African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious and deadly disease that affects domestic and wild pigs regardless of age and sex. ASF cannot be spread to humans and other non-swine animals and livestock and is not a threat to human health. However, humans can carry the virus on their clothing, shoes and equipment and can spread the disease unknowingly.

Historically endemic to African countries, ASF has been spreading rapidly throughout Asia and parts of Europe through 2018 and 2019. What are the symptoms of ASF, what can we do to prevent the disease, and are there any treatment options?

Signs and symptoms of ASF

• High fever (40.5–42oC)
• Sudden loss of appetite
• Hemorrhages on skin and internal organs, particularly lymph nodes
• Diarrhea, vomiting (sometimes with bloody discharge)
• Abortion
• Depression
• Coughing
• Difficulty breathing
• Sudden death
• High death loss

While these symptoms are similar to classical swine fever (CSF), ASF is caused by a unique virus that is distinct from CSF. Unusually high mortality rates among pigs of all ages can be a strong indicator of ASF. However, the only way to know for sure which virus pigs might be infected with is through laboratory testing. If you notice any of the symptoms mentioned above in your herd, contact a vet as soon as you can to ensure that the correct quarantine and treatment are completed. This could help limit the damage on your farm.

Tips to prevent ASF from entering your farm

It is possible to keep ASF out of the farm, even in countries where ASF is endemic. Here are nine prevention measures you can take to avoid ASF.

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1. Implementation of strict importation measures for animal products:

Ensure that neither infected live pigs nor pork products are introduced into areas free of ASF. ASF-positive countries can have their animal exportations restricted or prohibited as a result of the detection of infected meat. Check infected regions before importing products that could potentially be contaminated.

2. Proper disposal of all food waste from aircrafts or ships coming from infected countries.

Furthermore, no human food waste should be fed to pigs.

3. Efficient sterilization and disposal of garbage: Avoid swill feeding (i.e., garbage feeding).

Feeding of catering waste is a high-risk practice; if the food waste is contaminated with ASF, it can infect a healthy herd. Do not expose food waste that wild swine species could access. Carcasses, discarded parts from slaughtered pigs and food waste should be disposed of appropriately. 

4. Rapid slaughtering of all pigs, infected or not (stamping out):

Recovered or surviving animals are virus carriers for life. Therefore, to avoid spreading the disease to other pigs and to prevent relapse, it is safer to slaughter both infected and potentially infected pigs. Stamping out tends to be a short-term method to eradicate the disease. Nevertheless, it is generally the most cost-effective method that allows farms to be free from ASF in the shortest time.

5. Strict on-farm biosecurity:

Keep viruses and bacteria out by complying with biosecurity rules, including proper disinfection of clothing and boots, as well as not bringing pork products that have not been properly heat-treated onto a farm. Farms should maintain dedicated footwear and clothing that stay on the farm.

6. Controlled animal and human movements:

Pigs should be sourced from trusted and certified suppliers. Vehicles, equipment and people are also fomites of ASF. Ensure that anyone who enters the farm has not been in contact with any other pigs over the past 48 hours. Farm visitors who have been in countries that are ASF-positive need at least five days of downtime before entering the farm. Vehicles and equipment should be properly cleaned and disinfected before entering the premises. As secretions and excretions from sick or dead animals are a source of ASF, carcass-hauling trucks are high-risk and should not enter the farm.

7. Disease surveillance and monitoring:

This is especially important when transporting live pigs and pork products. In addition, pig farms should maintain a strict health monitoring program. All sick or dead pigs should be inspected and examined for ASF. To detect ASF early, pigs slaughtered for own-home consumption should be inspected by an official veterinarian. Regarding staff training, holding regular prevention lectures and strengthening quality assessments as well as the daily records of feed ingredients is advised.

8. Efficient and early detection of the virus through laboratory tests:

Notify a vet immediately upon spotting signs of ASF, and get the pigs tested.

9. Strict quarantine protocol:

Strict quarantine measures should be applied in both ASF-free zones and infected zones to prevent the entry of the disease and/or to keep ASF from spreading further.

Treatments for ASF

• Currently, there are no treatments or vaccinations available for this animal disease.
• Preventative and cautionary measures can be taken to protect animal health.
• Contact between sick and healthy animals can transmit ASF. Therefore, infected animals must be isolated and culled immediately upon confirmation of ASF.

Did you know?

• North America and the Oceania region remain the only areas that have never had reported cases of ASF.
• ASF poses no risk to human health. Humans cannot get infected by ASF.
• ASF infects domestic and wild pigs, as well as a variety of soft-bodied ticks.
• Wild boars and warthogs can be carriers of ASF. Make sure they don’t come in contact with domestic pigs.
• Frozen meat from infected pigs can harbor the virus for up to six months.
• The ASF virus has been estimated to survive for up to 15 days in feces and five days in urine at 21°C.
• It takes 30 minutes of cooking at 70oC to deactivate ASF in meat products and 30 minutes at 60°C for serum and body fluids.
• Curing or smoking pork products does not destroy the virus.
• ASF can be transferred via feed (Niederwerder, et al., 2019). It is important to work with trusted suppliers and vendors to verify ingredient sources and determine what their biosecurity and quality programs entail.

The importance of feed safety and a favorable health status

Studies have shown that feed can be a carrier of certain harmful pathogens (Dee, et al., 2018). As an added layer of protection, put safeguards in place and utilize feed intervention technologies, such as acidifiers, to support the integrity and quality of your feed.

Acidifiers are known to have beneficial properties that “control bacterial growth in feed, […] inhibiting growth of pathogenic microbes” (Jacela, et al., 2009).

Products such as Guardicate™* have been shown to be effective for promoting feed safety and can be used as an important component of your farm’s greater biosecurity program. Over almost four years of research, Guardicate has shown its effectiveness as an acidifier, as it addresses feed quality concerns by helping maintain a favorable feed environment.

Together with other solutions, like Sel-Plex®, Bioplex® and Actigen®, Alltech’s nutritional technologies provide peace of mind that you are safe from the risks that could negatively impact your production while promoting a positive health status for your animals.

Improper mineral supply can have major consequences for the health and productivity of your herd. Improved mineral status has been shown to have a positive effect on immune function. The Alltech Mineral Management program focuses on feeding organic minerals such as Sel-Plex and Bioplex, which are better absorbed and utilized by the animal and, thus, can meet their nutrient needs for optimal health.

Gut health and the microbiome also play a key role in maintaining the overall health status of the pig. Actigen is able to support immune function, gut microbial health and gut function and development, promoting overall animal health and performance.

*Guardicate is only available in select countries.

References:

Dee, S. A., Bauermann, F. V., Niederwerder, M. C., Singrey, A., Clement, T., de Lima, M., & Petrovan, V. (2018). Survival of viral pathogens in animal feed ingredients under transboundary shipping models. PloS one, 13(3), e0194509. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0194509

Jacela, J.Y., DeRouchey, J.M., Tokach, M.D., et al. Feed additives for swine: Fact sheets – acidifiers and antibiotics. J Swine Health Prod. 2009;17(5):270–275. https://www.aasv.org/shap/issues/v17n5/v17n5p270.pdf

Niederwerder, M. C., Stoian, A., Rowland, R., Dritz, S. S., Petrovan, V., Constance, L. A....Hefley, T. J. (2019). Infectious Dose of African Swine Fever Virus When Consumed Naturally in Liquid or Feed. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 25(5), 891-897. https://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2505.181495

I would like a FREE Feed Safety Guide.

Over the next few years, food production must almost double to meet the needs of the world population and the global demand for protein. This has put pressure on the livestock sector to maximize output while reducing the usage of resources, making animal feed the largest and most important component in the industry to provide healthy and sustainable animal protein.

One of the biggest challenges for the feed industry and animal nutrition is the rising cost of feed, which can account for up to 70% of total production expenses. Furthermore, around 25% of the available nutrients cannot be fully utilized by the animal due to anti-nutritional factors in the feed, which could be costly for the global livestock industry.

Today, the greatest challenge for the nutritionist in the feed industry is reducing this indigestible fraction and maximizing feed efficiency based on nutritional and economic factors, which often vary and may be unique to each production system.

Improving animal and feed performance with feed innovation

Scientific innovation is critical for the future of animal nutrition and protein production. Some key areas of focus for the global animal feed industry to improve animal and feed efficiency are:

• Improving animal performance characteristics (e.g., feed-to-weight-gain ratios, smart feed for more nutritious animal products)
• Minimizing costs (e.g., less expensive base ingredients, more efficient utilization of grain for feed)
• Maximizing feed production efficiencies in a sustainable way (e.g., processes and practices)

While traditional feedstuffs continue to be used at high rates, new and novel feedstuffs are now routinely implemented in animal feed formulation. A range of innovative applications are being used to optimize and assess the continued development of efficient and sustainable advances. Advanced technologies, such as nutrigenomics, reveal the relationship between feed nutrients and gene expression. Nutrigenomics allows the industry to identify feeds that can help animals reach their genetic potential by directly impacting the genes responsible for growth rate, meat quality and disease prevention.

Another technology that will allow for the prompt characterization of the nutritional value of raw feed materials is in vitro digestion modeling. These models, which can be used for both poultry and swine, provide real-time decision-making options to maximize feed usage while also improving animal production.

A third area of feed innovation involves providing supplemental feed that contains exogenous enzymes, also known as feed enzymes, which aid digestion by promoting the release of nutrients that are typically unavailable to the animal, improving animal performance in a sustainable way.  

The role of enzymes in the feed industry

Enzymes, which are essential for life, serve a wide range of functions and are especially important to the feed industry, thanks to their ability to break down nutrients. Enzymes are naturally occurring catalysts that speed up the rate of most chemical reactions that take place within cells.

