Attendance at the 2010 International Poultry Expo and International Feed Expo was up over last year at approximately 19,000. In 2009 attendance was just 17,800 due to the overall downturn in the economy and higher input costs. So, things are looking up for the poultry industry right now.
At the expo, I had the opportunity to chat about chicken with Novus International Vice President of the Americas Dan Meagher about poultry before he headed out to the Cattle Industry Conference in San Antonio to talk about their commitment to the beef industry. Dan says the outlook for the poultry industry is better than it was last year.
“I see poultry rebounding. I’m very bearish on poultry – both broilers and layers,” Dan told me. Even though consumption has been down in the poultry sector, with the economy the way it is and the world population growing, he believes the consumption outlook is very positive.
Meanwhile, lower feed and energy costs are helping the industry, but the aggressive tactics of animal activists are causing the industry to have to defend its production practices and Dan says Novus has a role in helping producers to that. “Number one, we need to help our customers advance the enhancement nutritionally of their product down the food channel,” Dan said. “Secondly, we’re very active in supporting the industry because we believe in the message that needs to be communicated. We have a very sustainable platform and our job is to make sure that we be a partner with our customers and with the industry on education.”
Listen to my interview with Dan Meagher of Novus here:
Novus was hoping to make this big announcement at the recent Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio, but sometimes the legal wheels slow down the process a bit. But this new deal means an expanded commitment for Novus to the livestock industry worldwide, especially for cattle.
Products from the acquisition, including the MAAC (R) chelated trace mineral product line, will align with Novus’s MINTREX® and GLYTREX® chelated trace mineral products and further expand Novus’s mineral technology. This acquisition will enable Novus to offer a broader range of products to address the needs of different customers in different parts of the world to support their livestock operations.
Since its establishment in 1956, Albion has been an innovator in mineral chelate nutrition. Albion manufactures highly bioavailable, research based, nutritional chelated trace mineral forms and has a long-standing customer base in both the beef and dairy markets.
Geographically, Albion is primarily present in the animal organic trace mineral industry in the U.S., Europe, Canada, the Middle East and Japan. The combined geographic and market presence will provide Novus the opportunity to offer new customers a wider range of health and nutritional products, programs and solutions.
With higher feed costs, it is important for poultry producers to get the most for their money.
At 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:
Novus International Executive Vice President of marketing and sales Giovanni Gasperoni, pictured here with a delegation from Thailand, seemed to know everyone at the International Poultry/Feed Expo in Atlanta last week and he greeted them all as close friends. His genuine and effusive personality reflects his passion for the business of animal agriculture and the people in the industry who produce food for the world. He is firmly dedicated to Novus’ vision to help feed the world affordable, wholesome food and achieve a higher quality of life. “This is really important to us, this is our vision, and we’ve maintained the same vision for the last 20 years,” Gio told me during an interview.
One of the ways Novus is working to achieve that vision is by maintaining a close relationship with their customers in every one of the more than 90 countries they serve. In January, Novus opened a new blending plant in Singapore for animal feed supplements. “It’s part of our overall strategy to be closer to our customers with our specialty products,” Gio said. “We needed to address that in the Asia Pacific and northern China.” The plant will serve as a distribution hub for regional Novus clients in industries including aquaculture, poultry, ruminant and pork.
Gio says in the coming year, Novus will be focused on Africa. “It’s kind of a last frontier for us in helping feed the world affordable and wholesome food,” he says.
Listen to or download my interview with Gio in the player below, and check out our photo albums from the IPE – especially if you had a photo taken with baseball great Bob Gibson at the Novus booth. International Poultry Expo 2010 Bob Gibson/Novus Photo Album
During the International Poultry Expo/International Feed Expo in Atlanta last week, Novus International was promoting some World Agricultural Forum (WAF) regional roundtables that will be held during this off year for the World Ag Congress. I talked with Novus president and CEO Thad Simons and World Ag Forum president and CEO Kathy Moldthan about how they are working together on these events.
“The World Agricultural Forum is a not-for-profit organization, headquartered in St. Louis, that brings together world leaders to address issues of the agricultural sector and agribusiness to feed the world’s growing population,” Kathy told me. To that end, WAF holds a World Congress every other year in St. Louis, but they also saw a need to take those discussions on the road to other regions of the world, including Latin America, China and Africa.
