Bioavailability is Key to Chelated Trace Minerals

Cindy Zimmerman

novusWhen it comes to chelated trace minerals, Dr. Jim Richards with Novus International is a serious expert, and this is no simple subject.

“When you chelate a trace mineral, you basically react it with an organic mineral called a ligand,” says Jim, who is Novus Manager of Cell Biology Research. Now, that likely means very little to the cell biology illiterate, but it means a lot to poultry. “You’re basically feeding the bird a form of mineral that’s much more absorbable than you get with your trace mineral salts.”

That is what is known as bioavailability. “With a higher bioavailable form of trace mineral, more will be absorbed and less will be excreted out in to the environment, and that is the real point of feeding a chelated trace mineral,” Jim says. Because it’s more available, it’s more efficient and better for the environment, in addition to being better for the animal and the producer.

Jim gets into a whole lot more detail about this subject in the latest issue of Feedstuffs, which he is proudly displaying in this photo. For a quick explanation about it and what Novus is doing in the field, listen to or download my interview with Jim from the International Poultry Expo in the player below.

2010 International Poultry Expo photo album

AgWired coverage of International Poultry Expo is sponsored by:
Novus

Animal Health, Audio, Novus International, Poultry, Poultry Expo

History of Poultry Feed Management

Cindy Zimmerman

The International Poultry Scientific Forum is held in conjunction with the International Poultry Expo each year and is sponsored by the Southern Poultry Science Society, the Southern Conference on Avian Diseases, and the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. As part of that event, Novus International hosts a luncheon and speaker for the attendees on a topic of general interest to the poultry science community.

novusThis year, it was “Historical Perspectives in Poultry Feed Management,” presented by well-known poultry science expert Dr. Steve Leeson from the University of Guelph, pictured here on the right with Dr. Scott Carter, Novus Poultry Market Manager, on the left. Dr. Leeson entertained the group with some great historical photos of poultry management through the years. According to Leeson, the commercial poultry industry as we know it pretty much started in the ’60s, as the broiler industry developed and the egg and meat industries began to diverge. Talking about feed management, he noted that producers early on were feeding poultry diets consisting of corn, soybean meal, milk, fish meal, meat meal and some raw vegetables. “They were looking for the vitamins that really hadn’t been recognized and we couldn’t buy them artificially,” he said. Milk was an especially important part of the diet to deal with health issues in flocks.

As poultry science began to develop as a specialty field, researchers found that key nutrition requirements could be met in other ways, which helped the industry expand and become much more productive and efficient.

Download (mp3) my interview with Dr. Leeson or listen to it here: ipe10-novus-leeson.mp3

Scott says Novus chose a historical perspective for this year’s topic as a way of taking a look back in order to move forward. “We’re at a really critical junction right now as we’re going to need to produce twice as much food in 2050 as we do today,” Scott said. “Poultry is going to be a key part of helping to feed the world by 2050.” Increasing productivity and efficiency even more will play an important role in meeting that goal.

Novus is also celebrating two significant anniversaries this year of products that have been part of the historical progress in poultry feed management. “It’s our 30th year for Alimet and our 50th year for Santoquin in the marketplace as nutritional tools that have helped us improve performance,” said Scott.

Download (mp3) my interview with Dr. Scott Carter or listen to it here: ipe10-novus-carter.mp3

2010 International Poultry Expo photo album

AgWired coverage of International Poultry Expo is sponsored by:
Novus

Animal Health, Audio, Novus International, Poultry, Poultry Expo

Mapping Cattle Industry Attendees

Chuck Zimmerman

Cattle Convention MapThis is an interesting display in the entrance hallway to the Cattle Industry Convention.

It’s a large map of the United States with a bowl of pins so you can pinpoint where you’re from. It’s early but there are already a lot of pins from all over the country.

I’ll try to remember to get a final shot of it so we can see just how diverse the attendance of people in the cattle industry is here in San Antonio.

I’ve also started a photo album which you can find here: Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Cattle Industry Conference

CBB and NCBA Officer Previews

Chuck Zimmerman

Tom Jones Bill DonaldThe combined meetings of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Cattlemen’s Beef Board have started here at the Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio. To kick off our coverage I conducted a short interview with an officer from each organization.

Pictured are Tom Jones, CBB Secretary/Treasurer (left) and Bill Donald, NCBA Vice President. I caught up with them prior to their joint officer’s mtg. this afternoon. The basically get together to go over the schedule and make sure everyone is on the same page so all the programs and meetings run smoothly.

Tom says the Beef Board will be dealing with the challenge of reduced revenues coming into the Checkoff. But he says that when the industry comes together they find ways to work through the challenges. He’s heard that attendance is expected to be up here at this year’s convention. Some of the highlights of the work the Checkoff is doing, according to Tom, are issues management and foreign marketing where he sees potential for even more work. He hopes they’ll be able to do some things to “put a little more money in the bottom line of our producers and help beef demand all over and that’s what we’re here for.”

You can listen to and download (mp3) my interview with Tom here: cic-10-jones.mp3

Bill says this convention is where NCBA will “take the next step” on governance goals as outlined by the task force that’s been working on the issue for the past 18 months. They’ll report here at the convention and a vote will be taken on it Saturday. Bill says it will make them “more inclusive, more efficient and more effective” in representing producers across the country. It’s a major step in the ongoing evolution of the organization. He echoes Tom’s comments about attendance being up and says “We’ve got the eyes of the entire U.S. cattle industry looking at us.”

You can listen to and download (mp3) my interview with Bill here: cic-10-donald.mp3

Ag Groups, Audio, Cattle Industry Conference, NCBA

Welcome to Poultry Expo 2010

Cindy Zimmerman

novusThe 2010 International Poultry Expo/Feed Expo is getting underway here in Atlanta with associated conferences today, including the Poultry Scientific Forum, Pet Food Conference and Animal Agriculture Environmental Sustainability Summit.

