Ethanol Revolution in Agriculture
Alltech's 21st annual Asia-Pacific Lecture Tour (APLT)
Final Report: Dubai
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The Asia Pacific lecture tour drew to a close today in Dubai to 60 key regional poultry producers. The tour has been a great success, visiting 16 countries, 33 cities in 20 days and presented to over 3,000 people! The key messages from the speakers are to use new technologies that will assist with some of the main challenges facing feed producers today particularly with regards to increasing raw material prices. Products such as Sel-Plex, NuPro, Alltech SSF and Mycosorb are tools to enable farmers, producers, integrators to save money while enhancing the performance and health of their animals. Dr Kate Jacques also gave numerous additional presentations on the impact of Sel-Plex, organic selenium on human health and how through feeding our animals organic selenium will increase the uptake of Se in our food diets.
Dr Lyons challenged each country to create themselves as a 'Super Brand' in the feed industry. Doing this for example by increase milk production (98% of milk in the Philippines in imported!) or using methods now available to become a creator of cost effective products for export. He also highlighted how the industry has to take their destiny into their own hands, by promoting agriculture and science to our young. Make science exciting, promote the end results, create a margin of excellence and ensure the youth of today are attracted to the industry by unleashing and inspiring them were his key messages.
Day 14 Report: Kathmandu, Nepal
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The 21st Asia-Pacific lecture tour is now in its final week. On Saturday the tour continued it’s seminars in China, visiting Nanjing and Fuzhou following onto Chengdu on Monday to a total audience of over 700 people in China.
86 delegates attended the stop in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Monday afternoon and the tour made its first ever stop to Kathmandu in Nepal on Tuesday where over 60 local producers, farmers and agri-business leaders joined the presentations.
In Kathmandu, over 15 journalists attended a press conference with Dr Pearse Lyons, president of Alltech and Mr Chris King, general manager for South Asia.Nepal has to take control of its own destiny look at new ways to improve its agricultural industry and grab opportunities available through new technologies, was the key message delivered by Dr Lyons.
Day 10 Report: Zhengzhou, China
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The 2nd week of the 21st Asia-Pacific lecture tour came to a close today in Zhengzhou, China to an audience of 130 people. This week the lecture tour visited 10 cities in the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan and Korea, and presented to 1024 people. In total the tour has been to 11 countries and 19 cities during the first two weeks.
During the seminars, Dr Kate Jacques explained how Sel-Plex can improve overall animal health and performance as well as the positive implications on human health. Paul Groenewegen demonstrated the PIPPA (Premier Integrated Pig Performance Alltech), a software program that demonstrates the performance benefits and cost savings possible to pig producers. He also focused on the cost of sow empty days and explained how NuPro could help to reduce these enormous losses. In some cases he mentioned that empty days could add up to as much as 58 days per year. Look after the mothers and look after the young, he said.
High raw material prices are here to stay. This was the message from Duane Kristensen who looked at how the ethanol industry is using more and more corn, taking this major ingredient from the feed industry. Therefore, he said, we need to look at alternative raw materials for the feed industry.
Saving money in this challenging environment was the key message presented by Dr Fernando Rutz. Using technologies such as Alltech’s SSF enables the producer to use more fiber and ultimately save money.
Finally Dr Lyons created a lot of interest when he spoke of Alltech’s Nutrigenomics Center, the first ever such facility fully dedicated to the animal feed industry.He explained how the research center will enable Alltech to ensure full traceability, and by using the gene chip, we will be able to determine the effect of nutrition on particular genes. He equally challenged each audience member to brand their country, to build a Super Brand, and in order to be a Super Brand, we have to get more young people interested and involved in science – to unleash their potential.
The lecture tour continues in China tomorrow visiting Nanjing and Fuzhou. The tour will move to South Asia next week.
