Moocall Text Alerts Connect Farmers to Their Animals

lizzy schultzAg Group, Agribusiness, AgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Beef, Dairy, Technology

Emmet Savage was an Irish entrepreneur with business ventures in the areas of fashion importing and construction when he first got the idea for Moocall, a company that holds the power to revolutionize the challenges of calving season and bring a new form of smart farming technology to cattlemen all over the world. The creation and launch of Moocall sent Savage straight into the world of agribusiness where he decided to participate in the Pearse Lyons Accelerator Program. Savage sat down with our Jamie Johansen during ONE: Alltech Ideas Conference, where the final phase of the accelerator took place, to discuss his innovations and the ways his business has benefited from the resources provided by Alltech’s unique startup assistance program.

Moocall is a mobile device that attaches to a cow’s tail and has the potential to change the game for beef and dairy farmers during calving season. The device measures contractions on the onset of labor and uses advanced algorithmic technology to send a text message directly to farmers one hour before the calf is due to be born. Savage said the resources and expertise that were made available to him through his participation in the Pearse Lyons Accelerator has been instrumental in the growth and development of the company he has invested so much in.

“The Accelerator has been massive for Moocall as a business, and for me personally,” said Savage. “The program offered us tutoring, training, pitch coaching, and they’ve opened up a world of contacts to help spread Moocall around the world.”

Savage said Moocall has expanded to 38 countries around the world since it’s launch in January of 2015, and he is currently in late stage negotiations with four or five different countries that are interested in having Alltech sell Moocall products to their customers.

Listen to Jamie’s full interview with Emmet here:
Interview with Emmet Savage, Moocall

Download photos from the event here:
Alltech ONE17 Photo Album

Elanco Receives Grant From Gates Foundation

Lizzy SchultzAgribusiness, Animal Health, Elanco, International, Veterinary

Elanco Animal Health has received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to provide sustainable development solutions to address food insecurity in East African countries. Elanco will work to improve animal health and productivity in dairy herds and poultry flocks for smallholder farms in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

The $2.86 million grant will help Elanco enable the registration and distribution of high-quality veterinary products and training initiatives for smallholder farmers to assist with improved animal health practices and programs for disease prevention and treatment.

“My main challenge has been mycoplasma, where the birds would develop the condition at three months,” said Beatrice Wanjiku, a smallholder poultry farmer in Thika, Kenya, where livestock diseases are a source of economic losses for people who depend on livestock production for their livelihood. “This would eventually lead to a drop in production.”

“Elanco is a cause-driven organization and our vision of Food and Companionship Enriching Life is at the core of why we do what we do. We are committed to addressing global hunger by supporting efforts that ensure nutritious food is accessible and affordable to all. The grant from the foundation will further advance our vision by improving the lives of smallholder farmers through sustainable livestock production,” said Jeffrey N. Simmons, president, Elanco Animal Health.”

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 32 percent of the people in East Africa are undernourished1 and 40 percent of those living in sub-Saharan Africa are living on less than $1.25 per day. In East Africa, 18 percent of children are underweight. Through this collaboration, Elanco intends to apply the learnings from East Africa to other geographies and continue its leadership in food security efforts.

Simplicity and Mobility with AgriWebb

kelly marshallAgribusiness, AgWired Animal, Alltech, Apps, Beef

The Pearse Lyons Accelerator program is a tremendous opportunity for a start-up company, says Kevin Baum, co-founder of AgriWebb. He and other members of the program were at the ONE: Alltech Ideas Conference this week to pitch their ideas in the final phase of their support training. For Baum that meant the chance to share about his digital farm management app designed for the red meat industry.

“AgriWebb is a simple app that farmers can use in the field, on the go, while they are doing their work and record things. Then we take that information- it’s cloud based- and then we can use it to create decision support tools and reports, as well as help people with their accreditation needs,” Baum said.

The app had to be simple and mobile, Baum notes, because no one wants to come home and input data on the computer after the day’s work is done. It’s also very visual and based on a farm map, with no nested drop down menus the first farm management software programs relied on. Instead producers enter the data from their mobile devices and then receive reports on everything from suggestions for optimizing grazing to a personalized calendar.

Learn more about AgriWebb in Jamie’s interview with Baum here: Interview with Kevin Baum, AgriWebb

2017 Alltech Ideas Conference Photo Album

Sec. Perdue Defends Trump Budget

AgWired Animal, AgWired Energy, Audio, usda

Farmers and ranchers are concerned about President Trump’s “Taxpayer First” budget released this week but Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue defended significant cuts to USDA in the name of balancing the budget.

“I don’t think there’s any reason to sugar coat this,” Perdue said to reporters on a press call Tuesday. “But I believe the people knew what they were doing when they elected President Trump…I think many believe as I do – I just don’t think it’s moral to continue to kick a $20 trillion debt down to our grandchildren.”

The budget cuts USDA staff, crop insurance, conservation programs, and food assistance and eliminates funding for some programs including the Market Access Program (MAP), Foreign Market Development (FMD) program and the Biomass Crop Assistance Program. Joining Perdue on the call was Acting Deputy Secretary and Budget Officer Michael Young, who ran USDA for the first four months of this year and was the one who actually worked on the budget before Secretary Perdue was confirmed. He explained the budget cuts and answered all of the reporters’ questions.

Perdue and Young will both testify before the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Agriculture today at 10 am Eastern time.

Listen to the press conference here. USDA budget presser

Alltech Celebrates Joy of Disruption

AgWired Animal, Alltech, Audio

Dr. Pearse Lyons has built a small empire from modest beginnings in Lexington, Kentucky in 1980 and he has done it all by being disruptive.

