Internal parasites often thrive in grazing areas and can easily afflict your horses. Some of the most commonly found equine parasites are large and small strongyles, roundworms, tapeworms, pinworms and bots. They can have debilitating effects, including, but not limited to, weight loss, diarrhea, anemia, coughing and liver damage. But there is hope. By establishing a regular, targeted deworming schedule designed to significantly decrease the numbers of these harmful pests, you can help your horse — and potentially other horses on the property — achieve better health.

You may be wondering how you could possibly help other horses. Some horses have a higher immune status than others and may not be as susceptible to the harmful effects of parasites. These horses may be chronic shedders, meaning that while they might not exhibit clinical signs of parasitism, they could be carrying a lot of adult worms, which are producing eggs that are then inadvertently spread to the shedder’s pasture mates. You may need to deworm chronic shedders more often than others in an effort to keep everyone healthier.

An effective deworming program needs to take several factors into consideration, including:

• Age: Foals and other young horses are more susceptible to certain types of parasites (large and small strongyles, roundworms, pinworms, tapeworms and potentially threadworms).

• Location: Different kinds of parasites are more common in different areas or climates.

• Season: Some parasites, like bot flies, are only active during specific times of the year.

• Travel: Horses that travel to shows may be exposed to infected horses and parasites they might not otherwise be exposed to at home.

• Pasture: Many horses grazing in a given area may increase parasite exposure. Other animals may also shed parasites that could infect your horse.

The importance of fecal egg counts

The best way to determine your horse’s specific deworming needs is to have your veterinarian perform a routine fecal examination, also known as a fecal egg count (FEC), during which the feces are inspected for the presence of worm eggs and the eggs are then counted. From there, you can work together to evaluate the numbers and types of parasites and decide on a course of action.                                                                               

If possible, I recommend having a second FEC performed 10 to 14 days after deworming. This is known as a “fecal egg count reduction test” and will tell you if deworming was effective. Resistance to commonly used dewormers is becoming more prevalent, so it’s important to make sure there are fewer eggs in your horse’s manure after deworming.

Management tips

You may also aid in keeping parasite numbers down with good management practices:

• Clean pastures regularly: Remove and dispose of manure at least twice weekly.

• Rotate pastures: Move horses between pastures to naturally break parasitic life cycles.

• Use elevated feeders: Lift grain and hay off the ground, where parasites thrive.

Lastly, I should clarify that your horse will — unfortunately — never be 100 percent parasite-free. All horses will always carry some worms due to the cycle of pasture grazing and fecal contamination. However, with some precautionary steps and targeted treatment, you can help your horse build a better defense against these would-be internal invaders.

I would like to learn more about horse health.

Mark Twain said, “The public is the only critic whose opinion means anything at all.” This holds true for many hotly debated topics, and genetically modified organisms — better known as GMOs — are certainly no exception. And, while there are many advocates who are clearly pro- or anti-GMO, both sides seem to be fighting for the same worthwhile goals — safe, abundant food for all, fewer toxic chemicals used on farms globally and a more sustainable food system.

On the closing night of ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference 2018 (ONE18), attendees were invited to gather at the historic Kentucky Theater for a private showing of the 2016 documentary “Food Evolution.” The Institute of Food Technologists funded the film in an effort to inspire discussion and debate about the food-related challenges that we face globally, the instrumental role that science will play in addressing these issues and public perception surrounding the science of food.

At the film’s conclusion, a panel discussion with two of our ONE18 speakers — Crystal Mackay, president of the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity, and Jack Bobo, senior vice president and chief communications officer at Intrexon — was led by Irish broadcaster Damien O’Reilly from RTÉ Radio 1.

Focused on food and future

The panel and audience had many valuable insights on both sides of the debate.

Jack Bobo spent 13 years working in global food policy at the U.S. Department of State and spent three years working with the producers of the film.

“I actually told them not to do a film about GMOs because it’s too provocative,” he said.

Bobo strongly feels that values trump science when it comes to issues like this. In fact, he said, he “never once met someone that was anti-science. Stop telling people what you do and tell them why you do it. The science won’t matter to most people.”

MacKay said we need to change the conversation to instead discuss our common goals.

“This technology [in particular] has been thrown under the bus due to a myriad of other issues — anti-corporate, anti-greed, etc., so how do we communicate about a complicated truth over simple lies?” she asked.

Bobo then remarked, “Every regulatory industry in the world has concluded that GMOs aren’t harmful.”

He believes topics like this have more to do with tribalism than anything else.

“[Our friends] feel a certain way about something, and we want to be a part of their crowd more than we want to worry about [scientific fact],” he said.

In the same vein, when was the last time we changed our minds about something? Anything is possible. Bobo even admitted that he first felt production agriculture was the only solution until he learned more about organic farming and what it brings to the table in terms of addressing food system challenges. It would seem that a combination of both practices may be warranted.

As an audience member wisely pointed out, “Is the real issue here not so much whether the science is right or wrong, but instead communication?” Our panelists agreed that more transparency would be helpful but that the issue remains complex. One thing is certain: We were all given a great deal of food for thought as we consider how we might move forward in feeding a hungry world.

“If a customer is telling you they want something, guess who else they are telling?” professor Robert Wolcott asked the audience at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE18). “Your competition. So, how do you find out what the customer wants before they want it?”

The clinical professor of innovation and entrepreneurship at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University told the attendees of ONE18 the secret to surviving long-term in a disruptive industry.

“We must ask better questions,” he said.

