| Feed Energy News - 2009 Edition 2 |
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Feed Energy Company’s Cal Halstead Elected to Leadership Position at Iowa Turkey Federation
 This was the headline that appeared on a recent news release about Feed Energy’s Cal Halstead. To those of you who know Cal you are no doubt aware that he always brings real enthusiasm and vision to any project he tackles. Here’s the balance of the release:
Des Moines, IA – January, 2009 – Feed Energy has announced that Cal Halstead, Director of Sales and Support Services, has been elected Vice President of the Iowa Turkey Federation for 2009. This election to Vice President has historically been structured to place the next leader on the ladder to the President’s position. “Cal has been dedicated to the turkey industry for over 20 years,” states Bob Riley, Feed Energy President and CEO. “Cal is starting his fourth year on the ITF Board in addition to his other activities such as involvement with the ITF booth at the Iowa State Fair. This commitment and high level of participation have really prepared him to become more actively involved in the ITF leadership. We are very proud of Cal's accomplishments and will continue to support him and all our employees involved in the industries we serve.” The Iowa Turkey Federation represents, supports, and promotes the turkey industry and its members Feed Energy Company is an agribusiness firm primarily engaged in processing soybean oil co-products focused in feed, agronomy, dust control, fuel, and industrial and fertilizer applications. The company is one of the largest acidulators of soybean soap stock in North America. The company headquarters and original production facility have been in Des Moines, Iowa for more than 30 years, with additional Iowa production facilities in Sioux City and Pacific Junction. |
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| New Faces and Responsibilities at Feed Energy | |||
We are pleased to announce the following FEC personnel changes:
 Katherine Harrington has joined FEC as Director, Human Resources. Katherine has spent the last several months working as a contract employee charged with developing and revising HR policies and job descriptions. As HR Director Katherine will be responsible for all strategic HR functions including the development of a Performance Management System, Career Development, and Training. Katherine earned a Masters Degree in Human Resources from Loyola University (Chicago) and is an active member of the Society for Human Resource Management.
 Chase Gochnauer has been named Manager, Business Improvement Systems. Chase started his Feed Energy career in the plant as an operator in April 2008. Chase’s passion and aptitude for process improvement was quickly recognized and in the fall of 2008 he was promoted to project management coordinator. This month he was named Manager of Business Improvement Systems with responsibilities for Feed Energy’s Six Sigma, Lean, and Theory of Constraints initiatives. Chase will begin coursework next semester at Drake University to complete a Bachelors program in Business Management.
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Feed Energy Announces New Environmental Initiative Feed Energy Sponsors State Science + Technology Fair of Iowa Feed Energy Company Unveils New Website to Meet Growing Customer Needs |
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Hyper Cal 3800 Hyper Cal 3800 is a scientifically formulated blend of vegetable oils and high grade animal fats, blended to provide high energy at an economical cost. A balanced blend of unsaturated and saturated fatty acids will assure you of the proper fatty acid profile designed to satisfy the nutritional needs of a variety of species. Hyper Cal 3800 can be relied upon to contain 3800 – 3825 kilocalories of metabolizable energy per pound. Click here for more information. |
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Getting Your Tank System Ready for the Spring and Summer Seasons  In the last issue of the newsletter Mike Van Weelden, Feed Energy’s Customer Service Manager and Safety Coordinator shared with you some tips for getting your tank ready for harsh winter weather. Well believe it or not spring is just around the corner and it’s time to think about re-calibration for the warmer spring weather.
Mike strongly recommends getting on a regular cycle of calibration for 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. Now would be the perfect time to give Mike a call with any questions or if you would like to set up an appointment to have him come to your location and calibrate your tank. Just click here for more information and contacts. |
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2009 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 August 13-23 - Iowa State Fair - Des Moines, IA September 22-24 - Iowa Poultry Association Fall Festival - West Des Moines, IA December 2-4 - Iowa Turkey Federation Winter Meeting - TBA |
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We thought we would try something new in this issue of the newsletter. Please take a moment and respond and we will report on the responses in the next issue.
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| Welcome to Issue 2 of Our E-Newsletter |
| Welcome to the second edition of Feed Energy’s e-newsletter. We hope you enjoyed the first issue – we certainly had lots of positive feedback which was very gratifying for us. For those of you who might be reading our newsletter for the first time, allow us to repeat a bit of the introduction from Issue #1.
