The term “sustainability” has a lot of different meanings depending on who you talk to and what their opinions are. The United Nations Brundtland Commission’s interpretation of sustainability was developed in 1987 and was defined as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” In a broad context, global sustainability is an all-encompassing approach that includes natural (environmental), social and economic resources.

While the first 85ºF day is a blessed event for beachgoers and sunbathers, it is equally unwelcome in the dairy production sector. From parlors and pens to fields and farms, heat stress is a major challenge for cattle and the people who work with them. This stress tends to be exacerbated when we see high temperatures dragging on for upwards of five consecutive months.

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Global food and agribusiness industries reacted well to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its challenges, but they have still seen their share of disruption and adaptation, according to two experts.

Every year, Alltech welcomes the world to Kentucky (the home of its headquarters) to attend the Alltech One conference, where technical presentations share the very latest in research and developments. This May 2020, for the first time, this will be held as a virtual conference with people attending online. Because of the ongoing pandemic, Alltech put together a unique webinar called Special COVID-19 series: Cultivating Optimism and Opportunity: Leadership in Times of Crisis.

The highly successful Alltech ONE Virtual Experience continues with new content. It’s the June Edition – Health & Wellness. You can find the agenda here.

Mark Lyons still remembers his first job – carefully placing the round stickers on the first alcohol textbook that his father, Pearse Lyons, wrote in 1980. Mark was only 3 years old at the time, the same year that Alltech was founded by his father. Over the years, Mark’s role has evolved from helping his sister label textbooks and palletizing bags in production to conducting research in the lab and leading a global team of more than 5,000 people around the world as Alltech’s president and CEO.

In May, one of my last official acts as IFAJ president was to join Alltech President Dr. Mark Lyons in virtually presenting Joseph Opoku Gakpo of Ghana with the IFAJ-Alltech International Award for Leadership in Agricultural Journalism (see story here).

What can small dairy farms learn from fellow small businesses outside of agriculture? Over the years, I have gathered a lot of ideas for working with dairy farms from reading business publications and books outside of agriculture. One of those books is called Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big by Bo Burlingham. In this book, the author profiles businesses that have been successful by intentionally bucking the trend of expanding or franchising and remained successful by focusing on quality rather than quantity.