Enzymes play a key role in the animal’s digestive process. Although digestive enzymes are produced by the animal itself — or by naturally occurring microbial organisms in the animal’s digestive system — producers have also used exogenous feed enzymes for many years for nutrient utilization and improved performance in animal feed.

Using poultry nutrition as an example, feed substrates and enzymes can generally be thought of in three ways:

1. Naturally produced endogenous poultry enzymes in the digestive tract of the bird for the liberation of nutrients from feed components, such as starches, proteins and lipids
2. Exogenous enzymes not native to the animal’s digestive system that act on recalcitrant substrates, which are not easily digested but which could potentially be utilized as nutrients, such as the glucose in cellulose in poultry diets (e.g., use of cellulase enzyme in poultry nutrition)
3. Exogenous enzymes not produced by the animal’s digestive system that could act on difficult-to-digest substrates, as well as any anti-nutritive effects, due to compounds such as β-glucans, xylans and phytate (e.g., phytase enzyme in poultry feed)

Performance and profitability are often the primary reasons for utilizing feed enzymes, as they are the direct result of the improved digestibility and the increased availability of nutrients like phosphorous, carbohydrates and amino acids and, in turn, an increase in available energy as well. However, feed enzymes also allow for the use of a broader range of feedstuffs, which can allow for flexibility in the formulation of the diet by using non-conventional sources or alternative raw materials. These alternative sources are a direct result of the growing demand for corn, wheat and soybean meal. The increased demand for grains has also increased their value, leading feed producers and nutritionists to look for alternative feedstuffs to reduce costs. Non-conventional dietary sources, however, might not be as readily digestible, as the animal may lack the necessary endogenous digestive enzymes and, as such, will glean less nutrition from the feed. The utilization of exogenous enzymes to make the feed more digestible increases the nutritional value of these non-conventional feed sources for the animal.

Over the past 20 years, enzyme supplementation in the animal feed sector has grown and developed dramatically. The global feed enzyme market is currently estimated to be more than US$1 billion and is expected to grow by another 8% over the next five years. Right now, phytase holds the largest market share; however, the use of proteases and NSP enzymes, such as xylanase, has accelerated to such an extent that they are being included in over 57% of monogastric diets. Enzymes in poultry feed has been the largest segment, followed by the swine and aquaculture industries.

Feed enzymes over the years

Early research studying the role of enzymes in poultry nutrition was already taking place in the 1920s. The R&D evolution continued through the 50s and 60s, when barley diets were commonly fed, and research showed that enzymes improved poultry performance. During the 80s and 90s, a better understanding of NSPs in fiber and their impact on animal performance became a focus of the research, and the use of xylanase also became prevalent. During the late 90s, the use of phytase became standard practice. Currently, in terms of the feed penetration of phytase and carbohydrase enzymes such as xylanase, the feed enzyme sector is a mature market. The benefits of providing exogenous enzymes in the feed include the reduction of anti-nutritional factors in the animal feed, the use of lower-cost feed ingredients and an improvement in feed conversion and animal performance — but in order to get the most out of your animal nutrition, it is important that you choose the right feed enzyme to meet your needs.

A unique process development

The majority of feed enzyme production originates by using both bacterial and fungal microorganisms produced either from the submerged fermentation (SmF) or solid-state fermentation (SSF) processes. 

Naturally occurring microbial strains for the production of enzymes are of great value and continue to be utilized, but the use of recombinant versions accounts for the majority of industrial enzyme production today. 

Solid-state fermentation systems can be tailored to address specific needs based on the substrate and microbial selection. For example, Aspergillus niger produces a cocktail of enzymes that contain multi-enzymes such as phytase, xylanase, cellulase, protease and β-glucanase. These enzymes, both as individual applications or as a concoction of enzymes, have a broad spectrum of industrial applications.

Early assessments characterized SSF as being a simplistic process, less technologically advanced than the SmF process, but that assessment was later shown to be erroneous and based on a poor understanding of SSF process requirements. Recent rigorous studies have shown that, with the proper design, the technical and economic advantages of SSF far outweigh those of SmF. The many economic advantages of SSF over SmF include a lower capital investment, lower energy requirements, a lower environmental impact based on water consumption and waste generation, and lower costs for downstream processing. Additional studies are needed to continue identifying opportunities for agro-industrial residues as substrates and to match the appropriate microbes to cultivation conditions. Tray fermentation has become the proven leader in large-scale SSF applications, and much work has been completed on the control of key parameters to optimize growth at a commercial scale. Innovations in engineering to allow for large-scale SSF processes offer a major opportunity for growth in the commercial enzyme industry.

Maximizing feed efficiency with enzyme technologies

Enzymes are well-known to be an effective solution for optimizing feed efficiency. Enzyme supplementation in animal diets increases nutrient digestion by breaking down anti-nutritive components, such as phytate and NSPs, into forms that are more readily absorbed by the animal, reducing the environmental impact as well, while saving on costs for producers. 

Feed efficiency starts with an accurate knowledge of raw materials and their quality, allowing for the precise adjustment of the feed formulation. How well an enzyme performs, in many cases, is determined before it even reaches the animal. Feed processing methods — whether milling, grinding or, particularly, pelleting — can have a major impact on enzyme stability. Furthermore, digestive tract conditions, particularly pH changes and substrate availability, can also influence enzyme efficiency.

Enzyme characteristics can vary widely depending on the source. Solid-state fermentation has the potential to offer competitive advantages based on cost and efficacy.

Click here for more information about the Alltech Enzyme Management Program.

As climate change becomes a larger issue, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and finding ways to sequester carbon in farm and food production is more important than ever. Robynne Anderson discusses her experience providing businesses with sustainable solutions as president of Emerging Ag, the international consulting firm for agriculture.

The following is an edited transcript of David Butler’s interview with Robynne Anderson. Click below to hear the full audio.

David:                Hi, Robynne. How are you today?

Robynne:          Great to see you, David.

David:                Thanks! Tell us a little bit about Emerging Ag and what you do.

Robynne:          Well, it's a company that’s spread out around the globe. There are 22 of us on the team, and we work on agricultural policy, really, at a global level. So, whether that means working with agricultural trade associations or individual companies or farmer groups or agricultural scientists, we try and make sure the voice of agriculture gets heard in the context of the United Nations and other venues where people are talking about how you set agricultural policy.

David:                Okay. That sounds pretty exciting, and you must be doing a pretty good job, because I know that you are in the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame.

Robynne:          Oh, thank you. Yes, it was a great honor. Yes, my life is very exciting for a girl who grew up in a small town in Dugald, Manitoba, on a farm. I did not expect to get to see so much of the world, and I find that agriculture is just a great unifying part of a lens with which to see the world because, when you get out on to farms, whether it's in Africa or Asia or any other part of the world, there is something about farming that might be done differently. They might be growing different crops, but there's something about the reality of being from a farm that's kind of the same. It's practical. The weather is still a big factor. It's hard work, and those communities are very welcoming.

David:                Yeah. You mentioned that weather is a big factor, and of course, that's always been true for farming. There are all sorts of uncertainties around the weather and lots of different variables, which make it very challenging, and it seems like, more and more, that's an even bigger problem, with extreme weather events around the globe. What are you seeing that's a serious challenge for farmers?

Robynne:          Well, weather has undoubtedly, as you said, always been one of the toughest parts of farming, and it always seems that the rain never comes when you need it or comes too much. That's been the case in our farm a bit lately, but everybody feels this change from the norm. There used to be patterns; it was always variable, but now, even the sense of the way the seasons work, it really does seem to be changing quite a bit.

                             I was in Kenya for much of the month of March, and their rain season would normally have started about mid-March. I left at the end of the month, and it still had not started. The rains have started to come now, but weeks behind schedule. Really, you get that sense — and for us on our farm in Canada, you see more and more flooding pressure, year on year on year. It's no longer just once every 40 or 50 years that you're feeling that the Red River is going to swallow you up. It's a changing world, and I think this is what is giving extra credence to a discussion that scientists started many years ago, saying something is afoot. We are having too big an impact on our environment.

David:                Yeah, and that certainly seems to be true. Because extreme weather and climate change are becoming a bigger and bigger issue, it's very important to look at what we can do to mitigate our greenhouse gas emissions in every industry, not just agriculture, and you spent some time looking at that. So, what do you see that's promising? What are some opportunities we have to do that?

Robynne:          Well, here at Alltech, there was an awesome panel, and I was really lucky to be on it with a set of others who were working on all very different aspects of that. Part of what I was talking about specifically is that anything that we do in our businesses, we need to measure. We would never go into a sales program and not know what our target was and what our sales figure was and what our cost of delivering that product would be. We wouldn't be in business otherwise.

                             The same applies, really, if we want to take climate change seriously. That means looking at how we are measuring inside our individual businesses. One of the gentlemen on the panel was talking about actually pricing in carbon into their business planning and in terms of their internal budgeting, but what I was talking about also is the need for the sector as a whole to be engaged in measurement. I use a particular example of the Global Dairy Platform, which has helped to set up the Dairy Sustainability Framework. Now, about 30% of the milk sector, total volume of milk, is actually reporting in through this framework, so that's a really big jump forward, and it's not just about climate change.

                             Climate change is incredibly important, but if we're only looking at it from an agricultural perspective on greenhouse gas emissions, I think we're missing the range of things that we need to be involved in, and that includes looking at water and are we drawing down too much or are we polluting it on the way out. These are very concrete, measurable things, and by reporting in together, we can begin to understand what's happening and actually have a conversation about what needs to be done.

                             One thing that we saw that really surprised a lot of people is that the assumption is that greenhouse gas emissions are highest from dairy production in the developed world — an idea that large, intensive farms would be naturally more polluting — but, in fact, the efficiency of those productions shows that OECD countries have been consistently dropping their greenhouse gas emission rates, and they're really quite low. They're not down to zero, but they're really quite low, whereas in developing countries, where animals may go a dry season without being able to be fully productive, all of the emissions-related intensities are actually much higher, because they don’t have that production efficiency.