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 happy to be sending you this second 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 hope 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 are 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 of a printed newsletter. 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 |
 You might recall in last issue of the newsletter I talked about the agricultural industry reaching the proper balance between feed, food and fuel. I also mentioned that Feed Energy will continue to be part of this juggling act.
First, what is balance? I define this as a supply and demand equilibrium that is traceable to historic relationships, with prices for goods falling into a range that can be predicted. The present price volatility of commodities, along with highly variable energy policies and prices, combined with a worldwide financial services meltdown breeds uncertainty. It is difficult to plan, buy or sell with confidence. At Feed Energy, we have examined the various segments of the agricultural industry, from soil nutrients and row crops, seed and crop protection, to grain handling. We continued on to feed manufacturing, through the various livestock groups all the way to the supermarket shelves. All these agricultural segments are interconnected. Traditionally, those in our agricultural industry have sought equilibrium within and between these segments. Today, we must include the environment with agriculture, and inject financial and societal factors - we now have a "triple-bottom-line" system to balance. Lately, there has been no balance in the agricultural industry, and traditionally, little connectivity between agricultural and environmental systems, and the people they both serve. Connect these with the financial system, which has betrayed all of us, and we have little confidence in our institutions. How in the world are we going to make everyday decisions with any confidence? In this search for equilibrium, I find myself in venues where these subjects are hot topics. Whether it is at the Nebraska Poultry Industries Convention, the Iowa Department of Economic Development, Des Moines Water Works, The Nature Conservancy, or in discussions with state and federal policymakers, all agree - the system is broken. The regulatory systems we have in place are not serving us well. The credibility of our institutions is at an all time low. The only way to bring back confidence and trust is to have transparency and a level playing field. We need to value our commodities and all the resources used to produce them properly. And everyone has to play by the same set of rules. Our elected leaders need to understand that we are all in this for the long haul, not just the next two years. We want solutions that will be strong, yet resilient, scalable from large to small. We want our descendants to inherit an industry that measures its success not only from the wealth it creates, but by the health of the environment and the communities in which we live and work. |
| An Interview With Jim Mitchell |
 Feed Energy works with many industry experts in the areas of nutrition, feed safety and quality and other areas which support the FEC mission of providing the best possible products to our customers. From time to time we will use this newsletter to report on conversations we’ve had with industry leaders to get a perspective on the markets they serve.
We recently sat down with Jim Mitchell, Poultry Nutritionist, Akey, Lewisburg, Ohio, a highly regarded expert on turkey nutrition to get his perspective on the industry and some of the trends Jim sees for the future. Question: Jim, can you give us a picture from your perspective on the positive and negative aspects of the turkey markets right now? Jim: From my perspective a cut-back means fewer tons produced and fewer birds needed; that’s a negative. The positive would be that we, as an industry, need to convince the consumer to buy more turkey or that we produce to the demand. Question: What are some of the nutritional trends you’re watching and evaluating? Jim: We know that added fat improves gain and feed conversion but until we get back to $2.50 breast meat (supply and demand) we need to monitor our cost per pound of gain much closer than when we were receiving more for breast meat. Fat continues to be a good value nutritionally. Our clients rely on us to monitor all ingredients that could potentially be used beyond the expected maximum value return and we do. Question: How does the feeding of various co-products fit in with current turkey production? Jim: I see co-products as something derived from corn. Turkey producers will use co-products if they perceive value. A consistent supply is important and lately this has not been the case. Question: The turkey market is currently in a downturn. What are the steps from a nutritional standpoint that turkey producers can take to stay competitive? Jim: We (Akey) think that reduced numbers of turkeys will straighten out our current supply/demand situation. We hear what our turkey producers are telling us and we respond to their concerns because their concerns are our concerns. Turkey producers’ focus will continue to be on feed conversion, rate of gain and how to get there most efficiently. Question: What is the single biggest challenge facing a turkey producer today? Tomorrow? Jim: Producing turkey meat at a cost that the market will support is our industry’s biggest challenge. As a turkey producer, I’d tighten up my barn from both a literal and figurative standpoint. The literal part is looking at items such as tunnel ventilation, static pressure regulation, checking fans and sealing small holes that might reduce efficiency. From a figurative standpoint, producers need to take a step back and look at their entire physical operation and identify everything they can do to be more efficient growers... |
| Feed Energy Quality – It Starts and Ends With Lab Services |
 As Research and Development Director for Feed Energy Company, Dr. Mohan Dasari oversees the development and implementation of new products and processes. Mohan also directs all activities in the Feed Energy Laboratory, implementing quality control and assurance procedures. As the FEC person responsible for lab services, Mohan is always looking for ways to improve procedures and processes to include on-going evaluations to confirm that what is being done is correct.
