Environmental control in pig housing is important for animal growth and health. Modern farms have computer-controlled systems that are adjusted automatically to optimize the environment depending on the stage of growth or reproduction, based on ideal temperature curves established from research and models. For example, for growing pigs, temperature needs to decrease by set amounts as they increase in body weight. However, it is important to ensure the correct growth curve is selected in any automated system to account for breed, age and health of the animals.

When animals have been moved to new housing, perhaps following weaning, it may take several days for them to adjust to their surroundings and the new supply of water and feed, and feed intake may drop during this time. The environmental temperature will need to be held at a higher level, compared to their weaning shed, until they have adapted suitably and resumed consumption and growth. Therefore, although computer-controlled systems are very useful, management by personnel and suitable reactions regarding changes in the regulation of temperature are still key to ensuring the growth and health of the pigs.

Relative humidity

Relative humidity (RH) is defined as the ratio of air-water vapor at a specific temperature compared to the maximum amount of water vapour the air could hold, expressed as a percentage. Under normal, ambient temperatures, pigs can tolerate wide ranges of RH, although RH is still used to assess air quality in housing, and RH should be maintained between 60 percent and 90 percent. Nasal mucosa can be severely reduced in very dry housing conditions (low RH), leading to an increased risk of developing health problems from airborne pathogens, particularly those of the respiratory tract. Conversely, in wet conditions with higher RH, pathogens present in water droplets increase exposure to disease.

For nursery pigs, high RH can be a problem when the ambient air temperature is low, as automated ventilation systems reduce the amount of fresh air circulating within the house, allowing RH to increase to problematic levels. Under these conditions, an increase in respiratory disease can occur, which may affect the health and growth of the pigs. Intervention by management personnel is required under these conditions to ensure ventilation rates are maintained. Additional space heaters can be used to get the house up to temperature before moving the piglets.

In modern housing systems, both temperature and RH can be controlled automatically via sensors. However, care is needed with these, as they can become damaged during clean out and power washing. Their accuracy should be verified on a regular basis using handheld and empirical devices.

Documenting trends is the closest thing in business to peering into a crystal ball. When it comes to consumer food trends, a dizzying variety of surveys from around the world readily fill pages upon pages of a Google search.

But which trends are long-term and which are just passing fads? What are shoppers really thinking? What’s influencing or impacting their behaviors? And what’s driving their purchases?

A particular pair of studies stands out for depth of insight for those along the food chain whose job it is to tweak strategic consumer marketing plans.

PERIscope 2017 is a biennial, large-scale quantitative study launched in 2001 by Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board. Based on interviews with 1,000 consumers in each of eight countries, the study identifies major shifts in consumer attitudes over time. The eight markets include Ireland and Great Britain, four continental European Union markets, as well as the U.S. and China. The study explores consumer attitudes about eating at home, cooking, local food, the environment, and health and well-being.

A second survey taps into the consumer food trend perceptions of more than 1,700 registered dietitians (RDs). What’s Trending in Nutrition, an annual survey produced in partnership between Pollock Communications and Today’s Dietitian magazine, covers bases ranging from shifting attitudes to favored resources and much in between.

Here are some of the highlights featured in each.

A source of tension

Among the standout trends of 2017 illuminated in the eight-nation PERIscope survey is a tension between the desire for “new” versus the comfort of tradition.

“We know that across all markets, consumers are placing more importance on spending time as a family over meals, enjoying cooking more and increasingly hosting dinner parties, all indicating people’s desire to balance modern life with tradition,” said David Deeley, a member of Bord Bia’s consumer and market insight team.

Among the countries surveyed for PERIscope, China, followed by Spain, leads in striving to balance modernization and tradition. The U.K. is ranked 7th and the Netherlands dead last in this category.

This finding is supported by the Today’s Dietitian survey, which attributes the latest shift in consumer food perceptions to a slower and more thoughtful approach to eating.

Keep it real

When it comes to authenticity, noted PERIscope’s Deeley, “consumers are tired of uniform, impersonal, throw-away products and the invisible nature of global supply chains. They crave stronger connections with the brands they buy, increasingly seeking out authentic and storied products that tell their brand story in an interesting and resonating way.”

What’s the story behind the story?

The demand for transparency is as strong as ever. The PERIscope survey finds consumers continuing to challenge producers to provide the full details about their food products. Labeling and quality symbols are a major point of interest for many countries, especially in China, where many people have lost faith in the safety of produce.

Provenance and quality matter. In Ireland, 78 percent of food shoppers check for country of origin, while checking for quality symbols stands at 75 percent, up by 20 percent since 2001. In the U.S., almost 7 in 10 people claim to check for country of origin, while 67 percent of consumers check for a symbol or certificate that guarantees the quality of the produce, according to the survey.

Registered dietitians responding to the Today’s Dietitian poll indicate that GMO-free and sustainable foods have experienced on average a 20 percent decrease in terms of what concerns consumers.

“Dietitians attribute this decline to food label transparency and more food companies changing their ingredient deck,” the report said.

And 59 percent of dietitians said consumers are choosing to "eat clean,” selecting foods that are less processed as well as more whole foods, such as veggies, fruits, ancient grains and green tea. Plant-based proteins like nuts and seeds also figure more prominently in diets.

Make it lasting and environmentally friendly

Smart devices deliver a mind-boggling amount of information about brand practices, processes and procedures. The result?

“Consumers are calling out inappropriate, bland or opaque brand behavior and are sharing it with their peers,” observed Deeley.

The PERIscope study finds that consumers prefer to buy from companies that are aware of environmental issues and the value of sustainability.

“We also know that they’re increasingly more aware of terms like ‘food waste’ and ‘sustainably produced' in countries like Spain, Germany and the Netherlands, where awareness of both tops 90 percent,” he said.

Across all eight markets, the survey shows that consumers are adopting a greener mindset and are increasingly drawn to eco-friendly businesses and practices.

Deeley’s suggestion to food producers and processors: “Recycling, upcycling, downcycling, zero waste — it doesn’t matter what you call it. Just be sure that you adopt a green mindset and eliminate any negative environmental impact your products and services may directly or indirectly cause before, during and after production — this includes the entire consumption cycle, too.”

Localism lives on

With a growing number of adults turning toward the local and the familiar, the emergence of the “locavore” is becoming ever more pervasive, according to the PERIscope 2017 survey.

“Local food for consumers means food that is better quality and is transparent in its production processes,” said Deeley. “A growing number are looking closer to home for groceries, and more and more are seeing the importance of purchasing from their local communities. This trend holds true across most countries, with the French placing the most importance on buying local foods (79 percent).”

China (76 percent) and Spain (75 percent), Ireland (67 percent), Germany (64 percent) and the U.S. (60 percent) are warming to the concept. Consumers in Great Britain (55 percent) and the Netherlands (35 percent) are the least interested in seeking out specifically local food sources.

Make it quick — but good

Demand for foods that are quick to prepare has been on the rise. Pre-portioned meal delivery services such as Blue Apron, HelloFresh and FreshDirect have skyrocketed, with 45 percent of consumers now turning to these and similar healthy meal or weight loss menu delivery programs in order to eat healthier, according to the Today’s Dietitian survey.

“In Ireland, this figure rose from 56 percent in 2001 to almost 7 in 10 (69 percent) in 2017,” according to PERIscope’s Deeley. “The majority of Americans have a tendency to pick foods that are easy to prepare (91 percent) and quick to cook (85 percent). More than 7 in 10 people claim to eat convenience or ready-prepared meals regularly.”

In an observation worthy of the attention of food labelers, Deeley noted some uncertainty about which foods are healthy, “with close to half of those polled claiming to be confused about the health benefits of particular foods and 60 percent saying nutritional claims and food labels are hard to understand.”

Keep it interesting

More than 7 in 10 consumers in all eight countries of the PERIscope survey claim they like to try new foods. An increasingly wider variety of foods is available in today’s markets, making it is easier for consumers to explore foods from around the world.

And there’s China again, leading this time in adventurous eating, with 96 percent saying they like to try new foods. And once again, the Chinese are trailed closely by Spanish consumers in an open-mindedness about new foods (94 percent), while the French (81 percent) and Irish (74 percent) are more likely to stick with what they know.

