| Feed Energy News - 2008 Edition 1 |
    |
 Feed Energy Launches New and Improved Website What started innocently enough as an initiative to provide minor updates to the Feed Energy website soon took on a much a larger dimension once we got involved in the actual project. Some of you may remember that we conducted a survey where we asked you, FEC customers and friends, your current assessment of the FEC website and what your future expectations would be for a site. When we reviewed the feedback from the survey we soon realized that your high expectations meant that we needed to rethink our approach to the changes we were contemplating. You asked us to provide more content which would be as helpful to you in running your operations which meant more complete and relevant content, and, you also asked that we make the site as functional as possible. If you have not visited the new FEC website click here. And while you're visiting the site, take a few minutes to sign up for your own personal log-in information which will allow you to visit areas of the website with enhanced information |
 All Veg 4000 All Veg 4000 is a carefully manufactured natural energy source scientifically derived from products of vegetable oil-seed processing. Naturally rich in antioxidants, AV4000 assures you of the highest energy source available for nutritional and industrial applications. AV4000 can be relied upon to contain 4000-4050 kilocalories of metabolizable energy/pound. Click here for more information. |
 Getting Your Tank Ready for Harsh Winter Weather  Mike VanWeelden is the Customer Service Manager
and Safety Coordinator with Feed Energy. When you talk with FEC
customers and employees, they will tell you that this 15-year FEC
veteran is considered a real go-to guy. As Customer Service Manager,
Mike designs and prepares specifications for tanks based on
customers' tank and pump needs, oversees tank installations, and
addresses customer concerns with tank-related issues, both in the
field and on the phone. We talked with Mike and he gave us this
pre-winter checklist for making sure your tank systems keep working
at maximum performance right through the winter. Pre-winter Tank Checklist Check the insulation around your fat lines to ensure nothing such as rodents, weather or vehicle impacts, has damaged the lines during the summer. Check the heat trace to make sure it is functioning properly. If not you could experience a unnecessary line freeze. Check the heating system to confirm that it is functioning properly. When the nights start to stay at about 30 degrees it is time to turn up the heaters. The line thermostat should be set at 140 degrees and the fat tank heater temperature needs to be set at a level which will maintain the temperature of the fat in the tank at 140 degrees. A good rule of thumb would be to check the settings on your heaters and heat trace November 1 each year. Get on a regular cycle of calibrating your fat system (spring/fall) to ensure your rations are properly balanced. You don't want to be using too much (increased cost) or too little (reduced gain and feed efficiency) fat in your rations. If you want more information on Feed Energy Tank Systems or you would like your fat system evaluated just click here for more information and contacts. |
 2009 January 21-22 - Minnesota Pork Congress - Minneapolis, MN January 29-30 - Iowa Pork Congress - Des Moines, IA February 4-7 - National Turkey Federation Annual Convention - Orlando, FL February 25-26 - Nebraska Poultry Industries - Columbus, NE March 16-18 - MW Dairy Science Assoc. & Society of Animal Science - Des Moines, IA March 18-19 - Midwest Poultry Federation Convention - St. Paul, MN June 3-5 - World Pork Expo - Des Moines, IA June 10-12 - Minnesota Turkey Growers Summer Meeting - Alexandria, MN June 16-18 - Iowa Turkey Federation Summer Meeting - Des Moines, IA September 22-24 - Iowa Poultry Association Fall Festival - West Des Moines, IA |
| Premiering our New E-Newsletter |
| Welcome to
the first edition of Feed Energy's e-newsletter. For the past
several years, we've used "snail mail" to communicate with you about
product announcements, news and industry events, and other
information of interest at Feed Energy. But the world is a fast
moving place, and today people want information faster and in a
readily usable format. That's why we're proud to send you this first
issue. In each issue, our e-newsletter will include articles on
products, interviews with industry leaders, a message from our
leader, Bob Riley, product and service information you can use,
tradeshow and industry meeting updates as well as our take on a wide
variety of topics we know you will find relevant. We know our
customers have faced many challenges and opportunities in the last
year of unprecedented energy fluctuations, and we want to provide
this forum for keeping you up-to-date on the current events
affecting all of us. We'll be able to use the full power of the World Wide Web by linking our newsletter articles to internet sites with expanded information on each topic. In addition to responding to our customer's requests for electronic communications, we'll also be doing more to help our environment. We'll consume fewer paper products, and we'll eliminate the energy needed for production, printing, delivery and disposal. We are sure you'll find our topics and information useful, and we welcome your comments and suggestions regarding current and future topics. Please email them to newsletter@feedenergy.com |
| Food, Fuel, Feed, and Foolishness |
 When I was interviewed for an article
in Feed Management back in April of 2007, I was very aware of
the existing ties between energy and feed. As a matter of fact, my
statement at the time was, "As we start looking at these market
relationships, we start seeing pretty soon what will be driving the
livestock industry the price of oil." It has become apparent that
the old hog-to-corn ratio has in fact been replaced by the new
hog-to-gasoline ratio. Even in a market that was artificially driven
by much speculation, livestock producers were caught in the middle.
