G gorin egefnorthe
Is agriculture up to the challenge
ofbecoming thegreenestgeneration?
These feed industry leaders say yes.
Can we be the greenest genera-
tion? That question was raised as
the theme for Alltech’s 24th Inter-
national Animal Health and Nutrition Sym-
posium held in April. But more than just a
conference catch-phrase, it’s a theme that
is resonating with increased urgency in ag-
riculture circles, including the feed industry,
as producer and supplier come to grips
with agriculture’s responsibility for creating
a more sustainable environment...and re-
maining profitable along the way.
Behind the quest for the green is a revolu-
tion fueled in large part by deep-felt concern
over renewable fuel production and its likely
link to the spiraling cost of feed and food.
Wrapped within the folds of the debate
over corn for ethanol versus corn for livestock
is the overriding question of addressing the
pointing to the energy necessary for the
production of ethanol, the depletion of natural
resources and poorer fuel efficiency while
those in the industry claim improved tech-
nologies make such arguments antiquated.
Fuel for debate
The Alltech Symposium ended on a call
for action for agriculture to take the lead in
creating the greenest generation and em-
brace the wide ranging solutions available to
the world. These newest green technologies,
stressed speaker upon speaker, should be
the focus for agriculture, not the clash over
corn.
Alltech’s founder and president, Dr.
Pearse Lyons, challenged the symposium
audience by urging them to ‘rethink technol-
world. “Necessity is the mother of inven-
tion,” he noted. “We must constantly look
for sustainable energy resources.”
But can agriculture develop sustainable
energy resources, protect the environment
and feed a growing global population? How
does the feed industry choose among these
priorities for a future generation?
You don’t. It shouldn’t be a question of
starvation versus environmental deprivation
at all, because one isn’t more important
than the other, pointed out Osler Desouzart.
Desouzart is president of OD Consulting
and formerly with Sadia, Perdigao and Doux
Frangosul in Brazil. He is a frequent lecturer
worldwide on international trade and com-
petition in the agro-food business.
He was one of three noted agricul-
tural policy makers to debate feed, food
and fuel issues as part
of Alltech’s Synposium.
Desouzart was joined
by Mike Johanns, for-
mer secretary of the
U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA)
and David Byrne, for-
mer European Union
Commissioner for Health and Consumer
Protection.
When asked about the competing forces
on feed and food and the need for sustain-
ability, Desouzart said the answer is easy.
“If agriculture can improve the efficiencies of livestock, the carbon footprint
of agriculture can be reduced.”—Mike Johanns, former secretary, USDA.
need for renewable and alternative fuels. One
of the questions volleyed back and forth is
that of, just how environmentally friendly is
ethanol production? Statistics are no scar-
city on either side of the issue, with skeptics
ogy and business practices and transform
the agricultural industry.’ The future of the
next generation, he stressed, will depend on
redefining our mind set and it is the current