There are apps for that

When it comes to technology, Chinese consumers are far ahead of their counterparts in the seven other countries surveyed by PERIscope in 2017.

Asked if they have ever downloaded a food app, 76 percent of Chinese consumers responded that they have. The next closest are Americans at 34 percent, with only 19 percent of Irish and 18 percent of consumers in the U.K. poking at food icons on their smart devices.

What is influencing consumer perception?

The survey of dietitians looked at the sources of consumer nutrition information. Most (73 percent) said consumers rely on blogs and websites, followed by social media (70 percent). Fifty-eight percent turn to television and radio for most of their information.

The survey also reveals a paradox by asking where consumers get the most nutrition misinformation. Seventy-seven percent cited social media, 67 percent pointed to blogs and websites, and 63 percent said celebrities often get it wrong (a change from 2016, when celebrities were believed to be more misleading than social media).

Consumers gauge their health and weight, according to the dietitians, by comparing themselves to people in magazines or on television (72 percent), friends/family members (64 percent) or people on social media (57 percent).

Food consumers in China are far more likely than those in the other seven countries of the PERIscope survey to share recipes via social media — 77 percent of Chinese respondents versus the next highest social media users, Americans at 41 percent.

Where are registered dietitians sourcing their own information? According to the Today’s Dietitian survey, most (80 percent) of RDs have bookmarked the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate website for nutrition education. Sixty-five percent include the published resources of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics among their tools.

What leaps off the page

“For me, the most interesting story is revealed when we look back at the 2001 report and track the changes over time,” said Deeley. “The world was certainly a very different place, and that is reflected in those reports. Today, we know that health and well-being have changed dramatically over time, with people now making more conscious decisions to enjoy a holistic approach to physical health and emotional well-being.”

Although dietitians say consumer awareness of healthy food has increased and mindful eating is on the rise in 2017, they note that issues of access and cost continue to prevent certain populations from being able to eat and purchase healthy food.

“For low-income consumers, RDs say that cost, above all other factors including physical health, is the largest barrier when making food purchasing decisions,” suggests the Today’s Dietitian study. “This often makes healthy eating options out of reach for low-income families. RDs recommend increasing affordability and availability of nutritious food in low-income areas to help reduce barriers to healthy eating.”

The polling for what’s hot and what’s not in 2018 is underway. It will be interesting to see how these trends persist, shift or change altogether in the coming year.

Everything in moderation is healthy. Although this is often used in the context of human nutrition, I think it may be relevant for pets as we see novel ingredients and new superfoods coming into the food chain.

There is so much information out there about the next best food for you and/or for your pet — what you should add — or not — to your pet’s food and even how to make your own pet food. With Google at hand, you can become an instant nutrition expert.

For those adventurous enough to make their own pet food, you must consider that the food needs to be in complete balance, or sola dosis facit venenum — the dose makes the poison. The complete balance of nutrients is important, as is the total amount. An excessive nutrient can cause toxicity, or its deficiency can cause serious health issues.

Take zinc, for example. Zinc deficiency results in what is known as zinc responsive dermatosis, which causes symptoms such as hair loss and scaling and crusting of the skin around the face, head and legs. On the other hand, over-supplementation of zinc can result in interference of absorption of other nutrients and minerals like calcium, copper and iron.

What are superfoods, and what makes them so special?

They are typically of plant origin but can include some fish and dairy. They are called “superfoods” because they are thought to be packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, healthy fats, etc.

Some of these superfoods have found their way into pet foods, like blueberries, turmeric and coconut oil, to mention a few. Their inclusion rate is low and in moderation, and they are listed by the The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO, the pet food regulatory body). Other superfoods, like acai berry or garcinia cambogia, will not be seen in pet foods yet, because we do not know how they would affect your pet and, therefore, are not approved ingredients to be used in pet food.

As I work with pet food companies from all over the world, one thing I notice is the use of food to support well-being. It is a trend that just keeps growing and growing. Pet food companies know that the best way to keep our best friends happy and healthy is through using quality ingredients, the proper balance of nutrients, adequate amounts of vitamins, the proper ratio of fatty acids, the use of proteinated minerals, and sources of probiotics and prebiotics for digestive health.

Proteinated minerals have proven to provide shinier hair coats, and prebiotics and probiotics help to keep the bad bacteria out of the body. The result is a healthy digestive tract that is able to absorb all the nutrients that come flying past the intestinal villi, and take them right up into the body where they are needed.

Trends come and go, but choosing a pet food based on pet health rather than cost is something that will never go out of style. If only there was a magic ingredient, like the spring water in “Tuck Everlasting,” then I could dream about walking my dog down to his favorite spot by the river for the next 150 years…

Visual appearance, palatability and consistency all factor into the consumer’s meat buying process. As producers, what can you do to ensure the meat that ends up at the store is nutritious, has the qualities consumers look for and won’t result in a loss to your profit?

In the recent webinar “Better-tasting meat starts with better nutrition,” Dr. Rebecca Delles, research scientist at Alltech, discussed key factors that affect meat quality and how feed plays an important role in providing a better product for consumers.

Key takeaways from the webinar include:

• Some factors that affect meat quality are genetics, feeding regimen, and pre- and post-slaughtering conditions.
• Meat needs antioxidants to improve stability and shelf life.
• Studies show the effects of Alltech’s Total Replacement Technology™ and the importance of organic trace minerals in the diet.

To view the webinar and get the full story behind the takeaways, click on the button below:

Watch Webinar

What does the future hold for farming and the entire food supply chain?

Everything from automated farm implements and nonstop reams of data to consumers’ ability to trace their food to its source and create supply chain reversal, according to a panel of agribusiness experts.

Looking ahead into that near (and already here) future was the basis of a live video panel discussion entitled “Farming the Future.”

What’s changed about what it means to be a food consumer?

“I think we’re in the middle of a food movement,” said Mary Shelman, former director of Harvard Business School’s Agribusiness Program.

She cited the rise of “engaged eating” — taking the consumption of food beyond simply eating to making food choices that are considered nutritious, safe, culturally appropriate and produced in environmentally sustainable ways.

“A big piece of that is the millennial consumer,” she explained. “Technology is all around them. They get information in different ways. They have different values. They’re the biggest demographic group in the U.S., and they’re just at the stage of having families and moving up in their income potential, so they’re very attractive to the food industry.”

Shelman noted that the millennial generation, born between the early 1980s and 1990s, has a much greater understanding of the relationship between health and food.

“What they eat is part of their identity,” she said. “Food actually reflects who they are as a person, as well as their values.”

This presents what, in her view, may be the food industry’s biggest challenge.

“Not only do they want products that meet certain price and safety points, but they also want products that have a purpose,” she said.

Shelman noted that these “prosumers” have a strong belief in their purchasing power’s ability to affect the change they wish to see in the world. They “vote” with their dollars.

What’s changed about what it means to be a farmer?

Aidan Connolly, chief innovation officer at Alltech, recognized that the rate of change occurring in agriculture is outpacing comprehension of its scope and scale.

“I think that if anybody thinks that agriculture is going to be the same in 20 or 30 years, they’ve got their head in the sand,” he said.

Connolly, who has written about digital disruptions that are currently transforming agriculture, cited those technologies: “…robots and drones, blockchain, nutrigenomics, the internet of things, virtual reality and enhanced reality — these are technologies that can fundamentally change the ways in which we understand what happens when we grow plants or animals.”

Perhaps the most widely felt game-changer in agriculture has been the arrival of “big data.”

“You have a tool here that looks at millions and billions of observations, whether it’s productivity, food intake, the way we grow our crops, how much rain you get — all of this can be integrated into very precise models, and that’s going to be the big change in agriculture,” said Dr. Karl Dawson, chief scientific officer at Alltech. “We’re talking about moving to ‘armchair farming.’ We’re going to be making our decisions from a site, sitting in front of a computer, looking to see what we can predict in the future. That’s a tremendous tool that we’ve never had.”

What does this imply about the knowledge and skills required of the 21st-century farmer?