A business survival guide

“We cannot predict the future in detail,” said Wolcott. “But we can provide foresight.”

Part of the foresight that accompanies great ideas entails reflecting on the history of what many considered to be the “best” companies over the past few decades. IBM, Xerox and Kodak were just a few of many other corporations that had two things in common:

1)     Near death experiences. Each company was on the verge of extinction before reinventing and adapting to its surroundings.

2)     They were all “the very best company on the planet for decades,” explained Wolcott. However, history shows that any company is vulnerable to possible extinction.

Luckily, Wolcott shared his two tips for how companies can evolve and thrive in ever-changing markets:

1)     Fortification: Extend and defend the core business.

2)     Exploration: Create growth through exploring future opportunities.

A business’ product will not remain the most revolutionary idea to consumers forever. There are other companies that are trying to do things bigger, better and faster. Competition is tough, and top businesses can quickly transition from predators in the industry to prey.

“We must rise to the occasion, whether we succeed or not,” encouraged Wolcott. “It is in the attempt that we grow as human beings and as organizations.”

Technological trend-setters

Wolcott continued his talk by referencing many new technologies and business practices that are shaking up the industry:

1)     Electric cars were considered a hassle by consumers for many years. An exaggerated fear of running out of battery in the middle of a busy highway plagued minds of worried potential buyers. However, Wolcott informed the audience that there are electric cars that can travel 1,000 miles before running out of battery. Millions of dollars are being invested in charging stations for easy, convenient plug-ins nationally.

Listening to customer needs — and anticipating that there would be resistance to a new technology — resulted in the foresight to create an automobile that doesn’t cause more questions, but instead provides answers.

“If we always look in the same places, we will only find the same answers,” said Wolcott.

However, is it too late for electric cars? Are self-driving cars the way of the future?

2)     For three years, said Wolcott, Amazon has been anticipating the orders of users and stocking them in a nearby warehouse, ready for shipping. Wolcott informed the audience that if a user clicks, or even hovers, over the same product in the online store more than once, Amazon will anticipate that the user is just a few more clicks away from making a purchase. When the customer finally decides to pull the trigger and buy the item they have been eyeing for weeks, Amazon will already have it nearby.

“Human beings want what they want, where they want it, when they want it,” said Wolcott.

Amazon’s method, called “anticipatory shipping,” is foresight personified.

3)     “Today, we have a global supply chain. The larger the plant, the lower your costs,” explained Wolcott. “Over the next 30 years, this model will be destroyed.”

He reassured the audience that global supply chain won’t disappear completely, as some will still be vital, but soon, 3D printing will take over. Why would extra tools, resources and employees be necessary to build something over the span of days, weeks or months, when 3D printing could provide it in minutes?

“In our lifetimes, we might be able to have a 3D printing machine on our counters,” said Wolcott.

So, what are the right questions?

According to Wolcott, we are on the right track. The question we are used to asking, Wolcott says, is, “How can this technology help us be better at what we already do?”

“This is a great question,” said Wolcott. “Keep asking it. But that’s not enough.”

Instead, he challenged everyone with new questions:

1)     “What can this technology help us do that we have never done before?”

Is it innovative like electric cars? Expedient like anticipatory shopping? Convenient like 3D printing?

Wolcott explains that often the right questions come from people investigating their own future.

2)     “In a world of increasing technology,” explains Wolcott, “we can do anything. What can we do and why?”

What purpose does this new technology serve? Is it making lives easier? Can it grow with time?

3)     “Where might the future go?”

Is the idea sustainable? Does it keep up with the trends that are found through foresight?

But, overall, the foresight needed to survive in an ever-changing industry and to create the next big idea is in search of a very noble cause.

“To make the world a better place,” explained Wolcott. “That is what motivates people more than anything else.”

“I have a confession to make,” said Beth Comstock, former vice chair at General Electric and the first woman ever to hold the post. “I call myself a change-maker, but I have to tell you — I really don’t like change.

“But, the reality is,” she continued, “like change or not, we have to be ready for it.”

So, how do we get our heads around change? During her presentation at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference, Comstock said that the key is to shift your mindset.

“It really comes down to this one thing,” she said. “You have to imagine a future that few others can see, and then you have to take action to make it happen.”

Everyone, she emphasized, is capable of exactly that if you follow these three tips:

1. Change starts with giving yourself permission

“Change isn’t really the scary part,” said Comstock. “It’s that most of us don’t know how to handle change.”

The thing that is holding us back? Fear.

In today’s hyperconnected world, in which we often focus more on efficiency than on creativity, she said we have to move forward without knowing all the answers.

A critical part of the problem is something that Comstock calls the “imagination gap,” where “possibility goes to die.”

Our search for greater efficiency and perfection has developed an almost mechanical work culture that fears creativity and failure. Not only is “failure” a word we refuse to talk about in our organizations — 75 percent of people say they do not feel creative at work — it is putting pressure on children as well, a time when developing imagination is critical.

Comstock believes this imagination gap is holding us back by crowding out the very human nature of us.

“Everyone’s job is now change,” she said. “You can’t delegate it. You have to understand it starts with you.”

The number one way to shift your mindset and achieve change is to give yourself, and your teams, permission to change, including trying and testing new things. This includes giving yourself permission to fail.

Comstock has even given herself and her team members physical “permission slips” to express fear and give themselves permission to try things that might not work. Importantly, this permission also includes giving feedback to other team members to foster accountability.

“Feedback is oxygen for a change-ready mindset,” she said. “Seek it. Give it. Use it.”

