World Dairy Diary

Looking At The Future For Dairy

A forward looking panel of experts spoke to the Alltech Global 500 today. Their topic, “Forecast 2025: A vision for the future.” Now that’s not an easy task!

I spoke with one of the panelists, Mandi McLeod, Dunvegan Farms, Ltd, New Zealand. Mandi says the future is about doing what you do well and focusing on the resources you have, in fact, “use them to the absolute maximum.” She says that you have to make sure your profits and people are sustainable and that profits come before production. She was very clear that by 2025 she hopes there will be no subsidies. I asked her what sustainability means to her. She provides a very common sense definition. Too bad there are so many that aren’t! She says farmers here are curious about prices and controls and how to become more profitable.

You can listen to my interview with Mandi here: Interview With Mandi Mcleod

Alltech Global 500 Photo Album

Working With Your Local Community

The first dairy breakout session at the Alltech Global 500 focused on “Value Added Dairying: The Future of Sustainability.” Our presenter was Jim Ostrom, Rosendale Dairy, USA. I missed the opportunity to interview Jim but spoke with session moderator, Steve Elliott, Alltech. Steve is the global director for the company’s organic minerals division. He says that Jim addressed sustainability in his dairy of about 16,000 cows taking into account his local community. After the presentation Steve moderated a question and answer session where the questions focused on how he relates to his community and his workers since half of them are multi-cultural.

Steve says the appeal of this conference is the ability to network with people from all over the world. It’s an opportunity to find out what is similar and not similar in other parts of the world. He says there are attendees here from more than 20 countries!

You can listen to my interview with Steve here: Interview With Steve Elliott

Alltech Global 500 Photo Album

Social Media Important To Dairy Farmers

Let’s just say that social media has been very, very good to ZimmComm New Media, publishers of World Dairy Diary. It is also the hottest topic in agricultural communications of the last year. At the Alltech Global 500 it was also a key topic during our morning general session.

I joined Alltech’s, Billy Frey, on stage to present what social media is and encourage and beef and dairy farmers to use these new channels of communications to help re-connect consumers with the farm and promote their own businesses. We used a series of slides and YouTube videos which I can’t show you but I did record our presentation. I said and will continue to say that dairy farmers seem to be some of the most engaged of any commodity group I know when it comes to social media.

Billy had some great quotes like the following:

Social media is the biggest revolution since the industrial revolution. It offers us new ways to stay informed and it can simplify information overload. It can fundamentally change agriculture if we use it.

We have a lot of great story tellers in our industry because we have the best story ever. Agriculture allowed civilization to develop. Before agriculture we were hunter gatherers. We have a great story to tell. We just have to tell it.

I can’t agree more. After our presentation a woman from France approached me to say that she “felt like I know you” since she is a regular visitor to World Dairy Diary. That kind of anecdotal evidence is great since it shows how truly connected we are globally thanks to social media.

You can listen to our presentation on social media here: Social Media Presentation

Follow Alltech on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and their blog, Innovations.

Alltech Global 500 Photo Album

Alltech Celebrates Decades of Innovation

Dr. Karl Dawson, Alltech, says he’s got the greatest job in the world since he heads up research for the company. That research, which now includes, nutrigenomics, is finding ways to improve animal and human health through nutrition. It’s fascinating to hear him discuss not only how the company is finding that its products improve animal health but from that work they’re now seeing applications in humans which will have an impact in the future on diseases like alzheimer’s and cancer!

During his presentation Dr. Dawson looks back on some of the accomplishments of Alltech and then takes a look forward so we get a glimpse of what the future will hold. I recorded Dr. Dawson’s Global 500 opening general session comments for you. Dr. Karl Dawson Presentation

Alltech Global Dairy 500 Photo Album

Alltech Global 500 Underway

The Alltech Global 500 is underway at the Lexington Convention Center. Welcoming us was Geoff Frank (pictured) once again.

I caught up to Geoff after our morning session. He is Managing Director for Improcrop, a division of Alltech. They have over 20 products to deal with a range of crop and foliar applications. Geoff says this is the 3rd year for the Global 500 which has been expanded this year to include beef farmers in addition to dairy. He says that it’s interesting how these farmers come from countries all over the world and then find that they share common challenges. The conference provides a good forum for them to discuss and share ideas. You can listen to my interview with Geoff here: Interview with Geoff Frank

Alltech Global 500 Photo Album

Alltech Kicks Off Global 500

We’ve known it as the Alltech Global Dairy 500 and this year they’ve added Beef! Now that just makes sense. So, we’ll just call it the Alltech Global 500 to make it simple.

We kicked off this fall’s conference with a Kentucky Ale reception this evening and things get into high gear tomorrow with a general session on which I’ll be participating in a presentation on social media which will include a look at World Dairy Diary. If you’re on Twitter then feel free to send us a message using the hashtag #Global500. If you don’t know what that means then post a comment and I’ll explain.

During the next several days I’ll be featuring interviews and photos from the conference. In fact, you can find my photo album here: Alltech Global 500 Photo Album.

More to come . . .