Day Nine Report: Clark, Manila and Davao, Philippines
The Asia-Pacific Lecture Tour made three stops in the Philippines. This year we had a great turn out of participants. There were 61 participants in Davao, comprised mostly of farm owners and the full presence of the team of Agriworld Philippines, Inc., Alltech’s authorized dealer in Visayas and Mindanao Area. On the Clark stop, 30 participants plus 3 press representatives attended the event. The Manila stop had the biggest in number, 129 participants from leading feed mills, local consultants, farm owners, agribusiness practitioners plus 15 members of the media. By adding in both Davao and Clark on top of Manila, this move sent a very strong signal to the marketplace as to the physical presence and intent of Alltech.
In Davao, a dinner invitation was extended to selected key accounts to have a chance to mingle with Dr. Lyons and the APLT entourage before the lecture proper.
In Manila, a press conference was prearranged where Dr. Lyons and Cemlyn Martin talked to the members of the media. For press representatives who arrived during Dr. Lyons presentation, Steve Bourne was requested to meet them after the lecture.
Taking note of the comments and suggestions of participants in every stop, there was a consistent message like: “this is a wonderful experience, the research component of Alltech is strong…this makes the company reliable – a super brand!”
Day Five Report: Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam
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2nd November- Day 5 and close of the first week of the Asia-Pacific lecture tour saw a record attendance in Vietnam with over 500 people attending the seminars in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Delegates were eager to hear how new technologies can help overcome the current energy crisis that is driving up grain and raw material prices.
Dr Lyons explained how the energy crisis is here to stay and that the feed industry needs to develop a long term strategy to deal with this. The feed industry needs to strengthen its reputation; customers today rightly expect full traceability, high quality and safe food. Dr Lyons also announced the addition of Dr David Byrne to the board of Alltech and he will, with Alltech drive the institute of traceability.
Today ends a great first week for the 21st lecture tour which visited 5 countries - New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia,.
Please check back with us for daily reports and photos.
Day Three Report: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Surabaya and Jakarta, Indonesia
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31 October - Over 88 delegates from different Malaysia and Singapore livestock industry sectors joined the lecture tour in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007. This year’s theme "The New Energy Crisis: Food, Feed, or Fuel?" reflects the major challenge facing our industry today. When it comes to the allocation of limited stocks of grain which of the following should be given priority: food, feed, or fuel?
Delegates were impressed with the wide array of topics discussed. The shift in grain usage toward fuel ethanol has wide ranging implications. The realities are now upon us not only with escalating grain prices but also food prices globally. Dr. Lyons asked audience, “The global energy resources are only able to supply for next few decades and what we can do? What is the future of Malaysia?” Celloluse is the future of livestock industry. Solid State Fermentation technology from Alltech is able to digest the cellulose (DDGS), produced by the ethanol industry and convert it to a valuable energy resource. This is also applicable to animal diet and can help animal producers and feed mills to reduce the impact from increased raw material cost.
The Avenue of Science display area also received very good feedback from delegates who not only found the latest research from across the globe but also the financial analysis of investment that showed how Alltech Malaysia is bringing the value to their business.
Surabaya and Jakarta, Indonesia
31 October - From Brisbane, Australia the delegates flew directly to the first stop in Indonesia which was Surabaya. This was the first APLT meeting conducted in Surabaya since Alltech Indonesia was established. This was a dinner meeting with customers and speakers that was focused on the aqua and poultry side. Isra’ Noor, Alltech Indonesia General Manager and Dr. Lyons welcomed the guests.
The speakers addressed many concerns facing the livestock industry today, such as the challenge of increasing raw material prices by improving fiber utilization, the use of functional nutrients in the feed for better profit and gut health especially for aquaculture, the ethanol industry and its impact on the livestock industry, and the mycotoxin issue in the feed industry today.
The third day of the 21st Alltech Asia-Pacific Lecture Tour began in Jakarta, Indonesia. A press conference was held in the morning with 4 local magazines interviewing Dr. Lyons, the group of speakers, Steve Bourne, Cemlyn Martin and Isra’ Noor. The journalists were asking questions about the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, NuPro and what the benefits are of using functional food in the feed. Paul Groenewegen explained about NuPro by using the example of NuPro in a baby bottle and nucleotides that can be found in infant milk. Kate Jacques also explained about Sel-Plex and the use of selenium.
