[BENGALURU, India] – Global animal health and nutrition company Alltech is delighted to announce the 2015 winner of the Alltech Innovation Competition, India, hosted in Bengaluru. The competition celebrates business and entrepreneurship, and challenges the creative minds of university students. Institute of Rural Management Anand students, Mohit Dave, Pranav Harshe and Varun Modi were awarded the first prize of Rs. 1,50,000/- for their outstanding competition entry – “Saadhan.”  The Saadhan is a for-profit venture to reduce rural poverty, providing greater ownership to farmer producers, especially for cashew apple production. This provides a solution to one of the biggest problems in the cashew industry. Despite being rich in nutrients, the cashew apple’s commercial potential has not been fully explored or realized.

The competition, held at the University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK campus, Bengaluru, was judged by a diverse panel of judges comprised of Alltech team members, venture capitalists, an angel investor and entrepreneurs: Dr. Aman Sayed, general manager,  South Asia,  Alltech;  Krishnan Mundanat, regional controller, South Asia, Alltech; Ravindra Neralla, project manager, Asia Pacific, Alltech; Subhadeep Sanyal, vice president, Omnivore Partners; Ashwin Raguraman, chief operating officer, India Innovation Fund; Pavan Kumar, CEO and founder, Workbench Projects; and Saket Agarwal, CEO and founder, Onnivation.

A total of seven universities battled in the competition, each presenting forward-thinking business plans on their innovative ideas in the areas of agriculture and sustainability. The teams were facilitated by Dr. Sayed Aman, South Asia, general manager, Alltech, and Dr. H. Shivanna,  vice chancellor, UAS GKVK, Bengaluru. The teams and their projects were:

1. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad – venture idea to link modern retail stores in cities with producers of fruits and vegetables.

2. Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow – consultancy services to farmers based on soil health and crop condition.

3. Institute of Rural Management Anand, Gujarat – for-profit venture to reduce rural poverty, providing higher ownership to farmers and producers.

4. Indian Institute of Plantation Management, Bengaluru – venture idea in livestock healthcare industry with “Naturaceutical” products.

5. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore – venture idea based on poly-house cultivation.

6. University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru – venture based on providing food products for healthy living.

7. University of Agricultural & Horticultural Sciences, Shivamogga – venture idea to reduce crop waste and scale economies.

The runner-up in the competition was University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru team. Mithila Hegde and Shruti Ajay received a cheque of Rs. 75,000/- for their ragi (finger millet)-based confectionery business plan. The other five university teams each received Rs. 20,000/-

In the opening video address to the participants, Dr. Pearse Lyons, president and founder of Alltech, encouraged the participants that, “Innovation is what we dream.” He emphasized the need to “make things happen” and stressed the importance of revitalization of the agriculture sector through innovation.

A panel discussion with the university students and judges was interactive as it brought venture capitalists, university officials and the private sector to one discussion. Dr. Sayed Aman, general manager, South Asia, Alltech, said, “Alltech ignited the entrepreneurial spirit among the students, but they displayed real insight, talent and knowledge. This is welcomed as the agriculture and food industry is and will continue to be the main driver of country's economic growth.” 

This was the first time the Alltech Innovation Competition, initially launched in the U.S. in 2012, has been held in India. Ms. Godha Govind, Alltech Asia-Pacific training manager, and Medha Singh, project coordinator, coordinated the competition.

Alltech continues to work with universities to ensure the development of talented and educated Indian agribusiness graduates through its education program, including the Alltech Young Scientist program and the Alltech Career Development program. For more information, visit education.alltech.com.

The Alltech Innovation Competition reflects Alltech’s commitment to lifelong education and the inspiration of innovation and entrepreneurship. The competition is also held annually in Kentucky, USA, and in Dublin, Ireland. For more details on the competition in India, contact india@alltech.com.

According to the American Diabetes Association, 90-95% of Americans diagnosed with diabetes have Type 2 Diabetes, and an adult diagnosed with diabetes dies an average of six years earlier than a counterpart without diabetes.

