| Feed Energy News - 2009 Edition 3 |
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Lindquist Elected to AFIA’s Liquid Feed Committee
 Feed Energy has announced that Bruce Lindquist has been elected to the American Feed Industry Association’s (AFIA) Liquid Feed Committee. Bruce joined the FEC sales staff in 2007 as a 25-year feed industry veteran.
The Liquid Feed Committee represents the interests of liquid feed manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors. The committee is responsible for the annual Liquid Feed Symposium and the liquid feed tonnage survey in addition to working with AFIA staff to provide regulatory representation for the liquid feed industry, maintaining subcommittees for research and education, finance and sponsorship, and membership. In her letter to Bob Riley, Feed Energy CEO, Leanna Nail AFIA’s Director of Administration stated, “I wanted to let you know that Bruce Lindquist has been elected to the Liquid Feed Committee. His term will run from May 2009 to May 2012. Thank you for your commitment to the liquid industry and the Liquid Feed Committee. Bruce will be a terrific asset to the group.” Bob Riley comments, “I can’t tell you how pleased I am that members of our professional FEC staff are being recognized by national groups such as AFIA. Our company is proud to have Bruce elected to this important AFIA committee as it speaks to the high regard in which FEC is held by our peers.” The AFIA is the world's largest organization devoted exclusively to representing the business, legislative and regulatory interests of the animal feed industry and its suppliers. Membership includes 550 domestic and international companies; state, national and regional associations. |
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Feed Energy Names Two to Newly Created Leadership Positions Feed Energy's Halstead Elected to ITF Leadership Position Feed Energy Company Unveils New Website to Meet Growing Customer Needs |
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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. |
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Summer Action Plan for Your Tank System – Time for Preventive Maintenance  Once again we turn to Mike VanWeelden for preventative maintenance advice. With 15 years of experience as our Customer Service Manager and Safety Coordinator, we would be willing to bet that Mike has pretty much seen it all. Who better to ask about preventative maintenance? Mike says that summer is a great time of year to really get into the systems to make sure the tank systems are working together at optimal levels. Here’s Mike’s “must do” checklist:
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In the last issue of the newsletter we asked our readers the following question, “What is the single biggest challenge facing your business in the next three to six months?” While we had some great answers and thanks to those of you who took the time to give your feedback, the challenge mentioned most frequently by those who responded concerned the availability of credit for customers to be able to support and grow their businesses. In this issue’s survey we would like you to give us some feedback on the first three editions of this newsletter. Click here if you wish to review previous editions before taking the survey.
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| Feed Energy Again Welcomes Customers and Friends to The Iowa State Fair – August 13 – 23, 2009 | |||
 For the past 15 years during the Iowa State Fair, Feed Energy turns over its parking lots to the Laurel Hills Neighborhood Association. These neighborhood volunteers, with a local scout troop, park hundreds of cars. The proceeds are used to build and maintain parks and other public areas used by the entire neighborhood. For those of you who’ve utilized the FEC parking lot in the past, you know just how convenient the parking location is to all of the Fairground activities. And remember, the parking fees generated go to a great cause, so please join us! |
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2009 July 24 - August 1 - North Dakota State Fair - Minot August 13-23 - Missouri State Fair - Sedalia August 14-23 - Illinois State Fair - Springfield August 13-23 - Iowa State Fair - Des Moines, IA Aug 27-Sept 7 - Minnesota State Fair - St. Paul Aug 28-Sept 7 - Nebraska State Fair - Lincoln September 1-3 - Farm Progress Show - Decatur, IL September 3-7 - South Dakota State Fair - Huron September 12-20 - Clay County Fair - Spencer, IA September 15-16 - Minnesota Nutrition Conference - Owatonna September 15-17 - AFIA - Liquid Feed Symposium - Nashville September 22-24 - Iowa Poultry Association Fall Festival - West Des Moines, IA November 30 - December 2 - Iowa Turkey Federation Winter Meeting 2010 January 27-29 - International Poultry and Feed Expositions - Atlanta February 9-10 - Agribusiness Showcase & Conference (AAI) - Des Moines March 10-12 AFIA - Purchasing & Ingredient Suppliers Conference - San Antonio March 16-18 - Midwest Poultry Federation Convention - St. Paul June 9-11 - World Pork Expo - Des Moines June 9-11 - Minnesota Turkey Growers Association Summer June 15-17 - Iowa Turkey Federation Summer Meeting - Altoona, IA November 29 - December 1 - Iowa Turkey Federation Winter Meeting - West Des Moines, IA |
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| Sustainability |
 During this economic downturn, and in various industrial, organizational, agricultural, and environmental circles, the word “sustainable” seems to be coming up time and time again. I would like to explore the topic of “sustainability” with you in this issue.
