During this morning’s opening session at the Alltech Symposium former EU Commissioner, Dr. David Byrne, was presented the Alltech Medal of Excellence. Normally it is presented to a scientist but this year the company decided to make the presentation to someone who has demonstrated serious leadership in the agriculture industry.
Dr. Byrne, shown here (center) with Alltech’s Dr. Karl Dawson (left) and Alltech CEO/President, Dr. Pearse Lyons (right). After his award, Dr. Byrne then made remarks. He spoke about the mad cow problem in the EU which was during his term as a Commissioner. He says food safety became political and people lost jobs and elections. He says they had to put a plan in place in the EU that was science based, had mandatory recalls and a rapid alert system. He says that a traceability system is absolutely necessary and hopes that U. S. Ag Sec. Vilsack’s plan is accomplished on NAIS. Byrne says they learned that someone needs to be in charge, there needs to be a plan and that it is working. Byrne says the question now is how to make animals and food sustainable.
You can listen to Dr. Byrne’s remarks here: alltech-symposium-session-1-byrne.mp3
You can also download his remarks here: Dr. David Byrne Remarks (mp3)