Hubbard Feeds Introduces AllBite Block

carrie muehlingAgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Hubbard, Swine

A new product from Hubbard Feeds will help with vice behavior in pigs. The AllBite™ block, officially launched at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference, helps to stabilize the mood of the pig and also modifies the actual behavior and social aspects of that pen to keep them more comfortable and help them not to pick on each other, said Jamie Pietig, swine nutritionist with Hubbard Feeds.

“What it does is it gives them a behavioral aspect to take their aggression out on something other than a pig. And then the ingredients are also in there to help calm pigs down and it actually kind of moderates neurotransmission in the pigs with what we have in there,” said Pietig, who noted the problem is a production issue, a cost issue and a welfare issue that seems to be gaining in the industry.

He said the product will help in the case of tail biting or ear biting and should be introduced as soon as these types of behavior are displayed. Pietig recommends one block per 25 pigs, and said that should last from one to two weeks in most cases.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Jamie here: Interview with Jamie Pietig, Hubbard Feeds

Alltech Ideas Conference – ONE 19 Photo Album

Alltech Accelerator 8 – Intouchgo

carrie muehlingAgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Audio

Intouchgo came to the market six years ago, pioneering innovations in feed management and dairy herd production.

But the Irish company had begun to see inconsistencies in the data they had built up that were costing farmers production and money. As a result, they’ve made significant changes that make the company more relevant to farmers and add real value throughout the supply chain.

“We are taking milk production data directly in real time, coming from the milking parlor each morning at 9 a.m. We’re getting that data coming in, we’re matching that with our feed ingredient database and we are triggering alerts. So we have built in algorithms and some smart formulas that if milk production or butterfat or protein drops by a certain percentage, we will trigger an automatic alert and that will be sent directly to the farmer’s smartphone. So, it’s a decision making tool in real time and driving real value,” said Martin Minchin, Intouch Marketing Manager, Alltech.

Minchin said a farmer can now look at a notification to see what it means, immediately accept the recommended ration and send that command directly to the mixer wagon for feeding.

“We’ve taken a process, in that case, from 14 days all the way down to five minutes,” explained Minchin, who appreciated the opportunity to be part of Alltech’s Pearse Lyons Accelerator program.

The company hopes to remove costly inconsistencies from milk production using real time data that can drive decisions on the farm.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Martin here: Interview with Martin Minchin, Intouchgo

Alltech Ideas Conference – ONE 19 Photo Album

Alltech Accelerator 7 – Colabriq

carrie muehlingAgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Audio

A tech company based in the United Kingdom is moving into the food and agriculture sector to help improve profit and efficiency in supply chains.

“What Colabriq is doing is helping businesses in food and agriculture make better decisions by having the right information at the right time,” said Jason Cresswell, CEO. “So the key problem every business faces is all that data is spread across lots of different computer systems and a ton of spreadsheets. What we do is we connect all of that data together and connect that data across the end to end supply chain, allowing businesses in the supply chain to coordinate the supply chain from end to end.”

Colabriq has partnered with retailers and processors to form the Poultry Data Alliance, and soon hopes to build out the same sort of collaboration in other areas like dairy and beef. Cresswell said this type of information can help retailers to have a clearer view of what product will be available, and it can also help to eliminate waste that currently exists within the supply chain.

Colabriq is a current participant in the Alltech Pearse Lyons Accelerator.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Jason here: Interview with Jason Cresswell, Colabriq

Alltech Ideas Conference – ONE19 Photo Album

Alltech Accelerator 6 – SwineTech

carrie muehlingAgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Swine

An Iowa-based company participating in the Alltech Pearse Lyons Accelerator is working to improve the swine industry, beginning with the farrowing process.

“SwineTech is trying to transform the way we look at farrowing management and how we assist sows in the farrowing house, giving the information that’s needed to provide the very best welfare and support and then the technology and autonomy for us to prevent deaths in real time and not having to rely on a person being there every second of every day,” said Matthew Rooda, CEO of SwineTech.

