Are you looking to rebuild or remodel your swine production facility? The prospect of taking on the rigorous endeavor can be daunting. Russell Gilliam, Alltech's U.S. swine business manager, has a list of areas that he feels are most important for rebuilding a facility to lower costs and increase comfort for workers and pigs. He asks questions that are important to consider and includes helpful tips from his 20 years of experience in the swine industry.

The following is a checklist with Gilliam’s suggestions, consolidated from his talk at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference 2017.

What are your goals?

What would you like to accomplish? What type of market are you going to sell to? What do you already have in your barns that will work?

Picture your ideal operation. What does it look like? What does it not look like? If you have an ideal operation in mind, you can proceed to making the more technical decisions that are going to produce the facility that will help you reach your goals.

Master checklist for remodeling/rebuilding swine production facilities

Pens

• Crates or pens

This may differ based on your farm location due to laws and regulations.

Questions to consider: How big are your pens? How many pigs per pen? How big are the pigs?

• Penning equipment

“Oftentimes, we select our penning equipment based on the animals in the barn, and we may forget about the opportunity to increase worker safety and comfort while replacing gates,” said Gilliam.

Questions to consider: Does this work for the animal and employees?

TIP: A walk-through gate might be easier for employees to use. Easier access means better animal care and improvements in animal performance.

Facility

• Monitoring equipment

Will the facility be strictly for production, or will there be research done as well?

• Fans

There are different demands based on location and climate. Match your selection to the air quality expectations in your area.

• Heaters

What kind of heater do you really need? Will it be used for small or young pigs, or is one required to heat the barn throughout the life cycle?

• Concrete slats

Check the width of the opening. Is it too wide? Sometimes hooves can get stuck in slats that are too wide, causing injury.

Check the thickness of the slats. Are they strong enough to hold the pigs?

Research the supplier. Do they have a good track record in the industry?

LED or inexpensive lighting

Inexpensive lighting can reduce costs upfront.

LED lighting can extend the day length for pigs, stimulate feed intake and put workers in a better mood.

Although it costs more, LED lights may help you save money in the long run. You will need fewer lights, and they tend to last longer than inexpensive lights. There are also energy grants available in the U.S. for reduced electricity costs.

TIP: “Pigs don’t see very well, so we need to make sure we have the lights placed where they eat and drink,” said Gilliam.

Feed

• Electronic or manual feeding

Electronic feeding allows producers to track the animals’ eating habits in real time: if they are eating, when they are eating and how much they consume. This information can be seen by the producer on his/her phone anywhere.

Manual feeding (hand-feeding or drop boxes) allows for changes or alterations to be made while walking through the barn. Additionally, it eliminates the worry of technology breakdowns.

• Bins

How many bins are needed? Will they run in tandem? How many phases will you feed?

TIP: If feeding in multiple phases, consider adding bins.

Feeding system

There are numerous feeding systems on the market. Match your choice to your expectations and to the volume of feed that will be going through your barn.

TIP: “Keep in mind how many times (the feeding system) will have to turn corners in your barns because some technology can turn around corners easier than others,” said Gilliam.

• Feeders

What type of genetics are you feeding? How do they eat? All day? Three times per day?

TIP: For pigs that eat a certain number of times per day, make sure that the feeder is larger and has more space to help reduce aggression.

Water

• Water meters

“I’m a big fan of water meters,” said Gilliam. “I really feel like they help us to make early production decisions based on the health of our pigs, and it tells us when they’re stressed.”

• Water medicators

Water medicators make it easier to have water interventions. Interventions can be done more quickly and can be monitored to ensure the desired response. There are different styles and types of medicators, and they should be matched to their usage purpose and rate.

• Drinkers

Who is drinking: sows, nursery or grow-finish pigs? Will the drinkers be hanging, swinging or mounted to the wall? Will you use pans, cups or nibble bars?

Consider looking at different types of nipple technology.

TIP: Avoid spraying. In addition to water waste, spraying can scare young pigs. “If we splash them in the face, they have a little bit of reluctance to go drink,” said Gilliam.