What do you fear? Pinpointing that fear, and engaging with it head-on, is the first step to creating and better adapting to change.

2. Make room for discovery

“You have to lead with curiosity,” said Comstock. “You have to see for yourself.”

To do so, she suggests “wallowing” in an idea, which includes getting to know your team members, your market and where change is happening, as well as spotting trends. She also urges investigating points of view that contradict your own and going on journeys of discovery with your entire team.

As someone who loves patterns, Comstock recommends looking for connections and following her “going on 3’s” rule: If you spot an occurrence of something new three times, it may be a trend that is worth paying attention to, such as video streaming and the craft beer movement.

Ten percent of your time, she said, is spent on what you already know. Instead, we should be focusing that time on creating something new.

“Most people think they don’t have the time, that this isn’t their job,” said Comstock.

An easy, business school-based breakdown of how you might spend your time more innovatively might look like this, she said:

• 70 percent on core innovations, or the projects on which you are already focusing
• 20 percent on what’s next, or today’s fresh, new ideas (e.g., CRISPR gene-editing technology)
• 10 percent on what’s new, or the ideas that have the potential to change the world five, 10 or 20 years from now

Even though 10 percent might not sound like much, taking even this small amount of time to look beyond the status quo and innovate new ideas can reap big rewards.

“What’s your 10 percent?” asked Comstock, inviting the audience to identify time that they could spend thinking innovatively. “I know you have it! How are you going to liberate your teams to go out and discover?”

3. Embed learning — and failure — into your operating system

We must engage the world as our classroom, and the way to do so is to change our work culture, including the words we use and the actions we take.

“Learning cultures require that you put more questions into the system than answers,” said Comstock.

One of the most powerful outcomes of promoting continuously learning and empowering your team, she said, is finding out that there are many entrepreneurs in your organization. Find these people who are not afraid to make messes and support them in creating new ideas — and allowing them to kill those ideas when they simply are not ready.

At General Electric, Comstock applied this method in the wider community as well, partnering with local startups to solve a critical appliance problem. By “open sourcing” the problem, she explained that you can narrow your window of risk, bring integrated teams together and create more options so that when change arrives, you can be more confident about what ideas are appropriate to scale.

Not only should learning be a key element of work culture — so should failure.

“If failure isn’t an option,” said Comstock, “neither is success.”

She encourages inviting your team to share what went wrong with an idea, what they learned and how they plan to make it better moving forward. In order to be truly ready for change, we need more people with imagination to fight for the future, despite fear of failure.

Imagination isn’t a glitch, she said. In fact, it’s our best feature.

“I’m a beginner,” admitted Comstock. “I don’t have the answer yet — I don’t even know what the question is. But I’m committed to figuring it out.”

When Dr. Majid Fotuhi was a young boy, his father said, “Majid, our brain is amazing, and there is no limit to what you can do.”

By the time Fotuhi graduated high school in 1980, his country was at war with Iraq. Rather than face certain death in battle, Fotuhi decided to risk his life by leaving the country. He studied 12 to 16 hours a day, learning English, French and German, unsure of where his journey would lead.

After being smuggled out of the country, Fotuhi went on to receive his M.D. from Harvard Medical School as a member of the Harvard-MIT Program of Health Sciences and Technology and his Ph.D. in neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University. His curiosity about why some people have a healthy brain while others show signs of aging led to his studies on neurology, with a specific focus on the hippocampus.

Today, Fotuhi is a widely regarded authority in the field of memory, Alzheimer’s disease and increasing brain vitality in late life.

The devastating effects of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, which affects more than 50 million people worldwide, are often regarded as an inevitable part of the aging process, but Fotuhi says that isn’t so.

“Many of us think that when we get older, our brain function must inevitably go downhill, but that's not true,” said Fotuhi, speaking to the audience at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference. “Now we can start doing things to expand our brain.”

Is Fotuhi suggesting it’s possible to actually grow your brain?

“It is possible,” he said. “Brain health can be improved at any age.”

Fotuhi recommends embracing a healthy lifestyle that includes omega-3, meditation, learning something new every day and sleeping well. He initiated a 12-week study wherein participants incorporated these strategies into their daily routines. Using a before-and-after MRI of a participant’s brain, Fotuhi illustrated the significant expansion of the hippocampus, mirroring the brain of someone 10 years younger.

“Having a purpose in life can have an impact on your brain,” said Fotuhi. “If you are someone who feels passionate about your goals, if you have a purpose-driven life, your brain is healthier.”

Fotuhi encouraged the audience to take responsibility for their brain health.

“Think of your brain the same way you think of the health of your teeth,” he urged.

So, with the daily demands of work and life, how does one make brain health a priority? Fotuhi emphasizes reducing stress, not activity.

“You need to do what you love doing,” he said. “It’s not a matter of ‘stop working’ — you need to keep your brain active. There is a difference between being busy and being stressed out.”

Referring to his father’s early sentiments about the brain’s capacity, Fotuhi said, “Now I believe him. Even more so than I did back then.

“Use it or lose it applies to your brain more than it applies to your muscles,” he continued. “The moment you stop using your brain is the moment you go downhill.”

Amidst his days of sketching ideas for bicycles, parachutes, tanks and submarines, Leonardo da Vinci, a Renaissance genius, ran into obstacles. Nevertheless, da Vinci was well-known for keeping a notebook of his ideas and thoughts, scribbled randomly in the pages. Among these pages lived an affirmation da Vinci repeated during times of innovative struggles: “Obstacles do not bend me.”

