Grain and Feed Association of Illinois
  • Member Directory
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Safe Grain Handling Operations 2 Day Course
    • Golf For Scholarship
    • Grain Grading
  • GFAI Membership
    • Join GFAI
    • Get Involved
    • Committees & IAG's
    • GFAI Resources
    • Member Login
    • Store
  • GFAI Energy Consortium
  • Safety & Environmental
    • Safety Resources
  • Students
    • Scholarship and Career Information
    • Scholarship Blogs
  • About Us
    • Officers & Staff
    • Contact

The "Elevation" of Education
Stories from GFAI's Industry Immersion Interns


Miriam Hoffman, SIU & National FFA Officer

4/19/2021

 
​Post #2: Collaboration between animal health and feed industries
    One of my favorite aspects of serving as a National FFA Officer this year is the time my teammates and I get to spend in meetings with agriculture industry leaders, most often as part of our virtual corporate sponsor visits. These visits give me a chance to take knowledge I've gained about the industry, whether through personal experience on my family's farm, my FFA Supervised Agricultural Experience where I raised and sold purebred dairy cattle, or college experiences such as the GFAI Industry Immersion Tour, and understand how it applies in the broader context of the industry and the influential players in it.
      One such visit, with leadership from Merck Animal Health, was heavily focused on systems thinking and how different sectors of the agriculture industry interact with one another. Some of Merck Animal Health's recent acquisitions--from customizable animal monitoring technology to environmental impact measurement tools--are indicative of the increasing collaboration and interconnectedness of the animal agriculture industry. One of the members of their leadership team shared how the animal health industry is no longer just focused on treatment, but also on the holistic process of raising and caring for animals. This idea manifests itself in areas like feed additives, but also points to stronger future ties between the feed industry itself and animal health companies like Merck.
      These shifts in mindset from influential agricultural players appear to be coming along parallel to shifts in consumer preferences, where buyers are increasingly interested in the environmental and social impacts of their food production processes. For animal health companies like Merck, it's an opportunity to collaborate with companies farther upstream, like those that process animal feed, to develop stronger lines of communication and ultimately provide more transparency and traceability in the supply chain. For many consumers, it's not enough to know where the animal product itself came from, but they also want to know what that animal's diet was, too. This is apparent with value-added products such as grass-fed beef, or vegetarian-fed chicken; it seems likely that forward-thinking feed companies will have an opportunity to reap more benefits while providing value that consumers desire in even more areas. One example is to identity preserve feed ingredients that came from farms with a focus on soil health, carbon sequestration, or biodiversity. Another is to utilize cover crops or more specialty grains that provide ancillary benefits to ecosystem service markets.
   Successful innovation requires meaningful relationships and strong networks; this is exactly what groups like GFAI provide for their members, as do organizations like the FFA. As an FFA member and a beneficiary of GFAI's student programs, I'm excited to stay connected and watch as the industry continues to progress, through increased collaboration between feed and animal health companies and beyond.


Comments are closed.

    Grain & Feed

    Association of Illinois

    ​3521 Hollis Dr
    Springfield, IL 62711

    [email protected] 
    ​ 217-787-2417

    Archives

    January 2025
    December 2024
    June 2024
    April 2024
    January 2024
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Grain and Feed Association of Illinois.  All Rights Reserved.
3521 Hollis Drive  |  Springfield, IL  62711
Phone: (217) 787-2417 | [email protected] | sitemap
  • Member Directory
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Safe Grain Handling Operations 2 Day Course
    • Golf For Scholarship
    • Grain Grading
  • GFAI Membership
    • Join GFAI
    • Get Involved
    • Committees & IAG's
    • GFAI Resources
    • Member Login
    • Store
  • GFAI Energy Consortium
  • Safety & Environmental
    • Safety Resources
  • Students
    • Scholarship and Career Information
    • Scholarship Blogs
  • About Us
    • Officers & Staff
    • Contact