                             That's really important to understand, but I think it's also very true that, if you consider the emission discussion, it's great that dairy is down 11% in the past ten years in terms of how much carbon we're releasing for every liter of milk we produce, but if you consider that the world still continues to need a total reduction in carbon, you have to be looking, in agriculture, to make use of agriculture's great asset, because agriculture can also do carbon sinks. That is what we do, right? We grow stuff. We put carbon into the soil. We take carbon out of the air for those plants. The opportunity really does exist for all of us to be looking at a net-zero emission intensity, or below, because if we do the right things on our farms, we can get to that level so that we can grow the amount of milk we're producing that's needed in the world but do it in a way that isn't actually helping to destroy the world through releasing too much greenhouse gas.

David:                Yeah. That opportunity that agriculture has is very exciting. Can you talk a little bit about some of the practices that can help sequester carbon?

Robynne:          Absolutely. If you're thinking about a farm as having a land footprint, what kind of things are you growing on that land? Farmers can do concrete things, like plant more trees. A lot of farms actually already have trees around their houses to help protect them from weather, ironically, so what are you doing to put long-term crops? If you're looking at the livestock sector, pasture is a great carbon sink — you managing that pasture well and protecting it. Also, if you think about the dairy sector, for instance, anaerobic digestion, manure management and sequestering that into a facility where you are actually producing renewable energy is an incredibly powerful part of reducing the greenhouse gas footprint of your farm.

                             Farms actually have a lot of lands, so whether your dairy barns have solar energy panels on the top of them; you're using, perhaps, manure management; maybe you're taking local food waste products and putting them in with your manure manager to further that energy production; you can look at a wind turbine on your farm — but farms really can get energy, neutral or renewable energy, sourced. Even some farms are now moving to actually put onto the grid renewable energy, which gives it a double whammy, and that's how you can get to that negative footprint level. There's just such an incredible opportunity of managing well, of using conservation tillage, of really thinking about how you are engineering that system.

                             The great thing is, at the promised end of that is actually the potential to earn some money from that energy you're putting back into the grid, especially if you're working in collaboration with others. There's an opportunity for it not only to be the right thing to do, but to be a really good business decision.

David:                Yeah. When you're talking about earning money, you're talking about selling carbon credits to other businesses?

Robynne:          That is an opportunity, but I am thinking, actually, about putting electricity back onto a grid. You get paid for the electricity you generate, so that's a clearer path to a business.

David:                Okay. I suppose electricity and energy use in general is kind of a small percentage of the carbon footprint from the farm, but a farm has the potential to generate much more electricity than that and offset nearby homes or businesses and balance the equation, right?

Robynne:          Exactly. Whether you're making a compressed natural gas or a conventional electricity product, that is exactly the opportunity that farms have this resource available to them, because they have a land footprint. Now, you need to work collaboratively with your local electricity grid to be part of the renewable sources there. Some farms are working quite well together to achieve that. You see some of the cooperatives, for instance, in the dairy sector working together to get their members having a bulk-buy onto the grid, because getting access onto that grid is the challenge, but energy is actually quite a high input cost in a lot of farms. So, even if you got your electricity cost down in your own operation, that would be a big benefit, and then, to produce a surplus that you could actually use as a revenue stream is just one example of how you can really get to zero, because everybody says that's impossible, but farms really have this unique opportunity — and especially how they manage their carbon sinks on their farms, as well.

David:                It would be fantastic if many more farms were at zero greenhouse gas emissions, because there's so much negative publicity about the amount of greenhouse gasses that are produced on farms. You mentioned a little earlier that it's very important to look at data. You had an example yesterday that shows it's important to look at the data in multiple ways, when you were talking about the carbon output of New Zealand, Ireland, and the different ways you can look at that.

Robynne:          It is a strangely quirky thing that, when you look at a chart about greenhouse gas outputs, New Zealand and Ireland pop higher than countries like China and some other places that you would expect would have much higher greenhouse gas emission implications.

David:                And you're saying from the dairy sector specifically, right?

Robynne:          That is the calculation — is because both of them are very effective dairy producers — that this is counting very high in what the proportion of their greenhouse gas emissions are. Does that mean that two countries that have a very moderate climate, perfectly adapted to dairying, that have beautiful grasslands, that are easily maintained through natural rainfall, aren't the best place to produce milk? Really, what's counting against them is they are such a good producer that they are exporting milk and serving the rest of the world, but because that production happens in their country, they carry 100% of those emissions, but if you went off and set up a dairy — and I'm going to pick an arbitrary country here — in Amman or in the middle of a desert somewhere, it is not going to be, probably, a more greenhouse gas-efficient or more environmentally sustainable solution because it's happening in that other country, because you're going to have to irrigate that land. You're not going to have the same natural cycles. You might, potentially, have to provide cooling to those dairy cows to be productive, because they're not used to that kind of heat.

                             The result will be, actually, potentially, a bad outcome if we don’t find ways to recognize where we produce things efficiently. The current discussions about climate change actually really hone in on a country's responsibility for what they're producing, and that makes a certain amount of sense, but when you're talking about global trade — especially in food — it's really important that we also find a way to make the right decisions globally, that we're not turning over lands that are inappropriate for some things and making them into lands that are, therefore, being used. Because, as a Canadian farmer, I don’t think we're going to be growing mangoes in Canada. We will have gone a long way down the climate change path if, suddenly, banana trees and tropical plants or mangoes are growing in the middle of Canada. We grow some other things really, really effectively, and I think you can see that paradigm potentially going in the wrong direction.

                             If I might just add one more thing to that, it's really important to consider that, as we're having more extreme weather, that trade becomes even more important. You just don’t know what's going to hit where, who's going to have a drought and who's going to have a cyclone and who's going to have a flood.

                             One of the things that the FAO produced recently was to talk about just how important global trade is going to be in food. It's always been important, but it becomes our backup system to food security, and so, it is really important that we think about how to manage this in a way that the trade is actually encouraged and that the best, most ecologically sound producers are being encouraged to use it.

David:                Yeah. I'm sure it's incredibly difficult to write global agreements or treaties on things like greenhouse gas emissions, and there's certainly a potential for some inadvertent mistakes. When you're looking at greenhouse gas emissions on an industry per-capita for a small country that excels in that industry, the number looks horrible, but if you look at it per liter or gallon of milk, it's a completely different picture, right? So how do we tell that message and make sure that those decisions are being made in a sensible way that makes good policy for everybody?

Robynne:          Well, it is really challenging. I've had the opportunity to go to some of the UN climate change meetings or very large meetings. There's a lot on the agenda. It's a really complicated process. One thing they deserve a lot of credit for is that the climate change negotiations have really heard from NGOs and businesses and scientists alike, so it's a space where having a serious conversation is possible. As we've moved to getting serious about national emissions, the inequities of this position become more clear, and it is possible to then say, “Okay, now we understand that. In a way, we didn’t understand it before,” and the agricultural sector has to be doing those numbers, has to be doing those measurements, so you can explain that the efficiency level on this is very high.

                             There are some dairy farms in America that are getting to zero, so it's not impossible; it is actually really happening. You want to make sure that the discussions to advance our goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions don’t create perverse subsidies for the wrong sorts of actions. For instance, strangely, if you were to till under all that pasture and grassland in New Zealand or Ireland, you might argue that once they went back to pastureland, they would get a carbon credit for creating a carbon sink, but they would've done something that actually caused more release of carbon so that they could get the credits for doing it. So, we really want to find ways to talk about agricultural production that have the practical voice of farmers there and don’t lead countries to make decisions to hit numbers that actually lead to the wrong outcomes.

                             It is a complex piece of work to navigate that, but we didn’t get to climate change without doing a lot of complex things, so it's going to take a fair amount of concerted effort to find a path forward.

David:                Yeah, good point. There's certainly a lot of accounting and measurement that we need to do to make sure that we're mitigating climate change, but it's very important to get that right. If we think we're doing everything we need to and we're not making the right decisions, we're in a lot of trouble.

Robynne:          We've just discussed the weather lately. I think we're in some trouble, and now, it is really about the path to get out, but you don’t want to make the path to get out worse. Like anyone finding their way out of a forest, we'll probably make a few wrong turns, but we want to at least be headed towards the edge of the forest, not going deeper in the other way.

David:                Are there things going on right now in the industry to try to help reduce emissions for low- and middle-income countries that have, traditionally, low productivity?

Robynne:          Some, but not remotely enough. It is a strange thing that agriculture receives very little of the global development budget. Only about 5% a year of all of the money that's going into development assistance goes into agriculture, even though 80% of the people living in multidimensional poverty — which means that they live below $1.25 a day — they don’t have access to schools. They don’t have access to hospitals. They live in rural areas, so they're farmers.

                             Eighty percent of the world's most needy are in a rural context, and yet, only 5% of development money going to agriculture is already wrongheaded, and then, on top of that, if you consider that, of that 5%, only 4% goes to livestock. We're talking about minute amounts of the development budgets going to important factors where they're needed, and many communities in these areas actually have a very strong livestock tradition.

                             So, it's really important that more gets done, but there are some things happening. There's the International Livestock Research Institute, which is based in Kenya but operates quite globally in the developing country context. I have the good fortune to work with them on a number of things, but there are some really innovative things that they've been part of the leadership on. One of them is Indexed Livestock Insurance. If you're in a situation where there's a drought, there's extreme weather, rather than doing what we've traditionally done — which is to say, "Here's livestock insurance. We're going to wait until that animal dies," so your herd is wiped out and an entire community that might be based on that herd has had their lifestyle devastated; they're perhaps nomadic, they're in a situation that they have completely destabilized the population — instead of taking a look at overall weather trends, seeing that clearly there is a drought. The Indexed Livestock Insurance actually is meant to buy feed for those animals so that they are in a position to make sure that those animals don’t die. So, rather than waiting until a terrible outcome and suggesting that you can just buy back your loved one — if you were to use a hospital analogy right, you don’t treat them at all while they're starving to death, but afterwards, you give a big payout for their death — you should do the opposite. You should get that assistance in.