We need to learn from these experiences and that is why we continue to dissect these markets and look for ways to become better resources for our customers. The imbalance in the market over the last year has in fact been brought back into some sort of order. The unfortunate part is that many innocent processors and producers were helplessly caught in the middle. I continue to believe that an economy our size, that requires such resources, can never be energy independent. I just hope that we have learned from this experience and we don't revert back to our previous patterns. My dream is that animal production, fuel needs and food needs can reach a proper balance, but this won't happen accidentally. We at Feed Energy will continue to be a part of this on-going and complicated juggling act. |
| Feed Energy Company Announces New Environmental Initiative |
 This is the headline that appeared on a recent
news release sent to major agricultural industry publications
regarding the CARA Initiative recently announced by Feed Energy. The
release went on to say: "The concept for Feed Energy's new company-wide recycling and conservation initiative may have started at the top, but the ideas that will keep it growing come directly from its employees and customers. Bob Riley, President and CEO of Feed Energy, says the company's new conservation and recycling program called the CARA Initiative (which stands for Conserving and Recycling . . . Always) will help Feed Energy make a positive impact on the environment, and potentially provide the company with a competitive advantage in the marketplace." Click here to read the complete press release. |
| Feed Energy Sponsors 2008 State Science + Technology Fair of Iowa |
 Feed Energy Company of Des Moines, Iowa, has
been recognized as a Bronze Sponsor of the 2008 State Science +
Technology Fair of Iowa. Feed Energy has also been recognized by
Fair organizers for increasing their level of sponsorship over 2007.
The State Science + Technology Fair of Iowa is recognized as one of the outstanding state science fairs in the nation. The event, hosted by Iowa State University, showcases Iowa's best and brightest 6th 12th grade students in the areas of science, engineering and technology, and provides hundreds of Iowa students opportunities to explore science and technology through hands-on research and provides inspiration to prepare for professions in these disciplines. More than 500 projects were judged by a volunteer pool of scientists and engineers from private industry and higher education. Dr. Mohan Dasari, Director of Research and Development for Feed Energy, served as a judge for the 2008 competition. This year's winners took home a combined total of more than $60,000 in scholarships and prizes. For more information click here. |
| Ag Partners and Feed Energy Valued Partners |
 Feed Energy has many great customers, and we are
going to do our best to profile as many of them as possible in
upcoming issues of this newsletter. In this first issue we wanted to
share the story of one of the longest standing customer
relationships - Ag
Partners headquartered in Albert City, Iowa. In 1997 Ag Partners, LLC was formed as a joint venture between Albert City Elevator (Alceco), an Iowa cooperative, and Cargill. This joint venture was deemed unique in that it equally combines the principles of a cooperative, owned by local producers, with the assets of an international agricultural firm. Alceco, the cooperative aspect of Ag Partners, has been in existence for over 100 years and members of Alceco are rewarded with patronage for doing business with Ag Partners. Ag Partners was formed in 1997 and has been a member of the Iowa Turkey Federation since that time, but its history with ITF actually dates back to 1978 when Alceco first became a member. In the late 1980's and early 1990's the turkey industry went through a transformation due primarily to decreasing profitability. This brought about consolidation and many of the independent growers looked to contract feeding to help them mange the risks associated to their business. As this trend continued, Ag Partners had an opportunity to work with key turkey growers in central Iowa developing a vision for a partnership that went well beyond just milling feed. In 1996 Alceco formed a lease/partnership arrangement to manage the West Liberty Foods feed plant at Ellsworth, IA, and in 1998, Ag Partners and nine growers formed a limited liability company called Lincoln Supply, L.L.C. The Ellsworth mill produces turkey and hog feed with an annual tonnage of more than 150,000 tons. In 2002, Ag Partners also entered into ownership of a feed plant with 14 southeast Iowa turkey growers. The company, Agri-Way Partners, operates in Wayland, IA. We had a chance to ask Scott Lovin, who joined Alceco in 1983, about any new developments at Ag Partners. Scott currently manages the feed business unit. He is responsible for employees, inventory, operations and sales for four feed mills currently producing an annual volume of 300,000 feed tons and feeding 4 million turkeys in Iowa. He was very excited to share the news about the recently completed Ag Partners mill in Ellsworth, which has a capacity of 300,000 tons of pelleted feed annually. We also asked Scott about the relationship between Ag Partners and Feed Energy. His comment "Feed Energy has proven to be a valued partner with the quality and service that they provide." Thanks Scott and it has been a pleasure working with Ag Partners over the years and we look forward to many more! |
| FEC Makes Historic Visit to White House |
 Many of us have dreamed about visiting the White House in
Washington, D.C and Feed Energy had that opportunity. Well, almost!
FEC was well represented when the National Turkey Federation
presented the National Thanksgiving Turkey to President Bush. This
year marked the 61st anniversary of a tradition that has continued
through 10 consecutive administrations. Gretta Irwin, Executive Director of the Iowa Turkey Federation announced that Paul (President of the National Turkey Federation) and Mary Hill of Nathan Hill's Farm in Ellsworth, Iowa, a long-time and valued FEC customer, presented President Bush with the Thanksgiving Turkey to pardon. The lesson here is that it apparently pays to feed the very best if you want your birds to really go places! |
|
|
 |