Type 2 Diabetes is a chronic condition that affects the way the body metabolizes glucose, resulting in insulin resistance. Insulin resistance (IR) is a syndrome that affects other mammalian species, including dogs, cats and horses. When a healthy animal eats, food is broken down, sugars are absorbed in the intestine and blood glucose levels increase. As a result, a hormone called insulin is produced by the pancreas, which tells muscle, liver and fat to increase the uptake of glucose so it can be stored for future use. When an animal or human becomes insulin resistant, this doesn’t happen. As a result, the body keeps producing insulin, hoping that it will help and glucose will be stored, but instead both blood insulin and glucose levels stay high. While exact causes are unknown, often the onset of IR is preceded by weight gain and obesity. High sugar or starch diets can cause lower insulin sensitivity even in non-obese animals. In some cases, it’s believed that high starch diets can make animals more prone to IR because they did not evolve to eat those diets such as cats who are true carnivores. In the case of horses, overfeeding can trigger weight gain and increased adiposity, which can lead to IR.

While it may not seem like a big deal at first, elevated blood insulin and glucose levels can cause long term health problems. For instance, the hyperinsulinemia (elevated blood insulin levels) in horses can induce laminitis, which causes inflammation in the hoof wall lining and lameness. In companion animals and people, unmanaged insulin resistance can cause kidney damage and loss of vision.

Treatment of IR is often through diet and health management, which sounds simple but can be a challenge to those affected. Management includes having the discipline to monitor carbohydrate consumption and exercise on a regular basis. However, human error such as underestimating intake or overestimating exercise intensity can lead to poor disease management and chronic problems.

One area that shows promise for improving insulin resistance is the inclusion of microalgae meal in the diet. Microalgae meal is a heterotrophic strain of algae containing high levels of the omega-3 fatty acid, Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), produced by the global animal nutrition leader, Alltech Inc. In a trial conducted at the Alltech Research Farm, insulin resistant horses were fed a diet supplemented with microalgae meal and their blood insulin and glucose responses were measured. Researchers found that both insulin and blood glucose levels were reduced compared to horses that did not get microalgae. This means that microalgae, or a component of the microalgae like DHA, caused the horses’ bodies to become more insulin sensitive without changing their diet (beyond microalgae meal inclusion) or increasing exercise.

For people who struggle to manage IR in their pets, this is great news. While diet and exercise management is still essential, this research shows another way people can improve the health and well-being of their animals that have become insulin resistant and prevent the devastating conditions that can result from not properly controlling insulin and glucose levels in IR animals. To help fight IR, microalgae meal must be added to your pet’s diet on a daily basis. If this simple addition to your pet’s daily diet can help prevent IR and all of its devastating complications like blindness, lameness or kidney failure, why wouldn’t you feed it? 

Part 1: Getting Started

Starting your professional journey can be hard, especially after experiencing so much freedom and fun at university. Say goodbye to scheduling classes at your preference, weeknight parties and regular leisure time with friends. Say hello to schedules, deadlines, meetings and managers. As a recent graduate who has recently entered the workforce, I would like to share some tips to help you make a smooth transition from the classroom to the boardroom.

Work is fun! Let’s address a few misconceptions. Work is not a boring place full of unimaginative people doing routine tasks and attending endless meetings. You get to know interesting people, start investing in a new wardrobe, practice language skills, learn new ways of doing things from experts in your chosen field and SO much more!    

Preparation, preparation, preparation. Make the time to put together a complete but brief resume (one page is ideal). An experienced recruiter for top companies recently wrote that it takes him less than 20 seconds to evaluate a candidate based on his/her resume. Your work experience may be limited, so focus on highlighting your academic and relevant extracurricular achievements. For example, mentioning you were the winner of a pie-eating contest will likely not impress your future employer; however, your role as president of a campus group would highlight your leadership strengths. It is important to be thorough and consistent in your writing, including tense, fonts, spellings, etc. Proofread your resume several times. Some universities even offer mock interviews where you can practice dressing appropriately and answering questions properly, and at the same time gain feedback on how to improve before the real thing.

Find a company that excites you! A work environment that has a positive culture, shared values that foster innovation, teamwork and happy employees will get you fired up in the morning and keep you motivated. Look at company websites and social media platforms. Maybe you know people who work at that company. Ask them about their experiences. Consider reaching out to key people at that company through LinkedIn.

You may not get hired. Looking for your first job is not easy. Even with all the right preparation, a potential employer may not see you as the right fit for the company. Do not give up! Excitement, rejection, patience and stress are all part of the job hunt. A good way to handle this is to develop a professional frame of mind. Start your day early, as if you worked in an office. Watch or read the news, or check headlines on your Twitter feed. Practicing this will help you get in the habit of waking up early and staying connected to current events, which can be great talking points and references in an interview. Keep in touch with your university friends. They are probably experiencing the same challenges, and you can help each other stay motivated.

