The highlight of day two at World Pork Expo is the carving of the roasted hogs and there were four this year. We already saw Elvis Pigsly in the last post – here is the Novus International feast. The hogs are roasted for almost 24 hours before they are carved up and offered for passers-by to enjoy, with a nice …
Optimistic Outlook for Eradicating PRRS
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, better knows as PRRS, costs the U.S. swine industry about $560 million a year, so eradicating that disease could have a significant impact for producers. Dr. Scott Dee with the Swine Disease Eradication Center at the University of Minnesota believes it is possible within 20 years. “I’m going to be optimistic,” Dr. Dee said at …
Novus Goes Platinum
Hundreds of people showed up today to tour the new Novus International headquarters in St. Charles, MO. It’s a beautiful facility and I especially liked the “Wellness Center” in which it looked like you could get a massage! That’s taking care of your employees. It is kind of like Novus day here on AgWired since Cindy and Carly are in …
Novus Congratulated By Missouri Governor
If you’ve got one of the only Platinum LEED certified (by the U.S. Green Building Council) buildings in the state of Missouri and even in the nation then you should be congratulated for the accomplishment. That happened today at the official ribbon “release” for the new Novus International global headquarters in St. Charles, MO when Missouri’s Governor Jay Nixon took …
Bright IDEA from Novus
A bright IDEA from Novus International could help both hog producers and the ethanol industry. IDEA stands for “Immobilized Digestive Enzyme Assay” which Dr. Brad Lawrence says helps understand the digestibility of lysine and other amino acids in dried distillers grains (DDGS), the livestock feed by-product of ethanol production. “Distillers is one of the few ingredients that we have that …
Novus Growing to Help Pork Producers
Sustainability is the buzz word in the livestock industry and Novus International is talking with producers at World Pork Expo about helping them make even more progress in that area. “Those are the type of producers that we can really help with antibiotic-free solutions and products that help toward sustainable, natural production and at the end of the day it …
New Media In USDA
I don’t know if Larry Quinn is ready to rename the Broadcasters Letter, the New Media Letter, but new media is slowly but surely making its way into the USDA Office of Communications strategy. For example, I just recently met Amanda Eamich online via email. I was intrigued by her title, “Director of New Media (Acting).” Now that’s progress. So …
Sustainability Important to Novus International
At the conclusion of the World Ag Congress in St. Louis last week, Novus International held a sustainability roundtable for some of the congress participants to discuss how the livestock industry can step up to the sustainability challenge. Novus president and CEO Thad Simons, pictured here with his son Kenneth, were among the participants. Thad says this year’s World Ag …
Climate Change and Animal Agriculture
UC-Davis Air Quality Extension Specialist Dr. Frank Mitloehner presented his views on animal agriculture and climate change during the World Ag Congress last week in St. Louis, and then followed up with a presentation on sustainability in livestock production during a roundtable presented by Novus International. Dr. Mitloehner talked about the United Nations report that claimed livestock produce more greenhouse …
International Journalists at World Ag Congress
Last week’s World Agricultural Forum World Ag Congress attracted a great crop of journalists, both locally and internationally. Pictured here interviewing keynote speaker Paul Collier (left) are two leaders of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) – current president Mike Wilson with Farm Futures magazine and senior vice president Markus Rediger of Switzerland’s LID Agricultural Information Center. Read Mike’s …