“Sustainable” is defined as the capacity to maintain a certain state indefinitely or to meet present needs without compromising future generations’ ability to meet their needs. This requires us, as a society, to build our institutions on the solid footing of common values, technical soundness, and financial stability. It requires us to provide a measured growth that can be maintained over the long run, without expending a disproportionate amount of resources derived from externalities. If we apply this definition to agriculture, we need to consider our raw materials, the sun, soil, inputs, and water that we use to provide our nutrients and energy. Maintaining our soil without compromising the future generations’ ability to meet their needs requires extraordinary and robust care and systems to be implemented. There are those who would “borrow” from the land, with hopes that either the established system, or some future, speculative process would provide solutions for future generations. The “pay as you go” concept has been replaced with a “rob Peter to pay Paul” mentality. Should you apply this definition to car manufacturing, for instance, one would need to apply appropriate life cycle analysis to the products, establish a robust research arm to be able to exist in any scenario, and make sure that the financial model was robust enough to both provide products that future generations will need, and employment for present and future generations. All the while, paying attention to the externalities of the extraction industry and the environmental impact on the planet. For instance when we apply this definition to, for Feed Energy, it requires us to consider our long-term goals, to make sure we have shared values with our customers, our vendors, our employees, and all other stakeholders. It requires us to have a sound, science-based technology, and it requires us to have a financially viable business model. All our activities need to be cognizant of the future, making sure we don’t allow short term gains to compromise the future. We need to strategically plan for various scenarios, for the succession of our employees, the stewardship of our institutional knowledge, the development of new knowledge, and we need to do so with the future in mind. Those of us in the agricultural industry are concerned for the future, for our descendants. We wonder… Are we providing a world which is a better place to live? Who will occupy our seats when we move on, as we all inevitably will do? Will these individuals share the values, perspectives, and principles necessary to continue the “sustainable” model that we are striving to perfect? Next quarter I will share some of the actions we at Feed Energy are taking to make sure our business model is sustainable, that we have a capacity to maintain a certain state indefinitely. |
| Feed Energy Responds to the New Requirements for Tallow |
 As you may or may not know, a new regulation for tallow has been issued describing the requirements for tallow intended for use in feed for non-ruminant animals. In addition, the 1997 ruminant feed regulation issued by the FDA has been revised to add requirements for tallow intended for use in feed for ruminant animals. The regulations went into effect in the Spring of 2009 with full compliance required by October 26, 2009.
The overall effect of these two regulations on the use of tallow in animal feed is as follows:
For additional information on the rule change, click here. |
| Farmers Cooperative and Feed Energy – Valued Partners |
 In this issue of the Feed Energy newsletter we are featuring a long-time partner, Farmers Cooperative, also known as FC. In addition to learning more about FC, we thought you might like to get some market insights from one of FC’s senior leaders, John Malin, who is Vice President of Feed Sales. But first, let’s look at a bit of history about Farmers Cooperative.