“I think we’re looking at a fundamental change in what that person is going to look like,” said Connolly. “They won’t necessarily grow up on a farm. They might grow up in a city. They won’t necessarily have the skills of understanding animals or plants. They will understand data, analytics, equipment and decision-making about all the various technologies and which investments should and should not be made. So, dramatically different skills from those used for the last thousands of years will determine who is and who is not a farmer.”

Key among those talents are analytical skills that are tied to data and information, according to Michael Boehlje, distinguished professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University.

“We are going to have to increasingly develop that skill and feel comfortable with looking at numbers, looking at information,” he said.

Boehlje emphasized that this doesn’t mean a farmer has to transform into a number cruncher but will need to understand the stories that the numbers tell.

“It’s not just the story they (data) tell in terms of average yields,” he explained. “It’s the distributions that count. It’s what happens when you are in parts of your field where you have low yields and where you’re getting high yields as well.

“The same is true with animals,” continued Boehlje. “We’re starting to see different animal performance even in the same pen. That’s a function of their genetics and a number of factors. We’re going to get more granular in the data. So, data assessment, data summarization, data visualization, strategic thinking, risk assessment — those increasingly are going to be the skills that we need to have.”

Attracting a new generation of talent to farming

Shelman agreed that new and emerging farm technologies will enable agriculture to be successful in meeting increasing demand, but attracting and retaining that new generation of farmers requires something more.

“Supply and demand economics don’t tend to move in lockstep,” she said. “For instance, in crop farming in the U.S. today, prices are relatively low compared to other times in the last five years. So, there’s a need to maintain an economic viability for farmers to survive — and, in particular, to attract new, younger farmers.”

Shelman pointed out that the average age of the American farmer today is reaching 60 years.

“We need new talent, and they will only come in if there are attractive returns in the sector,” she said.

This new generation is being attracted to farming for very different reasons than their predecessors.

“It’s about being able to understand the market,” said Shelman. “It’s, ‘How do I deliver this differentiated product that has extra value?’ So, it’s not just about producing at the lowest price, but producing what different segments of the market want and being able to sell into those channels.”

The result: supply chain reversal

The industry is seeing the rise of “demand-driven chains with consumers increasingly telling the entire chain ‘what we want, how we want it and how it ought to be done,’” according to Boehlje.

“So, a really important skill that is going to be much, much more important for farmers is going to be understanding and working in an interdependent system, rather than as an independent farmer, that is very focused on relationships, collaboration and interpersonal skills — things that many farmers have historically not liked to do,” he said. “But those are going to be skills that will be essential to being a successful farmer.”

So, how can farmers change the way they sell foods?

Consumers are moving beyond the traditional demand for cheap, accessible, safe food to shopping decisions that align with their values, according to Shelman.

“I think that provides some opportunities at the farm level,” she said. “First, to become much more market-oriented and know what the market is interested in buying rather than what you want to sell.”

Added Boehlje, “We’re increasingly seeing this entire food production and distribution industry move very dramatically from a commodity orientation and a supply chain mentality to a differentiated product orientation and a demand-driven system. And the technology to get that done is increasingly available.”

Shelman cited as examples the rise of brands such as Laura’s Lean Beef or Pete and Gerry’s eggs, items that come with specialty propositions.

“If you look at the Amazon Fresh website, you can buy hamburgers from a single cow,” she said.

She acknowledged that dealing with the market at such a level is not for everyone in farming, but it’s increasingly popular among consumers.

“There’s tremendous resistance in the system to making those kinds of changes because our system has been set up to move big quantities of relatively undifferentiated products,” said Shelman.

Dawson cautioned, however, that there remains a messaging gap in the commercialization chain that has failed to win the buy-in of the middleman.

“Alltech Angus was an example of a succulent meat product that received very good reviews, but, quite frankly, we never could make it go because there was a barrier between us and the consumer,” he explained.

Still, noted Connolly, technologies enabling transparency and traceability are ushering in a new era for the farm-consumer relationship.

“We are seeing very large changes in consumer behavior,” he said. “Apps on phones, websites, the ability to see through cameras what’s actually happening on the farm, to see through blockchain what has occurred in the way your food is processed — these are all tremendous opportunities for farmers to engage directly with consumers of their food, and I think, eventually, that makes for a more profitable farming system.”

Success in farming, said Boehlje, will depend on an ability to move away from the mentality “If I produce it, they will come.” That, increasingly, is not the industry of tomorrow.

Tom:                            Steve Elliott is the global director of the mineral management team at Alltech. He has 25 years of experience in the feed industry, 20 of them with Alltech. He joins us to talk about advances in the nutrition of farm animals that figure into our food chain. Thank you for being with us.

Steve:                          Absolutely.

Tom:                            Your present focus is on how organic trace minerals can improve the health and performance of livestock. What have you found?

Steve:                          Trace minerals are essential nutrients. In other words, animals must receive them every day in their diet. We found that by providing them in an organic form, we can meet the requirements and do so with much lower fortification levels in the diet. We can have a lower mineral concentration, less mineral excretion into the environment and less interaction with other components in the diet. There are a lot of advantages to looking at the natural way of providing trace elements.

Tom:                            Which trace minerals are key to improve livestock performance?

Steve:                          Most people will be familiar with zinc, copper and manganese, but there has been a lot of work on selenium over the last 15 years. Many parts of the United States are selenium deficient. By utilizing an organic form of selenium, we can raise the selenium status in the animals, thus improving their immunity, reproductive efficiency, etc.

                                    We can also fortify consumer diets with selenium by fortifying meat, milk and eggs, transferring selenium from the animal’s diet into the protein.

Tom:                            And just out of curiosity, where do you find selenium?

Steve:                          Selenium is one of those essential trace elements. It’s mined out of the earth. But at Alltech, we found a natural way of producing selenium: We take yeast and add selenium to the fermentation, and we can get the yeast to take it up and store it in an organic form. It’s much safer for the animal, safer for the people mixing the feeds and safer for the environment.

Tom:                            And which, in your opinion, is best: inorganic or organic minerals? Does it matter?

Steve:                          Yes, I believe it does matter. In nature, animals get all their minerals organically. We’ve supplemented with inorganic trace minerals for 50 or 60 years because they were an inexpensive alternative. Obviously, organic is a safer way of improving trace mineral status in the animals. We can do it in a form with fewer contaminants such as heavy metals, dioxins and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) — things we’re concerned about passing into the food chain. We can avoid that by using organic trace minerals.

Tom:                            You’ve noted that research from around the world is influencing regional regulatory decision-making with the goal of improving the agrifood sector. Can you elaborate on that, and is this goal being achieved?

Steve:                          Yes, particularly on the mineral side. For example, the European Union reduced the acceptable amount of minerals fed to animals because of water pollution concerns. Japan has recently moved legislation on lowered levels of zinc and copper to address pollution concerns as well. Korea has done the same. One of the main initiatives in China is lowering levels of trace minerals in the feed. There is almost no potable water left in China due to pollution, particularly from pig farms.

                                    I think there are a lot of initiatives driving producers to look at alternatives to trace mineral fortification. That’s where Alltech is ahead of the game. We’ve been looking at organic alternatives for over 20 years. I think we have a very good understanding of the mineral requirements of animals and the optimum levels at which we can meet them. 

Tom:                            Let’s talk about the Brazilian Food Guide, which appears to be quite disruptive. What is it, and why is it noteworthy?

Steve:                         Brazil reestablished levels in what they call their Table 4. Table 4 was a system set up by the government to ensure that farmers put adequate fortification in their livestock’s diets. The government does not want feed companies to cheat producers by not providing enough nutrition in the diet. The initial acceptable mineral levels put into that guideline were exceedingly high. We can achieve lower levels by feeding organic trace minerals.

                                    So Alltech, in coordination with major universities in Brazil and professors on the regulatory board, conducted research over the last several years showing that, when you feed the organic form of trace minerals, you can feed or fortify the diets at a much lower mineral level.

                                    The Brazilian government has incorporated these levels in the new guidelines, which now say that if you’re going to use organic forms, you can go well below the old Table 4 levels, thus allowing producers to improve the performance of their animals while lessening environmental contamination.

Tom:                            The guide blatantly warns people about food advertisements, noting that the purpose of these ads is to increase sales, not to improve public health. How is that advice being received in the industry?

