The Alltech International Animal Health and Nutrition Symposium was another overwhelming success in terms of attendance, theme and customer interaction from a personal and professional standpoint. I missed the closing session but thanks to Alltech photographer Tim Webb we have this great shot. And thanks to Alltech blogger Debbie Hildreth, for a short summary of the last session.
Alltech President Dr. Pearse Lyons addressed the audience in today’s general session and issued a challenge …
What is needed ― and what will YOU need ― so you can quickly adopt the technological innovations that will make animal agriculture sustainable?
And three directors at Alltech were on hand to speak to this key message ― sustainability. Their topics comprised: acknowledging environmental threats to sustainability; addressing quality issues that influence sustainability; developing processes, embracing innovations and improving community health to drive sustainability; and positioning your business for sustainability.
So we had great sessions and there were a lot of them on very technical topics categorized by species. Attendees could not only experience wonderful fellowship but get a real world education in production practices and the issues facing everyone in agriculture today. I thought I’d also leave you with an Alltech video which shows the “trade show” portion of the Symposium where attendees could learn more about Alltech products and be entertained at the same time. Let me conclude with special thanks to Dr. Pearse Lyons and his team, including Billy Frey in particular, for allowing me the opportunity to work with them again this year. I hope we get to do it again next year.
Our first panelist to tackle this question was Lutz Goedde, Deputy Director, Agricultural Development, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He says the Foundation he works for looks at sustainability “through a very different lens compared to many other organizations.” He then proceeded to say that there are a billion people in the world who live on under a dollar a day and described what that is like. He says that agriculture is the primary means for most of them to get food and earn a living. He says they follow the Bill and Melinda sustainability philosophy that “every person on the planet has the right to live a healthy and productive life.” Next he says that there are normally three dimensions to sustainability which are economic, social and environmental. 
Next up was Dr. Michael Boehlje, Professor, Dept. of Agricultural Economics and the Center for Food and Agricultural Business, Purdue University. He said we could look at sustainability from a traditional farm management standpoint of carrying capacity that recognizes current and future capacity on a global basis and deals with absorbing waste in terms of the economic or production activity you’re involved in. He says that although government is involved in this issue, it will be consumers who “will be the ultimate in terms of whether in fact sustainability practices are adopted and those who adopt them are compensated for them.” 
Finally we heard an answer to this question from Philip Wilkinson, Order of the British Empire, Executive Director, 2 Sisters Food Group. He said that the definition he would use is the one used by the United Nations but since that has already been brought up by earlier speakers he composed a slightly different one. He says, “A sustainable agricultural system is one which maximizes production by increases in yield while minimizing environmental impact and does not compromise animal welfare.” He says farmers are the logical custodians of the land who can accomplish this. He also quoted a former United Kingdom Minister who summed it us as, “Don’t cheat your children.”
Calling all communications professionals. What is one of the most difficult challenges we face? Developing campaigns that will garnering consumer support and product adoption. An example of just how difficult this can be is the corn-ethanol industry. Consumer support has been dwindling for months and this has in part, been driving by media hostility and biased reporting.
You might look at this picture and say, “That looks like a dangerous group,” but you’d be wrong. We’re just some lovable guys enjoying a frosty end-of-day beverage in the pub at Shrewsbury Hall. This is the pub next door to the 
One of the highlight sessions at the Alltech Symposium is The Great Debate. This is a roundtable discussion and featured well known panelists Michael Boehlje, Professor at Purdue University, Lutz Goedde, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Philip Wilkinson, 2 Sisters Food Group. The moderator (pictured) was Alltech Vice President, Aidan Connolly. The subject was “Sustainability – For realists or for dreamers?”
I’m not saying you should go out and buy one of these today but it sure is tempting. I found this story on 
The 
No forum on world food security issues would be complete without a session on climate change and that was how the 