Farmers Cooperative Co., with corporate headquarters located in Ames, IA, is the largest farmer-owned local agriculture cooperative in Iowa. FC serves over 5,800 members throughout a trade territory of more than 1,700,000 acres. Members are served from 50-plus locations by more than 450 employees. FC was founded by the management and board of directors of Farmers Cooperative Company located in Farnhamville, IA. The first grain elevator was built in Farnhamville in 1881. About 25 years later, the elevator was incorporated by several area farmers and businessmen. In 1944 the board of directors decided to change the structure of the company to a cooperative as defined in an Iowa law passed in 1939. In the early 1960s, the leadership of FC in Farnhamville determined the cooperative needed to expand its membership territory if it were to remain viable and efficient in member service. Between 1963 and 2008, the company grew through a total of 21 mergers and acquisitions, and FC continues to grow. The management team is progressive and committed to the FC culture that is based on openness, growth, and opportunity. The FC Mission is:  We had a chance to talk with John about some of the trends and issues facing swine producers today, and if you are a swine producer you know first hand that today’s market is anything but rosy. When asked about current trends, John’s response was direct and to the point, “The swine world is gaining production efficiency every day, and everyone in the business knows that the lack of efficiency was a huge factor contributing to today’s depressed swine market.” He continues, “The other factor, and many people don’t realize this, was the situation with circovirus. Circovirus accounted for a pig death rate of approximately 15-20%, and the industry lost track of this because it was built into production. All of a sudden, with the introduction of a new vaccine (which was brought to market in a very short time period), pigs stopped dying and we were left with 15-20% overproduction.”
When we pressed John to take a look into his crystal ball for 12 months from now, he felt that the reduction in the number of sows would result in most producers being able to say the word “profit” once again. But, he cautioned, “Most producers can’t stand one more issue like the H1N1. Producers are working really hard to keep what they’ve worked so hard to build. With 11% more hogs on the market than a year ago, it is going to take the market some time to sort out.” We then asked John about his experience working with Feed Energy, and we were pleased to hear the following, “They are always a step ahead of the industry. It is very important for us to have consistency in our FAP (Fatty Acid Profile), and FEC delivers repeatable results week after week. We use AV 3800, and the product always is a consistently high quality and the product really works well in our system from a flow standpoint. In addition to the quality of the product, we really like the fact that FEC works with us in areas such as finding the maximum efficiency for our mills – we get great follow-up from everyone involved.” With John and the dedicated staff and members at Farmers Cooperative, today’s producers have a wealth of help available to them and for that we give FC a big “Thank You.” |
| Feed Energy Company Works Toward Sustainable Continuous Improvement |
 Consistent with Feed Energy’s long-standing philosophy of Continuous Improvement, we set out earlier this year to advance our objective to build a sustainable Continuous Improvement (CI) plan. FEC's Strategy and Processes Director Alan Richardson says, "After joining FEC in 2008, I began preparing for how to implement additional process improvement methodologies as an avenue for company growth. The Senior Leadership Team quickly connected CI practices of understanding ‘customer value’ with our company's vision which is to be recognized as creators of customer value from materials, people, and technology."
Feed Energy had three options available to acquire CI training in Lean, Six Sigma and Theory of Constraints: (1) hire someone who already possessed the skills (2) hire a consultant to lead projects for and with us, or, (3) develop the knowledge, skill and ability in our own people. Feed Energy’s staff is a talented group of professionals and they were enthusiastic in their support of option 3, the option selected by the Senior Leadership Team. We engaged Mark Stanley of the highly regarded WHY! Company to provide CI training. Mark started with Six Sigma, which for many organizations simply means measuring quality and striving for perfection. “If you show people a better way, change is much easier,” is how Mark describes the basic approach. Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects in any process from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service. The fundamental objective of the Six Sigma approach for Feed Energy is the implementation of measurement and tracking strategies that focus on process improvement. During the second quarter of 2009, ten staff from Production, R&D, and Finance participated in intensive Six Sigma training. Three individuals became certified Black Belts which focus on statistical analysis tools. Those three, along with seven others, were certified as Yellow Belts which emphasizes process methodologies. “The focus on measuring and tracking is critical to the implementation of Six Sigma,” says Richardson, who earned a Green Belt prior to joining FEC. "You can't manage what you can't measure so we are placing a great deal of emphasis on tracking and measuring which will be a key to achieving the sustainable continuous improvement objective." During this training FEC initiated three process improvement projects designed to improve processes and hone newly acquired knowledge and skills. This is accomplished by working through the two Six Sigma methodologies of DMAIC and DMADV. DMAIC - define, measure, analyze, improve, control - is an improvement system for existing processes while DMADV - define, measure, analyze, design, verify - is an improvement system used to develop new processes or products. In both DMADV and DMAIC, Green Belts lead projects working closely with Black Belts who have robust statistical tools and skills while the Yellow Belts serve as team members. Six Sigma training will continue in 2009 with six staff working towards Green Belt certification, which encompasses project management and facilitation strategies and tools. The Real World  FEC has already put the new knowledge to work in many real world areas. Continuous Improvement encourages the development of simple steps that, when brought together, form a larger process designed to accomplish a specific and measurable task. These processes really help us focus on ways we can improve what we do and what will ultimately be of benefit to our customers. A simple example falls under "customer satisfaction".
