Written by: Paul Davis | October 1, 2024
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of interacting with some of the feed industry’s finest folks at the American Feed Industry Association’s Liquid Feed Symposium (LFS) in Salt Lake City, Utah. Each year, this event is planned, moderated and hosted by AFIA’s Liquid Feed Committee. LFS remains a perennial favorite of mine, as my involvement spans nearly 25 years and is filled with good memories.
The mood at this year’s LFS seemed extraordinarily upbeat, as the crowd was often abuzz about favorable cattle prices, seemingly abundant ingredients, in most cases, and other reasons for optimism. No wonder LFS is the longest running event for the liquid feed industry and has been around for more than 50 years!
This year’s symposium offered a variety of topics and new ways to look at and leverage prior knowledge. As a beef producer myself, I really enjoyed the presentation by Martha Baker, global director of carbon markets at Alltech, Inc., which focused on why we, as producers, should be concerned with methane mitigation. She did this from a retailer’s perspective, highlighting some of the ways retailers may be able to quantify and report progress in reducing their environmental impact. I was pleased to learn that a quantifiable increase in producer profitability is included in the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s pillars for sustainability. No matter how you slice it, a business that isn’t profitable cannot be sustained.
Speaking of sustainability, Commissioner Craig Buttars from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, mentioned the need to sustain food production by keeping an eye on land use, saying that, unfortunately, oftentimes the best and most productive farmland is developed for housing. He even shared some of his observations on travel to Israel focusing on water usage.
On the final morning of LFS, the presentations focused on the future and included an outlook on the ingredient, weather and cattle markets. John Cropley, senior research analyst at ED&F Man Liquid Products LLC, and Nathan Kurfman, senior commodity buyer at Alltech, Inc., teamed up on the ingredient outlook talk. Both presenters mentioned excellent projected crop yields and some global events and changes that may lead to favorable buying conditions for ingredients intended for livestock feed. Of course, weather events like hurricanes can hamper harvest, production and transportation, and Cropley gave an example of the impending storms on the Gulf coast. He seemed to think that perhaps the refined sugar production might be negatively impacted but molasses production might even be increased due to the disruption or potential damaged cane crop.
Speaking of weather, Matt Makens, meteorologist and atmospheric scientist at Makens Weather LLC, shared his thoughts on upcoming temperature and precipitation patterns with an interesting twist. In addition to his predictions, Makens gave the audience a look behind the proverbial curtain and showed what data and modeling goes into predicting weather events and patterns.
Randy Blach, chief executive officer of CattleFax, rounded out the show as our last presenter and shared reasons for enthusiasm in the cattle markets. He highlighted strong demand, small cow herds and slow expansion as drivers for a strong cattle market and in the near future.
As always, LFS 2024 wasn’t limited to presentations, predictions and data. We were privileged to break from the scientific program and honor some very deserving folks.
The Institute for Feed Education and Research (IFEEDER) led off the awards segment by recognizing top donors to the Kenny Berg Liquid Feed Research and Education Fund. This group included Westway Feed Products, AniPro/Xtraformance Nutrition and QLF Quality Liquid Feeds for giving at the President’s Club level. Before lunch on Patriot Day, Leanna Nail, retiree from the AFIA and long-time staff liaison to the AFIA Liquid Feed Committee, was honored as the 2024 inductee into AFIA’s Liquid Feed Hall of Fame. Nail was unable to attend in person but sent her gratitude for being selected and looks forward to attending LFS next year.
Attendees also networked and reminisced at LFS’s famed ice cream social and two receptions, which featured opportunities for ‘critical liquid supplementation.’ Liquid feed industry folks have been generous with their encouragement, support and finances over the years and 2024 was no different. The mood was upbeat and positive at this year’s live auction, where attendees raised $22,000 for the Kenny Berg Liquid Feed Research and Education Fund.
From science and sustainability to networking and fundraising, LFS 2024 was a resounding success and was enjoyable from start to finish. I hope you will consider joining us next year in Fort Worth, Texas, Sept. 9-11 for LFS 2025.
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