The Global Miller: July 2020

July 30, 2020

Novus International files methionine antidumping petitions with US Government

On the 29th July, Novus International, Inc. filed antidumping petitions with the US Department of Commerce and International Trade Commission. The petitions ask the agencies to investigate imports of methionine from Spain, France and Japan consistent with the World Trade Organisation Antidumping Agreement.

Imports of methionine from the three countries are priced substantially lower than domestic producers' shipments. Illegal dumping of methionine in the United States at an artificially low price can hurt the US agriculture industry.

Image credit: Mike Mozart on Flickr
(CC BY 2.0)

'We believe fair and competitive business practices are integral to the health of our industry and are necessary to protect our customers and consumers everywhere,' said Dan Meagher, president and CEO, Novus International, Inc. 'Today we took steps to ensure those fair practices.'

The volume of methionine imports into the United States from the three countries (Spain, France and Japan) increased by more than 200 percent from 2017 to 2019, and another 29 percent between the first quarter of 2019 and first quarter of 2020.

Access to domestically-produced methionine is critical for US animal protein producers. Illegal dumping can result in the reduction or elimination of domestic production. The animal protein industry benefits from having domestic and foreign supply options available.

'The coronavirus pandemic has reminded us of the vulnerability of global supply chains and the impact on highly integrated industries, such as agriculture and food production, when disruptions occur,' said Mr Meagher. 'We are simply asking the US government to ensure Spain, France and Japan are abiding by international trade laws.'

The government investigation will determine whether illegal dumping of imported methionine has occurred. The investigation is expected to take approximately 13 months. If the government determines importers did illegally dump foreign products, those importers may have to pay a duty on imports, which would be collected by the government as a tax.

The International Trade Commission is expected to make its preliminary determination by September 14th, 2020. The US Department of Commerce is expected to make its preliminary determinations and impose any remedial duties by January 5th, 2021. These timelines may adjust depending on the course of the investigations.

Visit the Novus International website, HERE.

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.

For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com

Disruptive technology enters the grain drying market

by Vaughn Entwistle, Managing Editor, Milling and Grain

Disruptive technology is an innovation that significantly alters the way that consumers, industries, or businesses operate. But the market being what it is, not all disruptive technology is successful.

Sometimes this is because existing producers are well-established and familiar to risk-averse customers. Sometimes the technology looks impressive, but still fails to catch on. And sometimes the innovators are a little too far ahead of their time.

Traditional gas grain dryers
Most grain dryers currently on the market use gas (typically NG or often bottled LPG gas). Manufacturers of gas driers compete with one another by offering grain dryers that are energy efficient, have a high throughput and do not burn or damage the grain. But now there is a new technology available that just might be a game-changer.

Introducing ‘radio frequency drying’
DRYMAX is a US company based in Minnesota. What sets it apart from other drier companies is its innovative new technology for drying grains. DRYMAX describes its unique ‘forcefield’ technology as radio frequency’ drying. At first that may sound like a giant microwave oven—the same technology used to pop popcorn, but it’s not. I interviewed company founder Kevin Eichhorn to find out more about ‘forcefield’ technology, how it works, and what are its potential advantages.

Read more HERE.

Selis company profile

Since 1964 Selis has continued its activity in the grain processing field. The company develops technology and is the second biggest company of the sector globally.

It is one of the most dynamic and innovative companies in the industry that manufactures machines and equipment for the flour and semolina production, and undertakes turnkey plant projects in every capacity as well as modernising existing plants.

Beside manufacturing state-of-the-art machinery and equipment for flour and semolina plants, Selis strengthens its position more and more by supplying its business partners custom made solutions whilst providing excellent after-sale services.

High quality equipment is manufactured under the assurance of a quality system, experienced technical and management staff equipped technology CNC machines carefully oversee the process.

Thanks to their careful quality control insight, Selis offers high quality equipment to its customers.

“In the milling industry, from a single machine to turn-key complete plants, we have always done our best in order to keep efficiency and customer satisfaction up by using high quality equipment and manpower in our service.”

Selis is known as a reliable partner in the sector with after sales service that reaches every corner of the globe as well as continuous manufacturing quality.