Be curious! Earning a degree is a great accomplishment, but it does not necessarily define your career. Nowadays companies in every industry are looking to hire graduates from different fields. The knowledge and hard skills from university classes, paired with soft skills gained from extracurricular and social activities, can help you become a more desirable candidate. Reach outside of your comfort zone, and apply for jobs in different industries. Taking a chance may lead to incredible opportunities!

Continue learning and reading. Just because you have a diploma does not mean you should stop learning. In fact, employers value candidates who challenge themselves. This could mean learning a new language, computer skills, social media practices or other items that will add value to your character and resume. Reading is a great educator. Whether books, blogs or articles, stay informed about the economy, the latest trends or tips from industry leaders. This information could come in handy.

Everyone has different ways of adapting to life outside of the university. We hope these tips will help you handle the transition and find that dream job to get you started on your professional path.

Stay tuned for part two – meeting your future employer!

To capture the dairy operations on the Fagundes family dairy in Hanford, California, Alltech’s film crew arrived early to leverage as much daylight as possible.

“We always try to arrive early,” said Alan Henthorne, corporate media manager for Alltech. “But we never beat a dairy farmer to work!”

In fact, when the Alltech crew arrived, the Fagundes dairy was already well-underway with morning milking and feedout.

Experienced in shooting on-location throughout the world, including recently in Mexico, Europe and China, this was the team’s first shoot in California, the number one milk producing state in the U.S. To put that ranking in context, the average herd size in California is more than 1000 for a dairy; in the second-ranking milk state, Wisconsin, the herd size is closer to 100.

Frank and Susan Fagundes have a 700-cow dairy, with mostly Holsteins who were not quite sure they were interested in a camera close-up.

Although Alan’s crew typically shoots with a Canon C-100 and DSLR with interchangeable lenses, the size of the dairy required a different approach: a drone.

The Alltech team has been using a small drone for a couple years, and, according to Alan, it’s already become an essential part of the team’s storytelling toolbox.

At the Fagundes dairy, the Alltech team envisioned the drone capturing the family walking with their dog among the cattle, illustrating the scale of the operation as well as the unique—albeit dusty (a camera challenge due to the drought!)—California landscape.

Drones add a certain element, however, to the dynamics of filming. Humans, cows and dogs all respond differently to the flying object.

In this particular case, the drone almost became puppy chow. “The Fagundes’ German Shepherd was determined to do his duty and protect them all from this invader,” said Alan.

So how did the cows handle their close-up?

Despite the fact that the drone must “look and sound like the biggest fly on the planet” to them, they did surprisingly well, according to the team. There was only one instance in which they almost initiated a stampede.

Alan emphasized, however, that safety in these shoots is always paramount. The drones are never used without permission and only used with complete human and animal safety in mind. In fact, studies are already being conducted to determine the minimum safe distances between drones and animals to avoid disturbing them. Even in terms of the overall shoot, camera tripod legs get equipped with the same biosecurity footwear as a human.

For the Alltech film crew, all the efforts are incredibly rewarding.

“Farmers work hard and don't always have the time to tell their own stories,” said Alan. “We're happy that we are able show how much dedication, passion and care can go into what they do, which ultimately is feeding the rest of us.

You can see the full video above and on our interactive Farmer Stories Map.

Have a question or comment?

While creatine, branched-chain amino acids and glutamine are well known and frequently utilized amongst fitness buffs and competitive athletes, there’s another nutrient taking its turn in the spotlight – DHA. DHA, short for docosahexaenoic acid, is an essential omega-3 fatty acid that has made a name for itself for its role in both cardiovascular and brain health. More recently, the sports nutrition community has taken notice of DHA’s ability to help speed recovery, increase gains and improve athletic performance.

DHA aids in the muscle recovery process as an anti-inflammatory agent and reduces DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), perceived pain and range of motion 48 hours post exercise.¹These qualities, along with boosting blood and oxygen flow to muscles, may also decrease incidence of injury.