                             It's a really simple, concrete thing that, if you're in agriculture, of course you should send in feed, but we've really struggled to get that kind of practical agricultural lens onto a lot of the interventions.

David:                That's a really good analogy. It needs to be more like health insurance and less like car insurance, right?

Robynne:          Yes.

David:                All right. Well, thank you so much for your time today, Robynne. It was great talking to you.

Robynne:          Pleasure.

Robynne Anderson spoke at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference. Sign up to hear other presentations from ONE19. 

With the rise of foreign animal diseases like African swine fever, mitigating the risk of viruses spreading through feed has become a massive challenge for pig producers today. Dr. Gordon Spronk and Dr. Jon De Jong of Pipestone System detail their research on biosecurity measures in feed to reduce risk on farm.

The following is an edited transcript of Kara Keeton's interview with Dr. Gordon Spronk and Dr. Jon De Jong. Click below to hear the full audio. 

Kara:              I'm here today with Dr. Gordon Spronk and Dr. Jon De Jong with Pipestone, and we're going to talk today about animal nutrition and health. Gentlemen, thank you for joining me today.

Gordon:          You're welcome. Thank you for inviting us to be here.

Kara:              Lovely. Give me the lay of the land right now. We know biosecurity issues are a massive challenge for pig producers at this time. What diseases are most prevalent and where are they impacting pigs on a global scale?

Gordon:          Well, thanks for the question. In pig production, the healthiest pigs grow the fastest and make the most money for their owner, our farmer producers. Biosecurity — sometimes, we make it too complicated, when, at its simplest, we want farms that produce pigs that don't have viruses and that don't have bacteria.

                        Specifically, there are a number of viruses in our North American herd that we've successfully either eliminated or kept out. There's some rise with African swine fever, which is the hot topic right now, foot and mouth disease, hog cholera and pseudorabies. Those four viruses are all classified as foreign animal diseases. We do not have those four viruses in the North American herd, and we hope to keep them out of our North American herd for the benefit of not only our pig farmers but all of agriculture.

Kara:              We were talking about African swine fever and biosecurity on the farm. How does feed and biosecurity play on the farm?

Jon:                Pipestone has been active in biosecurity interventions ever since I was a graduate in 1981, where, at that time, we washed our boots before we went to a farm. Well, from that day to this day, there's a lot of things we do at a farm to prevent disease or pathogen entrance. Today, we filter farms. We spend millions of dollars on HEPA filters to prevent virus introduction to a farm. All employees shower in. We wash all our trucks. We dry all our trucks. We make sure that all the supplies that are delivered to the farm are delivered from a biosecure warehouse and are quarantined on the farm.

                        The point is we have many steps already that we've taken with biosecurity. Now, we're just simply adding feed to this biosecurity portfolio. Because, before PED in 2013, it was never even considered as a potential risk to the farm. So, we're very excited that we continue to add preventative measures, add interventions that are a part of biosecurity to a farm to make our farmers more money and our pigs healthier.

Kara:              You're co-founder of the Pipestone system, a pig production. What is that? As well, what is the role of Pipestone in the swine industry?

Gordon:          Sure. Well, at Pipestone, we're active in four areas. We're active in animal health, we're active in nutrition. That's why Jon is here today. We're active in management, and we're active in marketing.

                        The management part is, 30 years ago, we started managing sow farms for farmers. They wanted a source of weaned pigs; we had the ability to help them meet that need by not only building and designing and running farms, but also going through the whole process of stocking the farm and making sure that, even at the disease level, we stocked the farm with the viruses we just talked about. We've been active in that space for 30 years in meeting the direct need of our farmer owners.

Kara:              So, the biosecurity issues are not new to Pipestone.

Gordon:          There's nothing new here. We learned long ago that keeping viruses out made our farmers more money. So, biosecurity is all about keeping viruses and bacteria out.

Kara:              And keeping the farmers happy and the pigs healthy.

Gordon:          Well, our mission statement is “helping farmers today create the farms of tomorrow.” Well, the farm of tomorrow may not have those viruses or those bacteria so that their pigs are healthier.

Kara:              Exactly. That is wonderful. Now, recently, you have collaborated with Alltech on a new set of research and products and development initiatives. Why was that important to you, and what new opportunities does Alltech bring to the table for Pipestone?

Gordon:          Yeah, I'm going to turn it over to Jon here in just a second. If you look at the whole portfolio of protecting a farm with biosecurity, until 2013, feed was not part of that formula, not part of that thought process. Well, PED taught us that maybe that virus is moving around in other ways that we normally would have put interventions in place. In other words, it could have been coming through feed or feed ingredients. That PED experience then also allowed us to make observations in China, because we're active in China, so we know how that virus is moving around in the field. That led us to say that, “Listen, maybe we should put interventions in place in feed,” and that's where I'll turn it over to Jon, as a nutritionist, to help explain that intervention in feed to prevent the movement of virus in feed and feed ingredients.

Jon:                Yeah, thank you, Gordon. Just like Gordon mentioned, for 20 or 40 or 50 years, we've fine-tuned and worked on the biosecurity measures at our farms, and really, the final piece that we think was missing was the feed. PED taught us a lot in 2014. We realized that virus can transmit itself via the feed, and, at the time, we weren't doing a single thing about it.

                        So, at that point, Pipestone, with our research team and Dr. Scott Dee, took it upon ourselves to, one, understand: is feed a vector for virus? And, as Scott proved very quickly, that, yes, we can infect pigs with virus through the feed. And then the second part was, okay, we know the virus can infect pigs when you feed it to them. Now, how do we stop it? So that's taken on a whole ’nother world for the Pipestone system and a lot of other researchers in the U.S. today, is how do we stop viruses from either, one, getting into the feed, or, once they get into the feed, how do we mitigate them and stop them from infecting pigs?

                        That's where we started working with a number of products. One we developed ourselves called APC, that product, we spent the last three or four years researching, trying to develop it, understand the inclusion rates and make sure that the product was efficacious against the viruses that we knew of at the time, PEDv. And then, for the first time ever, we were able to show that PRRS, typically known as an aerosolized virus — we filter our farms, filter the air that goes in them, specifically because of that one virus — but Dr. Dee was able to prove and show for the first time ever that it can have transmission in the feed as well. So, we know that the product, the APC, now is capable of mitigating both PEDv and PRRS in the feed.

Kara:              Now, the product again that you mentioned, what exactly is it?

Jon:                APC.

Kara:              APC. What exactly is that product?

Jon:                Yeah, so APC is a blend of different products, mainly organic acids with some essential oils blended with it, a product that's shown over a number of research trials, both in the lab as well in a bioassay setting, where we actually feed the virus to the pigs. We've shown over a number of studies that it's a product capable of mitigating the effect of viruses in feed.

Kara:              That's amazing. What other new technologies are you working on with Alltech and on your own at Pipestone that can help ensure that the quality of feed and the feed ingredients are at the quality they need to be for the swine operations and to help mitigate virus issues?

Jon:                Yeah, absolutely. One, we want to work with Alltech to make sure that the product they've acquired from us, APC, is up to snuff, that it continues to be the most researched product in the market. And then, on top of that, not only can we mitigate feed, but there's a number of other steps that we can take. So, I think Pipestone has really tried to lead the way in the industry in terms of, how are we bringing in, specifically, ingredients from countries that have virus in them? We know for a fact today that a lot of our feed ingredients — amino acids, vitamins and trace minerals — they come from countries that are infected with ASF. That's, for us, a huge concern.

                        I would say (that there was) no smoking gun in 2014 that PEDv was brought in on feed ingredients. But our group would say there was some substantial evidence that would point us in that direction. So, really, Dr. Dee and our team has just poured into the research over the last six months, really, since the outbreak was mentioned or happened in China, and really needed to validate three things. One, can ASF survive in feed ingredients during the importation process? Does it survive the trip over the ocean? That was step one, and we were able to show, along with a number of other viruses, that a lot of those viruses will survive the journey in a feed ingredient like amino acids or soybean meal. So, step one, yep, check. The virus survives the trip across the Pacific to Des Moines. That was part of Scott's transboundary research that he conducted last year.

                        The second step, which Kansas State was able to find out here very recently, in the last 60 days, is when the virus is in feed and you feed it to pigs, do they become infected? And what is the minimum infectious dose? So, Kansas State was able to now show that, yup, if you put the virus in the feed or the virus is present in the feed, you feed it to pigs, they can become infected with African swine fever. Really, we've been able to complete that loop of, yes, there's virus present in China, where we know we import a lot of ingredients; yes, it survives the trip across the Pacific; and yes, if it would get to a pig, that it can become infected. So, really, just going through and validating those three things were very important to us.

                        The last thing we've been able to do is, working with SHIC and the AFIA, is to understand, okay, if we bring an ingredient into the U.S., how long do we need to keep it in quarantine before it may be safe to feed to the pigs? Still working through those exact numbers; I know there's some time periods that are out there. I think more time is better. When you're dealing with viruses and bacteria, time is on your side. So, quarantining those ingredients for longer periods of time is, we know, going to be a good thing.

Kara:              So, there is hope that you can kill the virus by putting it in quarantine for a certain period.