Steve:                          There’s a lot of misinformation that goes out in some of these ads. From a food quality standpoint or fortification standpoint, we’ve done a lot of work with the Brazilian government on fortification or enrichment of milk, for example, particularly with selenium. You feed selenium to the animal, it passes into the milk, and you then raise the selenium status of the people consuming that milk. We’ve done that with Brazilian school children, and we found that as we improve their selenium status, their cognitive ability, or their ability to pay attention in school, was improved as well as their immune status.

                                    There are a lot of good things we can do with fortifying foods, but there’s a lot of misinformation out there as well. I think the public should be careful and really look at the science behind some of these claims.

Tom:                            And how can the Brazilian guide serve as a model in the agrifood industry?

Steve:                          I think in the United States and globally, many people rely on the NRC, which is the National Research Council. The NRC reviews research every five or six years and then establishes guidelines on nutrient fortification levels for production species. Most guidelines were established using old ingredients. For example, inorganic trace minerals.

                                    Brazil and other countries are starting to accept that there is a better way of doing things by using organic minerals. By doing so, it’s going to help the environment and we can fortify diets at a significantly lower mineral level. I think because of the revised Brazilian tables that were recently published, Canada is now talking about revising their tables as well.  

                                    We’re hopeful that the next time the NRC reviews production species in the United States, they will take a closer look at organic forms of nutrients, particularly those that Alltech makes.

Tom:                            So, to bring this all the way down to the food chain, how does the adoption of the Brazilian guide affect the average consumer’s dinner table?

Steve:                          I don’t know that there is much effect on a consumer’s dinner table. Consumers should rest assured that the Brazilian government is taking a step forward by looking at natural alternatives — not just using the old standards that were used for many years — and not be concerned because the mineral levels have decreased. There’s good science for decreasing those levels: We can clean up the environment, and animals perform better at lower mineral levels in the right form. The consumer can rest assured that Brazil is taking a leading-edge approach by looking at natural feed additives.

Tom:                            Steve, what do you enjoy most about your work?

Steve:                          I’ve had the opportunity to travel the world; I’ve been to over 100 countries. I get to deal with the best food producers, the best producers of animal protein in the world. And I get to learn something new every day.

Tom:                            Steve Elliott, the global director of the mineral management team at Alltech. We thank you for your time.

Steve:                          Thank you.

I would like more information on organic trace minerals. 

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) helps ensure food safety by focusing on preventing contamination rather than simply responding to it. All feed manufacturers who manufacture, process, pack or hold animal food for consumption in the United States must comply with the FSMA.

In general, this includes those who register under Section 415 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (also known as the Bioterrorism Act). It’s important to note that not complying is considered a prohibited act.

Recently, Hubbard Feeds hosted a series of meetings for its customers to help them prepare for the FSMA. Keith Epperson of Epperson Consulting & Associates, LLC, led the discussion by giving attendees an overview of the FSMA and how it affects their businesses. Below are the key takeaways from Keith’s presentation.

Deadlines for larger businesses to comply with the FSMA went into effect in 2016. The current compliance date for many feed dealers is September 2017 for Current Good Manufacturing Practices. A more detailed outline of compliance dates is shown in the chart below, provided by the American Feed Industry Association.

Compliance dates for FSMA

Business Size

Subpart B

Current Good Manufacturing Practice

Subpart C

Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls

All Others

Sept. 19, 2016

Sept. 18, 2017

Small Businesses

(< 500 FTE) *

*full time employees

Sept. 18, 2017

Sept. 17, 2018

Very Small Businesses

(< $2.5 million/year)

Sept. 17, 2018

Sept. 17, 2019

Critical prevention efforts

The first of several topics discussed at the meetings was the importance of training employees on their job responsibilities. Having qualified individuals who understand what they do and the consequences of not performing those tasks correctly is a key aspect of food safety. Documenting when training sessions occur is an important part of FSMA compliance, because if it’s not written down, it’s assumed it didn’t happen.

Housekeeping and maintenance of equipment and facilities was also discussed frequently. When inspectors walk through a facility, it’s easy to see what type of housekeeping is being done. A regular maintenance schedule can prevent breakdowns or improper manufacturing and processing of feeds.

Biosecurity was another topic heavily emphasized throughout the meetings. Examples of this include documenting and visually inspecting incoming ingredient trailers to record what was on a previous load, trucking of finished feed, and even keeping brooms and equipment separate depending on where they are used.

Planning ahead

Another aspect of the FSMA that feed manufacturers will be required to complete is a food safety plan. Every feed manufacturer must conduct a hazard analysis to identify and evaluate — based on experience, illness data, scientific reports and other information — known or reasonably foreseeable hazards for each type of animal food manufactured, processed, packed or held at their facility to determine whether there are any hazards requiring a preventive control. The hazard analysis must be written regardless of its outcome.

Some examples of hazards in animal food are:

• Biological hazards:

  • Salmonella spp.
  • Listeria monocytogenes

• Chemical hazards:

  • Mycotoxins
  • Pesticides and process-related or industrial chemicals
  • Drug carryover
  • Nutrient deficiencies or toxicities

• Physical hazards:

  • Stones
  • Glass
  • Metal

Moving forward

The compliance date for small businesses with less than 500 full-time employees is September 17, 2018, which gives feed manufacturers time to do their hazard analysis. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced they will delay inspections for the hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls portion of the FSMA until Sept. 2018. However, while the inspections may have been delayed, feed manufacturers will still be required to meet compliance deadlines.

The FDA has launched a food safety plan builder to help owners create a food safety plan for their businesses. You can find more information on the FDA website.

Tom:                            Paul Groenewegen is the director of innovation and nutrition at Masterfeeds, Inc., an Alltech company. He’s joining us for a look into the question: more pigs, more problems? Thanks for joining us.

Paul:                            Thanks for having me.

Tom:                            What would you identify as the current big disruptor in the swine industry?

Paul:                            The big disruptor right now is keeping as many piglets alive as possible and getting them to market quickly. Our genetics companies have done an incredibly good job at allowing us to have prolific animals. Sows can now have lots of baby pigs. The key is how we get those pigs to market and how we make sure those pigs are of the best quality for consumers.

Tom:                            What does increased pork production mean for the global industry in 2017?

Paul:                            Increased pork production means a greater supply of high-quality protein in the form of bacon, ham, sausage — anything you can get from a pig — for an ever-increasing population and a more affluent society.

Tom:                            Are more piglets per sow sustainable?

Paul:                            Absolutely. When I started in the industry 30 years ago, if you could wean 20 pigs per sow per year, you were doing an excellent job. You were an industry leader.

                                    Now, if we look at countries like Denmark, their industry average of pigs per sow is in the mid-30s. Suddenly you’re producing 50 to 60 percent more pigs per sow per year than were produced a mere 30 years ago. So, that is extremely sustainable. Where the end is, we’re not quite sure. As of right now, it’s very sustainable, and it is an industry necessity to continue producing more and more pigs per sow per year.

Tom:                            What are the consequences of more piglets per litter?

Paul:                            Variability. One of the largest challenges we have in animal agriculture today is variability of animals within a group. So, if you have 16 to 18 piglets in a litter, you’re going to have ranges in weight from 500 grams to about 1.5 kilograms. The average may be 1.1 kilograms to 1.2 kilograms, but you have some very small pigs.

            The real challenge is not only from the survival perspective of those piglets, but also how we allow those piglets to survive and make it to market economically.

                                    We are also concerned with how the piglets are raised in utero, making sure that muscle fiber development is ideal for product quality when they go to market.  

Tom:                            How do producers find a balance between quantity and quality?

Paul:                            It’s a fine balance. As management and nutrition have continued to improve along with genetics, producers are learning ways to increase the number of piglets weaned per sow per year. They are always driving for more piglets, obviously, but the key is management, housing, sanitation and the health of these animals. Improving on those attributes is key to allowing those piglets to survive.

Tom:                            Why is weaning such a critical time?

Paul:                            Well, it’s a critical time because you’re going to change the diet of the baby pig from a milk-based diet to a dry feed-based diet. And there are big implications on the gut of the pig and the gastrointestinal tract. We get villous atrophy. We get different things happening as feed intake drops.