Increasing the amount of DHA you consume may help decrease muscle breakdown and increase protein synthesis by increasing the body’s muscle-building response to insulin and amino acids.²Fatty acids like DHA not only increase muscle gains, but may also increase the body’s level of calcium absorption, improving bone strength.³

A vital component in nerve endings, neurons and muscle membranes – DHA has been shown to improve reaction time of athletes during competition.⁴ DHA also decreases heart rate, which can help improve oxygen utilization during competition or tough workouts.⁵

References:

1. Tartibian B, et al. (2009). The effects of ingestion of omega-3 fatty acids on perceived pain and external symptoms of delayed onset muscle soreness in untrained men. Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, 19.(2),115-9.
2. Smith G, et al. (2011). Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids augment the muscle protein anabolic response to hyperaminoacidemia-hyperinsulinemia in healthy young and middle aged men and women. Clin Sci (Lond),121(6), 267–278.
3. Maggio M, et al. (2009). The impact of omega-3 fatty acids on osteoporosis. Curr Pharm Des, 15(36),4157-64.
4. Lewis E, et al. (2015). 21 days of mammalian omega-3 fatty acid supplementation improves aspects of neuromuscular function and performance in male athletes compared to olive oil placebo. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 12,28.
5.  Mori T, et al. (1999). Docosahexaenoic Acid but Not Eicosapentaenoic Acid Lowers Ambulatory Blood Pressure and Heart Rate in Humans. Hypertension, 34, 253-260. 

Alltech global headquarters welcomed the new members of the Career Development Program (CDP) on Sept. 21. Eleven recent college graduates from 11 countries were selected for the year-long program. Ten of them completed an intense weeklong orientation at Alltech’s global headquarters in Nicholasville, Kentucky, USA, while the other did so at the Alltech European headquarters in Dunboyne, Ireland, where he will be based.

The group is divided into three specialized areas: beef, dairy and quality. These tracks are tailored for specific growth markets and departments within the company.

During the orientation, CDP members learned about Alltech and met numerous Alltech employees, from recent hires to senior executives. A highlight was meeting Alltech’s president and founder, Dr. Pearse Lyons, who shared advice on starting a career at Alltech, along with Dr. Aoife Lyons, director of educational initiatives at Alltech and a licensed clinical psychologist.

“We were delighted to welcome our 11 new specialized CDP members. Each one of them was chosen based on their educational history, but more importantly their soft skills, such as curiosity, flexibility and enthusiasm,” said Dr. Aoife Lyons. “It is exciting to see these energetic recent grads with fresh perspectives joining the Alltech family.”

“Orientation week was such a humbling and honoring experience,” said Alexandra Dawson, a food science and nutrition graduate from Australia, a new member of CDP quality track. “It was great to meet a wonderful group of people, all from different countries, and then to have so much pertinent and useful advice given to us by senior executives as well as former CDP members.”

After their orientation, CDP members learned about the training they will receive in their respective specializations. Those in the beef track will focus on improving animal health and welfare, while increasing beef farm profitability in the European beef market. The dairy track targets solutions to boost profitability in dairy production in Asia. The quality track encompasses all aspects of product manufacturing, including the Alltech Quality System (AQS), the most comprehensive quality system in the industry.

The new CDP members are:

Alltech Beef Career Development Program:

• Bahadir Fidan, Turkey
• Thomas Pacalier, France
• Matteo Tartara, Italy
• Eduard Castanyer, Spain

Alltech Dairy Career Development Program:

• Christina Straathof, Canada
• Nhung Lai, Vietnam
• Ghazanfar Naseer, Pakistan

Alltech Quality Career Development Program:

• Alexandra Dawson, Australia
• Alayna Boland, United States
• Marcela Ishii, Brazil
• Jordyn Aitken, New Zealand

To learn more about the Alltech Career Development Program, please visit: www.alltech.com/graduate.

Food Safety: Red Tractor’s Never-ending Pursuit

Where does your food really come from? From farm to processing plant, from supermarket to plate, it’s important to know that your food was handled in a safe and ethical manner at every step of the journey. This episode takes a look at Red Tractor, one of the most trusted food assurance programs. Alltech’s David Butler recently sat down with food industry leader Philip Wilkinson to better understand how Red Tractor provides peace of mind to the consumer. You can listen to the podcast in full or view the transcript below.

I'm David Butler and my guest today is Philip Wilkinson, Executive Director of Two Sisters Food Group. Actually that's just one of many positions that Philip holds. He took some time to talk to us about food safety, traceability and Red Tractor, the United Kingdom's leading farm and quality food assurance program. Their motto is, "we trace it so you can trust it".