Alltech Global Dairy 500

During most of Monday I’ll be on the agriblogging highway to Lexington, KY for the Alltech Global Dairy 500. The theme is “Sustainability in a Changing World.” The program has been so successful that this year they’ve added a “Global Beef 500″ as well!

I’m looking forward to seeing my Alltech friends and enjoying a frosty Kentucky Ale! My coverage should be starting on Monday evening. On Thursday, I’ll share the stage with Alltech’s Billy Frey to discuss social media. I’m really looking forward to that. I’ll also be assisting David Butler who will be managing the Alltech blog, Alltech Innovations.

So follow along here or on Twitter with the hashtag #Global500.

International Participation at Dairy Solutions Symposium

Instead of listening to presenters from the Dairy Solutions Symposium, sponsored by Alltech, let’s hear from some of the participants. I spoke with many of them but only interviewed four. I think they give you a pretty good sense of how international this conference is.

Let’s start with Georgios Valergakis, Greece. He attended since he thinks we live in an “era of efficiency” and believed this type of gathering would be very useful. I asked him if the economic problems we hear about in Greece translate to the dairy industry but he says that it “is not that bad.”Georgios Valergakis Interview

Next up we have Johann Gasteiner from Austria. Johann was interested in nutritional disorders and the topic of SARA brought him to the symposium. He says it’s a big topic and “everywhere.” Johann Gasteiner Interview

Another participant was Christof Fry from Germany. He works at a feed mill so it was interesting to hear that he was attending to find new ideas to improve the products his company offers to their customers. He says the information he collects will be helpful in the long run for his business. Christof Fry Interview

And finally I spoke with Uldis Ositis, Latvia. He says the symposium has provided him with the information he was looking for. He found the presentations to be at a very high scientific level. Uldis Ositis Interview

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

SARA In Grazing Dairy Cows

One of our presenters at the Dairy Solutions Symposium, sponsored by Alltech focused on the issue of sub-acute ruminal acidosis (SARA) in grazing dairy cows. Finbar Mulligan is from University College Dublin, Ireland.

He was presenting some new research on this subject. He found that diet is important and that you shouldn’t assume that because grazing cows may be eating more forage they automatically have an adequate ruminal pH. The study found about a 10 percent incidence of SARA which is similar to other studies. He said that the symposium has brought out how much difference of opinion there is on this subject such as whether or not there are different types of SARA, that they’re only related to grain or starch diet overload or some other factor.

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

Summing Up Dairy Solutions Symposium

The Dairy Solutions Symposium, sponsored by Alltech has come to an end. It has been two days packed with presentations on a very specific topic that is of growing importance to the industry, Rumen Health: A 360 Degree Analysis. I think we did look at the subject from just about every angle possible.

I started my coverage of the conference with a preview interview with Sylvie Andrieu, European Ruminant Technical Manager, Alltech. So what better way than to wrap it up in the same way?

Sylvie says it was a wonderful symposium, especially the discussion opportunities and interaction between people from a large number of countries. She also notes how interesting it was that some of the researcher presenters questioned the SARA concept and think that it should perhaps be renamed. It was clear that what is called SARA is more diverse than was thought. I concur with Sylvie that the feedback I heard from attendees has been very positive. Hopefully this means the symposium goals were achieved.

I’ll have more interview posts after the U.S. holiday weekend so until then . . .

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

Rumen Adapts Well To Increased Feed Intake

Dr. Andre Bannink, Wageningen UR Livestock Research, conducted a presentation titled, “Variation in rumen fermentation and rumen wall during transition period” during the Dairy Solutions Symposium, sponsored by Alltech. I spoke with him about his topic during our gala dinner reception.

He is a “modeler” which means he develops mathematical models which predict how the animal responds on a diet. He says there’s a big debate on rumen acidosis here at the symposium and a lot of questions being asked. For a solutions symposium he thinks more questions have been raised than answers. His presentation focused on how well a high yielding early lactation dairy cow rumen can adapt to a big increase in feed intake. He conducted a test comparing two groups of dairy cows. One received a very quick increase in feed and the other was “steamed up” (his term) much more slowly. The main conclusion was that the rumen wall was very capable of adapting to either strategy with very little difference between the two. They compared 10 days to 20 days. So now he thinks further work should be done to see if there is a limit to how fast you can “steam up” a dairy cow.

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

Rumen Fermentation Key To Feed Efficiency

The final day of the Dairy Solutions Symposium, sponsored by Alltech, was started by Dr. Ad van Vuuren, Wageningen UR Livestock Research. We sat together on the bus from our hotel this morning and I asked him about the session he would be moderating.

His session focused on rumen adaptation and animal health. He says “rumen fermentation in dairy cows is one of the main contributors to the feed efficiency of dairy cows so it’s very important to maintain good, healthy rumen fermentation not only from the point of view of the environment or animal welfare but especially from animal production.” He says that practical nutritionists often over simplify solutions when answers to rumen health problems are more complicated. So he sees a need for more out of the box thinking and encourages new ideas which is what the symposium is hoping to do.