                                    It’s a whole social order as well. So, you have 12 to 14 piglets in a litter. Everyone knows one another. They get weaned. They get taken to a facility where all of a sudden they could be with 30 or 40 others. They’re mixed by size because it helps from a production perspective. So, there’s a whole new social order that’s required.

                                    Mom is no longer there. It’s a fact of life. And they have to learn to eat out of a feeder. They have to learn to drink out of a water bowl. They have to learn to do things differently, and that’s why it’s such a huge challenge for these pigs. In some cases, they’re trucked a long way. In the old-fashioned farrow to finish operation, you would run the piglets down the hallway to the nursery. Now, you put them on a truck and you may truck them one or two hours to the barn. That’s a huge stress on those pigs. But, from a nutrition management, health and welfare perspective, farmers are doing an excellent job to make sure all those pigs survive and do the best they can.

Tom:                            What should producers be paying attention to during this critical time?

Paul:                            I would say one of the most critical things is making sure mom is looked after. Everything that you want the piglet to receive comes through mom in the first three to four weeks of life, before weaning. Make sure the sow’s nutrition program is fully implemented and that the sow can transfer trace elements like selenium to the baby pig, which they really require around weaning time.

                                    Make sure technologies in the feed increase immunoglobulins in the colostrum. As litter size increases, we want mom to produce more colostrum so that all piglets get the same amount and quality. Start with how the sow is treated, from gestation to lactation, to give the piglet the absolute best start. Look after the other details once they get to the nursery.

Tom:                            What lessons can we learn from human infant formulas for pork feed formulas?

Paul:                            That’s a great question because pigs have been used as a model for human infants for years. In fact, I worked with a university professor who spent his whole career using baby pigs as models for human infant formula development. As we enhance human infant formulas and look at technologies such as different types of structural carbohydrates or DHA and selenium, we can learn from those formulations and apply them to baby pigs.

                                    We want the diet that piglets receive after weaning to deliver nutrients in the most bioavailable form, enhance gut development and overall performance, and to increase survivability.

Tom:                            You’ve brought up colostrum. How do we ensure for piglets that they receive an adequate supply?

Paul:                            There are on-farm techniques that can be used such as split-suckling, analyzing litter size and the duration of farrowing time. Obviously, the first pig born has a better opportunity for receiving colostrum than the last pig born. But, there are management techniques that ensure each piglet gets the same amount of time with mom to access as much colostrum as they can.

                                    Also, technology can be used in sow feed to enhance colostrum production. Research shows that by using some Alltech technologies, we can increase colostrum production and also increase immunoglobulin concentration of that colostrum. We’re ensuring that even in bigger litters, all piglets are getting the same amount of higher-quality colostrum, which leads to increased survivability and increased weaning weights.

                                    Pigs never overcome a bad start. If we can get the baby pig off to a good start with colostrum via the mother sow, then we’re off to the races!

Tom:                            What is lactoferrin, and why is it important?

Paul:                            Lactoferrin is a protein that’s required for iron absorption and gut development within the baby pig. It’s one of the proteins found in milk.

                                    New research shows that when lactoferrin is available in the post-weaning diet, it continues to enhance gastrointestinal function. When you enhance gastrointestinal function and development, the baby pig will absorb more nutrients of high-quality feed.  

Tom:                            What about DHA?

Paul:                            Again, since baby pigs are used as models for humans and vice-versa, we know that human infants and baby pigs both require DHA for overall health. DHA enhances the function and development of central nervous system tissues and promotes the general welfare of pigs.

Tom:                            We’ve talked about colostrum. We’ve talked about lactoferrin. We’ve talked about DHA. What about nucleotides? Why are they important?

Paul:                            Nucleotides are the building blocks of DNA. We know that the baby animal already produces some nucleotides. But to support fast-growing intestinal cells, we should also provide nucleotides.

                                    As intestinal tissue grows very rapidly in a young animal, we need to supply enough nucleotides to build the DNA, to build the tissue, to build a more functional gastrointestinal track so that the pigs can absorb more nutrients from their diet.

Tom:                            What would you say is the ideal starter diet for piglets?

Paul:                            The ideal starter diet is high in digestibility, contains functional proteins and contains nutrients like nucleotides and glutamic acid, which is the primary energy source of the developing enterocyte. We want to make sure we support gut development as quickly as possible. We’re looking for diets with highly palatable ingredients and diets that contain other functional nutrients like lactoferrin to drive absorption and the development of the gastrointestinal tract.

                                    An overall ideal diet should improve intake and digestibility while reducing nutritional inadequacies and disorders.  

Tom:                            Given everything that you’ve just discussed, can producers continue to decrease production cost without affecting performance?

Paul:                            To a point, I believe we can. As we increase pigs per sow per year, our cost per piglet weaned will go down. You’re going to spend more money to have a better sow diet, but your overall cost of production per sow or per piglet weaned per sow will go down.

                                    Then, as we enhance the starter diets post-weaning, we are going to improve nutrient absorption. It becomes a cycle: As we provide functional nutrients in a diet to drive gut development, that enhanced, developed gastrointestinal tract then absorbs more nutrients out of the diet.

                                    Subsequently, we know that the faster a pig starts post-weaning, the faster they go to market. That will reduce cost of production overall.

Tom:                            Based upon that, as the global population increases and as parts of the world such as India and Africa enter the middle-class, how are we going to meet the increased demand for pork? You’ve addressed efficiency. Are there other ways to meet that demand?

Paul:                            When you think about it, there are approximately 100 million sows globally. If a sow has two litters per year and we save just one pig per litter from dying of inadequate nutrition, we’re talking about 200 million more pigs available to consumers.

                                    By enhancing nutrition to allow for increased survivability of piglets, those 2 million additional pigs provide high-quality protein to the ever-growing population.

Tom:                            Bringing this home and considering all the aspects of the life cycle of a pig, how do these changes affect the average consumer’s kitchen table?

Paul:                            What we’re going to have is high-quality pork raised with the utmost humanity at a very affordable rate for our consumers.

Tom:                            Are there any other trends, any other things that we should be paying attention to in the swine industry?

Paul:                            I think the big trend to focus on is the advancement of nutrition, management and genetics. We have to make sure nutrition management keeps up with the ever-changing acceleration of genetics. By utilizing technologies like we’ve discussed today, we’ll provide the nutrients required by faster-growing, more efficient pigs and continue to produce that high-quality protein that the consumer demands.

Tom:                            Paul Groenewegen, director of innovation and nutrition at Masterfeeds, Inc., an Alltech company. Thanks for joining us.

Paul:                            Thank you.

Paul Groenewegen spoke at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE17). To hear more talks from the conference, sign up for the Alltech Idea Lab.

The first animals to be domesticated by humans were wolves, although the jury is still out on when exactly this occurred. Now a menagerie of animals is considered companion animals or pets, from the fuzzy chinchilla to the majestic horse. The original reasons for domestication were as varied as the species themselves: protection, hunting, travel and companionship.

Today, pets are considered by their owners to be members of the family. They have their own toys, a special place on the sofa or even their own room.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans individually spent an average of $500 on their pets for a collective total of $66.75 billion, three times more than 20 years earlier. Their growth in spending is being outpaced by China, where pet lovers are estimated to spend 50 percent more by 2019. With a human population 4.5 times larger than the U.S., this may soon become the world’s biggest market. The European pet industry is also fairly substantial and, according to EuroDev, is expected to grow to $36.4 billion USD by the end of 2017, with the biggest markets being France (16.5 percent), Germany (16 percent) and the U.K. (15.3 percent).

As the population increases, the middle class grows and new geographic markets develop, opportunities abound in the pet sector. Additionally, advances in technology that have been disrupting many other industries are certain to have an effect. Traditional pet products and emerging technologies are converging, opening up never-before-seen opportunities.

Following the eight digital technologies framework* I’ve used in previous blogs, what could disrupt the companion animal market?

1. 3D appendages?

These doggie knee implants are created using a 3D printer. Image courtesy of 3D Systems.

3D printing can offer veterinarians novel life-saving techniques for pets. 3D Systems has partnered with Rita Leibinger Medical to create and print titanium orthopedic knee implants for dogs. They have reported nearly 10,000 successful implants using a procedure they call tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA). TTA eliminates the need for a veterinarian to repair the ligament because it stabilizes the joint using a titanium implant, which speeds up both the surgery itself and the animal’s recovery time.

