

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Troy Hadrick Agvocates For Alltech

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Chuck

At this year’s Alltech International Symposium there is a new educational track called The New Ag Network. It is a series of presentations on how businesses can market themselves in the new media world we live in today as well as dealing with new regulations and more. One of the presenters is Troy Hadrick, farmer and social media speaker. You can find Troy at Advocates For Agriculture. His game changing experience happened when he posted his first YouTube video to express his displeasure with Yellow Tail wine for their support of HSUS. That support ended shortly afterward.

Troy’s presentation chronicled his personal experiences using social media to become what a lot of us call an “agvocate.” He helped show how relatively simple and powerful today’s new communications channels can be for farmers to speak out on their own and inform and engage consumers.

Troy Hadrick Interview

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Alltech Symposium Kentucky Night Dinner

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Chuck

Alltech Symposium Kentucky Night Dinner One of the highlights of the Alltech International Symposium is the Kentucky Night Dinner. This year it was held again at the Kentucky Horse Park in the Alltech Arena. This was the site of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

So we ate well, enjoyed good fellowship and had a band and dancing. I’ve updated my photo album so you can see what you missed if you’re not here. We’ve got a record attendance of 2,200 here from 72 countries and 48 states in the USA!

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Alltech iPhone App For Pork Producers

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Chuck

Now Dr. Pearse Lyons can say, “There’s an app for that.” That app is the Alltech iPhone App. It was just announced this morning during the Alltech International Symposium. I’ve got it on my iPhone.

The app:

Helps pig producers search for information about swine health issues, environmental concerns and pork quality. Includes customizable commodity listings and local weather forecasting.

You can get it in the iTunes store with this link or just search the keyword Alltech.

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Alltech Future of Farming Announced

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Chuck

The founder and President of Alltech, Dr. Pearse Lyons, gave us a number of game changing ideas today at the Alltech International Symposium. These included:

1. Fiber not corn
2. No antibiotics
3. Programmed nutrition
4. Feed to the genetic potential
5. Algae – the farm of the future
6. Be a leader

You can listen to him describe each of these ideas in detail below. He also introduced the Alltech Future of Farming website that interactively describes his vision of the type of farm we will see. Check it out.

Dr. Pearse Lyons Presentation

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Alltech Symposium Press Conference

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Chuck

Alltech The Alltech International Symposium press conference just concluded. All of our morning speakers were on stage. The session was moderated by Alltech’s Dr. Aidan Connolly.

These include:

Dr. Inge Russell
Damien McLoughlin
Dr. Ronan Tynan
Dr. Mark Lyons
Dr. Pearse Lyons

I recorded the question and answer session for you to listen to. There are quite a few questions and some dealt with the idea of moving from corn as a feedstuff for livestock to a form of fiber. That ought to generate some discussion. Alltech Symposium Press Conference

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Dr. Ronan Tynan Keeping The Faith

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Chuck

Dr. Ronan Tynan and me Did I happen to mention that I like Dr. Ronan Tynan? In fact, I’m a new fan. I really appreciate Christina Lombard, Alltech, for taking a photo for me.

I spoke with Ronan before the press conference that just concluded here at the Alltech International Symposium. He had a “game changing” message for us: “I think the biggest game change in everyone’s life is “the will is inside us all” and when you capture it you bring the greatest from you.” You can hear that kind of message and more in my interview with him. Dr. Ronan Tynan Interview

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Dr. Ronan Tynan Receives 1st Alltech Humanitarian Award

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Chuck

The first ever Alltech Humanitarian Award was presented this morning to Dr. Ronan Tynan. What a voice this man has. I’ll add some audio to this post later. His talk is awesome.

Post Update:

Here’s Ronan’s presentation from this morning. I highly recommend it. If you can listen to his message and not be moved then I feel sorry for you. At the end of his presentation he sang us “Hallelujah.” You may remember that song from “Shrek.” Ronan tried out to sing it but wasn’t chosen for reasons I can’t imagine. I hope you enjoy it. Ronan Tynan Presentation - Hallelujah

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Dr. Inge Russell Receives Alltech Medal of Excellence

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Chuck

This morning Dr. Inge Russell received the Alltech Medal of Excellence. She was presented the award on stage by Dr. Pearse Lyons, Alltech President, during the opening general session.

Professor Inge Russell is an accomplished researcher. Her work on the biotechnology and fermentation of yeast and algae has resulted in significant improvements in the production of feed, food, beverages, and fuel. She has over 100 publications and obtained Canada’s first patent for a genetically modified yeast specifically designed for biofuel production. She is a Professor at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

This is the 21st year of the Medal of Excellence program.

Post Update:

I spoke with Dr. Russell after this morning’s program. You can hear her talk about the importance of Alzheimer’s research in my interview with her: Dr. Inge Russell Interview

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Special Alltech Dinner Performance By Ronan Tynan

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Chuck

The International Dinner at the Alltech Symposium had a special performance by Ronan Tynan. He’s a tenor singer in the classical Irish style. This evening he chose to share his rendition of Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

We had a number of performances during the course of the evening. I wish I could share them all. I think you’ll enjoy this one. Here’s a little bit of information about Ronan:

Ronan Tynan is truly a modern day “Renaissance Man.” Faced with numerous challenges throughout his well documented life, he has persevered with enormous passion and determination. He attributes his success to his faith and the knowledge that the Man Above guides him through every door he opens. Introduced to international audiences as a member of the Irish Tenors, Tynan quickly became known for his unique voice and irresistible appeal. Following his mother’s advice to always follow your dreams, Tynan decided to launch a solo career, and has achieved the fame and ado.

You can listen to Ronan Tynan’s performance here: Ronan Tynan Sings Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Alltech International Dinner

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Chuck

The International Dinner at the Alltech Symposium was another joyful celebration of not only good food but good fellowship and music. We had the winners of the Alltech Vocal Scholarship Competition from the University of Kentucky perform as well as our very own, Dr. Pearse Lyons, founder and President of Alltech. He was introduced on stage by Dr. Everett McCorvey, Director of Opera, Lexington Opera Society Endowed Chair in Opera Studies at UK.

This is my 5th Symposium. Dr. Lyons is amazed at the fact that this is the 27th event. There is record attendance. To me it seems almost like a family experience and he says that’s what they try to create. This evening it was an “international family.”

You can listen to my interview with Dr. Lyons here: Dr. Pearse Lyons Interview

You can listen to Dr. Lyons lead the dinner audience with Molly Malone here: Molly Malone Performance

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Alltech and Algae

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Chuck

Alltech Algae My first stop after registering for the Alltech Symposium was the tour of their new Winchester, KY Algae plant. Here’s one of the many tour groups getting to see the facility in action today. The company purchased the plant late last year and is in the process of fully converting it into a scaled-down replica of a large production system that will allow Alltech to research and perfect production methods before rolling them out on a large scale. The plant contains fermentors that stand over 8 stories high and have a capacity of 265,000 liters. Once they get into full 24/7 production this plant will produce about 10,000 metric tons of algae material per year. The algae produced by the plant can be used in animal feed, food supplements, pharmaceuticals, bioremediation and biofuels.

While I was waiting on a tour to get started I spoke with Kyle Raney who works for Alltech in applications research with a focus on algae. He describes the facility and the projects they’re working on right now. Many of the algae products they produce will be used by Alltech’s own animal nutrition products as well as being sold to other customers.

You can listen to my interview with Kyle here: Kyle Raney Interview

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

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