As the distance between farmer and consumer closes around the world, we must continually adapt our methods to meet the ever-growing demand for high-quality, safe food. In the webinar, “The Path of Least Resistance,” we took a dive into the world of antibiotics, specifically how they have impacted and will continue to impact the agriculture industry. The key speaker, Dr. Richard Murphy, explained why we should worry about antibiotic resistance, where we are now with restrictions on antibiotics in livestock health and what opportunities exist for your operations.

Our three key takeaways were:

1. Worldwide, scientific evidence indicates an overall decline in the total stock of antibiotic effectiveness; resistance to all first-line and last-resort antibiotics is rising.
2. The livestock and poultry industries are not only facing increasing scrutiny from regulatory bodies such as the FDA and EFSA, but, worldwide, meat processors are starting to demand change.
3. Alternative growth promotion strategies are available that utilize strategic nutritional management practices as part of an antibiotic-free strategy for animal production.

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

When it comes to your animals’ mineral diet, you’ve likely never been thinking about “Star Wars” but just like the characters of the epic movie series, you have a choice to make. Do you go with organic trace minerals, or do you turn to the dark side: inorganics?

It should be an easy choice, but many get led astray by practices that date back over a decade-and-a-half. If you were to look at how many times the human food pyramid has been updated since then, you would see constant improvement. Likewise, how can we keep our animals’ diets in pace with this constant development of nutritional innovation? It starts with choosing a side when it comes to your minerals.

Choose the side with less mineral waste

To examine an animal’s diet, you often have to look at what is coming out the other end. If the animal’s waste has undigested feed in it, that signals two possibilities: One, the diet is over-fortified with an ingredient; or two, the animal is having trouble digesting the ingredient. Recent studies have shown that grow-finish pigs fed a diet with the total replacement of inorganics with organic minerals had reduced fecal manganese, copper and selenium excretion (Alltech-Zhejiang University Animal Nutrition and Feed Science Research Alliance). Another study looking at supplementing organic trace minerals at 0, 50 or 100 percent of the National Research Council (NRC) recommendations showed that nursery pigs and finishing pigs’ trace mineral requirements did not appear to need dietary trace mineral supplementation at the levels recommended by NRC. This research highlights the fact that organic minerals are better absorbed, stored and utilized by the animal. The more that is absorbed by the animal means less waste reaches the environment and less is wasted from the producer’s pocket book.

Choose the side you can trust

Not all minerals are made the same. Inorganics have an added level of contamination risk for both feed and food. This comes in the form of dioxins, PCBs and heavy metals. In the 2015 Asia-Pacific Heavy Metal Survey, where 498 mineral samples were tested, the trend for heavy metal contamination over the past five years showed an average of 19.4 percent. This contamination figure should be scary for producers, as that leads to an increased risk of immune suppression, liver/kidney damage, decreased growth and even contamination of the tissue. It is important to know where your minerals are coming from and that they are being tested to ensure safety for your animals and the food chain. Alltech’s Q+ (Quality Plus) process is a positive release program that guarantees all incoming batches of raw material sources and final product batches are tested for dioxins, PCBs and heavy metals prior to sale, providing a safe and traceable product that producers can trust.

Choose the side that’s better for your pigs’ health and performance

Minerals are an important part of the pig’s diet, but they are not meant to be just another ingredient. Effective mineral nutrition can have a very significant on health and performance. Organic trace minerals have shown to support the number of pigs born (The Ohio State University). That means a lot for producers looking to reduce overall production costs per pig. In addition to reducing costs, another major concern is the health of the pig. Additional studies have shown that trace minerals supplementation supports healthy antioxidant status. This allows the pigs that the producer has invested in to be healthier and more likely to make it to market (Alltech-Zhejiang University Animal Nutrition and Feed Science Research Alliance).

Don’t be lured to the dark side. Learn more about the Alltech^® Mineral Management program at alltech.com/pig.

I want to learn more about nutrition for my pig herd.

Through decades of rapid advancements in agriculture science, Alltech has been on the cutting edge of innovation while keeping its products natural, healthful and environmentally sound. In fact, everything Alltech does is guided by the “ACE” principle, which emphasizes benefits to animals, consumers and the environment.

Because of this, Alltech’s products are excellent choices for farmers and ranchers who want to produce safe, high-quality foods in sustainable ways. Alltech’s in-house standard, known as the Alltech Quality System (AQS), is already recognized throughout the feed industry as a standard to follow. The AQS delivers the exact same level of quality assurance and traceability in each of Alltech’s geographical markets, based on a uniform process designed to meet and exceed other third-party systems of certification. 

