Alltech’s Global 500 Establishes the Next Steps for Dairy and Beef Industries
Alltech's Global 500 closed Thursday after welcoming dairy and beefproducers from 40 countries to Alltech's home in Lexington, Ky. Dr. Pearse Lyons, president andfounder of Alltech, closed Global 500 with seven take-home messages:
1. The gene chip. What genes are switched on and off by certain nutrients? What is causingobesity? The gene chip is pinpointing again and again what is happening at a geneticlevel.
2. Closing the gap – There are two gaps that need to close. First, we must close thecommunication gap between ourselves and the consumer. Second, we must close thenutrition gap. Nutrition has not kept pace with genetics; the world is moving on and weneed to catch up.
3. We have to start on the farm because it is there that we can make huge improvements. Itis there that if we learn how to feed the plant that we can make a huge difference. Oneplant can give you a ton more grain per acre, a ton with higher starch and better protein,translating to more weight gain or more milk.
4. We need to remember that the rumen is a fermenter. As we fine-tune this fermenter, wecan improve weight gain, lean meat and reduce pollution. The rumen must be fed all day,be it nitrogen or carbohydrate, and this is why Optigen® is such a success.
5. Fertility is crucial, and we shouldn't be culling our animals. DHA is important foranimals, and it comes from algae.
6. We learned about the perfect steak. It's nothing artificial; it's simply about feeding theanimal properly.
7. Branding is our way of getting our ideas out. Brand beef and milk to set it apart. Weheard about the eight rules of branding, but nothing starts until you take the first step. Berelentless, be consistent, be the first.
Instability in the dairy and beef industries did not manage to dampen the spirits of attendeesat this year's Global 500. Instead, there was a consensus that something needed to be done.Speakers focused on what producers could do to regain control of their markets.
Jack Corless, global dairy consultant at Rumsol, advised that farmers look at components thatcontribute - a hierarchy of needs: environment, management, agronomy, nutrition. We need tolook at how we manage that animal, then look at fermentation, the rumen, the nutrition. Beforewe look at nutrition, we need to look at environment. Each of these animals has a maintenancecost no matter the cost of production.
Andrew Linscott, ruminant specialist with Alltech, focused on the hidden threat from mycotoxinsand what can be done to identify them.
Twenty-five percent of a cow's genetic potential is stolen by mycotoxins, but sometimes theproblem is invisible, said Linscott. On top of this, the process of making DDGs has been shownto potentially concentrate the mycotoxin threat by a factor of three. With the 37+ Program we cancurrently test for 38 different mycotoxins, and this number is still growing. There is no need forguesswork anymore.
Carbon footprint was also a hot topic at Global 500, with Kevin Tuck of Alltech discussing theopportunities that come with this new issue.
The more productive the cow, the lower the emissions are. We need to increase milk yieldor weight gain per cow, feed lower carbon ingredients – so no soybean meal, manage dietaryproteins and improve overall feed efficiency. Carbon foot printing is not an imposition but rathera fantastic opportunity to make us more efficient and increase our margins out of this system,said Tuck.
Robert Walker, European director for Alltech Crop Science, spoke about forage and making themost out of it with Grain-Set®.
The treated plants have nice fibrous root systems and have more of the bigger anchoring roots tokeep them full in the ground. That's what makes the difference. In the United States this year, wehad a massive drought. In northern Europe, we had floods. When you have roots like this, you canprotect your crops. Visible results are very significant, said Walker.
Farmers and producers from around the world shared their unique regional challenges andsuccesses with each other, and all went away with something new to consider.
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