Final thoughts

Gilliam said the following three items are his non-negotiables: water medicators, water meters and LED lighting. The extra benefits, especially for the health and welfare of the pig, far outweigh the extra costs.

New technology, such as sensors, can also be beneficial to your operation. Sensors on sows allow convenience and efficiency in multiple areas. They can send a message to your phone when the sow is ready to farrow, prompting a heat lamp to automatically turn on just for that sow and not the entire barn. This greatly reduces energy cost and is better for the overall care of the pigs.

One of the most exciting innovations, however, is electronic barn monitoring. Gilliam calls it “the future of (the pig business).” It allows you to monitor the barn remotely, see problems in specific pens and then communicate it to all your farm workers.

“I can connect every single piece of my farm to my phone and then send it right out to the internet so that my farm managers can see it,” said Gilliam.

Rebuilding or remodeling can be nerve-wracking. However, knowing where to be frugal and where to invest your money will help you make decisions that work best for your operation and, as Gilliam said, “give your animals the opportunity to reach optimum performance.”

In this series, we have investigated the many ways Alltech has harnessed bioscience under the guidance of its ACE principle to reconcile producer profitability with agriculture’s impacts. All of this against a backdrop of a burgeoning global population and increasing concerns about our environmental stewardship. Part four concludes the series with an overview of ACE: where it came from, what it has inspired and how it is leading the company into the future.

Serendipity can happen in a sentence. Consider the origin of the Alltech ACE principle, the architecture of a corporate research and development framework that materialized in the mind of company founder Dr. Pearse Lyons while traveling the world nearly 30 years ago.

Dr. Pearse Lyons, president and founder of Alltech

“We were talking about the things we were doing, the products we were developing and the move against antibiotics,” recalled Dr. Lyons. “Professor Archimede Mordenti, from the University of Bologna, who sadly passed away, was the chairman of a meeting in Italy. He said, ‘I don’t know if you realize it, but you are describing a company that will be friendly to animals, consumers and the environment.’ He could see where we were going, even before we could.”

“ACE” has since become firmly embedded in the Alltech DNA, a guiding reminder that the company’s product lines, programs and concepts must benefit the animal, the consumer and the environment.

That’s a tall order, and it has taken time for the agriculture industry’s priorities to shift in the direction of this more holistic philosophy.

“ACE was not popular amongst animal farmers when first proposed at the Alltech Symposium in 1989 by professor Mordenti,” said Aidan Connolly, Alltech's chief innovation officer and vice president of corporate accounts. “Most believed that animal production should only focus on food availability, affordability and safety. How far our industry has come.”

Aidan Connolly, vice president and chief innovation officer

This vision was indeed somewhat radical at a time when the application of chemicals and antibiotics dominated agriculture’s approach to issues impeding productivity.

“Dr. Lyons decided from the beginning that it was not going to be a chemical or antibiotic-based approach to food animal nutrition,” added Dr. Kate Jacques, Alltech nutrition director. “They were going to dump money into research to find new ways around it. Thirty years ago, that was a very radical idea. It was one we had to drag into the light.”

“We went against the stream,” remembered Dr. Lyons. “Indeed, on a couple of occasions, when we made awards to people who had made breakthroughs, the industry reacted against us and we lost customers. However, we stuck to our guns, and the fact now is that we have literally billions of chickens and pigs around the world on the Alltech Antibiotic-Free program.”

Scientific to the core

Science in support of sustainability is the foundation of ACE. But in the early days of the company, industry resistance to this idea was not the only obstacle the company had to overcome.

“We were starting a business in Kentucky, and we did not have the people with the specific knowledge in the areas that we were to be working,” noted Dr. Lyons. “So, we had to effectively develop our own team. Therefore, we developed the people through our Ph.D. and master’s degree programs.

“We are very proud of the fact that we have had over 260 people do their master’s degree and Ph.D.s with us,” he continued. “We pay two-thirds of the cost, and they pay one-third. When they finish their program, we pay them the one-third of the cost, plus another one-third. It is by reinvesting in education that we have been able to build our business.”