For more information visit the Selis website, HERE.

AFIA accepting nominations for Friend of Pet Food Award

The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) is now accepting nominations for its annual Friend of Pet Food Award. The award, which debuted last year, will be presented at AFIA's 2021 Pet Food Conference, happening in conjunction with the International Production & Processing Expo on January 26th, 2021.

The 2020 Friend of Pet Food Award winners:
Gail Kuhlman, Ph.D., of Mars Petcare
and Kate Shoveller, Ph.D., of the University of Guelph
Image credit: AFIA

'There are many professionals working in the pet food industry who are deserving of recognition for their research and innovative ideas that are improving the nutrition for our nation's pets,' said Louise Calderwood, AFIA's director of regulatory affairs. 'AFIA's Pet Food Committee looks forward to once again selecting outstanding candidates that have represented and contributed to this growing industry.'

The AFIA Friend of Pet Food Award recognises individuals who have made significant contributions to support the growth of the pet food industry. A nominee typically is currently employed and active in the pet food industry or an associated area, such as new product development, transportation, regulatory, academia, media or promotion.

The AFIA will be accepting nominations until Friday, September 18th, 2020.

For more information on how to nominate someone visit the Pet Food Conference website, HERE.

Online Milling School to re-broadcast its 3rd session for the Americas

The Online Milling School (OMS) will re-broadcast its weekly session at 14:00 USA Central time (GMT-5) every Friday in order to reach the Americas. OMS is a joint initiative between Milling and Grain magazine and Progressus Agrischools Asia.

Session 3 is focused on batching operations. Attendees can expect to receive insight into the importance of the correct set up, running and maintenance of hammer mills to achieve the required particle size for both pre and post grinding systems. The different methods of grinding and their relative merits are also discussed.

Those that attend all 12 classes will receive a certificate of completion to recognise their efforts. If you miss a session it is not an issue, you can simply attend sessions during the next cycle of the education series to make up your 12, enabling you to receive your certificate. Registration is available on the OMS website for $30 USD per session, or register for the entire course.

For more information and to register, visit the OMS website, HERE.

July 29, 2020

Major maize mapping and sustainable water use project in Afghanistan underway

Surrey-based Alcis, a leading Geographic Information Services company, has signed up to the national SPRINT business support programme for a maize mapping and sustainable water use project in Afghanistan. SPRINT will provide Alcis with access to geospatial data processing expertise from the University of Surrey, enabling the analysis of satellite images that will improve the understanding of agricultural cycles and practices in rural Afghanistan.

The SPRINT project will develop a method for mapping maize crops in Afghanistan in past crop cycles, without the need for ground truth data, using ESA's Sentinel 1 and 2 imagery, and knowledge of the nature of maize growth and climate variables. The project will also develop a new spatial product, derived from globally available Earth Observation data, that will inform on the climate change impacts on water resources in Afghanistan, the water consumed by changing agricultural practices and the sustainability of this consumption in the context of climate change.

Image credit: SPRINT

Using remotely sensed satellite data, the project will develop signatures for the maize crop based on its phenology and the local meteorological measurements. These signatures will be used to identify this crop at scale across the north of Afghanistan. Following successful trials, the project will then seek to develop this data across the entire country.

The project will be funded by a grant from the £4.8 million SPRINT (SPace Research and Innovation Network for Technology) programme that provides unprecedented access to university space expertise and facilities. SPRINT helps businesses through the commercial exploitation of space data and technologies.

Tim Buckley, Chief Operating Officer at Alcis said, 'Alcis' clients work in fragile, conflict-affected areas, including rural Afghanistan, where getting good quality data is a major challenge. Our driving force is using cutting-edge technology for community-based applications to change people's lives for the better. Longer-term, we're expanding our offerings with other crops in other countries, increasing our footprint geographically, and we believe that this SPRINT project will be a springboard into new markets for us. The University of Surrey has such a strong reputation for space research, with a rigorous approach to data analysis and a willingness to experiment. The knowledge, information and theory that is the bedrock of academia can be of vital use in real-world applications, particularly in the space sector. Our relationship with Surrey will enable us to accelerate and develop our processes to make them even more efficient.'