Our sponsor, Novus International, is hosting a seminar/luncheon for expo attendees entitiled “Historical Perspectives in Poultry Feed Management,” presented by Dr. Steve Leeson from the University of Guelph. About 200 are in attendance, with a good portion of those among the international guests for the expo. I will be interviewing him after the presentation to get a nice summary of how the poultry industry developed in the area of nutrition and feed over the past century or so.

2010 International Poultry Expo photo album

AgWired coverage of International Poultry Expo is sponsored by:
Novus

Feed, Novus International, Poultry, Poultry Expo

Want Yield Increases? Then You Need Healthier Roots.

Joanna Schroeder

There was an unintended theme during the Ag Associates Conference in Houston today–root health.  I heard from several researchers, consultants and growers from all over the world that most farmers concentrate on plant health above the ground but don’t spend enough time learning about the plant under the ground. For StollerUSA, root health is one of their biggest areas of research.

A plant’s root health is very important, I learned, because stronger roots aid the plant against various stresses such as drought and disease, but also improve the quality of the crop as well.

Dave Alexander, with Agri-Science Technologies and Mike Molnar with Town & Country Ag had a brief but informative conversation about the importance of root health, and with a little cajoling and a big smile, I convinced them to “go on air” to teach us about root health and nutrition.

This is only a snapshot of the research that was discussed during the 17th annual Ag Associates Conference today and I’ll be bringing you more details throughout the week. But if you’re too excited to wait, you can sit in StollerUSA’s Founder and CEO, Jerry Stoller’s lesson on root mass.

Ag Associates Conference Flickr Album.

Agribusiness, Video

Merial Media Room

Chuck Zimmerman

Cattle Industry Convention Merial Media RoomThanks go to Merial for sponsoring the Cattle Industry Convention media room once again. The media room “officially” opens tomorrow morning but somebody had to be first in. That would probably be Grace Webb who has already stocked the bowls on the tables with chocolate.

The action really gets going tomorrow and picks up on Wed. I’ll be here all week doing some Beef Board Blogging so you’ll be seeing a lot of posts from the world of agribusiness.

Cattle Industry Conference

Lynn Balinas Celebrates B-Day at Ag Associates Conference

Joanna Schroeder

We’re having a great time here in Houston at the Ag Associates Conference. So much so that it was hard to get everyone to take a break and have lunch! Last night, Lynn Balinas, the President of the Hondo Group, celebrated his birthday with the entire StollerUSA team. His team Patricia Lawson and Brenda Gilbertson, the PR gurus who are helping StollerUSA get the word out about its great yield enhancing projects, took a minute to say happy birthday as did a few others.

Don’t forget to follow the conference right here on AgWired.com. Dozens of people are sharing their research about the success they are having with all the Stoller products. I also had the chance, along with several other reporters, to spend some time alone with Stoller CEO and Founder, Jerry Stoller.

Ag Associates Conference Flickr Album.

Agribusiness, Video

Epigenetics: The Next Generation of Ag

Joanna Schroeder

Farmers haven’t been trained to listen to their plants. But for Jerry Stoller, CEO of StollerUSA, that is what his company does best. In some circles, you could even call him the “plant whisperer.” While having breakfast with Jerry this morning, he taught a group of journalists how to listen and what we heard is….”epigenetics.” “This is going to be exciting,” he enthused.

BreakfastwJerryAccording to Jerry, epigenetics is the study of how you enhance DNA in crops that are already there. Currently, he noted, 75 percent of all DNA in a plant is wasted. So let’s delve deeper into how exactly epigenetics is a breakthrough for agriculture. To simplify the science, a change in the plants gene structure occurs without changing the underlying DNA. What scientists are discovering is that when these genes are changed, the “mother” will pass the gene off to her offspring.  This is a big deal because the plant has the potential of an exponential yield advantage.

Speaking of yield enhancements, Jerry discussed three that they’re working on.

According to Jerry, here are three of the most important things for us to learn. “Can we teach the plant to use nitrogen more effectively so that we can use less nitrogen? Can we teach the plant to become more disease resistant so we don’t have to use as much fertilizer? Can we teach the soybean plant to use nitrogen more effectively so that the nodules don’t go to sleep?”

Ultimately discovering the answers for this is threefold: 1) they will improve sustainability; 2) they will improve the yield per JerryStollerBreakfastacre; and 3) they will improve the farmer’s profitability at the same time he is becoming even more sustainable in his practices.

StollerUSA is dedicated to this very research but there is a challenge for the company to keep moving forward. “One of our biggest challenges is raising the capital to continue the research. However, no matter what, the research will continue both in the traditional sense and in a unique way: “We work backwards. We work from the fields to the lab,” said Jerry.

That is why the Ag Associates Conference is so important to the company. This is the meeting that helps to focus their research based on what is happening in farmers’ fields around the world.

Ag Associates Conference Flickr Album.

Agribusiness

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • BASF Plant Science and KWS SAAT AG announced a collaboration in plant biotechnology. The objectives are developing sugar beet varieties for the global market with higher sugar and energy yields as well as greater drought tolerance.
  • Novus International, Inc. announced its establishment of a new blending plant in Singapore for animal feed supplements.
  • The deadline for nominating a peer for the NAMA Marketer of the Year awards is Friday, Jan. 29. This award, along with the Agribusiness Leader of the Year award, will be presented at the 2010 Agri-Marketing Conference, April 21-23, in Kansas City, Mo.
  • The National Association of Conservation Districts has announced that Jeff Eisenberg will take the helm as the association’s new chief executive officer beginning Feb. 1, 2010.
Zimfo Bytes