So, I’m Philip Wilkinson, Executive Director of Two Sisters Food Group which is the largest poultry producer for broiler meat in Europe. I’m Vice President of AVEC, which is the European Poultry Association, a board member of the British Poultry Council, and on the Board of Assured Foods Standards in the UK.

That is a lot of hats to wear.

Yeah it is, but they are all interconnected so it works very well.

And a lot of what you do is related to messaging to the end consumer is that correct to say?

Yeah. The Assured Foods Standards brand, or mark, you would know as being a Red Tractor which is underpinned by the Union Jack, the Union flag of the UK. And, that is a mark that has been on the go now since the year 2000 when it was launched. In dollar terms the sales value in 2015 will be in the region of $22-23 billion US. So, it has come from zero to hero in that 15 years and would be the mark that the vast majority of citizens and consumers in the UK would recognize in terms of one of quality, traceability, assurance, and would give them trust.

They would know that that kind of symbolizes everything that’s important to them and their food.

We like to think so. But, it’s a little bit like painting a very large bridge. It’s never ending. You get to the end and you got to start at the beginning again. So it’s an evolutionary process. We didn’t put something in place back in the year 2000 and it stayed exactly the same in 2015. It moves with the times. We tweak it here, we tweak it there in order to keep up with what is considered to be important in the minds of consumers. At the time that this was launched, there was no carbon footprint message going around whereas we now know that is a major part of the sustainability debate. So, we are now looking at being true to that objective and G20 leaders have signed up to that agreement to hit benchmarks by 2020 and there are milestones in that process, so we have bought into that as part of our message and that will fall into our activities going forward across all meat proteins and crops, as well, because the Red Tractor does embrace all meat proteins together with combinable crops, so you know it’s a pretty big operation.

That does seem like a huge operation and it seems like it would be very difficult to create guidelines or best practices across so many different, very diverse industries. How do you do that?

Okay, and that’s a good question. Each sector is a stand-alone. So, each sector has its sector board, it has its own technical advisory committee, and what I need to share with you is that this is not an in-house initiative. This is something that is shared across the whole of the supply chain so that everyone buys into it. So, you’ve got the farming union representing the farmers. You’ve got the likes of the British Poultry Council representing the poultry processors, you’ve then got the British Retail Consortium representing the retailers. Food service representatives and also academics and independents.

And, what we do, is we have a set of standards that are compiled by those people. So they are independent. The technical advisory committees are chaired by independent people. People who have got a wealth of experience in the field but are not directly involved in the supply chain. So they may be university professors who talk about this sort of stuff and I think about ours, is a guy who was a lecturer, very very well respected, at Reading University. He has been the chairman of the technical advisory committee. So that when product, and it always does happen that there will be a food scare, there is always something that is going to happen in the food industry, no matter how hard you try, you can put an independent person to front that, because it gives far more credibility than somebody like me who is an industry person who the consumer would say, “Well, he would say that anyway.” So, it gives it and this technical advisory committee, is meeting on a bi-month basis to review the standards, review the adherence to standards, to then dole out penalties to those who don’t adhere to the standards, so that the standards have integrity. Without the integrity, the consumer wouldn’t trust them and there would be chaos.

Right, so you have input and knowledge and expertise that is coming from the people in the industry that worked in the industry for years and years and they’re contributing that, but you also have independent people on the boards.

Just to show how fair we actually are, we even have on the board of Assured Food Standards, a representative from Compassionate World Farming. It doesn’t get more open than that. These are people who would sometimes march on the Houses of Parliament or march into KFC or into McDonald’s or into Two Sisters Food Group and cry foul. So, this is how open we are and how transparent we are in embracing the thoughts and opinions of everyone before we arrive at a decision.

Wow, that’s pretty impressive. It seems a lot more genuine than, you know, a company that might create their own little kind of premium certified logo that is not backed up by anything in particular.

I think that most companies who do, do that and some decide they’re going to have their own offering underpinned by Red Tractor, but then, let’s say move slightly outside that to create a point of difference for them, they would always use the Red Tractor Assurance to underpin, but then they would also rather than it stay in house, they would also use independent bodies who audit their schemes as well. And, might even help in the compilation of those schemes.

Is there any talk of Red Tractor expanding beyond the United Kingdom?

