Category Archives: Feed

The Expanding World of Hog Feed Choices

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Once upon a time, commercial hog diets consisted mainly of corn and soybeans, but the menu has greatly expanded out of necessity since commodity prices increased a few years ago.

That expansion has brought with it both opportunities and challenges for producers, according to Iowa State University Professor of Animal Science Dr. John Patience, who spoke to swine veterinarians last week at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica (BIVI) Swine Health Seminar in Denver. “Corn and soybean meal are relatively uniform ingredients. Now that we’ve moved to using products like wheat middlings, bakery by-products, and distillers grains, those are ingredients that are quite variable in their nutrient composition. So, we have to do a lot more quality control, for example,” he explained. “We also have to make sure when we use these ingredients that they fit into our feed manufacturing system since some of them are a lot less dense, bulk-wise.”

Dr. Patience says we are seeing diets now with 20% or less corn in them. “Right now the Europeans have a lot more experience with using these diverse kinds of diets than we do, but we’re catching up,” he said, adding that the U.S. pork industry is extremely innovative and responsive to new information “and that has really shown itself remarkably well in the last five years.”

Listen to my interview with Dr. Patience here: ISU Animal Scientist Dr. John Patience

BIVI Summit at Mile High 2012 photo album

How #1 Pork Producer Deals With High Feed Costs

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When you’re the number one pork producer in the world, higher feed costs take a big bite out of the bottom line.

At the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica (BIVI) Swine Health Seminar in Denver, Dr. Steve Pollmann, President of Western Operations for Murphy-Brown, LLC shared some of his thoughts on dealing with high feed costs in commercial pig production. “We’re the live production part of Smithfield Foods,” he said. “We have about 850,000 sows located in 12 different states and we produce about 17 million pigs.

That’s a lot of pigs to feed, so when feed costs go up, the cost of production can increase dramatically. “We all know that feed is the biggest single cost of production,” Steve said. “A 25 cent change in corn price per bushel, with that comes a $20 change in soybean price, all of the sudden you’ve got a $1.60 a hundredweight cost of production (increase).” He says the higher feed costs in the last five years or so have meant feed as a percentage of total production costs has risen from 60% to 70%.

Like all pork producers, Murphy-Brown has had to adjust to the higher feed costs by becoming more efficient. “When things get that kind of difficult, you’ve got to get better and if you don’t, you die,” he said.

Listen to my interview with Dr. Pollmann here: Dr. Steve Pollman, Murphy-Brown

BIVI Summit at Mile High 2012 photo album

Waiting For Massive New Feed/Food Safety Regulations

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The feed industry is facing “the mother of all laws,” the Food Safety Modernization Act. That’s according to Richard Sellers, American Feed Industry Association, one of the sponsoring organization this week for the combined International Poultry Expo and International Feed Expo. Pictured are staff members from AFIA including Richard on the left.

Richard says this law, which has not yet gone into effect, will create massive regulations for the feed industry and that it will be incredibly costly. Apparently FDA has until this summer to come out with the regs to go along with the law. The law was signed by President Obama a little over a year ago. Of course the industry has been proactively working on a safer feed and food supply for years with the Safe Feed/Safe Food Certification Program. Makes you wonder why we need more laws and regulations doesn’t it?

Listen to my interview with Richard here: Interview with Richard Sellers

2012 International Poultry Expo Photo Album

Coverage of the 2012 International Poultry Expo is sponsored by Novus International

New Ideas for Promoting Soybean Exports

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usb soybean exportsThe final session of the US Soybean Export Council Animal Utilization Stakeholders meeting in Seattle this past weekend focused on a discussion of new ideas to promote soybean exports in the future.

As chairman of the United Soybean Board International Marketing Committee, Jim Call of Minnesota split his time between the animal utilization and the human utilization meetings. “I think we covered a lot of areas. I think it gives our staff a little more direction on the projects they need to bring forward to the farmers in the future that we as farmers think will add value,” he said.