Over 500 years later, Dr. Mark Lyons, president of Alltech, took the stage at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference. In front of nearly 4,000 people, he told the audience about another genius who was known for documenting all his thoughts in a notebook. Dr. Pearse Lyons, Mark’s late father and founder of Alltech, was a champion of sustainability, brewing, nutrition and innovation. He, too, had an affirmation for when struggles arose: “We will bend reality.”

“If you think it, ink it!” Mark told the crowd. Yet documenting ideas in a notebook isn’t the only similarity that da Vinci and Dr. Lyons shared. According to the book “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci” by Michael Gelb, there are seven steps to becoming a genius like da Vinci. Mark explored the seven different ways his father compared to the visionary:

1. Curiosity: Da Vinci was eager to ask “what if” questions: What if humans could fly like birds? What if art could transform the world? Dr. Lyons was known for questioning the status quo, too. Those who knew him were aware of his hard-hitting questions: What if we could reduce animal pollution? What if we could feed animals more naturally? What if we could connect farmers with technology?

2. Demonstration: The ability to learn from his mistakes was an admirable trait of da Vinci’s. Part of innovation, part of building an empire, is testing knowledge through experience.

“He didn’t believe he was any better than anyone else,” said Mark of his father. “He didn’t believe he was completely unique. He was humble.”

3. Sensation: In an age when technology lives at our finger tips, what would da Vinci, a supporter of using all five senses, think about people glued to their phones? Dr. Lyons invested much time and effort into his two homelands, Kentucky and Ireland, by hosting worldwide events and building beautiful distilleries. This commitment to his communities helps encourage people to get off their phones and into the world.

4. Smoke: A willingness to embrace uncertainty. Da Vinci, a genius, recognized that there were still topics unknown to him. However, the excitement to learn something new is an important step on the road to genius. Dr. Lyons was known for cultivating a spirit of curiosity within himself and within others by funding graduate programs, conferences and language classes for his employees.

“Learning never exhausts the mind,” da Vinci once said.

5. Art/science: Often, people describe themselves as “right-brained” or “left-brained” — art-driven or science-driven. However, to achieve the genius of da Vinci, it’s important to find a balance between the two. Da Vinci was an artist, yes, but he was also an engineer, a botanist and an inventor. Dr. Lyons was a scientist who was gifted in fermentation, but he also was a man with a highly developed palate and a creative mind that crafted award-winning beer. The key is balance.

6. The body: “Your mind follows your physical state,” da Vinci said.

Da Vinci and Dr. Lyons were firm believers that an alert body leads to an alert mind, which is why Dr. Lyons went running each morning and even hosted runs at Alltech’s annual international conference. He clearly recognized the importance of happy, healthy employees.

7. Connection: Da Vinci connected to the world, to his environment, to his art. However, Mark emphasized that Dr. Lyons was more interested in connecting with people.

“He constantly wanted to connect and bring people together,” explained Mark.

The similarities between Leonardo da Vinci and Dr. Pearse Lyons are striking. However, there is an overall theme between the two men: a sense of purpose. For da Vinci, a purpose to create. For Dr. Lyons, a purpose to sustain the world.

“Today, people will work for purposeful companies and purposeful institutions,” said Mark. “And if you don’t have a purpose, they won’t work for you at all.”

Ultimately, these two geniuses have set the standard high. Perhaps not everyone can be a da Vinci or a Dr. Lyons, but these steps can lead us to find our own ONE big idea.

“We cannot replace Dr. Lyons, nobody can,” Mark told the crowd. “But if we start to think like him, if we can get 10 people, 100 people, 1,000 people thinking like him, imagine what we can achieve together.”

CRISPR (pronounced “crisper”) stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, which are the hallmark of a bacterial defense system that forms the basis for CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing technology, according to the Broad Institute. This natural enzyme system has the capability to influence the genetic makeup of our cells and everything around us, which means it also has the potential to revolutionize many different aspects of our lives.

And when Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou, professor in the department of food, bioprocessing and nutrition services at North Carolina State University, took the stage at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference 2018 (ONE18), he explained just how impactful this complicated, yet seemingly simple, concept could be.

The CRISPR craze

According to Barrangou, the “CRISPR craze” sums it up; there’s no better way to define what we’re experiencing, particularly because CRISPR technology is influencing industries and even society as a whole.

“CRISPR has shaped my career, not just as a scientist or entrepreneur, but also as a patient, parent [and beyond],” said Barrangou.

CRISPR is present naturally in about half of all bacteria on the planet. It is an immune system that has evolved to recognize viral DNA and cut it. Think of CRISPR as molecular machines that can work as molecular scalpels. And though this innovative, mind-boggling technology may seem like a novel concept, it has actually existed for quite some time.

“CRISPR has been around in bacteria for millennia,” Barrangou said. “The history as a science dates back to 1987, so for over 30 years, scientists have been collecting, analyzing and repurposing CRISPR.”

Would you believe that this very powerful molecular scalpel actually enables scientists to cut any piece of DNA they'd like and perform genome editing for the truly bargain price of only $65? Almost any scientist can use this technology to alter DNA any way they want, very quickly, with unprecedented precision, ease and affordability. Another advantage is the speed at which results can be delivered: you could order a CRISPR report before 3 p.m., for example, and have it in hand by the next morning.