Thad says Novus has been a long time supporter of the World Ag Forum and is sponsoring these regional roundtables, which fits in with the mission of the company to help feed the world affordable, wholesome food and achieve a higher quality of life. “If we’re going to be helping to feed the world wholesome and affordable world, then it’s important that we reach out to all the different stakeholders to complete that vision,” Thad says.
WAF events planned for 2010 include a regional roundtable for Latin America in Brazil May 12-13; a world congress in China July 1-2; and a regional forum focusing on east Africa in Uganda October 6-7. More information is available on the WAF website.
Listen to or download my interview with Thad and Kathy in the player below:
The sustainability of animal agriculture was the topic of a well-attended summit at the 2010 International Poultry Expo/International Feed Expo in Atlanta.
C. Larry Pope, president and CEO of Smithfield Foods Inc., was keynote speaker for the two day summit and his main message was that the animal agriculture industry, both processors and farmers, need to listen to and engage the people and groups who are attacking them. He said that it is important to talk with these individuals and groups to show them the industry’s side of the story. “We need to educate all of the groups that challenge our practices,” Pope said.
Because the public has developed misconceptions about animal agriculture practices, Pope issued a challenge to those involved in the animal agriculture industry “to make two visits to a community group or school to educate the public on industry practices and to dispel the myths about industry practices that exist now.”
Also on the program was Christian Richter of The Policy Group, who discussed the regulatory mood in Washington when it comes to animal agriculture. “Hyper command and control mode is coming back at EPA,” said Richter. “The current administration is shifting personnel from cooperative voluntary programs to enforcement programs.” He notes this represents a major shift in focus from the Bush administration which advocated the role of non-government drivers in prompting more voluntary action on the part of corporations towards sustainable practices.
When it comes to communicating NOVUS International’s commitment to the beef industry Dan is the man. He’s Dan Meagher, VIce President, Sales, Americas. He was on hand at the Cattle Industry Convention to help spread the word about the company name and products for the beef industry.
Dan says that NOVUS is investing in people and products. A lot of the research the company has done has been on beef. He thinks they have an opportunity right now in this segment of the industry. He says they’ve moved into the dairy and pork sectors and this is just part of their diversification strategy. Their products are designed to maximize the nutrition capabilities of the animal so it reaches its full potential while reducing costs.
Mycotoxins can be an issue in feed anytime, but with the late, wet harvest in 2009 there is an extra level of concern this year and it was a topic of discussion for poultry producers and industry representatives meeting at the International Poultry Expo/Feed Expo in Atlanta this past week.
“This is a year when we should be extra sensitive, not only testing to make sure we know what we have on our grain coming in, but also considering proactive choices to treat symptoms for the low thresholds of mycotoxins that are always present in some of the grains each year,” says Wendell Knehans with Novus International. Novus recently conducted a study on the effects of their product Solis Mos on the presence of both aflatoxin and ochratoxin in poultry feed. “What we found at both a moderate level (400 mg) of ochratoxin infestation and 800, a very high challenge, is that the birds maintain their performance in the presence of that toxin challenge,” Wendell said.
Listen to or download my interview with Wendell in the player below:
The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association elected the 2010 slate of officers and directors during the International Poultry Expo.
The new chairman of the organization is Steve Willardsen (left) of Cargill Value Added Meats, Wichita, KS. He was presented with the traditional “working man’s gavel” by 2009 chairman Monty Henderson, George’s, Inc., Springdale, AR. Thanks to USPOULTRY communications director Larry Brown for providing the photo.
Other officers include Mark Waller of Ingram Farms, Cullman, AL, Treasurer; Gary Cooper, Cooper Farms, Oakwood, OH, Vice Chairman; and James Adams, Wenger’s Feed Mill, Rheems, PA, Secretary.
The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association is the world’s largest and most active poultry organization, representing the entire industry as an “All Feather” association. Membership includes producers and processors of broilers, turkeys, ducks, eggs, and breeding stock, as well as allied companies. Formed in 1947, the association has affiliations in 27 states and member companies worldwide. USPOULTRY also sponsors the International Poultry Expo.
Wally the steer is getting a lot of attention at the NOVUS International booth in the NCBA Trade Show. He’s there to make the point of how important it is to put the right fuel in the engine. With animals, it’s no different and NOVUS would love to talk to cattlemen about it.