The Red Tractor Standards are already accepted outside of the United Kingdom because companies such as ours, or some of the retailers, or food service organizations who stand by the Red Tractor mark to the consumer as their offering have product that comes in from other countries. So, even though we produce in the UK, 19 million chickens a week, we actually consume 27 million whole bird equivalents, so those birds come in from Brazil or Thailand or elsewhere in Europe and in order for it to be a level playing field, and in order for the on pack claims to be made, equivalents have to be agreed in those countries. So, if they’re not eligible to carry the Red Tractor and the Union Jack, because obviously the Union Jack is produced in the UK; however, they are audited to those standards in those relevant countries by auditors who have been checked out by the audit bodies and the competent authorities back in the UK. So, the brand doesn’t travel, but the equivalents of it, do and that is the only way we would take product in from those countries outside of the UK.

So that’s having a positive effect on the global food supply really.

Yep, and as I showed in the presentation both yesterday at the food REBELation and at the poultry REBELation, I have shown that other European countries have got their own marks and emblems and logos that are for their countries that may or may not be the same as ours. They may be slightly different, but this is something that has now gone European wide, that’s for sure. And, there’s been a lot of interest as I’ve talked in other countries all over the world either in my own capacity or doing talks for Alltech. There is a massive interest in Red Tractor and the Red Tractor, and I wouldn’t say this but I know that I’m right, the Red Tractor news has traveled globally more than I would say most of the others or any of the others that I’m aware of. The only one that would sort of be internationally recognized would be the RSPCA, the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty of Animals which obviously goes pretty global anyway. Particularly the commonwealth countries where there would be a connection anyway.

Right, that makes sense. So how is all of this activity funded?

The Red Tractor is funded through usage of the mark on pack, so it’s fractions and fractions of pennies on a pack.

So a licensing fee?

Yes, a licensing fee which then everyone in that supply chain pays a price for. So just to give you a feel. It won’t be an exact number and I’m going to try to convert to US dollars for you, but for a poultry farm, a broiler farm in the UK to be signed up Red Tractor, it would cost circa $75-$80 a year; well in the big picture that doesn’t really even cover the auditor traveling and coming to the farm to do the audit, but because it’s funded across the whole of the supply chain, and everybody can afford to be in. If you’re a big dairy company, that’s going out on milk bottles that sit on tables, well then that’s easy, but if you are the dairy farmer you have to pay the same sort of money as they have to pay, you would never sign up in the first place. The reason why it’s been so successful is that the farm to fork supply chain has bought into it and are all doing their bit and paying for it.

The cost is shared?

People stand shoulder to shoulder.

Yeah, yeah. It benefits everybody.

Sure it does.

One last question. I assume you don’t have full traceability for everything under Red Tractor yet? Do you? Traceability is so difficult.

Well, I cited this morning in the poultry session that this is an example. We have got a slaughterhouse for chickens close to a 24 hour TESCO store that also stocks our chicken. The Tesco technical team will maybe totally unannounced arrive at their store at 7:30 – 8:00 o’clock in the morning, and they will pick a whole bird off the shelf, they will pick a packet of wings off the shelf, and they will pick some breast meat off the shelf jump in their car, drive two miles up to the road to our factory, knock on the door, technical manager plunk those on his desk and say, “I want traceability, full traceability down the production line back to the breeder farm where the eggs came from and I want you to do that in 4 hours on all of those products” We normally turn it around in somewhere between 2.25 – 2.50 hours. So the answer to your question, yes we can and I can even take it one step further in terms of supply chain for the feed that goes into the birds, whether it be the wheat or the soya I can do all that as well. So, in the poultry sector, I can’t speak on behalf of the other sectors because I’m not as close, but I would imagine it’s pretty much the same there. I sit very very comfortably on traceability.

That’s impressive!

How about that?

That’s a lot of work that goes into that.

But, it’s a great story to tell. You know when you get a TV scare and people are talking about horse meat and stuff like that, we had a minister for Food get on the prime time television BBC news when we had these issues and he said, “Obviously you can’t guarantee it because in the horsemeat scandal there’s a criminal element involved and the law enforcement authorities are dealing with that right now, but when asked the question by the interviewer, much the same as you are now, the interviewer said, “What would you do in a situation like this right now if you were a consumer?” And, the minister said, “look for a Red Tractor on the pack and that’s as safe as it’s gonna get.” So there’s no better endorsement on the BBC News program with ten million plus viewers watching. I’ll tell you that anytime.

Yeah, and you’re not going to have, you know a government Minister going out on a limb very often if that’s not a pretty safe statement.