Jon:                Yeah, and Gordon and I were just talking about this this morning. There are three things we've really done. One, you have to make sourcing decisions. Where are you going to source your ingredients from? And, at the end of the day, price is king to a lot of folks, and so we still end up bringing some ingredients in. You can only get certain ingredients from countries infected with ASF. So, one, you can make sourcing changes or decisions.

                        The second thing is, okay, let's quarantine those ingredients when we get them to the U.S. And then the third thing is mitigation. What can we add to the feed as a last step of defense to protect those pigs from getting infected?

Kara:              It's obvious that the swine industry will never go back to being small-scale, locally sourced feed options. So, we're going to continue to face global issues when it comes to viruses and feed sources and within the swine industry. What are the implications of new technologies to promote feed safety productions, safe pig production? Is there anything that you're working on beyond this right now that you hope to see come to fruition in the near future?

Jon:                Yeah, I think a couple of things that Pipestone specifically has been working on. One is how do we responsibly import ingredients? We understand it's a global market. We're going to have to bring things across borders, both pigs and feed ingredients. How do we do that in a responsible manner? So, we're really trying to set the protocol today and implement it, and what does responsible importation look like? That's one.

                        The second thing in the responsible import process is, how can we verify that the things we're requesting these vendors and suppliers do, how can we verify that they're actually getting done? The potential to certify certain suppliers, distributors, blenders to make sure that we are what we call responsible, doing things the right way when those products are coming into the U.S.

Kara:              So, it is wonderful to have companies like Pipestone be proactive in this effort and continue the work in research. Do you see this being, long-term, biosecurity being a major issue for Pipestone in the future and as changes continue in the industry?

Gordon:          I think it's an opportunity for both Pipestone and Alltech, and we're very pleased to be partnering with Alltech on a product like this, that the feed industry is embracing what, prior to PED, no one — including veterinarians, owners and the feed industry — did not think feed was a risk. And now, it's being recognized as not only a risk, but now, we need to put interventions in place to either mitigate that risk or just take it out completely.

                        So, I'm very pleased in that the future is bright as we do more and more research. I think we're just scratching the surface of what can be done in this area to not only impact the feed safety, to have healthier pigs, but also to impact in nutritional content so that these pigs grow faster and make more money for our farmer owners.

Kara:              This research and development is not just limited to the swine industry. This carries over to other industries.

Gordon:          It could impact other species. Right.

Jon:                Absolutely. And just like Gordon said, I think we're truly at the tip of this iceberg in regards to feed biosecurity. We look at all the assets we have across the United States and other countries, these feed mills that we're building and have been built. The last thing on anybody's mind when we were putting these assets together was biosecurity. So, I think, all the way back to how we build the feed mills moving forward, biosecurity is going to be at least on the list, where, even five years ago, it wasn't on anyone's radar.

Kara:              Well, thank you, gentlemen, for taking the time today to talk to me about Pipestone, the partnership with Alltech and nutrition and health and biosecurity in the swine industry. Again, this was Dr. Gordon Spronk and Dr. Jon De Jong with Pipestone. Thank you, gentlemen.

Gordon:          Thank you.

Jon:                Thank you.

I want to learn more about solutions for my pig farm.

Aggressive behavior in pigs — whether it is tail-, flank-, ear- or vulva-biting — is a frustrating management problem, leading to costly losses.  Incidents of tail-biting, in particular, are among the top behavioral problems in gilt development units (GDUs) and grow-finish pigs that can lead to economic losses due to reductions in gain, secondary infections, death or carcass condemnations.

What are the causes of tail-biting in pigs?

Studies have shown that pigs are attracted to the taste and sight of blood, and if a pig draws blood from accidentally biting a pen-mate’s tail, doing so could elicit the negative behavior in that individual pig or even spread to the entire group of pigs. However, natural behavior is only one piece of the puzzle. Numerous other factors can increase the prevalence of tail-biting, such as environmental stressors (e.g., temperature variation, lighting, ventilation, etc.), dietary issues and health challenges.

Four tips on how to prevent tail-biting in pigs

1. Start with the basics: Feed, water, ventilation, temperature and stocking density  

• Feed: Providing ready access to feed is essential for optimizing average daily gains. Conversely, restriction of or inadequate access to feed will cause slower growth and can contribute to aggressive behavior, such as tail-biting. Feed restriction is most commonly caused by out-of-feed events that are the result of equipment malfunctions, feed bridging or feed management errors. The second-most common cause of feed restriction is feeder settings being adjusted too tightly.
• Water: Just as with feed, it is important to provide ready access to drinking water. Restricting the water intake of pigs can lead to reduced feed intakes and may also contribute to aggressive behavior. Make sure all of the pigs have enough water access points and that the flow rate is adequate enough to meet their water needs.
• Ventilation: Poor ventilation, especially in the late fall and winter months, can quickly induce aggressive behaviors. Make sure the ventilation is adequate enough to at least remove pit gasses from your facility. Poor air quality in barns irritates animals and is a major catalyst accelerating aggression in pigs.
• Temperature: In warmer months, heat stress is of great concern and is something that barn managers and employees should keep an eye on. When pigs reach their upper critical temperature, they begin to experience heat stress, which can trigger negative behaviors, such as tail-biting.
• Stocking density: Overstocking induces extra stress in animals due to the increased competition for feed and water resources in the pen. As such, it is critically important to relieve stocking density by evenly distributing pigs throughout all of the pens. Limited space in pens is a common trigger for tail-biting.

2. Provide balanced nutrition

Nutritional imbalances or improperly balanced diets are contributing factors that can increase the likelihood of aggressive behavior. Under-budgeting and/or under-formulating lysine for high lean growth genetics can lead to vice behavior by restricting the genetic growth potential of the animal. Inadequate sodium in the diet can also lead to aggressive behavior.

3. Look for signs of health challenges

Significant viral challenges, like PRRS and the flu, can lead to increased incidences of aggressive behavior in pigs. Consult your veterinarian on the best course of action to relieve any health challenges in your operation.

4. Keep calm and entertain

Pigs are naturally very curious animals that utilize their mouths as a means of exploring and learning more about their environment. As such, providing enrichment that is stimulating and that biologically relieves stress is crucial.

The AllBite block, from Hubbard Feeds and Alltech, is a molasses-based block designed to discourage tail-biting and other aggressive vice behaviors. AllBite adds a new stimulus to the pigs’ environment, thus allowing pigs to exhibit foraging behaviors and to bite and chew on the block instead of their pen-mates. 

AllBite combats aggressive behavior through two mechanisms: it contains biologically active calming agents that reduce stress within the pen, and it is delivered in a form that provides a sensory stimulus to a group of pigs. Researched and tested in the field, AllBite has a 93% success rate in reducing or stopping tail-biting. The key is early identification, followed by the introduction of AllBite into pens where tail-biting and other aggressive behaviors are occurring.

While changing diets to mitigate negative behaviors is a common practice, dietary changes are often not implemented early enough to effectively prevent those negative behaviors from manifesting. Also, most vice behaviors only affect a small group within a larger population, so changing diets can sometimes become costly. With its unique delivery system, AllBite addresses both issues, since blocks can be placed in pens as soon as tail-biting occurs, and the blocks are only supplemented in the pens where pigs are exhibiting vice behaviors.

During a tail-biting outbreak, it is important to try and identify the biters and treat and/or remove the bitten pigs to prevent the behavior from spreading to other pigs. The root of vice and aggressive behavior is multi-factorial, and the mechanisms of this behavior are not fully understood. However, a quick response is key to helping prevent or stop vice behaviors in pigs. Tail-biting is a universal concern, and, as animal caretakers, maintaining the welfare of our pigs is our daily responsibility.

I would like a free poster about tail-biting in pigs.

By the year 2022, pig diets in the EU will be free of zinc oxide thanks to a recently passed ban. Jacob Dahl, chief nutritionist of Vilofoss, an international feed company, discusses the negative effects of using zinc oxide in pig feed and how the company is working to provide solutions for the future. How will pig producers face these new challenges?

The following is an edited transcript of David Butler's interview with Jacob Dahl. Click below to hear the full interview. 

David:            I'm here with Jacob Dahl, chief nutritionist at Vilofoss. Hello, Jacob.

Jacob:            Hello.

David:            How are you today?

Jacob:            I'm fine, thanks, and you?

David:            Good. Recently, in the EU, they passed a ban on using zinc oxide in pig diets, correct?

Jacob:            Correct, yes.

David:            So, tell us a little bit about how that came about and how it will affect farmers.

Jacob:            Yeah. When we're talking about the ban of zinc oxide, of course, it has to be understood as a pharmacological means, and it's been used effectively for decades to minimize the need for the use of antibiotics just after weaning in piglets. The different member states had different approaches — where Denmark has maybe been one of the countries where it was most widely used but is probably also the country with the lowest or one of the lowest consumptions of antibiotics — but now, through authorization and, then, withdrawal of this authorization, the use of zinc oxide for this purpose is coming to an end.

David:            Okay, and what's the deadline for that?

Jacob:            Well, the deadline would be in 2022 at the latest, as it's mentioned. Actually, the individual member states have the option of effectuating earlier, if they feel that it's possible.

David:            I see. Have the allowable levels been — are they reduced up to that point gradually, or is it all wide-open right now and then it just stops in 2022?

Jacob:            Well, it's been by prescription only. You can exceed the normal, what we call the nutritional levels, to a maximum of 2,500 ppm of zinc. It's been recommended to try to reduce, but there's no plan to slowly phase out the levels.

David:            You touched on something important there. Of course, zinc is a nutrient, so, of course, you have to provide that mineral. It's part of the diet anyway, so what we're really talking about here is the pharmaceutical use of zinc.

Jacob:            Exactly, yes.

David:            Why is it an issue? Why is it needed for weaning?

Jacob:            Well, zinc has been used and shown several times to have a diarrhea-reducing effect and also, somehow, a bacteria-modulating effect, thereby reducing the post-weaning diarrhea impact.

