The global food supply is as intertwined and integrated as it’s ever been. What happens on a feedlot in Nebraska can certainly impact a consumer in North Dakota, the same way that a broiler chicken’s diet can be the make-or-break difference to a shopper using a QR code to learn more about a particular product at the point of sale.
It is my pleasure to introduce the American Feed Industry Association's inaugural, "Our Industry, Our Promise" report, which provides an overview of the challenges the U.S. animal food industry is currently facing and the ways the association is delivering on its policy priorities on behalf of its 650+ members.
Last week, I had the honor of presenting PerforMix Nutrition Systems’ Rupert, Idaho, feed manufacturing facility with the American Feed Industry Association’s 2021 Liquid Feed Facility of the Year (FFY) award. In coordination with Feedstuffs’ Sarah Muirhead, we presented the award to the facility’s plant manager, Ty Cahoon, before industry colleagues at the AFIA Liquid Feed Symposium.
If Dr. Cassie Jones’ presentation on African swine fever (ASF) at last week’s Purchasing and Ingredient Suppliers Conference didn’t scare you, then I really don’t know what will! Jones, the undergraduate research coordinator in Kansas State University’s Department of Animal Sciences and Industry, gave a chilling update on the status of the virus that has ravaged parts of the Eastern Hemisphere over the past three years.
The American Feed Industry Association’s Safe Feed/Safe Food (SF/SF) program began in 2004 with Food Sector Category 36 (FSC36), a voluntary, independently certified program designed for the total feed industry. Our SF/SF certification program maintains comprehensive standards of excellence that go beyond existing regulations to maximize feed and food safety. Excelling at every aspect of feed production remains "Our Responsibility, Our Promise" to regulators, customers and American consumers.
After a bit of a setback with COVID-19, Leah Wilkinson and I are back (virtually) to participating in the Codex Committee on Veterinary Drugs in Food (CCRVDF) meetings. Recently, we zeroed in on agenda item 3.2, an update from the Food and Agriculture Organization on “carry-over in feed and transfer from feed to food of unavoidable and unintended residues of approved veterinary drugs.” Leah participated as the feed industry representative for the International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF) and I participated as the feed industry representative on the U.S. delegation.
The American Feed Industry Association wants to recognize the businesses that go above and beyond to make sure they are producing the best quality feed, while also maintaining the best operations. In conjunction with Feedstuffs, the AFIA has been running the Feed Facility of the Year program for many years to recognize excellence in manufacturing in the industry and help plant managers improve their operations.
Being somewhat of a data and details geek, one of the more enjoyable parts of my responsibilities at the American Feed Industry Association is monitoring and evaluating Food Safety Modernization Act inspections in the animal food industry. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to periodically meet with the Food and Drug Administration staff to discuss the agency’s inspections goals and objectives.
Following the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, there was a great excitement in some sectors on the removal of hemp as a schedule I controlled substance and its move to being listed as an agricultural commodity, making it legal for farmers to grow the crop for industrial uses in states that permit it. Almost immediately, state legislatures passed bills recognizing hemp as an animal food ingredient. There was only one problem with all this activity: while it might have been legal to grow hemp, it certainly is not legal to feed it to livestock or pets. However, steps are now in motion to change that.
I was three weeks into my new job with the American Feed Industry Association when then-President Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act into law and the learning curve began. I was working for Richard Sellers, who wisely offered the advice that there is no better way to learn an industry than to go through a massive overhaul of its regulations! Many reams of paper, hundreds of hours of conference calls, countless pounds of chocolate consumed, and now, the law has been implemented via the regulations and the industry has excelled in its compliance.