A work in progress

Still, this technology is not without flaws. It’s “imperfect,” said Barrangou, because it has only picked up speed in the last five years. And, like any 5-year-old, it’s “not fully mature yet.” He and his team, along with many other scientists around the world, are working to make CRISPR technology more programmable, affordable, scalable, efficient and precise.

Still, one can’t deny the impressive capabilities of CRISPR.

“We can edit any sequence we want in any organism we want, anywhere we want,” remarked Barrangou. “In the past five years, hundreds of thousands of scientists have used that technology to edit the genomes of every organism you could think of,” he said, in several different industries, including industrial biotechnology, research, therapeutics and agriculture. It’s proving particularly useful in the medical field as researchers examine the ability to alter viruses, genetics, human cells and bacteria. For example, scientists can use CRISPR-based technologies to naturally vaccinate against viruses and bacteria.

Changing agriculture through CRISPR

CRISPR is changing plant and animal breeding, microbial composition, design and engineering. The technology has been used in the dairy industry since 2011, specifically in making yogurt and cheese. Many of these products have been formulated using CRISPR technology, so it’s highly likely that no matter where you’re from in the world, you’ve already consumed a product that was manufactured using CRISPR-enhanced technology.

“Scientifically, the CRISPR craze is unprecedented. We went from nothing to a paper a month, to a paper a week, to a paper a day, to, on average, 10 new CRISPR studies published every day in 2018,” said Barrangou. “That’s crazy. The media cannot write up enough CRISPR stories — as of last night, there are 7.3 million mentions of CRISPR on the web; it makes the cover of magazines almost every week and is covered by media outlets on a regular basis now.”

However, Barrangou’s biggest concern is that we don’t make the same mistake with the public that we did with GMOs. In an effort to engage the public, he and his team are presently making a movie that documents the technology. He notes that, in order to build collective confidence in the science, we must “be very careful and mindful about CRISPR’s stewardship.”  

“This big idea is becoming a reality,” he added. “And this big idea is going to save the planet.”

The summer season sets the scene, not only for picnics and pool parties, but also for pests lying in wait for a chance to prey on your precious pup — and potentially you, too. But, before you send Fido packing, know that you have a plethora of options available to combat these would-be invaders.

First, let’s consider what we may commonly be up against:

• Ectoparasites: These are perhaps some of the most well-known insects associated with dogs. These pests prefer to live on or just under the surface of your dog’s skin and can easily be picked up on outdoor adventures and introduced to your home.

  • Fleas: Dogs typically get fleas from other animals. Fleas are notoriously challenging to see with the naked eye, but their bites can cause severe irritation and inflammation. Your dog will undoubtedly be scratching and biting at their skin almost incessantly if infected.

  • Ticks: Ticks can easily be picked up in tall grass and wooded areas. More than just disgusting bloodsuckers, infected ticks can transmit Lyme disease, a serious bacterial illness that can also be passed on to humans.

  • Mites: Just as with people, mites exist naturally on dogs, but if found in excessive quantities, they can cause serious skin problems. Ear mites are another common concern. They are highly contagious and are typically passed from outdoor cats to canines, though humans are generally immune. Excessive head shaking and scratching at ears/the head are usually dead giveaways.

• Internal parasites: Dogs can contract internal parasites from a variety of situations, but they are typically transmitted when an animal unintentionally ingests parasite eggs in contaminated soil, water, food or feces.

  • Heartworms: One bite from an infected mosquito can lead to an unprotected dog developing heartworm disease, by far one of the most preventable and potentially deadly infections.

  • Tapeworms: There are several types of tapeworm, but the most common is caused by swallowing an infected flea. They typically set up shop in your dog’s small intestine, where they continue to feed and grow. Tapeworms compromise your pet’s nutrition and can contribute to weight loss, lethargy and a variety of other issues.

  • Hookworms: These nasty intestinal parasites can be ingested by sniffing or eating contaminated soil or feces. Hookworms literally hook themselves into the lining of your dog’s intestines and leave holes in their wake, potentially leading to anemia, weakness, weight loss and death.

Of course, these are just a few examples of the many possible pests that might afflict your canine companion. So, what’s a concerned dog mom or dad to do?

An ounce of prevention

First and foremost, let’s remember that we are our dogs’ biggest advocates. It is up to us to ensure that they have a clean, safe environment to thrive in. And, as responsible owners, we should all be taking the following recommended actions:

• Feed a chewable heartworm preventative, year-round, as prescribed by your veterinarian. It is a cheap and highly effective way to prevent disease.

• Flea and tick preventatives abound. You may choose from chewables, collars and topicals. Choose what works best for your dog and your lifestyle, as recommended by your veterinarian.

• Brush and bathe your dog regularly. This will not only allow for some quality bonding time, but it will also allow you to address any potential skin issues.

• Schedule time to regularly clean up your yard. Keeping it relatively free of feces and overgrowth will go a long way in keeping your pet healthy.

• Always check your dog’s skin (and yours, too!) after spending time in heavily wooded areas. If you should happen to find an embedded tick, take care in removing it. There are many affordable tick removal tools on the market today.

Building a defense

Another thing to consider is your nutrition regimen and what role it might play in immune defense, especially against would-be pathogenic or viral invaders. Much like us, dogs have a natural immunity that they have built up over the course of their life, but, unfortunately, that’s not always enough to prevent harm or illness. One thing you can do to help support your dog’s immunity is feed a high-quality diet containing trace minerals such as organic selenium (think Sel-Plex^®). Selenium can help to maintain proper function and strength of the immune system and counteract oxidative damage caused by infections.

