The industry’s first commercially available quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for Lawsonia (ileitis) has been developed by Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) Health Management Center and will become available for testing July 1, 2015. The new test provides producers with bacterial concentration levels, unlike the similar qualitative PCR testing which simply detects for the presence of Lawsonia. BIVI’s announcement …
West Central Expands SoyPlus Plant in Iowa
West Central celebrated a big announcement this morning at their headquarters in Ralston, Iowa. The manufacturer of SoyPlus, an industry-leading high bypass protein dairy feed, made public their plans for expansion of the SoyPlus plant to increase production capacity by 50%. The $27 million investment will include an additional line of mechanical presses, soybean storage, soybean oil storage, finished product …
World Pork Kicks Off with Positive Forecast
World Pork Expo kicked off this morning in rainy conditions but the weather is not hampering the estimated 20,000 attendees coming through the gates this week for the largest international trade show dedicated to all things pigs. With more than 400 exhibitors plus dozens of educational events, this year is sure to be a winner. The National Pork Producers Council …
Congressman Ryan tours CNH Plant
U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan toured CNH Industrial‘s plant in Racine, WI last week. He met with management, toured the plant, and attended a town hall forum. Congressman Ryan chairs the Ways and Means Committee in the US House. He met with chief officers and members of CNH Industrial’s North American management team to discuss manufacturing and trade issues. “Our employees around the …
New BASF Research Station in India
A new BASF research station in Pune, India will focus on the areas of herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and other solutions beyond crop protection products. Experts in biology, farm managements, and workers have been hired for the new facitlity. The center will research ares of global interest for the agriculture community, but it will also investigate issues specific to India, such …
Carbon Footprinting Gives a Market Edge
No matter what business you are in, having an edge on the market only makes sense. A company’s carbon footprint is very important in today’s marketplace. Are you being a REBEL and identifying your’s? Alltech ECO2 collects farm information, calculates the carbon footprint and then helps put plans into place to reduce that footprint. Andrew Wynne, Business General Manager for …
New Holland Finalist Celebrates with Florida Georgia Line
One of theNew Holland Voice of the Next Gen Contest winners got a special way to celebrate her birthday. Rachel Markwiese of Chicago, Illinois, celebrated her 23rd birthday as one of the five finalists in the contest who traveled to Hershey, Pennsylvania, to meet Tyler Hubbard and enjoy a Florida Georgia Line concert. “This is the best birthday present ever!” …
Toledo Food Dialogues Tackles Water Issues
All things water were discussed this morning during the Food Dialogues: Toledo event. On August 2, 2014 a toxic algal bloom caused nearly 500,000 people to be without water. The event led to discussions around how to balance the need for clean water with the need for food. The conversation was continued through two panel discussions with the first panel, …
Growing the Farmers Business Network
In a very short amount of time the Farmers Business Network (FBN) has not only registered a lot of farmers as members but also millions of acres. This means there is a big and growing amount of data in the system. In this week’s ZimmCast you can listen to Charles Baron, co-founder, talk about what the Farmers Business Network has …
Antimicrobials in Livestock – A Thing of the Past?
Dr. Karl Dawson, Chief Scientific Officer and VP at Alltech, talked antibiotics at the recent REBELation in the beef breakout session. Companies like McDonald’s and Costco have said no to antibiotics. Is it time for the industry to be a REBEL and say no too? “The term antibiotic is somewhat controversial. I prefer to talk about antimicrobials. The use of …