An architecture for ideas

Creating such career-advancing educational opportunities has attracted dedicated, highly educated professionals to work within the ACE structure. Their innovations have positioned Alltech to offer an array of sustainable alternatives to the use of chemicals and antibiotics in farming.

Among the earliest products in the company portfolio is Sel-Plex®, Alltech's proprietary organic form of selenium yeast. Manufactured to mimic Mother Nature, this organic form is better absorbed, stored and utilized by the animal than inorganic selenium.

“We pioneered the fact that you could use one-third the level of minerals if you put it into the biologically appropriate form,” said Dr. Lyons. “As a matter of fact, you will see a two-thirds reduction in pollution and, indeed, improvement in animal and human performance.”

A turning point was reached 10 years ago in Alltech’s work in nutrigenomics, the study of the interaction of nutrition and genes, especially in regard to the prevention or treatment of disease: humans may also see a direct benefit from Alltech’s mineral technology.

The research has indicated that when fed to animals, Sel-Plex favorably altered the activity of certain biological pathways associated with several serious human illnesses, Alzheimer’s disease prominent among them.

“Out of this work came the observation by the late professor Bill Markesbery of the University of Kentucky’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging that there was an opportunity on the human side for Alzheimer’s patients,” said Dr. Lyons. “From his observation, we launched a research program to find the active ingredients. Here we are today with our AT-001 (Sel-Plex) now in Phase II of the FDA’s clinical studies for Alzheimer’s.”

The paradigm shifts

In recent years, the agriculture industry has been turning to these rapidly emerging, often revolutionary technologies to support production and profitability while sustaining a healthy environment and serving an increasingly aware and demanding consumer.

“The ACE principle has long served as the primary driving force and standard for developing all new research, product lines and applications,” said Dr. Karl Dawson, Alltech’s chief scientific officer. “It is truly part of our research culture at Alltech. Our approach has always been to use the most recent biotechnologies to investigate, develop and apply natural solutions to many of the problems that limit the efficiencies of agricultural production.”

These have included the science of nutrigenomics, as well as some of the most advanced tools in molecular and analytical chemistry, and trend-setting fermentation technologies.

Going bananas in Costa Rica

Alltech Crop Science provides an example with its non-chemical solution to black sigatoka, also known as “black leaf streak," a fungal blight plaguing the banana groves of Costa Rica.

Kyle McKinney examines banana leaves for signs of black sigatoka.

“From a consumer standpoint and part of ACE, the consumer is driving down inputs on crops,” noted Dr. Kyle McKinney, Alltech Crop Science development manager for Central America and the Caribbean. “They want healthier foods for their families to eat. That’s the big reason we started the project in Costa Rica, but that’s really the overall spectrum of Alltech Crop Science.”

Deploying Alltech’s soil-microbiome stimulating Soil-Set® and plant nutrition supplement Agro-Mos®, McKinney and his team have developed a consumer- and environment-friendly alternative to the practice of weekly aerial sprayings of chemical fungicides.

In the interest of ethical productivity

Animal health and welfare have always been a key component of Alltech research and product development strategies.

“The well-being of animals is not only important to our view of the ethical treatment of livestock, but also results in more productive agricultural practices,” said Dawson. “This has resulted in the development of feed supplementation strategies that use natural ingredients and fermentation products to improve health and improve nutrition.”

Alltech animal nutrition strategies are designed to benefit the spectrum of species, from ruminants and swine to poultry and fish, to horses and pets.

“Apart from strictly reducing the amount of a pollutant like methane that comes from an animal, we also look at the efficiency with which these animals produce food for humans, said Alltech research project manager Amanda Gehman. “If we can have an efficient animal, that animal is by nature a more environmentally sustainable animal.”

An Alltech facility in Winchester, Kentucky, acquired in 2010, has since become one of the world’s largest commercial algae production sites. Work taking place there addresses the pressure on wild fisheries to provide fish oil and fish meal to the world’s expanding aquaculture operations. As a consequence of overfishing, many wild fisheries have been teetering on collapse.