However, because there are now so many such third-party programs, each with its own complex and constantly-evolving requirements, food producers have faced an uphill battle in keeping up with which ingredients are acceptable for use in which programs.

Enter Where Food Comes From, Inc. (d.b.a. IMI Global, Inc.), already the most trusted resource for independent, third-party verification of food production practices. Where Food Comes From has just announced the launch of its “Feed Verified” program, which enables livestock producers, feed companies and food brands alike to confirm easily and in real time that a particular product meets a specific verification or certification requirement.

The first resource of its kind, Feed Verified features a constantly updated listing by name of approved feed products and ingredients, while indicating which verification or certification programs approve each product for use. The listing is multi-species and includes direct hyperlinks to individual product websites for easy access to product and purchasing information.

Thirteen of Alltech’s products were already listed on Feed Verified at launch time, with more expected as verification procedures continue.  The featured products are:

• BIO-MOS OA
• INTEGRAL OA
• ACTIGEN
• SEL-PLEX 2000
• BIOPLEX COPPER 10% OA
• BIOPLEX COBALT OA
• BIOPLEX ZINC 15% OA
• BIOPLEX MANGANESE OA
• BIOPLEX ZMC 842 OA
• BIOPLEX HI-FOUR OA
• YEA-SACC 1026 OA
• DEMP
• SELECT TC OA

Where Food Comes From, Inc. is known for its expertise in keeping up with the latest in food production science and technology.

“A critical aspect of verifying certain livestock production practices is knowing, tracking and confirming what an animal eats,” explained John Saunders, the company’s chairman and CEO. “It may sound simple, but you have to take a step back and think about the complexity of what we are looking at. Five years ago we were only concerned about animal by-products. Today it is that plus antibiotics, growth promotants, genetically modified organisms, organic ingredients, even the percentage of forage or protein. I could go on, but the reality is that feed is emerging as the new risk in value-added livestock production. It only takes the tiniest of ingredients to disqualify an entire generation of animals from a specific verification program, even when everything else is done exactly right. That is exactly why Feed Verified came to be. We want to do everything in our power to enable farmers and ranchers to be transparent about how they are producing food, and Feed Verified is another tool to help them succeed in that endeavor.”

Alltech looks forward to working further with Where Food Comes From, Inc., as both companies continue in making it easier for food producers to deliver transparency to consumers.

To view a current version of Feed Verified, visit http://www.imiglobal.com/feed-verified.html.

For years, scientists felt that if they were able to map the genome, they would know significantly more about life sciences. However, after successfully mapping both the human genome and several domestic animals’, scientists are left with more questions and the realization that genetic expression is more about the environment than it is the genes themselves.

This study of genes and their interactions is what drove Dean Boyd, technical director for The Hanor Company, to leave the academy and take scholarship to the field. Rebelling against status quo, Boyd strives to provide scientific discoveries based in unbiased, field applied research. At Pork: The other white meat? symposium, during  The Alltech REBELation conference in Lexington, Kentucky, USA, he shared some of his findings in regards to genetic expression in pigs and their role in profitability.

When first entering the field, Boyd was taken aback by the high number of researchers functioning on personal biases. These biases lead them to publish skewed or limited findings that were ultimately costing the pork industry significant losses. To rectify the situation, Boyd sought to identify the key performance factors in gene expression and the impact of those expressions on profitability through empirical experiments and large amounts of data.

Gene expression in the field 

First and foremost, Boyd found that gene expression is very much modified by the environment, being mainly limited by immune stress and nutrition. However, it’s important to note that viability can only truly be tested under moderate to high immune stress conditions. To adequately analyze a genome, it must be challenged by a variety of field pathogens to understand how the animal is truly programmed. Because of this need for testing under challenging conditions, producers need data from not only the genetic nucleus (which is readily available), but also field data describing how the genes were expressed during challenging conditions (which is less often available).

Even with sufficient data and research, Boyd makes it clear that science will not always get things right, stating that Mother Nature is very complex. However, he clarifies that while all science has potential errors, it is essential to steer clear of ‘isolated science,’ or science that has singular focus. These types of experiments tend to be focused on only one aspect of production, and while they provide impressive figures for proposed outcomes (i.e. litter size), they also typically come with unexpected downsides in other areas (i.e. birth weight and viability). The give and take relationship within pork production can be easily overlooked when only one performance indicator is being tracked. As an example, pigs weaned at 12 days as opposed to 21 days reduced their days to 270lbs by 34 days. However, their mortality rate was also increased by 5.8 percentage points.

Boyd describes the give and take relationship as somewhat of a chain reaction.

