Iowa Governor Terry Branstad along with Iowa Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds spent some time at the Iowa Fairgrounds during World Pork Expo 2015 held is Des Moines, Iowa. While onsite, they spoke to dozens of Iowa pork producers as well as address a crowd during the SIP luncheon hosted by the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC). Branstad noted that Iowa …
Pork Addresses Key Industry Issues
This morning on day two of the 2015 World Pork Expo the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) hosted another press conference to address three issues impacting pork producers, swine businesses and organizations and the consumer. Dr. Howard Hill, NPPC past president, began the morning discussing the 2015 Dietary Guidelines that were released in February. He noted the committee did not …
BIVI Talks Pig Protection at #WPX15
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 …
Agvocating for a Thirsty Land
Conrad Weaver just announced a collaboration with the AgChat Foundation on his latest documentary project, Thirsty Land. The AgChat Foundation is the in-kind “Fiscal Sponsor” and fundraising partner of “Thirsty Land” film. The Foundation will provide fundraising support as a 501c3 non-profit organization, enabling Weaver to receive grants, and other tax-deductible donations for the film project. Weaver is launching a …
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!” …
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 …