“We believe we have a real solution in our algae that will reduce reliance on fish oil while increasing the amount of DHA available to farmed fish and, ultimately, to consumers,” said Dr. Jorge Arias, Alltech’s global director for aquaculture.

The new Alltech Coppens Aqua Centre in the Netherlands is working to deliver new technologies, including algae, aimed at achieving greater efficiency and sustainability.

Since joining Alltech in 2016, Coppens International, an aquatic feed solutions company in the Netherlands, has collaborated with Alltech’s research teams to introduce several new algae-based products containing innovative technologies such as ForPlus®, a sustainable algae-derived fish oil replacer that delivers very high levels of DHA..

Concern for the consumer

Why would an animal feed company have interest in ensuring high levels of DHA?

Western diets are seriously deficient in this omega-3 fatty acid that is a primary structural component of the human brain, cerebral cortex, skin and retina. Yet, vertebrates do not manufacture DHA, so it must be consumed in our foods.

“What we’re doing with our DHA enrichment program is making omega-3 fatty acids more accessible to the consumer by adding them to food products that they already enjoy eating, that they already buy, that they already know how to prepare, that are fairly inexpensive and are convenient,” explained Nikki Putnam, registered dietitian nutritionist and a nutrition solutions specialist at Alltech. “So, chicken, eggs, dairy products, beef, bacon — we can put DHA in all of those food products.”

Where all of this is going

Alltech continues to invest in natural-based approaches to agricultural production. Over the last decade, guided by its ACE “North Star,” the company has embraced many new scientific technologies that can be used as tools to improve understanding of feeds and feed management.

As Alltech’s chief scientist, Dawson envisions the development of ways to naturally improve disease resistance, reproductive health and the overall comfort of livestock using new feeds, ingredients and more precise nutrient management practices.

Connolly, ever mindful of connecting the dots between farm and table, anticipates increasing consumer demand for products that are clean, in keeping with their values, aspirations, ethics and expectations.

“In fact, this fits with the ACE principle,” he noted. “Alltech’s development of new strategies to allow farmers to remove hormones from beef production, antibiotics of all types from the feed of poultry or pigs, to help reduce viral diseases or avoid parasitic challenges such as sea lice, all of these are animal-friendly, consumer-acceptable and don’t negatively affect the environment.”

Read our entire ACE series:

The Animal

The Consumer

The Environment

Piglets should be weaned at an appropriate age and body weight to ensure that they continue their desired growth curve. Poor growth, immaturity and high variability within the litter can lead to variation in performance as the piglets progress through the grower and finisher phases, causing increases in costs at slaughter. This may negate the “all-in/all-out” (AIAO) strategy used on many farms, in which pigs reach age when they have reached finished weight.

All piglets should be checked at weaning

Monitoring weight gain immediately before weaning is important to make sure that there are no growth issues in the first seven days after weaning. Several strategies can be implemented to avoid problems with subsequent performance.

All piglets should be checked at weaning to ensure target and uniform weights are attained. The manager can either group piglets by litters or by body weight; both groups have pros and cons, so the choice should be consistent across litters.

During the first four days after weaning, specific attention to the housing environment is essential to eliminate cold spots and draughts. Solid boards, rather than slatted floors, should be used.

All weaned piglets must have free access to clean water

They should also be provided with highly digestible feed that they find palatable. The feed should be soaked with water for the first two days to encourage intake.

Feed should be offered in enough open dishes to allow free access for all the animals during the first three days post-weaning. Troughs should be large enough to supply feed to all piglets after this date. Poor access to feed can lead to smaller animals being excluded from feeding.

Use a highly digestible and palatable diet

Diets should include proven enzyme supplementation to enhance digestion, as well as products such as Actigen®, which will balance microflora and contribute to good gut health at this important time. Specialist ingredients, such as nucleotides, can be used to promote the development of the digestive tract. Creep feed should be available little and often throughout the day — perhaps four or five times — and any refusals or stale feed should be discarded.