David:            Okay, and why is post-weaning diarrhea such an issue for pigs?

Jacob:            Well, first of all, it has a tremendous impact on the pig's health and survivability but also on the ability to convert feed, so it's an economic impact, but it's also a welfare impact.

David:            Yeah. I guess what I was trying to get at is: Why are the pigs very vulnerable to getting diarrhea at the time that they're weaning?

Jacob:            Well, at the time of weaning, the pigs are not used to what we would call mainly vegetable-nutrient feed, and this means that they have to convert, in a very short time, from mainly getting the nutrients out of milk into mainly vegetable-based feeds. This requires a tremendous change in the digestive system of the pigs, which challenges them, and they need to really adapt, which can be very difficult.

David:            So it's a pretty critical time on the farm for those livestock and can really affect the profitability of the farm if they don't get the pigs past that critical stage. So why is zinc being regulated? What is the downside of it?

Jacob:            Well, there are basically two downsides. There was an estimate calculated for Denmark alone where probably about 94% of the zinc added to pig feed in general is also excreted with the manure. This is way more than is then, afterwards, removed by the crops, so, over time, there will be a buildup of zinc in the soils. That's one part. Eventually, if that development continues, we could potentially reach some levels that are sort of toxic in the soil, impacting the crop yields.

                        Secondly, also, there's some evidence that the use of high levels of zinc could actually also push the development into antibiotic resistance for some bacterial types.

David:            I did not realize there was a connection between that. Do you know the mechanism for why that happens?

Jacob:            Not in detail, but I think some researchers have been connecting some genes in some bacteria that is promoted by the use of zinc oxide, and they're connected to antibiotic resistance.

David:            Okay. If you end up with too much zinc in the soil, at some point, I assume it becomes like a contaminated field, and then you can't grow food on it. Would that be accurate? Is there also a possibility that that zinc could leach into the groundwater?

Jacob:            I've not read anything in relation to that, so I couldn't say that.

David:            Okay, but it's a serious problem for our children and grandchildren if we're contaminating —

Jacob:            There was a report concerning this in Denmark a couple of years ago, and they actually estimated that most sensitive soils could be at a critical level in only 50 years if we continued.

David:            That's not really that long.

Jacob:            It’s really not.

David:            Yeah. If zinc is being used in order to reduce the amount of antibiotics, and I know that antibiotics have been regulated very heavily in Europe, what's the solution? Are there other tools that can be used to get around this problem?

Jacob:            I think most people in the business agree that there's no quick fix. We probably will not find another single product that, just putting on top, will solve this problem. The solution probably will be to utilize all the good knowledge we do have on nutrition and management and combine that into a concept that could actually handle this challenge.

David:            Go into a little more detail — what do you think the combination of factors would be?

Jacob:            Well, from the work we've been doing, one of the key factors is the reduction of protein levels, as protein is the main challenge, from a nutritional point of view, to the gut. Also, try to work with feed components that have the lowest impact on the digestive system — meaning, we need high digestibility. We need to utilize the feed, the nutrients in the feed, the best possible way — if not for economical reasons, then to minimize the level of nutrients reaching the hindgut, because then, there will only be substrate for bacteria. And if we cannot control those bacteria, we can have a negative development.

David:            Okay.

Jacob:            So, that would be the main part, and then, also, we need to work with gut development, because the pigs we wean today, we wean them fairly early, so they do have that quite immature gut. So, adding specific fiber types helps us not only to modify the microbiome but, also, to physically stimulate the development of the gut wall.

David:            So you're talking about probably a pretty customized diet, and maybe it shifts over time as the piglet grows.

Jacob:            Yep.

David:            Okay. Tell me a little bit about the Danish Pig Academy that your company is involved in.

Jacob:            It's basically something that was set up to have common training facilities for foreign farm workers in Denmark and visitors. All the Danish companies in agribusiness have joined forces to have a showroom where you can have a concentrated introduction to the products and also a common place to do trainings on different levels.

David:            Okay. Do you see any other challenges for pig producers in the EU coming down the pipe?

Jacob:            There are a lot of challenges we have. There are constant general environmental challenges but, also, welfare issues increasingly are important, and we need to address that much more in the future.

David:            What are some of the methods that farmers are taking, or that the Danish Pig Academy is proposing?

Jacob:            Well, from the welfare point of view, it's widely accepted that there should be more space for pigs. They also discuss later weaning; that's a challenge for financial reasons for the producers. Also, lowering stress in general is important. Of course, we have to also handle castration and tail dockings. Those are the two most concrete examples that are in the public opinion currently.

David:            What challenges are you seeing related to climate change and greenhouse gas regulations?

Jacob:            Well, from a carbon footprint point of view, the pigs cannot compete with poultry or maybe fish, but, luckily, they are somewhat more efficient than the ruminants — but we need to continuously improve, especially the feed conversion. The feed utilization is of importance here. Of course, in general, efficiency in pig production will lower the carbon footprint per produced kilo of meat.

David:            What are the methods that you think we should be exploring to try to get that feed efficiency higher?

Jacob:            Well, a healthy gut that is able to utilize the feed at its best is important, so anything to support the health of the piglets (would help). Also, in general, to limit health issues, because immune responses take up energy, take up nutrients that otherwise could be used for growth. So, in general, health is very important and, yeah, we need to continuously improve both the efficiency on the sow side, because that's where part of the carbon footprint comes from — so more piglets per sow reduces the imprint per pig.

David:            Sure. I'm sure we're learning more and more all the time about how complex and how important the microbiome is. What are the best ways to ensure that you have a healthy microbiome?

Jacob:            It's a very difficult topic. It's very complex, and I think there's still a lot to learn, so, from my point of view, I'm trying just to look at the pig and see, does the feces look all right? Do we have diarrhea or not? But also, trying to work with some of the mechanisms that we know influence the microbiome in a positive way, using the fibers of the prebiotics and some of the organic acids that we can add — but it's actually also some of the metabolites coming out of some of the bacteria in the microbiome.

David:            Okay. Can you tell me a little bit about your role at Vilofoss and what the company does and how you help farmers?

Jacob:            Yeah. Vilofoss, actually, you could say it's a multinational company coming out of Denmark but with activities in Germany, France, Sweden, and sales in most countries in Europe. We are active in Russia as well and do have some activities in China. Lately, we're also starting up in Spain. We have a big organization that consists of technical people in the local countries and then, based on these people, we have formed an R&D group where we work together to develop our concepts and, also, from the national point of view, try to have a common practice but also try to adapt to the local or national markets. My role is being responsible for Denmark on the pig side, both for R&D and technical support, and also as a part of the coordinators coordinating our international activities. I do support technical support to our sales force — mainly in Denmark, but also in China and Russia — and technical discussions amongst the colleagues in Europe.

David:            All right. Thank you very much, Jacob. I appreciate you spending some time with us.

Jacob:            Thank you.

I want to learn more about implementing sustainable solutions on my pig farm.

Among the challenges faced by the swine industry, this one may not be on the radar. In reality, deaths due to sows crushing their young costs producers billions of dollars a year. SwineTech, a U.S. based startup, is solving the problem using artificial intelligence and sensors to prevent piglet deaths. Can the next generation of ag-tech increase efficiency and improve profitability on the pig farm?

The following is an edited transcript of Tom Martin's interview with Matthew Rooda, co-founder and CEO of SwineTech. Click below to hear the full audio. 

Tom:              I'm talking with Matthew Rooda, co-founder and CEO of SwineTech, one of the Pearse Lyons Accelerators presenting at ONE19. Rooda graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in enterprise leadership and went through the pre-medicine track. In 2015, he founded SwineTech, Inc., to solve the global issue of piglet deaths on farms. Thanks for joining us, Matthew.

Matthew:        Thank you for having me.

Tom:              I understand that you grew up in the pork production business. Tell us briefly about that background.

Matthew:        Yes. I was born into a pork production family. My grandpa, my great-grandfather raised pigs. My dad raised pigs. I kind of saw both sides of pork production, being the old way of doing it and then the current way of doing it. My dad managed thousands of sows in Iowa, North Carolina, and that really gave me a good perspective of the industry.

Tom:              So, you learned there's quite a lot involved to being a farmer.

Matthew:        Yes.

Tom:              How has that experience resulted in the development of the company that you now head, SwineTech?

Matthew:        It's had a lot to do with it. When we look at what is a farmer — a farmer is a little bit of everything. He's a contractor. He's a plumber. He's an electrician. He's a caretaker. It's a little bit of everything, and you really come up with anything you can to solve a problem. They're problem-solvers. Growing up, I had always been encouraged to solve problems in creative ways. Ultimately, in my experience as a farrowing manager on the South Farm in Northern Iowa, I ran into the problem of piglets being crushed. Ultimately, there was nothing at our disposal to solve this problem, so I started brainstorming with my co-workers and with other individuals — veterinarians, production managers — and, ultimately, came up with a solution that could save a lot of piglets' lives.

Tom:              And so, this led to the creation of SwineTech.

Matthew:        It did.

Tom:              Tell us about it: where are you based, your area of concentration?

Matthew:        SwineTech is an animal health company really focused on reducing piglet mortalities while also driving more efficient and effective management processes to make things better on the farm on a production level. We are located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We were founded in 2015 by me, Abraham Espinoza and John Rourke, and, together, we have driven the company to right around 18 employees — and a revenue-driving business.

Tom:              How big is this problem? How many pigs die in a year? Why are they dying, and when?

Matthew:        This problem is huge. When we look at what it is over the entire world, we're talking over 116 million piglets that die from this problem, of all piglets born. It's resulting in the waste of more than 34 billion pounds of pork and, because of that, really, it's costing the producers and many stakeholders billions of dollars every year.