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

Dairy Solutions Symposium Continues

The Dairy Solutions Symposium, sponsored by Alltech, is not only technical presentations on rumen health but an opportunity to network with fellow dairy industry professionals and have some fun. Our gala dinner last night took place at the DierenPark Amersfoort, a very nice zoo. We ate very near the elephant exhibit in a facility called De Oliphant. I sat with participants from Brazil and Poland and we had a great time.

Today is the final day of the symposium. I’ll continue posting interviews on various topics over the next week with a break for this weekend’s holiday so check back if you’re interested in more on this topic. I will keep updating the photo album through the end of the symposium today.

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

Using Yeast To Improve Rumen Function

Dr. Juan Tricarico brought the history of yeast research to the audience at the Dairy Solutions Symposium. He is Research Manager for Ruminant Nutrition for Alltech. He says there is a lot of information about yeast and its mode of action. He hopes that participants in the symposium will leave with a better understanding of how yeast affects rumen function and improves the ruminal environment as a whole so that it can be used more effectively. This will give the dairy farmer a bigger bang for their buck when they invest in yeast products.

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

Reducing The Risk Of Acidosis

“Modifying the rumen to reduce the risk of acidosis” was the title of Prof. Sergio Calsamiglia’s presentation at the Dairy Solutions Symposium. He works in the veterinary school at Universitat AutÒnoma de Barcelona.

He says research shows that acidosis is not just a pH problem but related to the type of feed you’re using. There is evidence that although using bicarbonate helps, it doesn’t solve the problem. Conversely, there are feed additives that don’t impact pH but help the problem. He says he thinks the term acidosis may mislead people since there are products like yeast that can help the problem even though it is not a buffer. The bottom line is that good nutrition and animal care is the most important thing to work on.

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

Incidence and Impact of SARA

Prof. Joachim Kleen, Alta Genetics Germany, told us all about SARA in dairy herds at the Dairy Solutions Symposium. SARA is sub-acute ruminal acidosis and becoming a real problem. Understanding it better and what is being done to reduce or control it was the subject of his presentation.

As most dairy farmers might think, proper nutrition and animal care is the best way to decrease the impact of this rumen fermentation disorder. I spoke with Joe before his presentation to get his take away message for participants of this Symposium.

He says that it’s a subject we know a lot about but “we do not know a lot how ruminal acidosis is working, what it’s effects are.” He says he’ll be happy if symposium participants take away from his presentation that there are conflicting aspects to this problem.

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

Rumen Health Subject of Dairy Solutions Symposium

The Dairy Solutions Symposium, sponsored by Alltech, was opened by Prof. Wouter Hendriks, Wageningen University, The Netherlands. There are 250 attendees at this year’s event being held at Utrecht University.

The overall topic for the Symposium is rumen health in dairy cows. I spoke with Wouter just before we got started. He says that the good rumen health will result in lowered methane emissions and greater animal welfare and this conference will focus on innovations and research being done to accomplish this.

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

Preview of Dairy Solutions Symposium

The presenters for the Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010, sponsored by Alltech, got together for dinner this evening. I’ll be interviewing most of them over the next couple days.

To get a preview of what this conference is all about I spoke first with Sylvie Andrieu, European Ruminant Technical Manager, Alltech. She says that the initial idea for this conference came from the idea that most give you a “little bit of everything” instead of more in-depth information. So they’ve selected one central topic for all the presentations to focus on. In this conference the focus will be on rumen health. There are 250 registered participants and the hope is that they will go home with practical solutions.

Post Update: I didn’t have a photo of Sylvie when I first posted this but now I do after she presided over the first afternoon session.

You can listen to my interview with Sylvie here: Sylvie Andrieu Interview

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

Dairy On Display In Utrecht

Hello from Utrecht, Netherlands where I’ll be attending the 2010 Dairy Solutions Symposium, sponsored by Alltech. Just got in this morning and after a short nap went for a walk. Right away I came to an outdoor market and was very pleased to see dairy products on display.

For lunch I had a really good brie and vegetables sandwich. I figure I’ll be eating pretty well the next couple days so it was strategic thinking to start out on the light side. Hopefully I’ll get to sample more of the cheeses made here in this region. I’ve just started a photo album for this event and have some photos from my walk in it: Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

This evening I’ll be attending a dinner for speakers and others involved with the Symposium and we’ll get started officially tomorrow morning.

Covering 2010 Dairy Solutions Symposium

This is where I’ll be this week. The fifth annual Dairy Solutions Symposium put on by Alltech and the Centre for Animal Nutrition will take place this week and I’ll be there to cover it. It will be held at Utrecht University on Thursday and Friday. You can look for the first posts sometime on Thursday.

Rumen health is of critical importance for efficient transformation of dairy cows diets into nutrients. As such it is a major cause of economic losses in the dairy industry and important in maintaining the health and welfare of the animal.

This two day symposium, Rumen Health: A 360 degree Analysis, aims to bring together leading scientists in dairy nutrition to discuss a variety of topics including the impact of rumen pH on ruminal digestion, occurrence and prevention of sub-acute rumen acidosis, maintenance of an optimum rumen function and Ruminal adaptations during the transition period.

For you Twitter fans and I know there are a lot of you in the dairy business, follow the conference hashtag: #AlltechDSS