Group the pigs by weight

Seven days or so after weaning, any small piglets should be removed and placed together in a separate pen within the same house. They should be maintained on the creep diet for longer to allow their body weight to catch up with their siblings. Any in-feed medication prescribed by a veterinarian should be administered during the first 10 days after weaning.

Use different diets according to body weight and age

As the piglets progress in age and weight, diets must be adjusted to match their changing requirements. The environment needs to be controlled and changed accordingly (e.g., temperature). This will prevent the development of respiratory and other diseases as well as help maintain optimal conditions for growth and health.

Feeding age-and weight-appropriate diets with proven zootechnical ingredients to promote digestive function and the ideal gut environment are crucial to the development and efficiency of the intestinal tract. Without the appropriate diet, or if the pigs are exposed to gut pathogens, the villi that line the gut may be damaged. This may lead to atrophy and poor endogenous enzyme secretions, poor mucous protection and reduced nutrient absorption. Because only minimal amounts of feed are consumed during the pre-weaning period, attention to detail during this stage is important for the health and productivity of the animals until slaughter age.

Key factors dictate the degree of villus atrophy

Several factors affect the chances of the piglet developing atrophied villi after weaning. The age and weight at weaning is important, as this is a measure of the animal’s maturity and ability to cope with weaning stresses. Environmental factors within the house are also important; if not controlled correctly, it can add further stress to the piglet and make it more susceptible to disease.

Feed should be palatable and highly digestible to ensure that it is digested in the upper ileum and does not bypass enzyme breakdown, which can result in the feed flowing into the hind gut, where it will act as a substrate for non-beneficial bacteria. This can lead to the development of gastrointestinal disease. Certainly, protein is important in this respect, as bypassed protein can be utilized by toxic bacteria such as Clostridia spp. Feed and water hygiene will help reduce the introduction of many pathogens into the piglets, and whilst feed is often monitored, water troughs and water quality may not always be. Many pathogens are transmitted via dirty water systems.

To arrange a complimentary Alltech Pig ASSIST audit for your herd, please contact us at pig@alltech.com.

The quality and stability of animal-derived food products, including pet foods, will depend on the management, diet and genetics of that animal. What an animal is fed can directly impact their antioxidant defense system. Incorporating dietary antioxidants and other functional feed ingredients can minimize oxidative damage, which will impact the end product (and pet food ingredient): meat.

When we are talking about food, whether for people or pets, oxidative deterioration will impact palatability. Oxidative damage to lipids and proteins produces rancid off-flavors and off-odors and decreases textural characteristics. But even more importantly, when proteins are oxidized, there is a loss of important amino acids, which are necessary for pets’ growth, development and overall health.

More to minerals

Minerals are necessary for proper biological function and good health. They are especially important in maintaining the antioxidant and oxidant balance within humans, livestock and pets. Some key players involved in maintaining this balance are antioxidant enzymes, such as glutathione peroxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase. But, minerals are a double-edged sword. They can be beneficial or detrimental depending on the quantity fed and the form used.

Going full circle

Making sure pets get the right nutrition for optimal health means we need to look at what livestock animals are fed.

Organically complexed minerals are more bioavailable than their inorganic counterparts, which means we don’t need to add as many minerals to the diet of livestock. By replacing and reducing the amount of minerals in the diet, we can restore the oxidative balance in the animal and, in turn, the meat ingredient in pet food. Research has shown that feeding organically complexed forms of selenium, iron, zinc and copper can increase antioxidant enzyme activity in skeletal muscle. Also, by including fat-soluble antioxidants, such as vitamin E and/or carotenoids, we can inhibit lipid oxidation and subsequently protein oxidation in muscle. This will translate to more nutritious, delicious and better-quality ingredients being fed to pets.

I want to learn more about pet nutrition.

Americans sure do love their pets. With 68 percent of U.S. households owning a pet, we collectively spent $66.75 billion on our best friends in 2016. It goes without saying how much we care about them, and our concerns certainly include their health and the health of our family members who interact with them on a daily basis.