While it may sound expensive, TTA actually costs significantly less than traditionally hand-built prosthetics. There are many incredible tales of second chances — a duck with a new silicone foot, a cat’s knee implant and a pup’s prosthetic legs. Though not designed solely for animal and veterinary use, several companies have now created prosthetics for animals: NovaCopy, Stratasys, MakerBot, 3dyn and BTech.

2. Are robotic dogs man’s new BFF?

Move over, Fido, man’s new best friend is…a robot? Robotic “Rover” has certainly done well in Japan, where Aibo (Sony) engineered a robotic dog in 1999 that was designed to learn about its owners and to react appropriately to their emotions. These robots used both sensors and artificial intelligence to create such a real impression. In fact, so genuine was the appearance that owners in Japan were holding funerals when their pets “died.”

While this original design was for fun and companion purposes, there seems to be an opportunity to create robotic dogs to replace some of the service animals we have today. Japanese company NSK created Lightbot, a guide robot of sorts, but the design leaves much to be desired when compared to a snuggly pup! Alternatively, robotic dogs or cats could be an ideal solution for families with severe allergies that are prohibitive to real animals.

MiRo is a programmable robotic canine created by Consequential Robotics that has sensors for detecting its surroundings, facial recognition technology and is designed to be emotionally engaging. MiRo won the Best Demonstration Award at the 2017 Human-Robot Interaction conference in Vienna, Austria.

CHiP, made by WowWee, is an intelligent, affectionate robot dog. Using smart technology and advanced sensors, your responses will determine CHiP’s behavior. Cozmo is yet another example.

There is also a robotic company that designs robots resembling animal-like frames called Boston Dynamics. Though these robots are intended less for companion purposes and more for practical applications, they are designed to learn and adapt to their environment. Once you watch a video of their robot, Spot, it’s hard not to imagine how it could easily segue into the pet world with just a little “prettying” up.

3. Drones for lost doggies

There are some practical applications for drones in the pet industry. For one, a drone is capable of searching and finding missing pets. They are able to cover a wider area than a human could and, when combined with other technologies such as the GPS wearables discussed below, could zoom in on the lost animal. Drones have already been used to track and count strays in urban areas such as Houston, Texas. The World Animal Awareness Society used drones to film strays to increase awareness and compassion for the issue.

A few months ago, IBM filed a patent for a drone that could act as a pet sitter or trainer, providing your dog or cat with constant monitoring while you’re away at work. It could train your pet or provide entertainment should your dog get restless or lonely. Potentially, the drone could allow the dog in or out, and also dole out food or treats at mealtimes or for training purposes.

Netherlands-based Tinki.nl thinks the 100 million kilos of dog droppings that are neglectfully distributed in his country create quite the nightmare. Teaming up with Space53, the companies use a drone equipped with thermal imaging and recognition software to locate the mess and apply GPS coordinates to its location. Then, a robot receives the coordinates and cleans the area. It's an incredible way to combine technologies to address a real problem.

4. Sensors for Spot

Sensors for pets, particularly in the form of wearables such as GPS-enabled collars, have seen significant growth over the last few years.

WonderWoof BowTie is a dog activity tracker that can set daily recommended activity targets for your pet based on size, breed and age. It records movement and sends owners progress reports (or reminders to get the dog to be more active!) via an app.

The Buddy by Squeaker glow-in-the-dark LED collar takes this a step further, using GPS and Bluetooth technology to track and organize daily activity. Not only does it use geofencing and real-time tracking, but it will also determine your dog’s temperature and set the thermostat in your home to make your pet more comfortable. It is waterproof and connects to your smartphone for real-time health analysis and updates.

PetPace, designed for dogs or cats, monitors health and alerts owners when something is wrong. Other examples of health monitoring devices include the iotatracker, FitBark and Tailio for cats.

What about fish? FishBit monitors your aquarium, including temperature and fish/coral/plant stock, and it reminds you when the water needs to be changed, all through an app on your smartphone.

Wearables offering GPS monitoring include PawTrack, specifically for cats, Whistle for dogs and Tractive for both dogs and cats. Petkit not only offers a wearable that monitors activity and food intake, but also assesses an animal’s mood, and so does DogStart’s TailTalk. PawTracker is also designed for both dogs and cats and uses GPS locating to keep track of your pet.

However, sensors go beyond wearables. Tired of scooping kitty litter? Litter-Robot has a space-age-looking enclosed litter “box” that senses when your cat is done and cleans the box for you. It also alerts you when the box is full so all you have to do is dump the drawer.

Perhaps the most practical opportunity for sensor technology is in automatic feeders. PetNet makes an automatic feeder that gauges the amount of existing food and reorders more if levels run low. CatFi does much the same, and also uses 3D facial recognition to track how much each individual cat is eating.

Designed by animal-loving neurosurgeons, CleverPet is an automatic feeding system that is also designed to engage and challenge your pet to ease boredom. OurPets Wonder Bowl is paired with a collar tag that allows only the animal it is connected with to eat, which is great for people with more than one pet or animals on special diets. Eyenimal offers a wide range of products, from invisible fencing to no-bark collars, cameras and automatic feeding devices. PetSafe offers all manner of pet products, including food dispensers, automatic ball launchers, electronic pet doors, laser toys for cats and more.

There is no shortage of variety of sensor applications. Most of these are wearables in the form of collars, some are feeders or toys. Almost all will connect to your smartphone, where appropriate.

Astro: Garmin’s handheld tracking system

Catspad: Programmable automatic cat feeder

Gibi Pet Tracker: Attaches to any pet collar and connects to your phone

iFetch: Automatic ball thrower

LINK: Wearable uses AI to determine what constitutes intense activity

Tabcat: Lightweight tracking collar, specifically for cats

MarcoPolo: Long range, waterproof, lightweight tracking collar for dogs and cats

Nuzzle: GPS location collar and activity tracker

PetPace: Collar collects pet’s vitals including temperature, activity, pulse, calories consumed (and burned), etc.

Poof: Daily activity tracker (includes sleep!)

Voyce Sensor tracks activity, heart and respiratory rates, quality of rest, etc.

5. Using artificial intelligence (AI) to talk to your pet

No need for your pet to be bored while you’re away — AI can be used to entertain, challenge and even reward him. Image courtesy of Petcube.

The next step in AI might be talking to and understanding your pet! Not long ago, Amazon said it would be selling pet translators within the next 10 years. Already, there is an app available in the U.K. that is a “human-to-cat translator,” but it does not necessarily claim to use AI and reviews are mixed as to its effectiveness.

As already mentioned, robotic dogs can use AI, and sensors provide a means of collecting information for AI to make real-time decisions. PetBot uses AI to recognize your dog, give it treats when you choose (through an app) and take pictures that are sent to your smartphone. Felik is an intelligent pet companion that uses AI to create the same movements a human does when using a laser pointer to play with a cat or dog, keeping your pet entertained while you’re away. Petchatz also allows owners to chat with their dog and release treats to reward their attentiveness.

6. Create your own pet through augmented reality

Augmented reality, sometimes referred to as “mixed reality,” offers its own version of what the future of household pets might be. Rather than robots, what about holograms? This is just one of the many applications of Microsoft’s HoloLens using Actiongram. These holographic pets are able to interact with their owners and fetch balls, perform tricks for treats and even display personalities and emotions like shyness and happiness. These digital companions will build intelligence and learn to interact with people.

British company INDE has created all types of AR systems for many top organizations, including an interactive dinosaur display for National Geographic. Who’s to say what other AR companies may move into the pet industry?

7. Virtual reality allows for much cleaner “pet” homes

This imploring face may be created in a virtual world, but it still demands love and attention. Image courtesy of Foopets.

VR technology is proving to be an effective training tool, including within veterinary education. Future animal surgeons can learn extensively from this technology in the classroom, but there are other, less serious functions for the technology as well.

Google Cardboard has made it easy for anyone to use VR apps such as Virtual Reality Pet. HTC Vive, the creator of Konrad the Kitten, has really upped its game recently with a new design using Oculus Rift’s handheld touch controller, which allows users to not only see a virtual pet, but to physically touch, pet, hold or cuddle one. FooPets offers both puppies and kittens as adoptable virtual pets that require food, love and attention.