“The question is what disruptive road are you on?” Dr. Lyons asked at the beginning of his presentation during the opening session of ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference 2017 – Disrupt the Disruptors.

Lyons talked about some of the many ways that Alltech is examining disruptive ideas for the future of agriculture and beyond, such as finding a way to prevent Alzheimer’s, and said it all starts with a dream. “Mainstream companies do products, great companies do dreams,” he said.

Listen to Dr. Lyons and let him inspire you to dream disruptive dreams: Alltech President Pearse Lyons

USMEF Discusses the State of the Industry

Lizzy SchultzAg Group, Audio, Export, Export, Trade, USMEF

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) conducted a press conference prior to the USMEF Spring Conference in Arlington, Virginia. The call featured opening remarks from Philip Seng, USMEF president and CEO, Joel Haggard, USMEF senior vice president, Asia Pacific, and Oscar Ferrara, USMEF regional director, Mexico, Central America and the Dominican Republic.

In the conference, the speakers discussed their support for Sonny Perdue’s nomination and expressed excitement to see the U.S. Department of Agriculture become fully-staffed. Also discussed was the strong demand currently felt across the world for U.S. pork and beef, and how USMEF believes that great opportunities for growth continue to take shape.

The speakers also discussed several challenges facing U.S. meat exports, including the lack of clarity surrounding the current trade map under the Trump administration.

“For a lot of us who saw significant progress in TPP, to have that canceled on the day after the administration, that was hard to take,” Haggard said on the call. “We are always interested in improving trade agreements over time, because things do change, but we do not want to lose any gains that we’ve made as far as trade access goes.”

Listen to the full conference here:
USMEF Press Conference on State of Industry

PORK Academy Seminars Return to World Pork Expo

Lizzy SchultzAg Group, Animal Welfare, Education, Pork, Pork Checkoff, World Pork Expo

The Pork Checkoff’s Producer Opportunity for Revenue and Knowledge (PORK) Academy sessions will once again be held during this year’s World Pork Expo. Seminars will run Wednesday, June 7, and Thursday, June 8, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, to help educate pig farmers on the latest trends in pork production.

“The PORK Academy sessions offer more than leading pork industry news,” said Andrew Reinecker, chair of the Checkoff’s Producer and State Services Committee and a pig farmer from York Springs, Pennsylvania. “Attendees learn more about different aspects of the industry and programs funded by the Pork Checkoff. The sessions also provide networking opportunities with leading industry professionals.”

Topics for this year’s sessions include Pork Quality Initiative, Social Media in Pork Production, Compensation in Pork Production, Sub-Therapeutic Growth Promoting Antibiotic Alternatives, Sow Housing, and U.S. Exports and International Trade.

For more information about Pork Checkoff-sponsored events and activities at World Pork Expo, call the Pork Checkoff Service Center at (800) 456-7675. For information about other World Pork Expo activities, visit here.

SMART Farmer Scott VanderWal

AFBF, AgWired Animal, Audio, SMART Farmer, USFRA

In this episode of the SMART Farmer podcast we meet Scott VanderWal, a third-generation corn and soybean farmer and cattle feeder from Volga, South Dakota.

In addition to operating the family farm with his father and brothers, Scott serves as vice president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, president of the South Dakota Farm Bureau, and is a board member of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance.

In this podcast, Scott talks about how farming smarter helps him wear many hats: SMART Farmer Podcast with Scott VanderWal, South Dakota

Subscribe to the SMART Farmer podcast

Learn more about USFRA and SMART Farm

It’s Time to Disrupt the Disruptors

jamie johansenAgWired Animal, Alltech, Audio, Technology

Disruption is everywhere. Disruptive ideas are impacting the way we farm. This year ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference is centered around creating a world-wide disruption of your own. We are just days away from the awe-inspiring event and spoke with Aidan Connolly, Alltech’s Chief Innovation Officer & Vice President, to learn what Disrupt the Disruptors really means.

Aidan said the Alltech conference is always about thought leadership. “What’s coming is very exciting, but will not allow us to continue doing things the way we have done before. If you have come for business as usual, this is not the right place to be. This is going to challenge you. It might make you feel a little uncomfortable. It’s going to disrupt your life. But hopefully it will make you see a more profitable and successful future for you and your business.”

Cindy and I will be packing our bags very soon to embark on another Alltech conference. Follow along this week as we fully experience #ONE17’s world-renowned speakers, cutting-edge science and technology research and a little entertainment and networking.

Listen to my complete interview with Aidan here: Interview with Aidan Connolly, Alltech

Dairy Welcomes NAFTA Action by USTR

Jamie JohansenAg Group, Dairy, idfa, National Milk, Trade, USDEC

The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) commended Robert Lighthizer, the newly confirmed U.S. Trade Representative, for taking swift action under the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act (TPA) to begin the process for modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

In a notification letter sent to Congress, Ambassador Lighthizer outlined some of the areas of the agreement that are either outdated or missing – several of which are important to the U.S. dairy industry – and reaffirmed commitment to pursuing the trade priorities outlined by TPA, including goals related to market access and curbing the abuse of geographical indications. He also emphasized the importance of effectively implementing and aggressively enforcing the commitments made by Canada and Mexico, two of the dairy industry’s top trade partners.

The groups have repeatedly urged administration officials and legislators to focus on maintaining what has worked well, such as trade with Mexico, the top market for U.S. dairy exports. The dairy groups have also continued to call for improving market access to Canada and tackling that country’s expanding list of protectionist policies and other barriers to U.S. dairy exports.

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