Because we have made our pets a part of our family, we want them to have the best we can offer in food and nutrition, always considering the source of the food, its ingredients and its quality. But the actual safety of their food goes beyond these important considerations.

When we think of pet food safety, there are two sides to this issue: the potential that the food could cause harm to our pets, and the possibility that the food could cause harm to family members who interact with them and their food.

If we consider food safety for the pet, then we could certainly mention the melamine scare of 2007. In that instance, pet foods were produced with vegetable protein tainted with melamine, an industrial chemical not approved as an ingredient in animal or human food in the United States. The tainted food led to renal failure in many cats and dogs, with some unfortunately dying from their illness. More information about this incident can be found at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website.

Another example of contaminants that may sicken our best friends is mycotoxins. These are naturally occurring toxins produced by molds. Mycotoxins can be associated with many plant products as a result of toxigenic molds growing on them. Even though the FDA has regulations and guidelines related to maximum allowed levels for some of these toxins in pet food, once in a while we have issues related to these compounds. One example would be from 2005, when aflatoxin-contaminated dog food was shipped to 22 different states and at least 29 different countries. Nineteen different types of pet foods had to be recalled.

The other aspect related to pet food safety is the safety of family members who interact with pets. In more than one instance, human illnesses have been associated with the handling of contaminated pet food. In one of these situations, in 2012, 49 individuals were infected with Salmonella infantis, and investigations found the source of the bacteria was the dry dog food offered by those individuals to their pets. This outbreak also triggered a recall of 17 product brands, representing more than 30,000 tons of dry dog food.

Lessons learned for better safety

All these incidents have served as painful lessons for the pet food industry, government and pet owners. Much has changed in regard to the implementation of pet food safety management systems by the industry: pet owners have become aware of the potential hazards associated with their pet’s food and guidelines have been promoted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help prevent outbreaks associated with Salmonella. In an effort to further increase the safety of foods for humans and animals, the FDA has also recently implemented a series of rules, known as the Food Safety Modernization Act, related to the processing of foods that will certainly contribute to reducing the occurrence of these incidents in the U.S.

If you would like to learn more about the hazards associated with pet foods, the tools used by the pet food industry to control them, new regulations that will support efforts to produce wholesome and safe pet foods, as well as some guidelines to keep your family safe while feeding your pets, be sure to check back on this blog. Future entries will be dedicated to each of these topics.

I want to learn more about pet nutrition.

[GUELPH, Ontario] – From green pastures and blue skies to rolling hills and vast prairies, from newborn calves to hardworking farm dogs, life in agriculture can be a thing of breathtaking beauty, rich in picturesque moments rarely experienced by an increasingly urban population. Alltech wants to celebrate these moments in farm life and is calling all Canadian farmers, ranchers and producers to submit and share their farm photos for the opportunity to win a trip to ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE18) held in Lexington, Kentucky, May 20–23, 2018. 

Photos must be submitted online by Dec. 15, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. EST. Alltech Canada will select ten photos as finalists, and those photos will be published on Alltech’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/AlltechNaturally) for public voting.  

Voting will open to the public on Dec. 15 at 3:00 p.m. ET and will close on Dec. 29 at 9:00 a.m. EST. Use the hashtag #CDNPicMeONE18Contest to find the photos, or visit the Facebook album to vote. The entrant with the photo that receives the highest number of Facebook likes and correctly answers a mathematical skill-testing question, will be declared the winner.

The winner and a guest will receive free registration to ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference, flights to and from Lexington, Kentucky, and four nights’ accommodation. To enter a photo and read the full contest details, including the rules and regulations, visit https://go.alltech.com/picmeone18contest/canada.

Registration is now open for ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference, held in Lexington, Kentucky, USA, from May 20–23, 2018. The annual international conference draws 4,000 attendees from nearly 80 countries to network and discuss world-changing ideas. For more information or to register, visit one.alltech.com. Join the conversation online with #ONE18.