The last panel at the animal utilization meeting discussed ways that animo acid profiles could be used as a marketing characteristic. “Currently the market focuses on protein and oil,” Jim explained. “What we’re trying to do is get the market to focus instead of just on protein, on amino acid or digestibility.”

Listen to my interview with Jim here. USB Director Jim Call

More interviews and stories from the meeting can be found here.

USSEC First Animal Utilization Stakeholders Meeting Photos

What Soybean Stakeholders are Learning at USSEC Meeting

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usb soybean exportsThe weather is fabulous in Seattle this weekend, but directors of the United Soybean Board (USB) are inside and hard at work learning more about opportunities for exports at the US Soybean Export Council Animal Utilization Stakeholders meeting.

As far as stakeholders are concerned, USB is one of the major ones represented here, since soybean checkoff dollars are used to fund the USSEC’s export promotion efforts. “I’m here to learn more about the world demand for protein for animal feeds,” says David Hartke, USB Director from Illinois. “Sitting on the Production Committee with USB, I’ve been asked to be the lead on the composition of the soybean and felt that I needed to be here.”

Listen to my interview with David here. David Hartke, USB Director

usb soybean exportsWhile all the USB directors I have featured so far are from Illinois, there are directors outside of the Midwest! One of them is Jacob Parker from North Carolina who says the export market for US soybeans is critically important for the industry, accounting for over half the production nationwide.

“We need to maintain that business,” Jacob told me. “We need to also make sure that our domestic crush continues and try to figure out ways to export meal as well as whole beans.”

Listen to my interview with Jacob here. Jacob Parker, USB Director

USSEC First Animal Utilization Stakeholders Meeting Photos

Around the World at Soybean Export Stakeholders Meeting

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usb soybean exportsParticipants in the US Soybean Export Council Animal Utilization Stakeholders meeting got a quick trip around the world in about four hours Saturday morning with presentations on global opportunities for soybean exports for animal use.

“We had 11 speakers representing eight different countries or regions,” said Miguel Escobar, USSEC Global Director of Animal Utilization. “We heard from all of them what kind of things they are doing in the marketplace for the future.”

Miguel says they wanted to let the stakeholders who fund the efforts of the USSEC know how their money is being spent. “The main two are the the Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) of the USDA, the United Soybean Board (USB) and all the companies that are members of USSEC who have interest in animal utilization part of the business,” he said.

Miguel is very excited about the stakeholders meeting. “We are breaking the ground for what is going to happen in the future for animal utilization,” he said, noting that it represents an $18 billion segment of the U.S. soybean export market.

Listen to my interview with Miguel here. Miguel Escobar with USSEC

USSEC First Animal Utilization Stakeholders Meeting Photos

Soybean Animal Utilization Stakeholders Meet in Seattle

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usb soybean exportsThe first ever U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) Animal Utilization Stakeholders Meeting is being held this weekend in Seattle to allow soybean checkoff farmer leaders to brainstorm about projects for the future to increase soybean exports.

“This is the first time we’re doing an animal utilization meeting,” said USSEC CEO Jim Sutter. “We’ve used aquaculture as an example and we’ve done that the past three years.”

usb soybean exportsJim says this the first meeting in a series to plan out projects for FY 2013. “So this is the first meeting to gather industry and regional inputs, then we’ll be working on strategy, and finally we come together and get final approval for all the projects we come up with,” Jim said. “That’s about a six month process and this is step one in the process.”

Presentations on Saturday morning included updates from soybean market representatives in all areas of the world on global opportunities for soybean exports in animal utilization.

Listen to my interview with Jim here. USSEC CEO Jim Sutter

USSEC First Animal Utilization Stakeholders Meeting Photos

Novus’s MINTREX Gets New Feed Ingredient Category

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A new feed ingredient category has been created for MINTREX® chelated trace minerals from Novus International.

According to Novus, the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) accepted this new feed ingredient definition July 31, during its 2011 Ingredient Definitions Committee Meeting in Austin, Texas.

The Division of Animal Feeds within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Veterinary Medicine accepted the chelated trace minerals category earlier this year and recommended that AAFCO accept this definition for inclusion in its official publication.