Tom:              So, what does your technology do to reduce this?

Matthew:        Our technology leverages advanced acoustic engineering, some machine learning and various sets of sensors to identify when a piglet is getting laid on by using a microphone that sits in the pen and listens to those wavelengths of frequencies of the piglet's squeals. When we look at a piglet's squeal, it's very consistent, very rhythmic, when they're getting laid on; it's pretty much a cry for help — breath, squeal, breath, squeal, “Help, help, help!” What we can do is we can identify that and then pinpoint exactly what pen that's in and then alert the correct mom to stand up and save that pig's life. How we alert her to stand up is with a chiropractic vibration and impulse.

Tom:              Wow, so you're using artificial intelligence and sensors. Tell us a little bit about that technology.

Matthew:        Yes, it's amazing what we're able to do today with technology. What we're doing right now could never have been done in years prior. What you really can do is you can tailor your technology to each individual environment by allowing it to train itself and to learn. What that allows us to do is it allows us to provide a custom application for each producer and for each genetic line of pigs. It's just a great opportunity for us.

Tom:              What kinds of management tools do you offer, and how do they increase profitability?

Matthew:        The management tools we offer today are around the temperature in each of the pens. Right now, the temperature that we see on a reporting basis is the room temperature, when, really, there are drafts to the room, so we should be understanding that on a more in-depth level. We report on how active the mother pig is — so, how often is she standing up and sitting down. This can allow us to understand maybe what sows are sick, what sows are eating enough, what sows may have some complications, and then, we also report when sows are a crushing risk to their piglets.

                        As we move forward, what we continue to find is that, by displaying this information, we can correct certain management practices. We can reduce labor because, if we know that all these sows are getting up multiple times a day, we don't necessarily need to staff somebody to walk around the whole farm to get pigs up three times a day. So, there are ways that we can really make things a lot more efficient, and as we keep moving forward, we're looking at things like birthing, nursing, eating, drinking behaviors, piglet growth rates and, then, helping identify piglets that are falling behind and need more special attention.

Tom:              Do you engage in ongoing research and development?

Matthew:        We do; that's a huge core of our business. We constantly are working with some of the world's leading producers to continually research and identify future opportunities and to develop those technologies that can help support that. Our engineering team is phenomenal, having worked at NASA, the Pentagon, Boeing, Royal Air Force. What that means is that they're able to do some really cool stuff, and our relationships with producers and our engineers has allowed that to really gel and drive great innovation.

Tom:              I'm curious, Matthew: Do you use Google Alert?

Matthew:        Yeah, we do.

Tom:              What's in it?

Matthew:        Identifications on what's new around African swine fever (ASF), what other companies in the technology space and agriculture are doing, and things along those lines.

Tom:              Let's talk about African swine fever — a huge, huge problem. I understand that it has now turned up in Asia, and there's even a global conference that's happened for years, and it's been called off this year as a result of ASF. Tell us more about this.

Matthew:        Yeah, African swine fever is a double DNA-stranded virus that can really, once infected, cause the pig to die within a week and is very contagious. We've seen a great portion of China's swine population die due to this issue. As we look at where it's spreading and how it's spreading, there's a big national alert on the biosecurity and the transfer of pork from country to country. It's a really big problem that everybody is aware of. It's very great, I guess, of the National Pork Board to hold off the world conference. I think that was a good idea; it's not worth the risk at this time. Everybody, right now, is just taking precautions at a biosecurity stage to make sure that we're at least preventing as much as we can, I guess, the infection of African swine fever.

Tom:              And it has not been detected in the United States. Is that correct?

Matthew:        It hasn't yet. There's just a lot of concern around airports and how it might come through there. I know the government is taking extreme precautions, which I know all the pork producers are very thankful for.

Tom:              And how is it impacting the market?

Matthew:        It's actually creating a lot of opportunity, when we look at the issue. When we look at what's going on, with China supplying over 50% of the world's pork, when they lose a quarter of all of their pork and growing, there's a huge need for more supply. So, you see a lot of countries — more specifically, Chile and Russia — who are able to take advantage of this and help export more to China, and it's, overall, driving up the price of pork considerably. It's a good time, right now, in the U.S. and around the world — if you're not in Southeast Asia and some places in Europe — to be in the pork industry, because there's a lot of profits to be made right now.

Tom:              A moment ago, we talked about research and development. Are you working on any new innovations?

Matthew:        We are. We're working on how we can evolve our technology to further help support farrowing staff and farm managers. Ultimately, we want to be the source of information for everything going on in the farrowing pen. We want to automate the whole process — so, how can we display information that is valuable to them to help them save time but, ultimately, to leave no piglet behind? As we look at this technology and where we're going, there's a lot of thought processes and time that's going into ensuring that that information we're collecting is also valuable to animal health, swine genetics and nutrition companies like Alltech.

Tom:              Matthew Rooda, co-founder and CEO of SwineTech, Inc. Thank you so much, Matthew.

Matthew:        Thank you.

I want to learn more about improving efficiency and farm management on my pig farm. 

Diarrhea in pigs has always been a challenge for the swine industry. When combined with a move to a new facility, the stress of weaning can often trigger an enteric challenge in the nursery. When considering the causes of diarrhea in piglets and newly weaned pigs, focus on these three areas: sanitation, pathogen control and proper nutrition.

1. Sanitation

Freshly weaned pigs have just experienced an incredibly stressful change, and that stress can be highly detrimental for their already immature immune systems. On top of this, any maternal antibodies that were conveyed to the pig from the sow will be waning within the first two weeks of placement, thereby elevating their risk from any exposure to environmental pathogens. Effective power-washing must be completed between every group entering the facility — especially if previous groups have faced a challenge. De-greasers and/or hot water will be a great help at eliminating any biofilm on floor and feeder surfaces, which cold water alone may not be able to remove. A post-washing inspection is also helpful, as spaces in the floor, under the lip of the feeder or underneath water bowls are commonly missed — and these areas can all harbor enough pathogens to make a weaned pig sick.

Once the pens have been sufficiently cleaned, it is important to also select a disinfectant that will effectively eliminate the pathogens present in the facility. There are several product options on the market, all of which have their pros and cons. Select one based on its coverage, the time needed to take effect and its ease of application. For example, some disinfectants must be fully dry to achieve their maximum effect, while others work directly on or shortly after contact. Some disinfectants even have residual action after they have fully dried. It is important to ensure that you are using the correct dosage for the product to complete proper disinfection. The Center for Food Security and Public Health at Iowa State University is a great resource for obtaining a better understanding of disinfectants.

Water lines are often a frequently overlooked area of the barn in need of proper sanitation. It is a good practice to evaluate the water quality in the facility. Oftentimes, water lines are full of biofilm that harbors bacteria that can be carried from group to group, meaning that a newly weaned pig’s first drink could be full of stagnant water potentially laden with bacteria. A good practice is to purge the lines with a chlorination or peroxide product between groups — but keep in mind that this could break sediment free within the lines and potentially cause plugging. There are also safe options that can be completed when an active group is present, allowing for continual flushing of the lines while the pigs are consuming water.

2. Pathogen control

Of course, other equipment in the facility could also be responsible for the presence of pathogens. To avoid tracking in pathogens from the outside world, boots should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before workers enter the rooms of newly weaned pigs. Gruel feeders and bowls should also be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected between groups. Mats are a great way to start pigs on solid feed, but if the mats are aging and fraying significantly, they can be difficult to disinfect effectively, making them a haven for disease. Feed carts, scoops, coveralls, hoses and even hats are examples of other items that could potentially harbor disease. Wooden surfaces are almost impossible to disinfect sufficiently and should be painted with latex paint to seal off any potential hiding spots for bacteria and coccidia.

Next, make sure you have a full understanding of the pathogens present in the facility that are contributing to the presence of diarrhea. There are three main categories of gut bugs: bacterial, viral and parasitic.

Parasitic organisms can include coccidia, roundworms and whipworms. Coccidia are an uncommon cause of disease in weaned pigs, and sanitation of both the source farm and destination farms should be evaluated if this is a primary challenge. Round- and whipworm infections take some time to develop in a group and are very rare in newly weaned pigs. A proper deworming protocol will need to be put in place if these are identified as the source of the challenge.

Some examples of viral pathogens that can cause diarrhea in weaned pigs include porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE), rotavirus types A, B and C, and even porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome (PRRS). Viral infections cannot be treated with antibiotics, so therapies are commonly aimed at keeping pigs hydrated and encouraging them to eat despite their abdominal discomfort. Prevention techniques include improving immunity in the sow to reduce shedding of the virus during lactation and the use of dry disinfectants over scouring groups to reduce chilling and lower environmental virus exposure.

Antibiotics can be used for infections that are bacterial in nature. Some common bacterial causes of diarrhea in newly weaned pigs are E. coli, Salmonella and, occasionally, Clostridium perfringens or C. difficile. Ileitis and Brachyspira infections in recently weaned pigs are very uncommon but are possible in saturated environments. If a bacterial agent is suspected to be the cause, then a sample should be collected and cultured by a veterinarian, followed by a sensitivity test to understand what antibiotics are effective against the pathogen. It is a good practice to repeat this periodically, especially in unresponsive situations, to make sure no changes have taken place within the barn or herd. Antibiotics should always be used according to the instructions of the prescribing veterinarian in order to ensure that the treatment is effective both currently and in the future. If an infection is not responsive to treatment, then the cause should be re-evaluated to make sure there is not another factor complicating the challenge. Of course, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so good sanitation and biosecurity practices are paramount to preventing the exposure of pathogens to young pigs. 