Alltech Indonesia General Manager, Isra’ Noor, welcomed 130 guests to the main meeting and informed the guests that this is the third APLT held in Indonesia. Steve Bourne, Alltech Vice-President Asia-Pacific, spoke about Alltech’s commitment to Indonesia’s feed industry and how to improve Alltech’s services and relationship with the customers. Before he introduced the first speaker, Steve highlighted some important issues that would be delivered by the speakers throughout the meeting.
The group of speakers discussed the global concerns regarding:
- Selenium and immune function; Improving resistance to viruses and
other intracellular pathogens - Optimizing Nutrition: Pre-conception through slaughter. Maternal nutrition can have dramatic effects on the life time performance of the offspring of poultry, pigs and aquaculture. And also the use of functional nutrients can bridge some of the post-natal growth gap
- The ethanol industry today and what is the impact of our livestock industry
- How to improved fibre utilization and why we need a new source of energy for livestock nutrition. Also how to overcome the mycotoxins issues in the feed.
Before he delivered his presentation, Dr. Lyons addressed the journalists regarding Alltech FEI Games 2010, and the excitement that will be created from the Games and how we can promote Indonesia and the industry during the event at Kentucky.
In his presentation, Dr. Lyons talked to the guests about the energy crisis, and about how traceability is tied into food safety. He also encouraged customers to think about the super brand and what it we actually wish from super brands. He challenged the guests to consider the potential for cellulose and demonstrated it by using a board and slices of bread, where we can’t eat the wood but fungi can eat it. Dr. Lyons shared the new Nutrigenomics Centre and also the biorefinery community project in Kentucky.
Please check back with us for daily reports and photos.
Day Two Report - Brisbane, Australia
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30 October - Day two of the Alltech Asia-Pacific Lecture Tour began in Brisbane, Australia with Dr Kate Jacques hosting another breakfast focused on the benefits to human health of sufficient selenium supplementation. Alltech’s Northern Australia Manager, Adam Naylor, welcomed the nearly 40 guests to the main meeting. Steve Bourne, Alltech Vice-President Asia-Pacific, spoke of Alltech’s commitment to Queensland and the northern Australia market, highlighting the opening of the company’s new Queensland office in July of this year.
The group of speakers discussed local concerns about the rising costs of feed and the predicted decrease in cereal crop harvests due to major drought in Australia. Dr. Lyons encouraged companies to embrace new concepts and invest in research towards alternative energy sources and future feed ingredients. He urged participants to think ‘outside the box’ to consider the potential for cellulose, currently considered inedible, as a future feed source.
Dr. Lyons also shared Alltech’s plans for a community biorefinery, highlighting a significant grant received last week from the state of Kentucky to support this sustainable energy project.
Please check back with us for daily reports and photos.
Day One Report - Auckland, New Zealand; Melbourne, Australia
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29 October - Alltech's 21st Asia-Pacific Lecture tour got off to a great start today. First stop, Auckland, New Zealand. The morning started with a selenium in human health breakfast seminar, with a presentation by Kate Jacques. Mike Cundy, of Cundy Technologies welcomed the 40+ delegates, Dr Lyons, and the speakers to the main APLT seminar.
The five speakers addressed the many concerns facing the agri-business industry today, such as the challenge of increasing raw material prices, ensuring an enhanced start for animals through early mineral nutrition and carrying this through the early stages of growth and development for pigs and poultry.
In the afternoon the group flew to Melbourne, Australia for the 2nd stop of the 3 week tour. Over 50 delegates turned up listen to the group present new technologies that aim to help farmers and livestock producers to be profitable in today’s tough environment.
A highlight of the day was the announcement of two new feed partners for the Alltech World Equestrian Games. In Auckland, Tony Manning of Nutritech together with Dr. Lyons announced that they would be the New Zealand Feed Partner for the Alltech Games. In Melbourne, Hygain also announced their partnership of the Games.
These are the first two companies in the Asia-Pacific region to have come on board and are the latest feed partners.
Tomorrow the group will be in Brisbane – the first time a lecture tour has been there, before moving onto Indonesia later in the day.
Please check back with us for daily reports and photos.
