fi - June 2008

Can feed shape a green future?

Is agriculture up to the challenge of

becoming the greenest generation?

These feed industry leaders say yes.

New technologies for renewable fuels will mean corn stover, rather than the grain itself,

will be the target for alternative fuel production.

The quest to become the green-

est generation is resonating with

increased urgency in feed and

food circles as producer and supplier

come to grips with agriculture’s respon-

sibility for creating a more sustainable

envrionment.

Behind the pursuit of a greener economy is a global revolution fueled in large part by deep-felt concern over renewable fuel production and its likely link to the spiraling cost of feed and food. As the debate between corn for fuel and corn for feed boils over, opinions from those within agriculture have fallen primarily into two camps: those who strongly believe that the diversion of corn to ethanol is behind the rising costs of commodities and those who see ethanol as the savior for rural-based economies.

point the finger to other factors, such as

rising oil prices.

Fuel for debate

energy resources, protect the
global population?

Strong arguments have blazed from both sides. Recent weeks saw the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) chief economist predicting continued rise in commodity prices and depression of the livestock industry there due to ethanol production while the leadership of that country’s corn growers and renewable fuels proponents say such conclusions are faulty at best and

Wrapped within the fabric of the debate over corn for ethanol versus corn for livestock is the overriding question of addressing the need for renewable and alternative fuels. One of the questions volleyed back and forth is that of just how environmentally friendly is corn-based ethanol production? Statistics are no scarcity on either side of the issue, with skeptics 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 technologies make such arguments antiquated.

So, can agriculture—can the feed industry—be the greenest generation? That question was raised as the theme for Alltech’s 24th International Animal Health and Nutrition Symposium held in April in Lexington, Kentucky, USA. The symposium ended on a call for action for agriculture to take the lead in creating

the greenest generation and embrace the wide ranging solutions available to the world. These newest green technologies, stressed speaker upon speaker, should be the focus for agriculture’s future, not the clash over corn.

Alltech’s founder and president, Dr Pearse Lyons, challenged the symposium audience by urging them to rethink technology and business practices

Can agriculture develop sustainable
environment and feed a growing

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 generation’s responsibility to feed a hungry world. “Necessity is the mother of invention,” 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 competition in the agro-food business.

One of three noted agricultural policy makers to debate feed, food and fuel issues as part of Alltech’s Synposium, Desouzart was joined by Mike Johanns, former secretary of the USDA and David Byrne, former European Union Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection.

When asked about the competing forces on feed and food and the need for sustainability, Desouzart said the answer is easy. If technologies are allowed to be applied to the matters of both fuel and food, then the growing global population can be satisfied and more environmentally friendly practices will rise to the top.