Novus International in a Growth Phase

Cindy Zimmerman

Novus International executive vice president Giovanni Gasperoni is excited about the company’s new acquisitions announced this week, IQF Group in Spain and IQF-ENAMEX in Mexico.

novus“We have been dealing with both companies for a long while so we know the quality of their product,” Gio said in an interview today. “These products are very high quality and they are a natural, complementary extension of our existing product portfolio.”

IQF’s natural feed additives can be mixed with feed to enhance meat and egg nutrition and color and Gio says they are especially suited for the broiler, layer and aquaculture markets. “Pigments are really natural anti-oxidants,” said Gio, with the benefit of enhancing natural color, “of the skin of the chicken, or the color of the yolk, or for aquaculture, especially salmon.”

Gio says Novus is in a growth phase with this year’s acquisitions. “Basically, either they are expanding our current product line, like Albion, or they are taking us to a different platform like the pigment, or a different market area,” he said.

“I’m really thrilled seeing us growing this week, to see the fact that we are really helping to feed the world wholesome and affordable food,” Gio added.

Listen to or download my interview with Giovanni Gasperoni here:

Audio, Novus International

Corn Utilization Information

Cindy Zimmerman

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) just came up with another reason to attend the 2010 Corn Utilization and Technology Conference (CUTC) in Atlanta next month.

cutcFormer USDA undersecretary and “Next Green Revolution” expert, Dr. Gale Buchanan, who is also dean and director emeritus of the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, will give the keynote address at the CUTC grand opening on June 7.

Before assuming his current role at the University of Georgia, Dr. Buchanan served as chief scientist and under secretary for Research, Education and Economics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture during the Bush Administration. He is active in agriculture’s scientific community, and recently chaired a panel of notable scientists and government leaders who released an update to Dr. Norman Borlaug’s 1973 CAST Paper No. 1, addressing future challenges in agricultural productivity.

NCGA Director of Biotechnology and Economic Analysis Nathan Fields says this year’s CUTC agenda and theme of “Corn: America’s Renewable Resource,” showcase how corn research and commercial pipelines are already addressing the world’s sustainability challenges. “It’s the only conference of it’s kind really focusing on corn as a core feedstock for a myriad of different products,” Nathan says. CUTC will feature a distinguished list of speakers covering topics such as life cycle analysis of new technologies, land use issues, aquifers, water quality and usage, and greenhouse gas emissions. Participants can also attend sessions on health and nutrition, wet and dry milling processes, biocatalysts, gene transformation technology, unique specialty corns, new products and revenue streams.

Nathan is chairman of the biocatalyst, or enzyme, portion of the CUTC program. “This is a critical piece in corn processing today,” he said. “What efficiencies can be gained through new enzymes, new processing microorganisms.”

CUTC will be held June 7-9 at the Atlanta Hilton Hotel in downtown Atlanta, Ga. Registration information is available on-line.

Listen to or download an interview with Nathan talking about CUTC in general and his session in particular.

Audio, Corn, CUTC, NCGA

Become An Urban Farmer

Chuck Zimmerman

If we can have urban cowboys then I guess we can have urban farmers.

Following the astounding growth of Urban Farm magazine, and the burgeoning interest in urban farming, BowTie, Inc. announced the launch of UrbanFarmOnline.com.

“The sustainable lifestyle is of interest to a growing number of people,” said June Kikuchi, Vice President Chief Content Officer. “People want to live in a manner that encourages energy conservation, healthy foods and supporting local goods and services.”

UrbanFarmOnline.com will feature a wide variety of topics, including urban livestock, sustainable living, and gardening in an urban environment as well as an online community for sharing tips and ideas for starting your own backyard or patio farm.

To celebrate the launch, visitors have the chance of winning daily prizes from May 18, 2010 to May 28, 2010. Prizes include chicken coops, pens, feeders, garden tools, trimmers, food dehydrators, outdoor grills, work-wear for women and more! Over 40 prizes totaling more than $6,500 in value will be given away in one week.