3. Proper nutrition

A young pig has very specific nutritional needs, and if we expect too much of them, they will often fail. A big challenge with starting pigs is making sure that they all have access to the proper diet stage. In large facilities that can take weeks to fill, the amount of starter ration that the first pigs get is often much different than the amount allowed for the last pigs. Of course, bins and feed lines should be emptied between groups, as a pig’s last diet is not fit to be the first feed a recently weaned pig will eat. Finally, animals that are not eating in the pen — either because they are sick or just slow learners — will have looser stools because of their decreased solid feed intake. These animals should be placed in a separate hospital or special-needs pen so they can receive more intensive care to get back to a full feed intake.

There are many factors to consider when evaluating the cause and treatment of diarrhea in a group of recently weaned pigs. Be careful not to fall into the trap of missing all of the influencing factors; otherwise, a small challenge could quickly become a crisis. Ask questions, make sure the environment is correct for the pigs’ group size and weight, get your veterinarian and nutritionist involved, and make sure to record your successes and failures as you go. With patience and understanding, even the biggest challenges can be overcome!

I would like a FREE pig diarrhea guide.

The following is an edited transcript of Tom Martin's interview with Dr. Kyle McKinney. Click below to hear the full interview. 

Tom:              The food industry has a four-quadrillion-dollar problem. You heard that right. This number represents the losses due to unused or misused nutrients in animals. With hundreds of thousands of acres being dedicated to farmland each year, agriculture is an important force that is continually shaping our world. But could a new enzyme begin to unlock this four-quadrillion-dollar opportunity? Is this the real key to creating a Planet of Plenty™?

                       As the global director of Alltech's Alternative Raw Materials and Feed Efficiency platform, Dr. Kyle McKinney is focused on feed efficiency. He earned a Ph.D. in agricultural biotechnology, focusing on the development of microbial fermentation systems to produce complex enzymes that improve feed and nutrition. Dr. McKinney joins us to talk about new opportunities for food and our future. Thanks for joining us, Kyle.

Kyle:              Thank you very much.

Tom:             Before we talk about the future, where are we today? Where is the state-of-the-art in feed efficiency right now?

Kyle:              When we talk about this opportunity, we consider the future of food and feeding the population. This whole concept and idea comes from the fact that, over the next 20 to 30 years, we're going to add two to three billion more people to the population. People say, during that timeframe over the next 30 years, we will have to produce more food in 30 years than we produced in the history of mankind.

                       When we read about the future of food, we see the positives and we see the challenges, the opportunities and some downright scary aspects, such as not having enough calories — not having enough food. So, we look at this as an opportunity — an opportunity to utilize technology, specifically an enzyme, to help the animal digest more available nutrients from our fields. I don't look at the doom and gloom. I believe that we will have plenty of food, and I believe that, when we look at our feedstuffs and you look at how much we lose in terms of nutrients and calories now when we're feeding our animals, it's an enormous opportunity — a four-quadrillion-dollar opportunity.

Tom:             We're tossing around some enormous numbers here. I mentioned that number: quadrillion. For perspective's sake, that's 1,000-trillion dollars. If you place one quadrillion British pound coins on top of each other, they reach beyond our solar system. That's how much we're talking about. We're talking about four quadrillion dollars in losses due to unused or misused feed in animals. So, the scope and the proportion of this is beyond imagination. When we hear about unused or misused feed, what does that mean, and how does this happen?

Kyle:               If you put some context behind that number, we produce about 3 billion tons of grains per year. Much of that goes into feedstuffs to feed our animals. The problem is that we lose about 25 percent, on average, of the available nutrients because of fibrous components in the feeds. I use the terminology of a bird nest that traps nutrients and the animal can't digest.

                        So, when we look at and consider 3 billion tons of feed, of grain, and we consider the 25-percent losses, and you look at the calorie levels of all those grains, that's really where we get to in terms of this four quadrillion, which is an enormous number to even consider.

Tom:              It is, it is. We hear that there's a new enzyme that could transform this problem into something of an opportunity. What is the new enzyme and how was it identified?

Kyle:               Our focus has always been on getting the most out of our diets. To do that, you have to consider that there are lots of components in a diet that trap nutrients — lots of variations of fiber, if we want to go that simple. To break all those fibrous components down, we believe it takes many enzymes.

                        We focused on a technology called solid state fermentation. Solid state fermentation is an ancient technology. What we are able to do is utilize a non-GMO organism, a fungus. We grow that fungus on a high-fiber feedstuff, and it produces a whole host of natural enzymes that are designed to break down grains and feedstuffs because we start with that.

                        So, our approach is utilizing solid state fermentation to produce an enzyme complex, many enzymes, to work on the many fiber substrates that we have in a diet. We don't focus on just one or two. We're focusing on a dozen or more of these substrates that are trapping nutrients. We can break those down. We see the most benefit in terms of nutrient availability for the animal.

Tom:              And is this technology being applied?

Kyle:               This technology is being applied. We've been pioneers in this solid state fermentation system. We have a facility in Serdan, Mexico, that produces for Alltech globally. We do research in terms of looking at how we can improve that system. We do research looking at new microorganisms that may give us even better enzyme complexes to focus on and get more and more out of the diet. That's the challenge the industry has, and that's the challenge we pose for ourselves: how do we continue improving the efficiency of those diets? Which means, as we feed more animals to feed the growing public, we've got more grain sources, because we're getting more efficient. That's one way we're approaching this Planet of Plenty^TM concept, using this solid state fermentation enzyme technology.

Tom:              And in this application, you're actually seeing those results.

Kyle:               Absolutely. We see it with our enzyme system. For example, we can improve the digestibility of this grain feedstuff 7 to 8 percent. So, if you take 7 to 8 percent of the amount of calories that we're losing in all of our grains in feedstuff, it's an enormous number. It's going to allow us to feed more animals in the future.

Tom:              I know that you spent some time working for Alltech in Costa Rica on a project focused on using the Alltech Crop Science portfolio to control disease and reduce chemical applications. It also allows your team to set up a fermentation lab to evaluate more sustainable microbial solutions for disease control. How has the knowledge gained from that work informed what you're doing now?

Kyle:               The tie between those two projects is simply our expertise in fermentation, in microbial fermentation. We learned a lot about producing microorganisms in our systems in Costa Rica that we were able to take to our facilities in Kentucky and our facilities in Mexico and others and be more efficient in how we produce our products. So, the tie there was simply the fact that we went to Costa Rica, we set up a fermentation system, we're very successful in utilizing this type of technology to reduce chemical input. What we gained is knowledge of how to become more efficient in our production models that allowed us to move to different locations that we have production locations in globally.

Tom:              Earlier, you referenced population growth in the world. I'm wondering how this new enzyme will factor in supporting a Planet of Plenty.

Kyle:               If you look at the numbers, in 2050, there's an expectation that we will require 70 percent more meat, more food — and that's something around 500 million tons more meat in 2050 than we're producing today. That's something around 1 billion more tons of milk than we're producing today.

                        In the last 60 years, we haven't had additional acres of land growing grains, so we've accomplished amazing feats in agriculture; with less land, we produced more meat. Moving into the next 30 years, who knows how much more additional land we'll free up for grain production to produce more protein? This SSF enzyme technology and enzyme complex is going to be critical for the simple fact that we don't know that we'll have more acres of land. We probably will find it somewhere. But we've got to get more efficient because we do know one thing: we're going to have to produce more meat and protein to feed the population.

Tom:              Kyle, what else are you keeping an eye on in terms of alternative raw materials? In a traditional industry like farming, why is it important to look for new ways of doing things?

Kyle:               The hot topics in alternative materials right now are insect proteins. In Kentucky, it's hemp. [Kentucky is] the number one hemp-producing state in the United States. How is that going to play into how we're feeding animals in the future is a key question, and it's our duty to keep an eye on and understand how some of these alternative materials will play a role as we feed animals. At the moment, we're still very traditional corn and soy. But the new technologies, specifically in terms of insect protein and insect meals, are going to be probably the fastest-growing segment in the next five to ten years.

Tom:              That's fascinating. I've been wondering if Alltech had an interest in hemp because it's so popular in Kentucky (where Alltech is headquartered) and it grows all over the state. Is there actual activity in this area?

Kyle:               Our activity began with Alltech Crop Science looking at some of our technologies for improving efficiency. That is a project that's ongoing. But in terms of animal feed and animal nutrition, our researchers are digging into how hemp will play a role. Right now, it's not going into diets, but we have to keep an eye on this and see how that changes and see how it fits into feeding strategies.

Tom:              Getting back to insects — also fascinating, and there certainly are plenty of them. But are there particular species that are of interest?

Kyle:               The number-one insect used right now is called the black soldier fly. Picking the right insect is all in determining the growth rate of the insect — how much protein is in that fly meal. So, black soldier fly is the number-one insect producer at the moment.

Tom:              What would you say are the trends that you're keeping your eye on right now?

Kyle:               I think the trends that we're looking at in Alltech really revolve around technology and agriculture. How are we getting more efficient in monitoring animals, feeding animals, observing the nutritional needs of the animals, and what new technologies are going to allow us to do that? So, I think we, internally, have some programs where we're looking at innovation for sensors, for example. But it all gets back to us focusing on how we are improving the nutritional component of that animal and improving profits for our farmers and our growers.

Tom:              Dr. Kyle McKinney, Alltech's Alternative Raw Materials and Feed Efficiency platform global director. Thank you so much for joining us.

Kyle:               Thank you.

Dr. Kyle McKinney spoke at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE). Click here to learn about ONE and how you can access innovation on demand. 

Click here for more information about the Alltech Enzyme Management Program.

ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (#ONE19) has some big name keynote speakers but the biggest is Dr. Mark Lyons, President and CEO, Alltech. I spoke with Mark to get a preview of this year’s conference. I’ve been attending this annual event since 2007 and it has continued to grow with an expectation of a record attendance this year according to him.

Click here to read the full AgWired article.