Novus International brought a game changing baseball great to the International Poultry Expo in Atlanta to symbolize their company strategy of changing the game in livestock productivity to meet the challenge of feeding a growing global population.
Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson, who played for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1959-1975, was a big hit at the Novus booth, with hundreds lining up to get a photo and autographed baseball. We took about 500 photos in three hours, which we are slowly but surely adding to a separate Flickr photo album for easy downloading by the lucky ones who got to meet “Hoot.”
Gibson’s jersey number 45 was retired by the St. Louis Cardinals, and in 1981, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame. In 1999, he ranked Number 31 on The Sporting News’ list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2004, he was named as the most intimidating pitcher of all time from the Fox Sports Net series The Sports List.
This is the second year that Novus brought a baseball theme to the expo. Last year, it was the legendary Lou Brock, also a St. Louis Cardinal – a tribute to Novus’ hometown.
*Post Update* Just got around to adding this video – which actually turned out pretty good!
Novus International announced its commitment to the beef industry today at the Cattle Industry Convention. They held a press conference this afternoon and I spoke with Gary Winter, Ruminant Sales Manager, North America afterward. I’m also posting the full press conference for you in case you’d like to listen in. With th
Gary has been with the company for about ten years. He says they’ve been getting a lot of interest from producers here and the trade show is providing them with a great opportunity to get their name out in front of them since there are a lot of beef producers who aren’t familiar with their name yet. He says they’ve had ingredients going into the beef business for a while but are just now launching their marketing campaign into the market. He points to products like Alimet, Mintrex and Agrado Plus as some of the names that producers can look to to increase herd efficiency.
You can listen to or download (mp3) Gary’s remarks here:
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You can listen to or download (mp3) the full press conference here:
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Philip Lobo and Mandy Heth are representing the Qualisoy program of the United Soybean Board here at the International Poultry Expo/International Feed Expo in Atlanta, talking to poultry producers about the ways they are working to make soybean meal even better for birds.
“We’ve just recently developed a special soybean that is going to deliver a soybean that has more energy for the feed and poultry industry,” Philip told me. They are starting poultry feeding trials soon and as long as it tests well they could have the variety available within five years. “This will help make our domestic livestock producers more competitive,” he said, which is important to the soybean industry, since 98 percent of all soybean meal produced here is fed to livestock and about 80 percent of the soybean is meal.
Listen to or download my interview with Philip in the player below.
We’re going to get to know the Novus beef team even more tomorrow when they make some major announcements. They’re also sponsoring AgWired coverage of the Cattle Industry Convention.
At the opening of the NCBA Trade Show I stopped by their booth and spoke with Stephanie Gable. Stephanie also introduced me to Wally, the mechanical steer that you can see behind the team members in the photo. I’ll let her explain in the video I shot with my iPhone.
Gut health is important for poultry producers, not just for the health and performance of their flocks, but also from the standpoints of food safety and animal welfare – probably two of the most important issues for the animal agriculture industry as a whole.
I talked with Novus International poultry veterinarian Dr. Marco Quiroz about the importance of poultry producers having an overall program for gut health. “As veterinarians, we try to do preventive medicine in poultry, we work with best management practices in operations. We have very well established, well designed and uniform programs,” he told me.
He says they do what they call “flock physicals” to monitor the health status of birds. “It’s like a quality control of the health of the birds,” Marco says. “We check all ages of production to make sure all the birds are healthy, especially in the digestive tract.” Since gut health can be affected by any number of factors, from feed to environmental to water, a good program has to look at all aspects of an operation and of the birds themselves to maintain top performance.
Listen to or download my interview with Marco about gut health in poultry and how Novus helps provide producers with the tools to maintain it.
The president of the US Poultry and Egg Association is pretty pleased with the turnout at this year’s International Poultry Expo, which looks to be better than a year ago, despite the condition of the economy.
“This is our 62nd show here in Atlanta,” John Starkey told me during an interview in the media room overlooking the trade show floor. “We have 807 exhibiters and we’re still counting attendees but when we closed pre-registration we had a 1,000 more attendees registered than a year ago. So, that probably speaks to the mood of the industry, not that it’s boom times but it might be just a little better than a year ago.” The expo gets a huge number of international visitors with the majority from Canada and Latin America, followed by Europe and southeast Asia.