Belen Marti-Cardona, Associate Professor in Earth Observation and Hydrology at the University of Surrey added, 'We have consolidated experience of projects exploring the sustainability of water resources in the context of climate change and expanding farmlands in developing countries. While the Afghan environment poses some new challenges, we share in Alcis' excitement and their vision to tackle them through data analysis.

'We bring expertise in the synergistic combination of different Earth observation data types and crop phenology to create new information on food production and water resources use. Our big data processing capabilities allow for the regional upscaling of our analysis. Alcis knows how to use this information to inform decision making and have a real-world impact.'

Visit the SPRINT website, HERE.

Visit the Alcis website, HERE.

Smart, integrated hub ports need high efficiency unloading equipment

by Bruks Siwertell, Sweden

Tomorrow’s import terminals will have higher degrees of integration and digital technology, enabling dynamic speed adjustment for the just-in-time arrivals of ships through to a host of automated systems; a critical part will be highly efficient unloading systems to match, explains Bruks Siwertell President, Per Karlsson.

Dramatic increases in populations, often with a tendency to cluster around ports, will drive change across the globe. Not only will we see higher levels of integration and the use of digitalisation and automated systems within the port environment, but also, we are likely to see a shift in the use of technology. We will not be able to meet demand without change.

Tomorrow’s ports will look different. Some historic but wasteful practices will have had their day, stepping aside to make way for better ones. Ports will employ smarter systems that deliver accurate real-time data enabling ships to dynamically adjust their speed, potentially slow-steaming, so they no longer burn more fuel only to wait at anchor for a spot on the jetty.

With these smart systems, terminals will also be able to facilitate the full integration of intermodal services that connect to the port, for example, truck and rail wagons ready to meet a vessel being unloaded. In fact, we are already seeing a clear market trend for new cement, fertiliser and grain projects looking to build up capacity on the jetty, and within the terminal.

This maximises the speed at which material can be discharged from a vessel and then transferred to an onward receiving system, minimising the time any dry bulk material spends in storage. Not only is this efficient, but the faster the terminal moves material on from storage, or bypasses it altogether, the quicker its financial turn-over.

Read more HERE.

Biorigin restructures its feed business sector

Biorigin's feed business sector has recently been restructured. Alessandro Lima, working in the company since 2019, is now the Biorigin´s Global Feed Business Manager.

Mr Lima, DVM and specialised in marketing, has more than 20 years of experience in renowned multinational animal health companies, where he worked in marketing, product and sales management.

Claudia Mônaco has recently joined the sales team as Sales Manager for Brazil. Mônaco, also DVM and specialised in marketing, worked for more than 15 years in multinational companies of different industries.

Thaila Putarov has become part of Biorigin's renowned technical sales team as Global Technical Manager for Pets. Putarov is an animal scientist, and has M.Sc and a Ph.D. degrees in Pet Nutrition by UNESP, Botucatu, Brazil. During the last few years, Ms Putarov was the head of the Pet Nutrition Research Lab at FCAV-UNESP, working with product development, and evaluation of feedstuffs and feed processing methods.

(Left to right) Alessandro Lima, Claudia Raposo Monaco, Thaila Putarov
Image credit: Biorigin

Biorigin's strategy is to add value to its customers' products by supplying quality animal nutrition products to enhance animal productivity, health, and welfare.

'We have bold growth goals. Restructuring the team will bring the experience required by our company to explore new opportunities that will add to our customer-focused strategy, in which engagement and personalised technical sales differentiates us from the competitors,' commented Mário Steinmetz, Biorigin's commercial director, on the new hires and restructuring.

Vanderlei de Abreu, Biorigin's R&D Center Manager, explained, 'at Biorigin, R&D is considered a strategic pillar to leverage new businesses.' Consistent with the new strategy for the animal nutrition sector, R&D proposed a novel way of working and also the consolidation of a more dedicated and specialised scientific-technical structure in the Feed sector. 'Counting with exceptionally qualified professionals is part of the company's business strategy,' adds Mr Abreu.