Last year’s participants generated more than $50 million in new qualified sales leads across 28 international markets

[DUNBOYNE, Ireland] – Following a highly successful first year, Alltech will select another cohort from across the world to participate in The Pearse Lyons Accelerator, a unique global accelerator backed by Irish entrepreneur Dr. Pearse Lyons. The three-month program will be hosted at Ireland’s leading startup hub, Dogpatch Labs, and will conclude on the main stage at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference, where startups will have the unique opportunity to present to more than 4,000 attendees and some of the premier thought leaders in the world.

Last year’s startups collectively added $50 million in new qualified sales leads across 28 international markets by the end of the accelerator. Last month, seven of the 10 startups were featured by CB Insights* in “Agtech: 100+ Technology Companies Changing The Farm,” illustrating the quality of the startups involved. The accelerator was described as “by far streets ahead of any ag-tech accelerator out there,” according to Gary Wickham, CEO of MagGrow, one of the participants in the 2017 accelerator. Since completing the accelerator last year, Hargol FoodTech won WeWork’s The Creator Award, six international innovation competitions as well as closing a $2.5M round of funding.

Activity in ag-tech continues to grow, with startups raising more than $4.4 billion in the first half of 2017 alone, according to the AgFunder AgriFood Tech Investing Report, in no small part due to an ever-increasing global population. The latest forecast from the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs predicts that between now and the close of the century, our global population will increase from 7.6 billion to more than 11 billion people. The question of where our food comes from and how we produce it is becoming more and more pressing.

“Alltech’s roots are in entrepreneurial innovation, and as a global industry leader, we are well-positioned to open doors for the next generation of industry disruptors,” said Dr. Lyons. “It is essential to empower the next generation of ag-tech entrepreneurs who are pioneering for a sustainable future.”

In its first year, The Pearse Lyons Accelerator received 183 applications from 38 countries across six continents, and the startups selected for the 2017 cohort hailed from eight different countries with an average funding of $3.5 million each and $35 million collectively.

The startups had direct access to the founder and management of Alltech as well as the ability to drive business development through Alltech’s global network. The program culminated at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference, where the startups pitched to leading agri-business leaders, high-profile investors and the press. The startups shared the stage with thought leaders such as Peter Diamandis, founder and executive chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation and co-founder of Singularity University, and George Blankenship, former executive at Tesla Motors, Apple Computer and GAP Inc.

A clear route to market remains a challenge in the industry, and this programme seeks to accelerate startups’ access to this global market, with a comprehensive package of support to help them navigate the challenge of scaling their operations to service large corporate customers.

“Last year saw some amazing outcomes for the participating startups,” said Patrick Walsh, managing director of Dogpatch Labs. “We’re excited to welcome a new cohort from across the world. This program focuses on a unique environment for the accelerator applicants to drive sales and secure investment as well as mentoring and resources for founders through our connection to the startup ecosystem.”

The deadline for applications to The Pearse Lyons Accelerator program will close on Dec. 22, 2017.

High levels of deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEA) present in grain and forage samples across Canada

[GUELPH, Ontario] – The 2017 growing season was a variable and challenging one across Canada. From drought conditions on the prairies to above-average rainfall in Ontario, weather conditions can not only reduce yield, but can also increase plant stress and lead to challenges with mycotoxins. Results from samples submitted for the Alltech 2017 Canadian Harvest Analysis show that grains and forages from across Canada are at risk of mycotoxin contamination.

Samples submitted between Sept. 1 and Oct. 15, 2017, show that grains contained mixtures of mycotoxins, including deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEA). Forages such as corn silage, barlage and haylage samples also contained multiple mycotoxins in 2017, particularly from mycotoxins produced by Fusarium species of moulds, such as DON, ZEA and T-2/HT-2 toxins.

As a result of the late-season rains in many provinces, especially following the dry conditions during the summer in the prairies, there is additional potential for mycotoxins such as fumonisins.

Mycotoxins are a regular concern for producers, as they influence feed quality and animal safety. They are produced by certain species of moulds and can have toxic properties that impact animal health and performance.