• Increased litter size: Decreased birth weight
• Decreased birth weight: Increased mortality rate/reduced viability
• Increased mortality rate/reduced viability: Decreased lifetime full value of sow

To simply focus on litter size neglects other needed components including uterine capacity, the prevention of decline (or ideally an increase) in placenta mucus, milk output, nipple number, and nipple placement.  Boyd knew producers needed access to better science.

Five research platforms

In an effort to provide integrated, reliable, and thoughtful research to producers, Boyd has developed a financial analysis worksheet that is based on five research platforms.

1. Number of FVP full value pigs (FVP) weaned
2. Number of FVP delivered to plant
   1. Wean to plant viability
   2. Minimum cull and light sale pigs
3. Carcass weight (volume)
4. Carcass output/sow + annual + lifetime (cost dilution)
   1. This accounts for and addresses seasonal infertility, which for many producers is a larger threat to profitability than even disease.
5. Weaned pig and W-F cost
   1. Feed and non feed companies

Through these factors, Boyd and his colleagues have created a benchmarking system with which they are able to analyze pork production units’ profitability, finding that the most differentiating factor, in both profit and loss years, is viability. 

While viability is the most significant differentiator; there are many key profit drivers to consider including pig numbers to market, pig livability, heavy carcass weight, and production costs. At first glance, one might assume production costs most strongly influenced profits, but in fact, pig numbers to market does.

Conclusion

In addition to managing these key profit drivers, Boyd explained, it is essential to have integrated team functions. Veterinarians, nutritionists, and those in production need to have an open dialogue where they can actively and effectively work together. One of the largest challenges the industry is facing is a recent shift in consumer culture. Previously, science has been an influential driver in consumer decisions. However, due to some strategic moves and changes in technology, marketing has positioned itself as a more influential voice in consumers’ lives. A great example of this is the antibiotic free (ABF) debate. Regardless of what science may suggest (i.e. antibiotic free vs. antibiotic residue free), consumers are demanding ABF products, so producers must be prepared to deliver them. An integrated team is the best way to ensure pork producers are prepared to address these changing consumer demands.

All in all, it is important for producers to recognize that mapping the genes of pigs is one small step towards fully understanding those genes’ interactions with the environment around them. To potentially improve profitability, it is essential to acknowledge the interactions between all the various factors of production, focusing on the key profit drivers and working closely with an integrated team.

I want to learn more about nutrition for my pig herd.

Food Safety: Red Tractor’s Never-ending Pursuit

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

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

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

That is a lot of hats to wear.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So a licensing fee?

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

The cost is shared?

People stand shoulder to shoulder.

Yeah, yeah. It benefits everybody.

Sure it does.

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

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

That’s impressive!

How about that?

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

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

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

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

Well, thank you very much Philip.

Pleasure.

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

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

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

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

This is a guest post from Ryan Goodman.  He blogs at Agriculture Proud.

Big ideas. We know the future of food systems, demand and supply continues to grow and evolve, but what are the tools that will get us there? Who are the people who will lead us there? What are the disruptive ideas that will fuel those ideas? Sometimes it takes a REBEL to be a LEADER.

During Alltech’s 2015 international symposium – REBELation, the theme was exploring how to be a leader, bring disruptive ideas to the table and taking advantage or opportunities to move us forward through innovation. Sometimes this innovative leadership is disruptive, but it often brings about fantastic results that make change.

REBELation brought forward a variety of leaders and innovators who all had unique experiences to share. Some of whom I don’t 100% agree with their business practices, which I’ll share more about later, yet they definitely provide great examples for taking advantage of opportunities for disruptive innovation that makes change.

If you’ve ever met Alltech’s Founder, Dr. Pearse Lyons, or even heard him speak, you’ll identify him as a man with passion for what he does. He is an innovative businessman, forward thinker, challenger and a rebel. You never know what to expect he’ll say, sometimes you’ll wonder where he’s going with a point, yet his words often challenge you to think. I’ve attended several of Alltech’s meetings in the past, with trips to Lexington and France, and there’s always something new to take home.

During this year’s REBELation Opening Session, Dr. Lyons left us with a few words of advice that set the tone for our meetings ahead.

Don’t oversleep on your dreams. To be leaders, we must combine urgency and innovation to stay ahead of the curve.

Rebels innovate and are constantly seeking new products and ideas. In order to innovative and creative, you have to fall in love with doing things differently.

What’s your goal? How do you achieve it? Avoid energy vampires. Make sure your dream has purpose and passion. Don’t die with your music still in you, Do what makes your heart sing.