Farming, Sustainability

New Acquisitions for Novus International

Cindy Zimmerman

St. Louis-based company Novus International announced a couple of major acquisitions this week.

novusNovus International, Inc. announced today that it has acquired IQF-ENAMEX and its sister company, Operadora ENAMEX, both based in Córdoba, Mexico from Grupo Porres and other shareholders. IQF- ENAMEX produces feed carotenoid pigments, mineral and vitamin premixes, anti-caking agents and mold inhibitors. Novus also announced it has acquired the IQF Group, including Carotenoid Technologies, S.A. and Investigaciones Químicas y Farmacéuticas, S.A. based in Tarragona, Spain and IQF-ENAMEX, S.A. de C.V. based Córdoba, Mexico.

novus enamexIQF-ENAMEX (IQF Enamex Group) was established in 2001 through a merger with the IQF Group. IQF was established in 1970 and has a customer base extending across more than 60 countries. The acquisition of IQF-ENAMEX enables Novus to expand their product offering for new and existing animal agriculture customers in Mexico and in Latin America.

“We are very excited about this acquisition as it will take Novus into a world leadership position in natural pigments as well as in new geographical segments which will benefit our customers and our industry,” said Giovanni Gasperoni, Executive Vice-President, Marketing and Sales, Novus International, Inc. “These products are very high quality and they are a natural, complementary extension of our existing product portfolio.”

IQF-ENAMEX’s natural feed additives can be mixed with feed to enhance meat and egg nutrition and color. Feed carotenoid pigments from the acquisition, with their natural antioxidant properties, align with Novus’s feed preservative and dietary antioxidant product families. IQF-ENAMEX is currently active with complementary product lines in the poultry, ruminant and pork markets. Key brands include: Enacol®, Desmycotox®, Enamold®, PMX Vitaminica®, Inclorfos® and Canthacol.®

This is the third acquisition Novus has made in recent months. Novus recently announced the acquisition of IQF Group, which followed its acquisition of the Animal Nutrition Division of Albion Laboratories in December 2009. The acquisition of Albion’s Animal Nutrition Division expanded Novus’s existing chelated trace mineral offering, particularly to the beef and dairy industries.

Read more here.

Animal Health, Novus International

Discussing Dairy With Alltech

Chuck Zimmerman

Kevin TuckDiscussion dinners are an important part of the Alltech Symposium program. I attended the dairy discussion.

Kevin Tuck is Global Ruminant Product Manager and has been with the company for about 20 years. He was our discussion leader. He says that the dairy business outlook is pessimistic right now even though we have a growing population. So, for Alltech, he is seeking input from customers so they can come up with solutions to help them during this challenging time. Kevin has done this on a global basis and says he hears one common denominator from all areas of the world. That is to “reduce the cost of producing a pound or liter of milk.” Another way of putting it is “how can I get more out of my existing feeds.”

You can listen to my interview with Kevin below.

2010 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Alltech, Audio, Dairy

AllzymeSSF Making Dried Distillers Grains More Valuable

Chuck Zimmerman

Alltech AllzymeSSFAt last week’s Alltech International Animal Health and Nutrition Symposium I learned about what the company is doing in the area of making DDGS, a by-product of ethanol production, more nutritious from Brian Hoskins, SSF Development Coordinator.

Allzyme® SSF is a natural complex that improves profitability through maximizing nutrient release. In feed, the complex works synergistically to break down the different substrates. As a result, more nutrients are available to the animal, thus improving growth and economic efficiency. The multiple activities in Allzyme SSF allows for a more flexible approach to feed formulation through the inclusion of by-products or by reducing nutrient constraints in the diet, particularly energy, calcium and available phosphorus.

You can listen to my interview with Brian below.