“Farmers should carefully consider if and how feed with mycotoxins is used,” said Dr. Alexandra Weaver, Alltech® Mycotoxin Management technical specialist. “Even minimal changes in feed quality can have a big impact on an animal’s production over time.”

Mycotoxins are seldom found in isolation, and when multiple mycotoxins are consumed, they may have additive, or even synergistic, interactions that increase the overall risk to performance and health. As a result, an animal may have a stronger response than what would be expected if it was only experiencing a single mycotoxin challenge.

For feedstuffs harvested in 2017 and currently being fed, it is important to conduct a mycotoxin analysis that identifies storage mycotoxins, including the Penicillium and Aspergillus mycotoxin groups, as there is added potential for additional mycotoxins to develop during storage. Proper mycotoxin management techniques can reduce the risk of mycotoxins coming from feed materials as well as help to prevent the negative effects mycotoxins can have on animal health and performance.

Alltech Canada will be hosting two webinars to review the 2017 harvest analysis results with Weaver on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2017. The Western Canada webinar will take place at 9:00 a.m. MT, and an Eastern Canada webinar will take place at 2:00 p.m. ET. Reserve a spot for the Western Canada webinar via this link and for the Eastern Canada webinar via this link.

For more information on mycotoxin management, visit knowmycotoxins.com.

The Alltech® Mycotoxin Management team can now test and analyze samples for over 40 different mycotoxins in animal feed

[LEXINGTON, Ky.] – Mycotoxins threaten animal health and producer profitability, so identifying and addressing these hidden challenges is very important for farmers. Alltech is a world leader in mycotoxin management and now has the ability to test for over 40 different mycotoxins in animal feed samples. With this new analytical capability, Alltech is able to not only detect these new mycotoxins, but can also begin to understand how they can impact animal performance and health.

The Alltech 37+® mycotoxin analysis test is the cornerstone of the Alltech® Mycotoxin Management program, as it tests for more than 37 types of mycotoxins. When samples are submitted for testing, farmers will now see an additional five mycotoxins that have recently gained attention in scientific research for becoming important to the agriculture industry. These additional mycotoxins and toxicity symptoms are:

- Citrinin:

o Kidney damage, oxidative stress, gut health challenges, diarrhea/loose manure

- Beauvericin:

o Oxidative stress, antimicrobial activity, contamination of milk/meat

- Moniliformin:

o Heart damage, immune suppression, loss of performance

- Citreoviridin:

o Vitamin B1 deficiency, immune suppression, oxidative stress, poor reproductive performance, reduced weight gain

- Cyclopiazonic acid:

o GIT damage, oxidative stress, immune suppression, loss of performance

Alltech 37+ test results provide a realistic picture of feed contaminants in feed ingredients or total mixed rations to speed up the process of diagnosis, suggest effective remediation and help move toward an effective mycotoxin control plan. Between Alltech’s 37+ mycotoxin analytical services laboratories in Lexington, Kentucky, and Dunboyne, Ireland, they have run nearly 20,000 samples, each searching for over 37 mycotoxins in animal feed.

To learn more, visit www.knowmycotoxins.com.

WHAT: Join Dr. Kayla Price, Canadian poultry technical manager at Alltech, as she discusses the essentials for a premium egg and factors affecting eggshell quality. Eggshell quality is important to consumers, as they are looking for a uniform, crack-free shell, and to producers, who are looking to increase the number of healthy chicks through eggshell strength.

The live webinar will also cover topics such as:

· How an egg is made and the role that gut health plays in the creation of the egg.

· The factors that influence egg quality.

· Programs to enhance eggshell quality.

WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017

2:00 p.m. ET

WHERE: Reserve a spot now via this link. If you are unable to attend the live webinar, you can register via the link to receive the recording.

OTHER: Price’s presentation will be followed by a live question-and-answer session.

About the speaker:

Dr. Kayla Price is the Canadian poultry technical manager for Alltech. She provides technical and sales support with additional research responsibilities in Canada. Prior to joining Alltech, Price completed her Ph.D. at the University of Guelph in Canada with a research focus on environmental influence on live coccidiosis vaccine success in chickens.