Reading about VR in the pet industry almost begs the question: Will pets experience VR as well? Pawculus Rift was a pretty good April fools’ joke by Cramer, but who’s to say that one day there couldn’t be a use for it? Could VR for your pet keep them entertained while you’re at work? Could it be used to train them? As quickly as technology is moving, new opportunities arise every day, and it may not seem so strange to imagine.

8. Blockchain could verify your pet’s pedigree

Undoubtedly, blockchain technology has the capability to revolutionize transparency in pet pedigrees. Privacy is always a concern within a series of transactions, such as the sale of a pet through multiple owners, but blockchain is designed in such a way that the digital records are not centrally located, nor controlled by one entity. No one can manipulate the data, and it is fully secure. This leaves it virtually impregnable to hackers or information seekers with malintent.

The biggest benefit of blockchain is the ability to share all types of information. From an animal’s breeding history to its yearly veterinary care, health records, dog show awards, training certifications, etc., Blockchain can actually store information from any device, even robots, sensors and microchips.

Internet of things (IoT) becomes the internet of pets

Any of these eight digital technologies can become part of the IoT. It is IoT technology that interconnects them, even in ways we may not yet comprehend. For example, IoT connects the camera in your living room with the smartphone on your desk, allowing you to monitor your pet while you’re at work. It’s also IoT that connects your phone back to the treat feeder, allowing you to reward your pet for behaving while you’re at work! IoT enables the collection and interconnectivity of data. This is extremely important when considering the health and well-being of your pet.

Big data and the microbiome

In recent years, discussion has evolved about the role of the microbiome, or the bacteria in your stomach, and the effects a healthy gut can have on humans. The same is true for animals. Studying an animal’s microbiome and the effect nutrients has on it is not easy. Thankfully, there is another new type of technology called nutrigenomics (the study of how nutrients affect an organism’s genes). It uses a gene chip that allows researchers to test different nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, yeast fractions, probiotics, prebiotics and even essential oils, to see how adding them to an animal’s diet can improve their digestive efficiency.

Why is this important? By improving the microbiome, or gut, of your pet, you can improve their overall health. It will reduce their chances of getting sick and improve their energy levels. There are very few nutrigenomics centers in the world, and most are dedicated to human research. Alltech has built the only one dedicated to animals and has collected a tremendous amount of data, challenging traditional analytical systems, but big data algorithms have been developed that allow for this information to be analyzed and understood as never before.

The eight technologies, the IoT and the advent of big data described here are digital disruptions affecting nearly every aspect of modern life, including even our four-legged companions. While some of the concepts may seem hard to fathom, given the speed of innovation, concepts that don’t exist today may quickly emerge and become a reality. Advances in the pet industry are already apparent, and new technologies arrive on the market on a daily basis, growing the market ecosystem map. From a commercial standpoint, it’s clear: The pet industry is growing by leaps and bounds, and there are exciting (and profitable!) times ahead for those who cater to people’s love for their companion animal family members.

*The framework for these eight technologies was first proposed in a PwC article.

Tom: We’re talking with Michael Woolsey, senior strategic manager for Alltech China. He oversees regulatory affairs and strategic initiatives in Alltech’s largest overseas market. Mr. Woolsey also manages market development activities in Mongolia and Myanmar. We thank you for joining us.

Michael: Good to be here.

Tom: You described China as the ultimate disruptor. Can you elaborate?

Michael: China is the largest overseas market for Alltech, and the pig industry is our biggest customer. Our nutrition solutions for pig farmers account for more than half our sales in China. So, we obviously follow this industry very closely. It’s a massive industry. The revenues of the China pig industry were $160 billion last year. If the China pig industry was a company, it would be number seven on the Fortune 500 — larger than Ford, larger than GM, larger than AT&T.

If you look at the grain that goes into pig farming in China, the amount of farmland is equivalent to the state of California. So, if you take every acre in California to provide grain for China’s pig industry, it still wouldn’t be enough.

There are some really exciting developments going on right now in the China pig industry. Mainly, there’s a massive shift going on. It started about 15 years ago from backyard and small-scale farmers. These farms are being replaced by modern large-scale operations, and this is creating opportunities for a range of businesses that sell to modern pig farms. Everything from equipment, farm building, manufacturers, to genetics, animal nutrition (where we are), to veterinary drugs. Small backyard operations don’t purchase these things and large modern operations do. So, it’s a pretty exciting development right now.

Tom: Smithfield Foods was acquired by a Chinese firm, WH Group. Smithfield accounts for 25 percent of the American pork industry. So, it’s a pretty huge acquisition. What’s the significance for China?

Michael: Yeah. This is a controversial deal both in the U.S. and in China. It was the largest purchase in global animal agriculture history — $7.1 billion, that was the value of the deal.

Four years later, I think there’s evidence that there have been real benefits on both sides. I think for the U.S. pig farmers, they have access to Shuanghui’s impressive distribution network in China. Shuanghui is the biggest meat processor in China. This is access we didn’t have before. And Shuanghui is using their leverage with Chinese retailers to promote American-style pork in a way that’s never happened before in China — hams, bacon, sausages in some exciting and creative ways. And, as a result, we’re seeing record sales of U.S. pork to China right now. Last year’s sales were over $1 billion, up 50 percent from the year before. Nearly all this gain is from Smithfield.

Tom: There’s been some speculation out there that the firm that purchased Smithfield is actually acting on behalf of the government, if not being the government itself. Are you familiar with that speculation? What do you think of it?

Michael: Well, the CEO, Wan Long, he’s actually a member of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China. And he’s the CEO of the largest meat processor and a member of the Party Congress. He’s definitely following guidance from the party.

My first position in China was with the U.S. Embassy back in 2008. Wan Long, the CEO of Shuanghui, invited me to his facility for the weekend. We talked about some of his challenges, and it was interesting. He said he was concerned about the pigs that he was buying in the open market. Shuanghui does not own pig farms, and he was concerned about the inconsistent sizing, the variants, the yields and the carcasses.

He was also really concerned about safety issues, veterinary drug residues and steroids, so he was looking for a safe stream of pork. He asked me, “Would the U.S. government be opposed to my buying a U.S. pig farm?” And I reported the policy that “No, pig farming is not considered a matter of national security and that would be approved.”

I had no idea he was thinking of buying Smithfield at that time. And, four years later, he purchased Smithfield.

But no, there is direction from the party, and all large-scale firms in China are going in this direction. They’re creating global brands.

China has a long history of manufacturing, but they understand that there are more returns in branding and in R&D, that that’s where the real value is. So, the purchase of Smithfield by Shuanghui is an attempt by the largest pork processor in China to capture some added value of a global brand, and there are more purchases on the way.

Tom: China is already the number one animal feed producer, according to the annual Alltech Global Feed Survey, yet much more production is going to be required with the growing middle class. How will they accomplish that?

Michael: Going back to pig farming, there’s a massive shift away from backyard farming to modern scale operations. It’s a development that China has to do. As you mentioned, their farmland is limited, and they’ve got productivity issues. Throughout Chinese agriculture, their yields and productivity are half, or even less, of what you see in the West. The average number of piglets per sow per year is 15. In the West, you see upward of 30 or more.

Their corn yields are half what you see in the U.S. And so, there’s a lot of effort, a lot of policies directed to modernizing Chinese agriculture, bringing in best practices to make sure there’s a reliable supply of safe food for the Chinese. They feel very strongly about self-sufficiency. They feel uncomfortable relying on foreign countries for too much of their food. There are a lot of soybeans coming in, quite a bit of pork. But again, they feel more comfortable if the vast majority of the food that’s consumed in China is produced in China, and they’re taking steps to make sure that happens.

Tom: I think when we think about China, we think about manufacturing, but where in the general scheme of things — the top priorities with the Chinese government — does agriculture figure?

Michael: Agriculture is a critical industry for the party leadership. Again, self-sufficiency is critical. They want to ensure a stable supply of particularly staple products — rice, wheat, corn, and pork is another staple.