As the late, great Benjamin Franklin so wisely proclaimed in 1736, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Nearly 300 years later, this advice still rings true.

I would like a FREE parasite management guide!

The frenzy for all things blockchain is exemplified by the Long Island iced tea company whose stock increased six times overnight when it simply changed its name to include the word “blockchain.” Even the Chinese stock market is seeing a boom in anything blockchain-related. While much has been written about blockchain, a succinct description is still elusive. Essentially, blockchain is simply an online documentation system that records the transaction at each point in the supply chain through an encrypted block using a distributed ledger (DLT). The system ensures both confidentiality and traceability for each trading partner involved in the supply chain.

Image obtained from CB Insights

So, why is blockchain creating such excitement in agriculture? The agriculture sector typically has very tight margins, and success is derived from parlaying market knowledge and strategic sourcing for better access and better prices than your competitors. Secrecy and squeezing prices are key success factors. Inevitably, some participants try to manipulate the market or engage in unacceptable business practices. Without genuine transparency in the food chain, feed or input recalls are ineffective, yet they are critical to ensuring the health of those at the very end of the chain: the people who eat the food agriculture produces. In other words, everyone.

Blockchain and agriculture: A new tool for an old system

Knowing what you are buying has been problematic for as long as people have been trading along the food supply chain (the earliest examples of writing are agricultural transaction records from Sumeria, from approximately 3000 BC). As the food supply chain is global, a network with real traceability is essential in order for people to be able to trust what they are buying. Enter blockchain. Blockchain is an effective way to balance the need for confidentiality with the need for transparency. A blockchain-based supply chain should result in food that is safe and traceable while reducing waste and creating economic benefits for all of the stakeholders in the food supply chain. Of particular benefit to the agricultural sector are lower costs and added value (Rabobank).

Lower costs are achieved through greater efficiency, lower transaction costs and better access to information. Because the information provided through the blockchain is reliable, documents and certificates can be trusted and many back-office processes can be automated. As the need for manual or repeated verification decreases, lead times can be shorter and turnaround faster. The security of the system means that payments can be executed quickly and safely, eliminating the need for third-party payment processing. Moreover, the visibility of the blockchain improves pricing transparency, particularly for smaller agribusinesses and farmers in regions that have not previously had access to global pricing.

Logistically, blockchain can speed up the movement of food through the supply chain network (critical for perishable goods) and also allows fast, targeted removal of products that are not fit for consumption. Both ways, food waste is reduced. Faster analysis and interpretation of consumer desires (such is the goal of INS Ecosystem) can further reduce errors and waste, and the greater transparency of the chain allows for better forecasting. Accuracy is improved by reducing the places where human error can enter the system.

This is not to say that blockchain technology is entirely immune to error. The information contained within the network, while incorruptible once documented, could be entered incorrectly or fraudulently. What blockchain offers is a means to identify the error or fraudulent entry. Furthermore, the blockchain should contain all members of the supply chain. If a piece is missing, its transparency and traceability are lacking; the ideal blockchain starts at seed or feed and follows all the way to consumer purchase.

Potential for added value comes from better access to information about pricing, markets and products. Analysis of up-to-date, reliable data will help identify new opportunities regionally or globally and enable adaptation of supply chains to better fit consumer needs. With greater transparency and more reliable data, better and more targeted financing options can be developed. And, with the cooperation of governments, greater regulatory harmonization can improve efficiencies throughout the agriculture sector.

Many of these current and potential benefits of blockchain can be seen in a single example: the spinach crisis of 2006. On Sept. 14, 2006, based on complaints from 19 states, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration advised consumers not to eat bagged fresh spinach. It took two weeks for the region that the spinach came from to be identified, and it was not until Oct. 12, with five people dead and 200 sickened, that the specific source of contamination was identified. In the meantime, all fresh spinach and fresh spinach products were cleared from shops across the U.S., with an overall cost of more than $175 million. Contrast that with a recent blockchain-based supply chain trial between Walmart and IBM in which a food was traced back through each party involved all the way back to its origins in seconds (2.2, to be exact). At any point in the chain, all other possible cross-contaminations could be identified. The location of any contaminated food could be traced and pulled from shelves or dealt with immediately, protecting consumers, reducing waste and protecting the producers along the way from unnecessary losses.

China has also recognized the advantages of blockchain for food safety and through the Food Safety Alliance for China is supporting a joint undertaking between Tsinghua University, Walmart and a consortium of large food companies (Dole, Driscoll’s, Golden State Foods, Kroger, McCormick & Company, McLane Company, Nestlé, Tyson Foods, Unilever and IBM) to create a food tracking system using blockchain.

Blockchain in practice

While blockchain is still a relatively new concept, early adopters can already be found throughout agriculture, including the poultry, dairy, beef, aqua and crop sectors. The most common applications are simply confirmation of the source of a product (as with Honeysuckle Thanksgiving turkeys, where you can enter a code on the company’s website and immediately know what farm the bird originated from), but blockchain is also being used to ensure availability of production data, prevent food fraud, provide payment security, ensure regulatory compliance and provide safe access to markets for small and remote farmers.

Production information

There are now several companies offering blockchain-based supply chains for agribusiness, but OriginTrail was the pioneer. Starting in 2013 with a beta test for the beef sector, it has since added dairy, poultry and vegetable supply chains. Another example in poultry is producer Perutnina Ptuj, which provides customers with complete information on the origins of the meat they purchase through a smartphone app. Even vegetables can be traced back to their origins: Slovenia-based Natureta uses a blockchain platform to give customers access to food procurement information and can instantly show in which garden food they are currently cooking with was grown.