He’s gotta be pretty cool with what he’s saying, he’s gotta be comfortable with it.

Well, thank you very much Philip.

Pleasure.

I really appreciate it. I hope you’re enjoying your time here.

Always do, I’m delighted to be back here. Always enjoy it.

I want to thank Philip for spending some time with us. You can find out more about Red Tractor at redtractor.org.uk and you can find out more about Two Sisters Food Group at 2sfg.com.

Thanks so much for listening to the AgFuture podcast and thanks to our producer Robbie Gay. If you like the podcast please share it with your friends or give us a rating on iTunes. We'd love to hear from you too. Send your comments or suggestions to AgFuture@alltech.com.

Announcing new acquisitions in Norway (from left to right) are Dr. Pearse Lyons, founder and president of Alltech, Bjarne Ravnøy, Magne Kolstad, Leif Loe, Linda Dvergsdal Hauge all from Produs and Patrick Charlton, Alltech vice president for Europe. Produs and Produs Aqua are Alltech’s ninth and tenth acquisitions respectively, a development that will mean continued innovative, customised and quality products, programmes, services and on-farm consultation for customers in Norway, both on land and at sea.

Today we are proud to announce another acquisition in Europe. Currently Alltech has a presence across much of Europe, with Norway being a final frontier. This morning we announced an agreement to acquire Produs AS and Produs Aqua AS, Norway. Based in both Førde and Bergen, Norway, Produs has been in business for nearly 15 years, and during this time has worked closely with us. Produs is a very strong brand in Norway, and there is a great fit between the Alltech and the Produs brands. Produs has always been a strong ambassador for the Alltech brand in Norway and together we now offer a strengthened commitment to our customers, providing them with tailored solutions and local support.

Improving animal nutrition is a pressing need for the productivity of the world’s farmers and those involved in the food chain. Feed costs comprise the majority of livestock production costs. By improving nutrition, livestock and poultry producers are able to realise a significant increase in efficiencies and return on investment. Alltech’s continued commitment to tailoring nutrition and health programmes with a focus on natural ingredients, allows farmers to raise healthier animals through a process that is more beneficial for animals, consumers and the environment. 

We’re very excited to welcome the Produs team to Alltech, and we’ll have more to share about our integration in the coming months. In the meantime, read more about today’s news in our press release.

Something all poultry businesses have in common is that feed costs represent the biggest portion of production expenses. Integrators therefore spend a large part of their time looking at ways to cut dollars and cents out of their feed costs. In fact, the average million birds per week complex will save an estimated $313,500 per year by reducing feed costs by just $1 per ton. What many don’t know is that a lot of the wasted money is the result of undigested feed.

Many studies have found a direct relationship between feed efficiency (FE), and overall poultry health, performance, uniformity and quality. This is because FE impacts the microbial balance in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of poultry. Proper FE has been shown to reduce the amount of undigested energy available to pathogenic bacteria in the lower gut. Further, enzymes that help break down indigestible feedstuffs have also been shown to have a prebiotic effect by producing oligosaccharides in the upper part of the GIT. Collectively these two health benefits can potentially save integrators money by improving the health and performance of their flocks.

The Agristats^® report for March 2015 reveals how even minor performance changes can have a major impact in poultry operations:

(Applicable to a 1 million birds per week complex)

1. Parent Breeding:
   • Change of 1% in rate of lay represents $173,000/year
   • Change of 1 chick produced/hen/year represents $265,000/year
2. Hatching:
   • Change of 1% in hatchability represents $33,000/year
   • Change of 1 cent/chick cost represents $543,000/year
3. Broiler Growing:
   • Change of 1% in mortality represents $241,000/year
   • Change of 0.25% in condemnation represents $267,000/year

Getting the most from your feed

Alltech^® True Check^™ is an example of an in vitro digestion system developed to evaluate diets and impacts of feed technology in monogastric animals. Utilizing samples of feed, Alltech True Check mimics the real-life conditions of the animal’s digestive system.

Alltech True Check has the ability to screen diets or individual feed components with and without feed technologies more rapidly and economically than costly animal trials.  After digestion is simulated, nutrient availability and digestibility values are obtained that can help integrators see potential cost savings. Ask your Alltech representative about True Check and unlock the hidden potential in your poultry feed.

“True Check is a game changer since it allows us to graphically show our clients how effective their feed is at releasing digestible nutrients,” said Paulo Rigolin, Alltech poultry director.