When pork prices go up, people notice. It’s the largest meat by far — 63 pounds per person. Number two in China would be chicken at 12 pounds per person per year. And so, ensuring a stable supply of product is really important.

Tom: What is the No. 1 document?

Michael: Every year, the party leadership issues policy documents. The first one they issue every year — the No. 1 document — outlines their work plan for agriculture. It’s indicative of the importance of agriculture to the party, but I have found in my observations of Chinese agriculture policymaking that it’s more of a blueprint. The real work is in other regulatory initiatives, not the No. 1 document. It’s a broad blueprint.

Tom: What importance do environmental and sustainability efforts have in China today? Is there a green revolution of sorts in food?

Michael: It’s a very interesting development the last couple of years. This is an initiative of the administration under Xi Jinping. It started in 2013. They’ve introduced new aggressive measures for water emissions for livestock farming.

They’ve created large zones, particularly in South China, that ban pig farming near sensitive wetlands, the Chinese watershed, also pig farms near residential areas. These are being closed down, and it’s accelerating the trend that I referred to earlier, the smaller farms being closed down, being replaced by bigger farms. The new ones that are opening up are inland. They’re mostly, again, large-scale modern operations, truly massive operations. Some of these are a million pigs and more. So, again, the environmental measures are tough. There are tough standards for minerals, copper and zinc. And a lot of operators are turning to Alltech for our organic minerals to help them cope with these tough emission standards.

Tom: What you just described is the very definition of disruption, I would say.

Michael: That’s right, and Alltech is right in the middle of it, working with our customers to help them meet these requirements.

Tom: There’s been a significant focus by the Chinese government on mineral waste from animal feed. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Michael: Again, it’s a part of these new environmental initiatives, where there are some new standards for mineral content and emissions from livestock operations. If an auditor comes out and finds that the mineral levels are above the standard, they don’t issue an environmental permit. They can’t operate. We’re seeing a real spike in our organic mineral sales largely due to these environmental initiatives.

The Chinese — they’re taking additional steps. There’s a draft measure to reduce the amount of minerals allowed in finished feed — copper and zinc. They’re bringing their levels down to what we see in the European Union (EU). For copper, for instance, it’s 25 ppm, which is a significant reduction from where they are today at 150.

Tom: Are Chinese producers facing an increasingly regulated sector, and how are they dealing with that if they are?

Michael: Chinese agriculture has always been heavily regulated, but in China, oftentimes the key is what regulations are implemented. You have lots of regulations, and some are implemented and some are not. The environmental rules are being implemented in a way they weren’t before. It’s a tough environment for Chinese operations.

Tom: And how about representing an American company within that regulatory environment? Does that have its challenges as well?

Michael: For operations in China, we are held to a higher standard on average. When regulations come out, they tend to enforce those on foreign operations before local operations, and it’s a bilateral issue between the U.S. and China. This is in tandem with a new “made in China” initiative. In some sectors, it hasn’t impacted agriculture yet, but in other areas like semiconductors, telecoms, equipment services — they’re introducing policies to make it difficult for multinationals to operate and to make sure that the Chinese companies win out. It’s a warring trend for foreign operations in China.

Tom: This burgeoning middle class, with its burgeoning demand, is that creating opportunities for exports from other countries, including the United States?

Michael: Oh, absolutely. The middle class in China continues to boom. When people are in the middle class, the first thing they do is improve their diet — more meat and other protein, more calories. So, we are seeing in animal agriculture a real spike in the importance of beef, where China is less competitive.

It takes, on average, 8 kilos of grain to raise 1 kilo of beef. Grain prices are higher in China than in other countries.

The U.S. has been blocked from entering China through official channels because of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and there’s some movement very recently. We’ll have official access this summer. A lot of beef is coming in from Australia and from the U.S., after they open the market.

Dairy is another big item — a lot of dairy products coming in from New Zealand, Australia, the EU. Infant formula is a $4 billion market for overseas operations. And so, yes, the growing middle class is creating opportunities for countries around the world.

Tom: The Chinese leadership has to think about domestic issues first, but does China have a future larger role in the global food market?

Michael: China is an export powerhouse in a number of sectors, but agriculture is not one of them. It’s not really a focus right now because they’re mostly concerned about ensuring, again, a sufficient supply of food for Chinese people. They’ve actually had export restraints on their ag products in the past. It’s not really a focus to export, but there are some exceptions. They want to make sure they have enough for Chinese consumers.

Tom: China first.

Michael: China first.

Tom: You also focus on the emerging markets of East Asia — Mongolia, Myanmar. What can we expect to see happening in those countries?

Michael: These are the two newest markets for Alltech, and they’re very different. Mongolia, it’s a small market. There are only 3 million consumers. The middle class has only less than a million, but there’s a small, emerging, modern layer in the pig sector that’s creating some opportunities for us. Long term, I think what’s really exciting potentially for Mongolia is exporting beef to the 1.5 billion consumers in East Asia. Right now, they’re prohibited from exporting because of animal disease concerns. They have foot-and-mouth disease, but Mongolia sees the opportunities, and they’ve created a plan that was accepted by the World Organisation for Animal Health. The plan was accepted. They just need to implement it. It takes resources, but maybe in two to three years, they’ll have their beef approved. It could be a billion-dollar item for them in the first year. They have some natural advantages, a lot of grassland for raising beef animals. So, I think long term, that’s probably the most exciting potential opportunity.

Myanmar is a very different market. Much larger — 50 million consumers. Of course, the political reforms in the last year have been a real catalyst for us. U.S. trade sanctions were lifted last year due to the election of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi. It’s an exciting time to be in Myanmar right now. They had 40 years of military rule. Suu Kyi won with 98 percent support. Imagine what the U.S. could do with 98 percent support for the president. It’s an exciting time in Myanmar. Real opportunities, short term, I think, in layers and broilers and longer-term opportunities in pigs.

Tom: What in your view, Michael, does it take to make wise, successful investments in these East Asia markets?

Michael: I think, first, you have to listen.

Alltech has always been a company that likes to go in first when we see opportunities. And I tell you, the reception that we’re getting in both places — operations are eager to talk with us. They’ve got challenges. They want to hear about best practices from overseas. And so, listening to their challenges and building relationships for the long term, I think that’s what’s key — not expecting the quick return, but being there for the long term. People appreciate that.

Tom: How does China’s disruption and these emerging Asian markets, how does all that affect the average consumer’s dinner table?

Michael: There’s an exciting development related to the Shuanghui purchase of Smithfield.

Shuanghui, their objective, their goal is to increase the amount of chilled meats that they’re selling. Right now, only 30 percent of Shuanghui’s meat sales are chilled. The 70 percent — it’s the traditional marketing channels of warm carcass that’s cut up and sold in wet markets. The margins are obviously a lot lower. And so, one of their strategies for increasing their chilled meat segment — they’ve partnered with an e-commerce company called JD.com. This company is doing some exciting things. They’re creating a cold chain system, a warehouse and distribution cold chain system from the warehouse to the customer, selling fresh chilled foods, including packaged meats. Smithfield, Shuanghui, they have a strategic cooperation agreement to sell packaged Smithfield meats through jd.com. So, if a customer in the morning decides they want to have hot dogs from Smithfield for dinner that night, they bring out their cellphone, dial up JD.com, order the hot dogs, and the truck shows up later that afternoon. Chilled distribution the entire way to the consumer’s door. So, it’s a superior product. It’s what consumers want. It’s an exciting development.

Tom: It’s pretty amazing. I guess it’s not beyond imagination that someday a drone will show up. What about your work do you enjoy the most?

Michael: Well, in China, every day there’s a new challenge.

My last tour in the foreign service was Beijing. And when that tour was over in 2011, I had a choice to return to Washington or retire from the foreign service and do something else and stay in China. That was an easy decision. And so, I stayed in China. There’s just so much going on in agriculture in China. It’s a challenging market, but, again, a lot of opportunities. And at Alltech, we’re a part of this revolution in animal agriculture in China. And so, it’s very exciting.

Tom: Michael Woolsey, senior strategic manager for Alltech China. We thank you for joining us.

Michael Woolsey spoke at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE17). To hear more talks from the conference, sign up for the Alltech Idea Lab. For access, click on the button below.