Rooda explained the company’s ability to monitor wavelengths and frequencies of the sounds made in the farrowing house, mapping those and identifying whether or not a sow might be laying on a piglet. When that happens, a wearable attached to the mother pig can alert her to stand up using a vibration and a safe chiropractic impulse. Rooda said SwineTech products are already protecting more than a million piglets in the industry.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Matthew here: Interview with Matthew Rooda, SwineTech

Alltech Ideas Conference – ONE19 Photo Album

Alltech Accelerator 5 – SomaDetect

carrie muehlingAgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Dairy

The Alltech Pearse Lyons Accelerator is helping Canadian company SomaDetect to grow and expose its mission to more members of the agriculture industry. SomaDetect CEO Bethany Deshpande said the company is developing a sensor solution for dairy farmers that will measure several components in raw milk.

“Our goal is to help dairy producers have the information they need to make the best possible milk,” said Deshpande. “So it’s all about really empowering them with data and information about what is in the milk produced by their cows so that they can make early decisions on all kinds of factors – things like herd health, reproduction, as well as quality of milk.”

SomaDetect currently has sensors on about 5,000 cows in the pilot stage and hopes to expand that to 25,000 cows by the end of the year.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Bethany here: Interview with Bethany Deshpande, SomaDetect

Alltech Ideas Conference – ONE 19 Photo Album

Animal Ag Bites 6/3

carrie muehlingAgWired Animal, Animal Bites

  • The Center for Dairy Excellence has named Emily Barge as communications and marketing manager to support the work of both the Center and the Center for Dairy Excellence of Pennsylvania. Isaac Clements, a senior at Penn State University, also joined the Center as an education and communications intern.
  • The National Pork Board released its latest findings from the comprehensive Insight to Action research, this time examining trends in consumer behavior related to dining out. The Pork Board’s All About Dining Out: What’s on Trend report uncovers why consumers decide to eat the proteins they do and explores tactics so that foodservice operators can meet those needs, such as exploring new flavors, dishes and menu formats.
  • Instead of using dietary antibiotics to help the piglets cope and avoid illness, scientists with the Agricultural Research Service are now investigating a naturally occurring amino acid known as L-glutamine. The effort, which was supported by the National Pork Board, arose from a need to provide livestock producers with alternatives to using dietary antibiotics as a growth-promoting agent in swine.
  • Hundreds of dedicated members of the U.S. dairy community will gather again Jan. 22-23, 2020, at the Monona Terrace Community & Convention Center, in Madison, Wis., for the sixth annual Dairy Strong conference. Updates and announcements about Dairy Strong can be found at dairystrong.org. Registration will open September 1.
  • Livestock producers now have access to a new yellow-flowered alfalfa variety. Developed by South Dakota State University to thrive in less than optimal conditions, Sholty exhibits high drought tolerance, is winter hardy and, because of its indeterminate growth habit, this new alfalfa is ideal for interseeding into pasture and rangeland.
  • In response to President Trump’s plan to impose five percent tariffs on all Mexican imports as of June 10, 2019, David Herring, president of the National Pork Producers Council and a pork producer from Lillington, North Carolina, issued a statement promoting ratification of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, preservation of zero-tariff pork trade in North America for the long term; completion of a trade agreement with Japan; and resolution of the trade dispute with China, where U.S. pork has a historic opportunity to dramatically expand exports given the countries struggle with African swine fever.”
  • The U.S. Court for the Southern District of Texas on Tuesday, May 28, remanded the Environmental Protection Agency/Army Corps of Engineers 2015 “Waters of the U.S.” rule that greatly expanded the regulatory reach of the agencies’ authority to thousands of isolated or small (e.g., depressions, ditches, etc.) waters and drainage features. While several courts have issued injunctions on implementing the rule pending the outcome of several lawsuits, this was the first decision to rule on the legitimacy of the process to finalize the 2015 rule. The Southern District of Texas decision, to which U.S. Poultry & Egg Association was a party, concluded that the agencies erred in following legal guidelines when the agencies issued the 2015 regulation without giving an opportunity to comment on a key report cited for much of the more controversial provisions of the new rule.