Another blockchain platform is Provenance, a U.K.-based company that is currently working with more than 200 food businesses, tracking food (including produce) from point of origin all the way to the supermarket, documenting each step in the process and allowing food companies to prove their product claims and guarantees. It has partnered with Arkansas-based Grass Roots Farmers’ Cooperative to allow customers to track their food, including information on meat quality and origin, how the animal was raised and any other companies involved in the process through the use of QR codes. Provenance has also reached into the aquaculture industry to run a pilot program designed to track the production of yellowfin and skipjack tuna in the Southeast Asian fishing industry. Through text messages, fishermen have been helping nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) track the process from initial registration of the caught fish and data verification all the way to the consumer, ensuring fish have been sourced in a socially and environmentally sound manner.

Other food or agribusiness blockchain supply chain platforms include:

• Carrefour: Announced intentions to launch Europe’s first food blockchain. A QR code scan will tell consumers where the bird was reared, the name of the farmer, what feed the bird consumed, quality labels and where the bird was slaughtered. The initial focus will be on its line of free-range Auvergne chickens, but the plan is to expand the technology to at least eight other products before year end 2018.
• JD.com: Beef industry platform in China that can trace beef purchased in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to its original production location in Inner Mongolia.
• FoodLogiQ: Starting as a Canadian beef platform, FoodLogiQ is now a full farm-to-fork system, with an emphasis on supplier management, food safety compliance, quality incident management, recall management and whole chain traceability.
• Ripe.io : Started by former financiers, Ripe uses algorithms to calculate sustainability scores, as well as scores for spoilage and safety levels. 
• Bext360: A Ugandan Great Lakes Coffee exporter and a Denver-based coffee roaster, Coda Coffee, are creating a “bean to brew” blockchain. A similar platform by Moyee Coffee tracks their beans from Ethiopia to Amsterdam program will trace the coffee from Moyee Coffee in Ethiopia to Amsterdam, tracking payments to the farmers along the way. Starbucks is also investigating the technology to promote ethical sourcing and connect customers to bean growers.
• DNVGL: Its application, known as My Story, verifies Italian wine growers’ supply chains, from seed to bottle.
• OriginTrail: In combination with TagItSmart sensors, OriginTrail has a pilot project designed to maintain data integrity in the beverage industry. Wine producer Plantaže will be able to track more than 15,000 bottles of wine.
• ZhongAn Technology (a subsidiary of an insurance company): Its blockchain system for the free-range chicken sector in China intends to alleviate both poverty among chicken farmers and consumer food safety concerns. Individual chickens are tagged, and information about each individual chicken’s growth, location, food and even movement is uploaded and available for consumers to trace. Currently, the program collects data from over 200 chicken farms with plans to expand to 2,500 farms by 2020.
• Coca-Cola and the U.S. State Department are initiating a project using blockchain to combat the forced labor market by creating a secure registry for workers.

Anti-counterfeiting/adulteration

The ability to track the provenance of products is a key benefit in many ag sectors. For example, large commercial dairy companies have a challenge tracking the provenance of their milk as they often source from multiple milk producers. Slovenian dairy brand Zelene Doline is tracking its products and connecting the more than 1,000 Slovenian dairy farms that provide milk to the company. The traceability system allows consumers to log onto the company’s website, enter the product’s European Article Number barcode and “best before” date to gain information on the product’s origins.

Russia’s dairy industry is also incorporating blockchain to combat counterfeit dairy products. According to researchers, Russia produces 40 percent less milk than the amount sold, and there is speculation that vegetable fats or palm oils are being used to dilute the milk for consumer sale, compromising its authenticity. Blockchain provides an objective mechanism to ensure that what is sold as milk is actually milk. Similarly, Ambrosus, a Swiss firm, uses sensors and blockchain technology to provide real-time food supply chain audits, particularly with its cheese and chocolate, to ensure its high-quality products sold in China are not counterfeit. Food fraud is a particular focus of Ireland’s arc-net blockchain platform, which uses unique universal identification codes (UUIDs) through digital DNA to offer a cloud-based platform and traceability to the food and animal feed industries.

Transaction and payment security

BeefLedger out of Australia has created a secure payment platform using blockchain and cryptocurrency wallets. Its focus is on the rapidly growing Asian middle class, for whom Australian beef is in high demand. Customers are provided with provenance data on meat purchases, including origin and characteristics, while the producers gain access to customer data and feedback. Other examples include:

• AgriDigital, an Australian blockchain system designed to manage grain trading transactions, finance and connections.
• Bart.Digital, a Brazilian-based company working with small farmers to provide secure financial documentation.
• AgrolifeCoin (funded by Agrolife, investors and agribusiness supporters), which provides technical assistance to financial institutions, particularly in developing countries, to enable them to better fund their local agriculture sector. Its global payment network provides peer-to-peer instant transactional opportunities for members of the agricultural community at near-zero cost through its cryptocurrency program
• Avenews-GT, a global trading company designed to connect buyers and sellers to create transparency, trust and financial security in supply chains.

Regulatory compliance

Due to its remote nature, the seafood and aquaculture industry has unique monitoring challenges. Mistreatment of workers, mislabeling of fish and destructive fishing methods are increasingly unacceptable to consumers. A collaboration between Earth Twine (which focuses on regulatory compliance in the seafood industry) and Stratis (a blockchain technology company) has led to The Earth Twine-Stratis Platform, a seafood tracking solution platform to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

In parallel, ConsenSys has teamed up with the World Wildlife Fund and TraSeable (a communications technology implementation company) to end human rights abuses in the Pacific Islands’ fishing industry. Working with the tuna fishing and processing company Sea Quest Fiji, the goal is that every can of tuna will have a QR code for consumers to verify that the tuna was sourced in an ethical and sustainable manner.