John says there are a number of challenges and opportunities facing the industry, from animal activism to feeding a growing global population. Listen to or download my interview with John in the player below.
How many times have you gone to a conference and found yourself constantly having to pick up a new program because you lost the one you had?
Well, the International Poultry Expo has made things easy this year with an iPhone app. The IPE app is free and gives attendees access to all events and exhibitor information right on their iPhones. The app is available from Apple’s app store by searching for “IPE”. It’s a great way of using the latest technology in a very practical way and giving attendees a paper-free way to always know how to find exhibitors or where the next event is being held. Pretty cool! I expect we will be seeing that a lot more at conventions.
Rotten Egg or Egg-straordinary? This year the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association has partnered with Atlanta to find the city’s most popular and best poultry dishes. New to the International Poultry Expo, Featherfest is a week long culinary event that showcases 51 of Atlanta’s restaurants to see who can make the best appetizers, entrees, and desserts based on poultry meat or eggs.
Featherfest began on January 22nd and ends at midnight January 28th. Voters are also entered into a drawing to win a free iPod Nano and are encouraged to visit as many of the restaurants featured on the list as possible. To find the list and cast your vote on site look for the FeatherFest booth or the @tlanta booth located in the main lobby or the show floor, or you can enter online at www.atlanta.net/featherfest. The winner will be announced on Friday the 29th at the IPE.
When it comes to chelated trace minerals, Dr. Jim Richards with Novus International is a serious expert, and this is no simple subject.
“When you chelate a trace mineral, you basically react it with an organic mineral called a ligand,” says Jim, who is Novus Manager of Cell Biology Research. Now, that likely means very little to the cell biology illiterate, but it means a lot to poultry. “You’re basically feeding the bird a form of mineral that’s much more absorbable than you get with your trace mineral salts.”
That is what is known as bioavailability. “With a higher bioavailable form of trace mineral, more will be absorbed and less will be excreted out in to the environment, and that is the real point of feeding a chelated trace mineral,” Jim says. Because it’s more available, it’s more efficient and better for the environment, in addition to being better for the animal and the producer.
Jim gets into a whole lot more detail about this subject in the latest issue of Feedstuffs, which he is proudly displaying in this photo. For a quick explanation about it and what Novus is doing in the field, listen to or download my interview with Jim from the International Poultry Expo in the player below.
The International Poultry Scientific Forum is held in conjunction with the International Poultry Expo each year and is sponsored by the Southern Poultry Science Society, the Southern Conference on Avian Diseases, and the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. As part of that event, Novus International hosts a luncheon and speaker for the attendees on a topic of general interest to the poultry science community.
This year, it was “Historical Perspectives in Poultry Feed Management,” presented by well-known poultry science expert Dr. Steve Leeson from the University of Guelph, pictured here on the right with Dr. Scott Carter, Novus Poultry Market Manager, on the left. Dr. Leeson entertained the group with some great historical photos of poultry management through the years. According to Leeson, the commercial poultry industry as we know it pretty much started in the ’60s, as the broiler industry developed and the egg and meat industries began to diverge. Talking about feed management, he noted that producers early on were feeding poultry diets consisting of corn, soybean meal, milk, fish meal, meat meal and some raw vegetables. “They were looking for the vitamins that really hadn’t been recognized and we couldn’t buy them artificially,” he said. Milk was an especially important part of the diet to deal with health issues in flocks.
As poultry science began to develop as a specialty field, researchers found that key nutrition requirements could be met in other ways, which helped the industry expand and become much more productive and efficient.
Download (mp3) my interview with Dr. Leeson or listen to it here:
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Scott says Novus chose a historical perspective for this year’s topic as a way of taking a look back in order to move forward. “We’re at a really critical junction right now as we’re going to need to produce twice as much food in 2050 as we do today,” Scott said. “Poultry is going to be a key part of helping to feed the world by 2050.” Increasing productivity and efficiency even more will play an important role in meeting that goal.
Novus is also celebrating two significant anniversaries this year of products that have been part of the historical progress in poultry feed management. “It’s our 30th year for Alimet and our 50th year for Santoquin in the marketplace as nutritional tools that have helped us improve performance,” said Scott.