Alltech Accelerator 4 – TERRA NutriTECH

carrie muehlingAgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Nutrition

Ireland-based TERRA NutriTECH wants to bring mineral dispensing into the 21st century, and the company’s participation in the Alltech Pearse Lyons Accelerator is helping them to do just that.

“It’s a precision liquid nutrition system,” explained Padraig Hennessy, CEO of TERRA NutriTECH. “It can automatically put liquid supplements into the water line, accurately. So, we input in the exact number of animals and the exact dosage rate, and there’s an advanced algorithm inside and that overcomes variations in water intake to ensure exact, precise dosing each and every day. The benefits of that then is consistency for the animal, and it reduces labor for the farmer, so it’s easy and it works.”

Hennessy said the company wants to bring data insights into an industry where there has been none, improving product efficacy with precise application inside the farm gate.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Padraig here: Interview with Padraig Hennessy, TERRA NutriTECH

Alltech Ideas Conference – ONE19 Photo Album

Alltech Accelerator 3 – Folium Science

carrie muehlingAgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Audio

A company based in the United Kingdom is working to reduce the use of antibiotics when it comes to raising livestock.

“Folium’s reason for being is around removing the need for antibiotics in animal rearing,” said Edward Fuchs, co-founder of Folium Science, part of Alltech’s Pearse Lyons Accelerator. “And it’s because our industry is under pressure from the overuse of antibiotics over the last few decades. And this is driving bacterial resistance and could well be as big a problem as cancer in around 30 years time.”

Fuchs said current alternatives in the marketplace are actually driving up costs for our farmers, not allowing the feed efficiencies that they might want, and also increasing mortality. The new technology would not only look at removing the need for antibiotics, but also assist with resetting antimicrobial resistance. He said the technology is applicable across all species and also on plants. Currently the company is focusing its efforts in the poultry industry, and hopes to bring the technology to market sometime in 2020.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Ed here: Interview with Edward Fuchs, Folium Science

Alltech Ideas Conference – ONE19 Photo Album

GROWMARK Launches New Website Design

carrie muehlingAgWired Animal, AgWired Energy, AgWired Precision, GROWMARK, Precision Agriculture, Technology, Website

A new website design is enhancing the user experience for GROWMARK customers.

“It is designed to help GROWMARK customers and prospects find the information they need quickly,” said Heather Thompson, manager of digital communications. “Useful tools on the new site include a directory of GROWMARK sales representatives and a locator for GROWMARK crop nutrients terminals.”

The new GROWMARK.com is designed to help users find key sales contacts and locations easily on the home page. In addition, the Careers and News sections are located prominently near the top for ease-of-use.

“GROWMARK is committed to delivering solutions everyday,” said Krista Wolf, manager of brand strategy and marketing communication. “This new platform will help connect our customers to the products and brands they are looking for in an efficient manner.”

GROWMARK’s Digital Communications team designed and tested the site for several months before the launch. It follows the successful relaunch of FSSystem.com.

Alltech Accelerator 2 – Breedr

carrie muehlingAgWired Animal, Alltech

A livestock company based in the United Kingdom will soon expand to include the American market, thanks in part to participation in the Pearse Lyons Accelerator, run by Alltech and Dogpatch Labs. Breedr Co-Founder Claire Lewis was at ONE19 – The Alltech Ideas Conference in Lexington, Kentucky.

“Breedr is a livestock trading platform, but it’s slightly different to lots of other livestock trading platforms in that we trade based on data,” said Lewis. “So we bring together data on farm to predict optimum sale dates, weights and peak profit so farmers have better understanding of when to sell, and then they can, on our platform, look into contracts with processors.”

Lewis said Breedr is a farmer-centric organization that keeps the farmer at the heart of everything they do. She said the company wants to be known for handling necessary data responsibly and maintaining farmer trust.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Claire here: Interview with Claire Lewis, Breedr

Alltech Ideas Conference – ONE19 Photo Album