Feed Energy has always had a goal of 100% customer satisfaction. In the past, the question has been how do we know if we are hitting that 100% number? The answer is that we’ve developed a Customer Satisfaction scoring system which encompasses sales, service, product, convenience, industry support and other customer focused services and activities. Because customer satisfaction is very important to us and is a leading indicator of our long-term success, periodically during sales calls and after every service call, we ask our customers to rate Feed Energy. This information is recorded so that we can track our performance. This tracking is critical because we believe that we can “manage what we can measure.” For example, the scoring system allows us to determine how we’ve done after every service call. This “closing the loop” activity usually takes place when one of the FEC Account Managers, Cal Halstead or Bruce Lindquist, makes a follow-up contact with the customer to determine if the service call met or exceeded the expectations of the customer. We believe that by formalizing this process we can really get to the heart of the matter on any unresolved issues. And, we ultimately believe that this approach will create stronger relationships and stronger partnerships with our customers and vendors. In the next issue of this newsletter we interview some of our Six Sigma project champions and get their insights on the impact of the sustainable Continuous Improvement initiative. |
| Pacific Junction and Sioux City Plants Earn Safe Feed, Safe Food Re-Certification |
 Feed Energy has received notification that its Pacific Junction and Sioux City plants have been re-certified for the prestigious Safe Feed, Safe Foods program from the American Feed Industry Association. Feed Energy’s three locations were first certified in 2006 and the Des Moines location was re-certified earlier this year. The certification program is designed to demonstrate proactive food safety leadership among those companies dedicated to delivering a safe and wholesome feed supply for the growth and care of animals.
“This program is intended for companies interested in demonstrating their pledge to food safety and enhancing consumer confidence in the products they provide,” states Bob Riley, President and CEO of Feed Energy. “Our products are developed and produced based on our scientific expertise, and safety is always at the top of the list when it comes to product development.” Safe Feed, Safe Food participating companies include feed manufacturers, pet food manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, integrated producers, meat processors, livestock producers, and others who want to validate a commitment to feed safety and proactive leadership. |
| Long-time Feed Energy Friend and Customer Receives Good Farm Neighbor Award |
 We are always so happy to report when good things happen to good people and a good thing happened to turkey producer Pam Larson just last month. Pam, from Ellsworth, Iowa, was the winner of the June “Gary Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award.”
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey presented the award to Pam at her family farm in Ellsworth. “Pam and the entire Larson family clearly demonstrate what this award is about, recognizing farmers who do an outstanding job caring for their animals, taking care of the land and serving their neighbors.” Northey said. Pam and her husband Steve, and son Chad, own and operate a 20,000-head turkey farm between Ellsworth and Jewell. Pam and Steve are second-generation turkey farmers and Chad is the third generation. Pam is also active in the Iowa Turkey Federation and is a past board member for the federation. She is also involved in her local church and is a volunteer EMT in her community. The Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award, made possible through the financial support of the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers, recognizes Iowa livestock farmers who care for their farms, neighbors and the environment. It is named in memory of Gary Wergin, a longtime WHO-AM Radio farm broadcaster who helped create the award. |
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