Lab Services at Feed Energy could be considered the real” heart” of the organization because nothing is used in a Feed Energy product without the stamp of approval from Lab Services. They are charged with overall quality control and it is their job to make sure that Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are established so there is consistency in all analytical testing that takes place. Analytical testing, by definition, concerns the establishment of parameters to be used for testing by both FEC’s in-house lab as well as any third-party labs that may be utilized. Final product parameters are based on two very clear consistency requirements - product quality and FAP (Fatty Acid Profile). When a load of material comes to any of the three FEC plants, suppliers know that FEC requires the raw products to meet established quality levels or the products will be rejected. There is never any compromise on this requirement. FEC’s in-house lab conducts approximately 2,000 – 3,000 product tests per year which includes tests on raw materials as well as finished products. Additionally, 1,500 – 2,000 tests are handled by an approved outside lab. The outside lab tests to the same parameters and standards as the FEC lab, and the coordination on testing process and procedures between labs is part of an on-going confirmation on procedures. All instruments are checked, and for several of the tests that are conducted, the calculations and equipment are checked on a daily basis while others are checked weekly or monthly depending on the requirements of the procedures. Part of the internal protocol for quality control is test verification just to make sure the above procedures are correct. Feed Energy must also adhere to certain testing and product standards in order to maintain Safe Feed/Safe Food certified status (see next article). For example, we are required to store FEC product samples for a period of one year. For incoming materials the specified time period is 3 months. Each year we are required to undergo an audit which includes a review of our sample retention procedures as well as a review of the pesticide analysis that we are required to provide. One of the exciting challenges Lab Services seems to thrive on has to do with the development of new testing procedures. For example, we’ve been looking at different approaches to conducting certain tests that would allow us to save time in the testing process without sacrificing any of the testing parameters that have been established. In addition to Mohan, there is a very talented team hard at work in Lab Services. Dr. Mahfuz Abdullah is the Research Chemist and Margaret Schouten is the lab technician. If you are visiting Feed Energy in Des Moines, please ask for a lab tour as it is a comprehensive service we provide of which we are very proud. |
| Des Moines Plant Recertified for Safe Feed/Safe Food Program |
 We were very pleased to learn recently that Feed Energy’s Des Moines facility has been awarded recertification from The American Feed Industry Association’s Safe Feed/Safe Food Program. This program is a real cornerstone of FEC’s overall Quality Assurance Program, and one that we feel provides the type of assurances to our customers that they expect from a company with FEC’s quality reputation. All FEC locations were originally certified in 2006, and we expect Pacific Junction and Sioux City to be recertified in the next few months.
The American Feed Industry Association launched its landmark new Safe Feed/Safe Food (SF/SF) Certification Program in 2004. The historic program was created to demonstrate and ensure continuous improvement in the delivery of a safe and wholesome feed supply for the growth and care of animals. It is intended for companies interested in demonstrating their pledge to food safety and enhancing consumer confidence in the products they provide. Participating companies include feed manufacturers, pet food manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, integrated producers, meat processors, feed purchasers, livestock producers and others who want to validate a commitment to food safety and proactive leadership. Companies fulfilling the program's requirements may use the SF/SF seal on their labeling and packaging. For more information about FEC’s commitment click here. |
| Enjoy FEC Hospitality While Attending World Pork Expo |
| As many of you know, Feed Energy invites all customers and friends to visit us if they are attending the World Pork Expo in Des Moines. This year the WPE runs June 3 – 5, which is a change from past years in that it is now a Wednesday/Thursday/Friday event rather than a Thursday/Friday/Saturday event. The days of the week for the show may change but FEC hospitality will never change!
You are invited to use our parking lot, and we also will be serving a light lunch, snacks and other refreshments over the course of the three day event. Please plan to stop and say hello if you are planning to attend the World Pork Expo. |
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