In an exclusive interview with FeedNavigator, Steve Bourne, vice president of Alltech, said the appeal of a company like E-CO2 for Alltech is “not, necessarily, for what it is but what it can lead to.”
He said the acquisition will give the global nutrition supplier more ‘direct contact’ with farmers, a factor that plays into Alltech’s strategy of strengthening its support of agriculture at “the local level” while also generating new learnings that will inform its nutritional product development.
“The move will allow us to develop closer working relationships with on-farm nutritionists and vets to learn more about their operations, and determine how tailored nutrition and management practices can reduce a farm’s environmental footprint while also increasing its profitability.
The phrase we will be pushing home to livestock producers is if you can measure it you can manage it,” said Bourne.
Carbon Trust approval
The majority of E-CO2’s software is endorsed by The Carbon Trust, a quality validation that is not standard throughout that industry, he said.
The UK firm, which will remain as a separate legal entity under the Alltech brand, works with small family farms, integrated livestock operations and commercial feed mills, as well as large retailers, food service groups and processors such as ASDA, McDonalds, Arla, Jersey Dairies, Belton Cheese and First Milk.
“It is a family run business, in good health and one that has the capacity to grow rapidly,” said Bourne.
E-CO2 takes the on farm data, processes it and interprets it for the farmer off site to indicate where there is a lack of efficiency and then feeds back information on how production can be enhanced. “You don’t leave the farmer with a bigger headache than before the assessment. It is critical to outline how inefficiencies can be tackled,” added the Alltech VP.
The global nutrition firm has already carried out several projects with E-CO2.
“We have been working with it for nearly two years now, and the collaboration has already realized positive results for the European dairy and beef sectors,” said Bourne.
Dairy study
They initiated a study utilizing E-CO2 environmental tools that involved 58 European dairy units. It was kick-started in April 2013 and ran until June 2014.
“We were able to improve many aspects of production sustainably such as milk yield and quality. The various herd efficiency improvements suggested by the partners delivered an extra €238 per cow per year, yet there was a significant drop in the level of CO2 emitted.
The initiative flagged up how issues like lameness in cattle will reduce productivity and thus increase the enterprise’s carbon footprint,” said Bourne.
All markets where Alltech has a presence will benefit from E-CO2’s analysis programs, he said.
“We plan to carry out similar on-farm studies in the US, Australia and China,” said Bourne.