Dr. Lyons goes on to describe qualities of a rebel to include provocateur, firebrand, instigator, motivator, revolutionary. A leader of this type must remain calm and be kind, have a vision but at the same time, be demanding. Qualities which most definitely describe the actions of General Colin Powell, who spoke to the crowd.

I’ve never been one to follow many politics or our country’s war efforts closely, but most would definitely recognize General Powell from his time serving our country and working closely with international leaders. He is a man who has been recognized for his leadership and ability to lead his teams on several occasions, which definitely translated to some great advice as he shared his experiences with us.

A leader must…

• Be confident and have a sense of purpose. This translates to your team’s trust in your abilities.
• Understand what is expected of the leader. Leaders have to understand and convey this to those following.
• Inspire people. People who are inspired are self-motivated.
• Have optimism and confidence.
• Be relevant in today’s world, which often means keeping pace.
• Recognize performance when a job is done well.
• Know how to identify problems and fix them.
• Build bonds of trust in their organization.
• Look at opportunities in the future and know how to deal with risks when they arrive.
• Be selfless, not selfish.
• Execute the plan.

How does this apply to agriculture? As Dr. Pearse Lyons shared with the AgWired team in reference to awarding General Colin Powell with the Alltech Medal of Excellence award, “What is the number one thing missing from agriculture and business today? Leadership, and when I think of leadership, General Powell comes first to mind. He is decisive, courageous and a ‘force multiplier of perpetual optimism.”

Read more on Ryan's blog, Agriculture Proud.

Find out more about Ryan here.

My Favourite Farmer has to be my 85 year-old father-in-law Martin Noone, who has dedicated his whole life to his family and his farm. The interest and dedication he shows his livestock is truly admirable and he looks after them just like family.

In telling us all about the past he has embraced the future too and is not afraid to fork out for new technology if it helps the farm be more safe and efficient. His education of his grandchildren in the proper ways of the farm is inspiring. He grows his own vegetables and potatoes and always uses fresh horse dung on his spent rhubarb.

He is a farmer who I have never seen agitated on his farm. He always seems to be in control and is willing to give any situation the right amount of time in order to get the right outcome. I have been with him many late nites during Lambing season and helping him pull a calf and the empathy and understanding he shows his stock is unique.

Martin is a small west of Ireland farmer from Cong whose farm is a credit to him and a safe place for his grand children to learn the proper ways of farming. Martin is very conscious of what he puts into his farm and the impact it might have on the farm or the local environment. He is a great neighbour and is always there if you need him. Martin and his wife Mary never took holidays until recently because they were too afraid to leave the farm.

Robert is competing in Alltech’s Favorite Farmer Contest. The photo with the most likes on our Facebook page will win a trip to the Alltech REBELation in Lexington, KY. It’s an opportunity to meet farmers and other agriculture people from all over the world.

Vote for Robert by liking the photo here.

Alltech has just released the results of its fourth annual global feed survey. The highly anticipated report provides a glimpse into the animal feed industry and allows us to compare output across countries, regions and species. Compiling the data is no small task. Wherever possible we collect information from local feed associations, but in many areas our global sales team works with individual feed mills to obtain the numbers.

In 2014 we saw more feed mills producing more animal feed than in past years. The estimated worth of the feed industry is now $460 billion with global production of 980 million metric tons. That's a 2 percent increase over 2013. 

A number of factors affected output, including: slow markets, shifting raw feed material costs, fluctuating governance over import/export standards and animal diseases such as PEDv in pigs and bird flu in poultry. However, the top 10 producing countries remained the same: China, the United States, Brazil, Mexico, India, Spain, Russia, Japan, Germany and France. 

To learn more, please download the survey below. You are also welcome to watch a recorded webinar with analysis and interpretation of the results by the feed survey’s director, Aidan Connolly.

Download Survey [+]

Watch Recorded Webinar [+]

Download Presentation Slides [+]

October may be the month of candy, costumes, and trick-or-treating, but it is also the month of pork. October is National Pork Month in the US. Traditionally, this was the time of the year when pigs were to be marketed. Now we use this time of the year to thank producers for everything they do for the agriculture industry.

Pork is the most consumed meat globally, so pork producers play a major role in helping us feed the world. Each market hog represents about 371 servings of pork. That makes for hundreds of meals that feed families from the US all the way to China, and plenty of places in between.

As the global population continues to grow, pork producers will play an even more important role in the future. As this demand increases, pork producers continue to grow the industry and enhance their production methods. This is one of the many reasons why the ham sandwich continues to reign as king of the sandwiches served at home.

So this month, make sure to thank your pork-producing friends and family for all of their hard work!