“The formation of a new feed ingredient category for MINTREX is an extremely important step that gives us the opportunity to define a new class of trace minerals,” says Dr. Chris Knight, Vice President of Research and Development for Novus. “This announcement demonstrates to our customers in the animal health and nutrition industry that MINTREX is a next-generation trace mineral, truly defined as a chelate.”

In scientific terms, chelation means the trace minerals in MINTREX are bound with a ligand. This creates a stable complex in the acidic pH of the upper gastrointestinal tract; reduces break-up, or dissociation, of the mineral; helps reduce losses caused by antagonisms; and protects the mineral for efficient delivery and uptake in the small intestine.

MINTREX Cu, Zn and Mn supply the essential trace minerals copper, zinc and manganese. It can be added to feed for poultry; dairy and beef cattle; and hogs; as well as companion animal and equine diets, to provide for their mineral requirements and help animals perform to their full genetic potential. Because it is a highly bioavailable mineral source, MINTREX is absorbed and used by the animal to a much greater degree than comparable inorganic trace mineral supplements. This enables producers to maintain feeding efficiency with fewer minerals fed and excreted.

Find out more here.

Novus Expands Arkansas Feed Supplement Facility

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A number of dignitaries, including the Governor of Arkansas, helped cut the ribbon Tuesday on a newly expanded and LEED Silver Certified manufacturing facility in Little Rock for Novus International animal feed supplements.

The Novus Arkansas site was developed in 2006 to manufacture MHA® feed supplement, a source of methionine, an essential amino acid in premixes and farm feed mills which provides benefits to laying hens and other livestock and companion animals. The new expansion features a 45,000 square foot manufacturing facility for MINTREX®, Novus’ chelated trace mineral products for aquaculture, poultry, pork, beef, dairy and pet nutrition. In keeping with the commitment Novus has to sustainability, the expanded facility earned Silver LEED Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The company headquarters in St. Charles, Missouri has earned Platinum LEED Certification.

Stewart Doan stopped by the dedication event happening on his home turf and was able to interview Giovanni Gasperoni, Chief Administration and Strategy Officer, who says the expansion will increase production and their ability to serve customers. “Our customers are all over the world,” Gio said. “Both the family of products produced here will reach the 98 countries we are serving today.”

“It is our motto to feed the world affordable, wholesome food, so we need to help our customers to produce more with less,” said Gio. “This is what we are about.”

Listen to Stewart’s interview here: Giovanni Gasperoni Interview

Biotech Alfalfa Deregulated

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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!

iFeeder Helping Communicate Safe Food Messages

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Joel NewmanThe 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!

You can listen to my interview with Joel here: Interview With Joel Newman

2011 International Poultry Expo/International Feed Expo Photo Album

AgWired IPE/IFE coverage sponsored by: Novus

Delmar Commodities May Need More Quality Feed Grain

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Special Report from Harry Siemens

Feed specialists and researchers are advising Manitoba hog producers to monitor feed quality and watch the performance of their herds to avoid any problems associated with fusarium head blight-infected feed grains.

Fusarium head blight infects primarily cereal crops producing a mycotoxins that reduce end use quality of the grain.

The warm, wet growing conditions in Manitoba that helped produce a very good corn and soybeans crops did the damage to many of the cereal crops. Preliminary data shows the unusually warm wet year caused higher than normal levels of fusarium, especially in winter wheat.

Operations manager George Wieler of Delmar Commodities in Winkler, Mb said the problem for hog producers is wider-spread this year than last, especially in western Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan.

“Last year we brought in low fusarium, low vomitoxian feed grains to help with the requirements here,” said Wieler. “This year it is hard to find. One drawing area we’ve had in the past is eastern and northern Saskatchewan. That is where we’ve pulled a lot of feed grains from in the past.”

This year many acres went unseeded, and the acres seeded there, the quality of the final product isn’t very good, not taking fusarium into account.

