Chipotle Understands Final Products Are Only as Good as Their Raw Materials
May 28, 2015
Chipotle Mexican Grill recently announced that they had completed their transition, with a few qualifiers, to only using non-GMO ingredients in their food products. Interestingly, many of the…
Author: Dave Albin
Why Amino Acid Digestibility Matters
April 16, 2015
Amino acid digestibility has been a popular topic in my past blogs and trade journals as an important measure of protein quality and that higher digestibility is better. However,…
Author: Dave Albin
Producing Animal Proteins in Hot Climates
March 26, 2015
I recently attended a conference in Dubai, and had the pleasure of speaking with people who are working to improve local food and feed production in the region. …
Author: Dave Albin
How Much Oil Are You Really Extracting?
February 19, 2015
I recently conducted some research with high oilseeds at the Insta-Pro International R&D center. This is something I’ve blogged about before – as we are constantly trying to…
Author: Dave Albin
Multiple Ways to Make Fish Feed
January 30, 2015
I recently attended a conference on “Innovations in feeding technologies and commercial fish farming”, which was a part of the 20th MVC: Cereals – Mixed Feed – Veterinary…
Author: Dave Albin
Dietary Energy as Carbs
January 8, 2015
I recently published a blog that examined published data on growth performance of pigs when fed equal amounts dietary energy. I want to go one step further to…
Author: Dave Albin
Don’t Undervalue Oil or Meal
December 11, 2014
Recently, you may have noticed a sharp decline in the price of gasoline. This is certainly good news for anyone who drives, but it has led to speculation…
Author: Dave Albin
Responses to Concerns on Edible Oil Safety
November 26, 2014
I occasionally run across articles questioning the safety of consuming vegetable oils. Authority Nutrition, which is a great website containing informative articles, recently ran one such article. The truth is,…
Author: Dave Albin
How Much Quality Nutrition Are You Paying To Ship?
October 30, 2014
I recently spoke with one of our customers, and the topic of shipping costs came up. He relayed to me some information on this expense, and I was…
Author: Dave Albin
Should You Supply Dietary Energy as Oil or Carbohydrates?
October 16, 2014
The importance of dietary energy in formulating cost-effective, high-performing diets is a topic I have covered in the past. Nutritionists usually have some ingredient options in order to…
Author: Dave Albin
Lessons from Predicting DDGS Quality, Part 2: Prediction Equation
October 2, 2014
In my previous blog, I discussed data from a recent publication on variation in the quality of DDGS (Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles), a by-product of the corn…
Author: Dave Albin
Lessons From Predicting DDGS Quality, Part 1: Raw Observations
September 25, 2014
A recent publication on variation in DDGS quality, containing attempts to predict it with equations, has once again highlighted the inherent problems with using this ingredient to support…
Author: Dave Albin
Larger Equipment is Not Always the Best Choice
August 14, 2014
I recently spent some time on the phone with one of our customers who operates what most would describe as a small production line for shaped, extruded food products. I…
Author: Dave Albin
Corn is Not a Commodity
July 24, 2014
Corn is one of the most important crops in the world. In 2009, more corn (by weight) was grown than any other grain – production around the world…
Author: Dave Albin
GMO Corn for Ethanol: Incoming Raw Materials Plans More Important Than Ever
June 5, 2014
Syngenta has developed a GMO variety of corn called Enogen, which is designed for the ethanol fuel industry. Enogen is genetically-altered to produce its own heat-tolerant enzyme to…
Author: Dave Albin
Extruded Soy Can Be Used in Piglet Diets When PEDv from Blood Products is a Concern
May 13, 2014
Recently, swine producers have been dealing with a devastating outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv). As the name implies, PEDv causes severe diarrhea and vomiting, and mortality…
Author: Dave Albin
ExPress the Genetic Potential of your Animals
April 29, 2014
There is a certain maximum achievable biological response that is specific to each individual living organism. This response is controlled by the genetic composition of the individual, as…
Author: Dave Albin
Antibiotic-Free Chicken Production – the Chick-Fil-A Effect on Broiler Production
April 15, 2014
The fast food chain Chick-Fil-A announced that it would only serve chicken raised without the use of antibiotics within 5 years. Chick-Fil-A is the latest food company to…
Author: Dave Albin