The few, the proud, the brave, were out before daylight this morning to participate in the annual Alltech Fun Run.
We had a big crowd of international runners doing laps around Transylvania University. I’m just now getting ready for the opening session so this is just a quick post to shame all you who slept in this morning instead of getting out and working off some of that good Kentucky Ale.
At this evening’s Alltech Symposium International Dinner we heard some awesome voices. For example, this young man from Atlanta was just plain unbelievable. He’s just 19 years old. He’s an example of the talent that’s being fostered by Dr. Everett McCorvey, Professor of Voice at the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre with the assistance of Alltech.
He sang one song for us and helped lead us in a few songs where the audience participated.
You can listen to his presentation here: alltech-symposium-08-freshman.mp3
Of course the online photo album has been updated too, so please feel free to check it out.
The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists has a contingent here at the Alltech Symposium in Lexington, KY.
This evening we had a short reception before heading over to the Alltech Symposium International Dinner. With agriculture becoming such a global business it’s good to see “old friends” who are journalists from countries all over the world.
I only wish I was multi-lingual. Unfortunately, I speak my native language and that’s all she wrote. Fortunately, most of these IFAJ members speak at least some English.
Alltech does so many things it takes a while just to list them and understand them. A new venture is the production of “Lyons Reserve,” the first ever Kentucky Malt Whiskey.
Here’s Alltech President, Dr. Pearse Lyons, presenting the first bottle to Kentucky Governor, Steve Beshear. I’d say the Governor did well at today’s Nutrigenomics Center ribbon cutting!
Dr. Lyons also told me something about a new Alltech coffee which I’ll be sampling over the next several days. I’m looking forward to that.
Alltech’s founder and President, Dr. Pearse Lyons, is holding up a gene chip. It’s what the company’s new, first-of-it’s-kind Nutrigenomics Center is all about.
Dr. Lyons says that when he started his career he could only dream about the type of laboratory that the researchers here will be working in.
I, along with everyone at Alltech, am very excited about the potential of this incredible facility, the first of its kind anywhere in the world, said Dr. Pearse Lyons, president and founder of Alltech. The ability to comprehend nutrition at the most basic level gene expression really makes us stand apart and will give us a much greater understanding of the nutritional needs of our animals,
In addition to Nutrigenomics, the facility will house the companys research initiatives at its global headquarters, including the study of Functional Glycomics, Solid State Fermentation, Rumen Function and Ecology, Aquaculture, Organic Trace Minerals and Biorefining.
You can listen to Dr. Lyon’s remarks here and watch them on video: alltech-symposium-08-nutrigenomics-lyons.mp3
Kentucky’s Governor, Steve Beshear was on hand this morning to cut the ribbon to open the Alltech Nutrigenomics Center. He says that he’d love to see a facility like this in every county in the state.
He wants Kentucky to project an image of a state that encourages technology, industry and engineering as well as race horses and good bourbon. He calls the Nutrigenomics Center, “agriculture of the most advanced kind.”
He says that Kentucky is proud to have helped Alltech by not only providing a $1 million grant for this facility but also an $8 million grant for the new biorefining facility that was announced yesterday.
You can listen to Governor Beshear’s remarks here and watch them on video: alltech-symposium-08-governor-speech.mp3
Today Alltech opened the first ever Nutrigenomics Center at its headquarters in Lexington, KY. This state of the art facility will be employing 80 researchers doing cutting edge research in nutrition and genomics. Nutrigenomics is the study of the relationship between diet and gene expression.
To officially open the center, a ribbon cutting was held this morning with Alltech President, Dr. Pearse Lyons and Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear.
I’ll be posting interviews with them soon but caught the ribbon cutting on video too. That’s part of that whole “new media reporter” thing you know. I’m loading video from the Alltech Symposium onto their YouTube account just so you don’t get confused.
You can also keep up with all the Alltech Symposium happenings in pictures: Alltech Symposium Photo Album
We already told you about the University of Florida Gator NAMA team winning the student NAMA Marketing Competition, but we’re so proud of them (being Gator alums ourselves) that here’s a little more about it.
The team was so happy to win after three consecutive years of making it to the finals and not winning, especially team captain Alicia Taylor of Myakka City, who is a senior. She was thrilled to be able to finally get that win before she graduates this year and starts law school at UF. Their product was a vegetable-based milk marketed to children with a Disney partnership.
You can listen to a somewhat over-modulated but brief interview with Alicia here:
nama-08-gators.mp3
Watch the kids celebrate here:
The Alltech Symposium agriblogger has arrived in Lexington, KY, still just a little bit NAMA lagged (kind of like jet lag). I’m in the Radisson right across the street from the convention center. There’s going to be lots of news from here and on the Alltech Symposium Blog. But we’ve already got news.
The U.S. Department of Energy awarded grants for three small-scale biorefinery projects this week in Maine, Tennessee and Kentucky. Alltech is one of the companies to receive a grant.
In announcing the grants, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said, “These projects will help pioneer the next generation of non-food based biofuels that will power our cars and trucks and help meet President Bush’s goal to stop greenhouse gas emissions growth by 2025.”
Among the projects is a grant of up to $30 million to help pay for a $70 million cellulosic ethanol plant to be built in Springfield, Kentucky.
The plant will be built by Ecofin LLC, a subsidiary of Alltech, an international company headquartered in Lexington that is primarily focused on animal nutrition. The plant will utilize cellulose, such as switch grass, corn cobs and corn stover, at raw material levels of up to 30 percent to be converted to ethanol and other value-added products. The facility will also have the capability to produce algae for biodiesel production.
Dr. Pearse Lyons, president and founder of Alltech, said in a statement, “With commodity prices reaching an all time high and with ethanol production forecast to account for 30 percent of the U.S. corn harvest by 2010 we must focus our attention on a sustainable path to alternative energies.”
I’m sure I’ll be finding out a lot more about this over the next couple days. There’s lots to come.
The NAMA Bombers apparently had a good ride this year.
It certainly wasn’t as long as last year though. Here’s a couple of them. I’ll let you identify them.
Thanks to Jerry Povenmire for sending along a few photos. They have been added to the Conference photo album.