2010 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Alltech, Audio, Biofuels, Ethanol

Great Debate at Alltech Symposium

Chuck Zimmerman

Alltech Great DebateThe Great Debate at the Alltech Symposium included some interesting personalities from around the world. The moderator for the session was Aidan Connolly, Vice President, Alltech. Panelists included:

Gordon Butland, Director, G&S Agriconsultants.Co. Ltd., Thailand, Osler Desouzart, Managing Director, OD Consulting Planning and Strategy, Brazil, Trent Loos, Loos Tales, Nebraska, USA and Patrick Wall, Associate Professor of Public Health, University College Dublin, Ireland.

You can see a recording of the live stream of the session on the Alltech website. To give you a flavor for their comments I’m posting their answers to the first question which was, “Is being green a fad for the 21st century?”

Trent Loos: alltech-symposium-10-debate-loos.mp3

Patrick Wall: alltech-symposium-10-debate-wall.mp3

Gordon Butland: alltech-symposium-10-debate-butland.mp3

Osler Desouzart: alltech-symposium-10-debate-osler.mp3

2010 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Alltech, Audio

StollerUSA Crop Photo Contest

Chuck Zimmerman

If you have an amazing crop this year then StollerUSA wants a picture of it. It’s their “Picture Perfect Crops” contest. Of course you need to have treated your crop with a Stoller product.

StollerUSA is looking for amazing crop photos and Stoller success stories for entry in the 2011 StollerUSA calendar contest. Judges will select a total of 12 stories/photographs from the 2010 growing season to be published—one for each month. The Grand Prize winner will receive a $500 cash prize. To learn more, or enter your Stoller success story, go to StollerUSA.com/calendar.

Uncategorized

New Holland Starts Farm Raised YouTube Channel

Chuck Zimmerman

New Holland has just started a YouTube channel.

There’s a new YouTube channel devoted to all things farming www.youtube.com/NewHollandNA. New Holland’s dedicated YouTube channel is a resource for a wide variety of farm equipment-related information. The channel currently has 36 videos covering topics ranging from making great hay to equipment at work in the fields, as well as, how-to tips and animated videos that reveal the inner workings of farm equipment.

“Our YouTube channel creates an incredible opportunity to broadcast our brand and engage our audience with compelling content,” says New Holland’s North American Senior Director of Marketing David Greenberg. “We plan to keep adding new videos weekly that inform and entertain. We invite all viewers to subscribe to the channel and upload your agriculture, outdoor and farming related videos.”

New Holland, Video

Zachary Larson Borlaug Summer Intern

Chuck Zimmerman

Let me introduce you to Zachary Larson. Zachary is a recipient of this year’s Borlaug Summer Internship Program. He is already in China where he will be conducting research work and providing regular updates for us. Here’s some information about the internship program.

The Borlaug Internship Program is intended to provide undergraduate students exciting research, community or field experiences in an international setting – experiencing first hand some of the many factors and issues involved in international development and food production. Internships will be offered to undergraduate students at Iowa State University who have demonstrated superior academic ability and who have course work, professional or personal experience, and career interests related to international food production. The Borlaug Internship Program will be administered through the Global Agriculture Programs Office in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University.

Here’s a little bit of information about Zachary:

I am a student at Iowa State University studying Agronomy and Global Resource Systems. My majors principally involve the fields agronomic science and global agriculture, and specifically my interests lie in plant breeding, plant genetics, and the study of the Chinese language. This summer I have been given the great opportunity to travel to China to Nanjing Agricultural University, and study wheat genetics as part of a two month internship. This will be an incredible opportunity for me not just in seeing the actual practice of genetic research, but in also having an in depth view of the Chinese language and culture.

Zachary is fluent in the Chinese language and equipped to take photos and shoot video clips to send back here so we can share them with you. Let’s hope he finds some good open internet access! BTW. Zachary is the son of our advertising sales representative, Dave Larson.

Education, International, University