“So far, there is still enough to go around,” he said. “The question is how long will it last? When is the tap going to be tapped out to find low fusarium feed grains?” Continue reading →

WATT Online Feed Forum is Just Around the Corner

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Looking for a way to learn strategies to improve your feed quality? Then look no further than your computer. On June 24, 2010, WATT is offering a free “WATT Online Feed Forum.” This virtual forum offers researchers, producers and executives an opportunity to learn about the latest research and products that will not only improve your feed quality but also improve your bottom line. The forum will cast a wide net with the audience but offer a narrow focus with the presentations.

I caught up with Jeff Miller, the Director of Strategy of Sales and Marketing in the Novus International booth during World Pork Expo to learn more about this virtual feed forum. Novus is a supporter of this event. He explained, “This is synonymous with a live trade show but its on the internet. So we’re putting five presentations on in which an audience of knowledge seekers from over 100 countries from around the world have signed up to attend these presentations and they also have the ability to mingle with their colleagues from all over the world. And of course they have the opportunity to go to sponsor booths that are also in the virtual event.”

The presentation topics include:

Although the presentations are pre-recorded, event day participants will have the opportunity to join a live Q&A session with the speakers. However, if you can’t make the live event, the feed forum will be archived for three months.

Miller said that while they appreciate being at live events, his company strongly feels that there is a global audience of people who are looking for knowledge and education in any channel available. “This virtual trades show platform is another channel for professionals to get quality information about agribusiness,” concluded Miller.

Listen below to my full interview with Jeff. You can register for the free feed forum and see the archive of the Watt Poultry Nutrition & Health Forum, at www.wattevents.com.

You can check out all the World Pork Expo 2010 Photo Album.

AgWired coverage of the World Pork Expo 2010 is sponsored by:
Novus and boehringer-ingelheim.

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Improved Feed Quality = Improved Pig Health

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There are many elements of a pig producer’s operations that could affect both pig health and his bottom line. One such factor is the quality of animal feed. Poor quality can spell trouble for the pigs….illness, depressed growth and lower birth rates just to name a few. To learn more about how to address problems with feed and some options for improving feed quality, I spoke with Scott Moore, Regional Sales Manager for Novus International.

Moore noted that the past 12-18 months has been very challenging for many pork producers. “Crop conditions last fall produced quite a few micotoxins in feed and grain crops that negatively impacted the pig’s ability to consume feed and gain properly.” The result is that many producers have seen reduced performance due to the stress the grain has caused. “When pigs don’t perform up to producers’ expectations, its costly for the producer.”

Novus has several options for producers who need immediate help offsetting the negative effects caused by feed containing mycotoxins. This year, the worst mycotoxin culprit is known as DON, or vomitoxin. Moore noted that Novus has spent many years studying and researching the oxidative balance of the animal and he believes that they have several products that will help the pigs eat properly. Two products he recommends are SOLIS and ZORIEN MOS. Both of these products are designed to reduce the impact of poor feed quality.

It can be challenging for a pork producer to identify and then treat problems with his feed. To help, Novus has an in-house testing facility that can assess any problems and then work with the producer to create a customized plan to improve feed quality. Moore stressed that the addition of SOLIS or ZORIEN MOS to feed will have an immediate and positive impact on a pig’s ability to consume feed, and ultimately, put a producer’s profitability back on track.

You can listen to my full interview with Scott below.

Check out our World Pork Expo 2010 Photo Album.

AgWired coverage of the World Pork Expo 2010 is sponsored by:
Novus and boehringer-ingelheim.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

EU Approves Novus Feed Additive

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The European Union has approved the use of Novus International’s MINTREX chelated trace minerals as feed additives for all species.

novusSpecifically, the EU registration applies to MINTREX® Zinc (Zn), MINTREX® Manganese (Mn) and MINTREX® Copper (Cu).

“Our MINTREX chelated trace mineral line has been successfully addressing animal welfare challenges and cost-versus-performance issues for chicken producers in the EU since late last year,” says François Fraudeau, Vice-President Europe, Middle East and Asia. “Feeding a high quality and bioavailable trace mineral is important to maximizing the growth potential and wellbeing of production animals. Through its efficient absorption, animals fed MINTREX minerals will be healthier, have better muscle growth and optimal structural integrity of bones, footpads, hooves and skin.”