Download (mp3) my interview with Dr. Scott Carter or listen to it 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.
At the expo, I had the opportunity to chat about chicken with Novus International Vice President of the Americas Dan Meagher about poultry before he headed out to the Cattle Industry Conference in San Antonio to talk about their commitment to the beef industry. Dan says the outlook for the poultry industry is better than it was last year. 
Products from the acquisition, including the MAAC (R) chelated trace mineral product line, will align with Novus’s MINTREX® and GLYTREX® chelated trace mineral products and further expand Novus’s mineral technology. This acquisition will enable Novus to offer a broader range of products to address the needs of different customers in different parts of the world to support their livestock operations.
At the recent International Poultry Expo/Feed Expo, 
One of the ways Novus is working to achieve that vision is by maintaining a close relationship with their customers in every one of the more than 90 countries they serve. In January, Novus opened a new 
During the International Poultry Expo/International Feed Expo in Atlanta last week, 
C. Larry Pope, president and CEO of Smithfield Foods Inc., was keynote speaker for the two day summit and his main message was that the animal agriculture industry, both processors and farmers, need to listen to and engage the people and groups who are attacking them. He said that it is important to talk with these individuals and groups to show them the industry’s side of the story. “We need to educate all of the groups that challenge our practices,” Pope said.
Also on the program was Christian Richter of The Policy Group, who discussed the regulatory mood in Washington when it comes to animal agriculture. “Hyper command and control mode is coming back at EPA,” said Richter. “The current administration is shifting personnel from cooperative voluntary programs to enforcement programs.” He notes this represents a major shift in focus from the Bush administration which advocated the role of non-government drivers in prompting more voluntary action on the part of corporations towards sustainable practices.
When it comes to communicating NOVUS International’s commitment to the beef industry Dan is the man. He’s Dan Meagher, VIce President, Sales, Americas. He was on hand at the Cattle Industry Convention to help spread the word about the company name and products for the beef industry.
Mycotoxins can be an issue in feed anytime, but with the late, wet harvest in 2009 there is an extra level of concern this year and it was a topic of discussion for poultry producers and industry representatives meeting at the International Poultry Expo/Feed Expo in Atlanta this past week.
The new chairman of the organization is Steve Willardsen (left) of Cargill Value Added Meats, Wichita, KS. He was presented with the traditional “working man’s gavel” by 2009 chairman Monty Henderson, George’s, Inc., Springdale, AR. Thanks to USPOULTRY communications director Larry Brown for providing the photo. 
Gibson’s jersey number 45 was retired by the St. Louis Cardinals, and in 1981, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame. In 1999, he ranked Number 31 on The Sporting News’ list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2004, he was named as the most intimidating pitcher of all time from the Fox Sports Net series The Sports List.
Philip Lobo and Mandy Heth are representing the 
We’re going to get to know the 
Gut health is important for poultry producers, not just for the health and performance of their flocks, but also from the standpoints of food safety and animal welfare – probably two of the most important issues for the animal agriculture industry as a whole.
The president of the 
Well, the International Poultry Expo has made things easy this year with an iPhone app. The IPE app is free and gives attendees access to all events and exhibitor information right on their iPhones. The app is available from Apple’s app store by searching for “IPE”. It’s a great way of using the latest technology in a very practical way and giving attendees a paper-free way to always know how to find exhibitors or where the next event is being held. Pretty cool! I expect we will be seeing that a lot more at conventions.
When it comes to chelated trace minerals, Dr. Jim Richards with 
This year, it was “Historical Perspectives in Poultry Feed Management,” presented by well-known poultry science expert Dr. Steve Leeson from the University of Guelph, pictured here on the right with Dr. Scott Carter, Novus Poultry Market Manager, on the left. Dr. Leeson entertained the group with some great historical photos of poultry management through the years. According to Leeson, the commercial poultry industry as we know it pretty much started in the ’60s, as the broiler industry developed and the egg and meat industries began to diverge. Talking about feed management, he noted that producers early on were feeding poultry diets consisting of corn, soybean meal, milk, fish meal, meat meal and some raw vegetables. “They were looking for the vitamins that really hadn’t been recognized and we couldn’t buy them artificially,” he said. Milk was an especially important part of the diet to deal with health issues in flocks. 
It's time to thank our farmers and ranchers for all their hard work to feed us.