Access to markets

Access to buyers at fair prices with security of payment are some of the challenges that face small farmers in developing markets, yet their success is one of the keys to feeding the 9 billion people who will be living on earth in 2050. AgriLedger works with NGOs to bring a blockchain platform through the Agunity app. The platform enables farmers to receive fairer pricing and have a better connection to markets as well as access to insurance, banking or other financial services. It also allows buyers from other markets to buy from small producers with confidence.

FarmShare is designed to connect small farmers with local buyers and is similar to a CSA (community-supported agriculture) model, in which people are able to collect fresh food directly from the farmer, completely cutting out the grocery store. 

ABC: Agriculture + blockchain = consumer (food)

Blockchain is a very powerful tool for everyone in the food production system, from the producers of animal and plant nutrition and supplements through to the end consumer. Research has indicated that the food traceability market will be worth $14 billion by next year and the food-related blockchain companies are growing quickly. It brings visibility, as information is shared and replicated simultaneously, increasing trust, accountability and transparency. It will alter how the agriculture industry functions within itself, as well as with customers, and will support us in feeding 9 billion people.

There are, of course, challenges. As with any innovative technology, there are implementation costs, and standards are still evolving. Some overarching authority is necessary to ensure that trust in the system is warranted. Managing the change process will take work. And, as with any supply chain process, the best results come when all of the participants are involved. If we work together to overcome these challenges, we will be able to realize the full benefits of blockchain for food safety and traceability, and the potential it has to improve the transparency and reliability of the food chain, to improve market access and reduce food waste.

For a simple demonstration of blockchain technology, watch this short video from the BBC. While focused on the bitcoin concept, it is clear how any data intended to be stored confidentially can be safeguarded in a decentralized ledger system.

New technologies, including blockchain, are the focus at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference. Speakers include former General Electric Vice Chair and change agent Beth Comstock, professor Robert Wolcott from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and CRISPR expert Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou. Nearly 4,000 attendees from more than 70 countries and an all-star list of 70 speakers will discuss the technologies, innovations and science transforming our businesses and lives.

Warmer weather means it’s time to pull in the pasture ponies and take the rugs off your show horses. At long last, riding season has arrived! Sadly, this also means the return of the horses’ constant and most pesky companion: the fly.

And, while flies may seem like nothing more than an ever-present annoyance, they can carry serious implications for your equine counterparts. Flies are well-known for spreading disease, feeding off of the equine blood supply and causing potential digestive upset. And, unfortunately, even the most encompassing of fly turnouts — think fly mask with ears, fly sheet with belly guard and fly leggings, essentially making your horse resemble some strangely armored creature — can’t keep them completely at bay.

More than a simple pest

House flies may seem like the least of a horse owner’s worries, but they can carry disease and transmit parasites. They can also irritate a horse’s eyes, where they feed off of moist secretions. These flies breed during the summer and feed on muck, so proper stable management is imperative to reducing their numbers.

Horse and deer flies are known for being ruthless biters. Thankfully, they are only active during the day. And, as luck would have it, these flies do not normally enter structures. It is best to have barn or stable access available for pasture horses if you notice these flies becoming particularly bothersome.

Stable flies are probably the biggest equine nuisance of all. They live in barns and breed in organic, fermenting matter, such as manure, decaying straw or spilled, moist feed. They typically feed on horses’ legs and flanks and can cause significant blood loss, transmit swamp fever and cause summer sores — weeping wounds that are challenging to heal. Horses may also stomp incessantly in an attempt to rid themselves of these pests, only to cause hoof and leg issues.

Shoo, fly: Sanitation and stable management tips

It should come as no surprise that proper sanitation and stable management are among the best methods of fly control. House flies and barn flies require breeding material, ideal moisture and adequate warmth to develop. Therefore, elimination of breeding sites is the key to a successful fly control program. Barns and paddocks should be thoroughly cleaned once per week to assist in breaking fly life cycles. Insecticides should only be considered as a supplement to fly control.

Below are some tips to help with your fly management program:

• Keep manure picked up and pile at a good distance from facilities, waterers and paddocks.

• Make sure all garbage cans have tight-fitting lids and are cleaned out regularly.

• Keep waterers in good condition and place them away from areas where horses are fed.

• Consider screening windows in feed and tack rooms, as well as box stalls.

• Fans that direct a downward and outward airflow will help to keep flies from entering barns.

• Fly traps and sticky paper are an effective way to capture flies. They may also be useful in documenting fly numbers over time. A notable increase in catch from one week to the next could be a warning to check on sanitation measures and increase your fly control measures.

Last, but not least, keep this in mind: Large numbers of flies mean there are a great deal of breeding sites in your area. There are many insecticide options (e.g., residuals, sprays, fogs, mists, etc.), but they will only provide temporary relief and should generally be used sparingly. Your best option is to keep a tidy stable and yard — both you and your horses will be grateful for the extra effort!

Looking to add fly control to your horse’s nutrition program? CRYSTALYX^®, SWEETLIX^®, ULTRALYX^® and STOCKADE^® brands offer several options in pressed and mineral blocks.

I would like to learn more about horse health.