Read more here.

Novus Helps Poultry Producers Optimize

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With higher feed costs, it is important for poultry producers to get the most for their money.

novusAt the recent International Poultry Expo/Feed Expo, Novus International was talking to producers about how to optimize their poultry diets. “Optimizing the diet does not necessarily mean having a cheap diet,” says Novus product manager Dr. Nasser Odetallah. “They have to make sure to meet the nutrient requirements of the individual animal and make sure they provide the nutrients needed for optimum growth.”

Since Novus has customers in over 90 countries, they deal with different producer needs depending on the region. “We know that somebody producing chicken in Bangledesh is not going to be faced with the same challenges as somebody in Utah,” he said. “So we have more than one option and we have certain feed additives that minimize the cost of the feed by reducing the energy of the diet and adding an enzyme that releases the energy in the feed.”

It’s also important for producers to optimize amino acids since different amino acids are commonly found in proteins and there are different requirements for poultry depending on the type (broiler or layer) and the age of the bird. Nassar says Novus shows producers how adding enzymes to feed, which is an increased cost up front, actually comes out cheaper in the end by optimizing feed conversion.

Listen to my interview with Nassar from the IPE here:

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Quality Forage Leads to More Profitable Dairy Cows

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Les Yoder is an expert on dairy cattle. His company Homestead Nutrition works not only to help improve the nutritional value of dairy feed, but also works on crop and soil nutrition. I spoke with him during the Ag Associates Conference to learn more about the benefits of good feed nutrition.

“The forage component of the rations is extremely important to how we’re able to balance that program and make that cow very productive while maintaining health and profitability,” said Yoder.

The better quality the forage is, the less a farmer has to depend on other things like the purchase of additional feed (corn and soybeans). “Quality forage is extremely, extremely important in a profitable dairy nutrition’s diet,” he said.

Yoder began using Bio-Forge nearly 10 years ago implementing that product for corn silage for dairy rations and as a result, really started seeing some benefits of improved quality, improved digestibility and improved plant health all of which made a better ration. He also noted that it helped to make a healthier and less expensive diet.

His early successes led him to work more with Stoller to understand the “language of the plant.” In other words, learning how to understand how the plant grows, how it reacts to environmental stresses, diseases and insect pressures.

I asked him if he could impart some personal wisdom to the diary farmers across the world, what it would be? He answered, “Anything they do to improve forage quality improves animal health, decreases the need for supplementation and just make a better ration.” And a better ration, he concluded, means a healthier cow and a more profitable dairy operation.

Listen to my interview with Les below.

Ag Associates Conference Flickr Album.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Welcome to Poultry Expo 2010

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novusThe 2010 International Poultry Expo/Feed Expo is getting underway here in Atlanta with associated conferences today, including the Poultry Scientific Forum, Pet Food Conference and Animal Agriculture Environmental Sustainability Summit.

Our sponsor, Novus International, is hosting a seminar/luncheon for expo attendees entitiled “Historical Perspectives in Poultry Feed Management,” presented by Dr. Steve Leeson from the University of Guelph. About 200 are in attendance, with a good portion of those among the international guests for the expo. I will be interviewing him after the presentation to get a nice summary of how the poultry industry developed in the area of nutrition and feed over the past century or so.

2010 International Poultry Expo photo album

AgWired coverage of International Poultry Expo is sponsored by:
Novus

Monsanto and BASF to Develop NutriDense Corn Hybrids

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basfBASF Plant Science and Monsanto today announced they will be working together to develop new corn hybrids with better nutrition for animal feed.

The new hybrids will contain BASF’s NutriDense® traits that are designed to enhance animal feed performance. NutriDense corn has higher levels of essential amino acids and energy, greater phosphorous availability and is more digestible.

BASF’s NutriDense traits will be combined with Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® Genuity™ VT Triple PRO™ and Genuity™ SmartStax™ corn. The new high quality hybrids are expected to deliver the best feed value and yields equivalent to elite conventional corn. Once launched, seed companies will market the new hybrids through licensing agreements.

Read more here.