This required new professionals to be hired by R&D, which now counts with a powerful team. Fernanda Darpassolo de Souza, biologist, M.Sc. in Food Science and specialised in project management, has worked as a researcher in Biorigin since 2015, and she is responsible for monitoring our portfolio and managing new feed projects. Anderson Dias Santos, animal scientist, and Ph.D. in Animal Nutrition and Production, joined the R&D team by the end of 2019 as a researcher, and he is responsible for experimental protocols, product analysis, and patents.

At that time, Robson Barducci was hired as an R&D Expert. Barducci is graduated in Animal Science and a Ph.D. in Grazing Livestock, and is specialised in project, business, and agribusiness management. In the R&D sector, he is responsible for innovation, development, technical sales support, promoting the Feed business.

(Left to right) Fernanda Darpassolo, Anderson Dias Santos, and Robson Barducci
Image credit: Biorigin

Mr Abreu explained that 'the new R&D Feed team is focused on producing research and science associated with the development of products and solutions for the animal nutrition market.

Our focus is the constant search for innovative solutions that will allow a greater diversity of our portfolio, aiming at differentiating Biorigin in the market and creating value for our customers. The new professionals can count with our full support in their new positions.'

For further information on Biorigin and its products, visit the website, HERE.

TSC Silos company profile

As a specialist in the building of square silos TSC Silos supplies an end product that meets the highest quality requirements and is used in a variety of industries.

According to TSC Silos, “We use our focus and expertise to design suitable rectangular silo installations of which we are proud. That is all we do: we design, calculate and build silos; day in day out, year in year out. For your benefit.”

The rectangular silo concept is characterised by an optimum storage capacity and flexible layout options. A clever design produces the best possible product discharge with maximum storage capacity.

With a TSC silo you are also investing in a safe, hygienic working environment.

The organisation is 100 percent focused on this silo concept, from sale and design to production and installation.

They are able to handle projects from A to Z: from the steel support structure to the insulating cladding and from functional design up to and including fitting.

At TSC safety is a given. Their well-trained engineers carry out sound calculations for your silo. TSC designs, calculates and manufactures all the silos in accordance with the latest standards (EN 1991, EN 1993 and EN 1090).

TSC Silos are familiar with ATEX, earthquake coefficients, snow loads and the effects of wind. Everything is worked out using advanced computer software down to the smallest detail.

If you so desire, you can have the calculations checked by independent parties; that’s not a problem.

Their experienced installation teams have all the necessary training and are at home on construction sites.

Visit the TSC Silos website, HERE.

Sign up now for the fourth Online Milling School session

The Online Milling School (OMS) is a 12 class educational online webinar series, the first class which successfully debuted three weeks ago saw over 350 millers sign up. OMS is a joint initiative between Milling and Grain magazine and Progressus Agrischools Asia.

Those that attend all 12 classes will receive a certificate of completion to recognise their efforts. If you missed the first session its not an issue, you can simply attend the first session of the next cycle, enabling you to receive your certificate. Session three took place July 29th and was also a great success.

On August 5th, at 2PM Bangkok time (ICT, UTC +7), session 4 will take place, focussing Steam and Conditioning. Attendees can expect a study into steam production, steam quality and steam transportation systems and how these impact conditioning, gelatinisation and pelleting. The steam session will demonstrate how critical it is to present steam at the conditioner in the most optimal way for achieving the correct physical and bacteriological standards.

For more information and to register, visit the OMS website, HERE.

Yeast selection and improvement for the benefit of all

Recent advances in DNA sequencing techniques now make it possible to have access to the entire genomes of yeasts in just a few days, and with the help of bioinformatics, to decipher their genetic heritage and reveal their singularity. Renaud Toussaint, manager of the Lesaffre microbiology section within the Research & Development department, shares the scientific evolutions that have enabled us to improve the performance of yeasts.

'The domestication of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast is the result of a long evolution that takes us back to the origin of plant evolution, more than 10,000 years ago,' explains Renaud Toussaint. 'With the development of agriculture, humans became more sedentary, developing fermentation techniques to transform grains into bread and also into fermented drinks. Slowly, and in an empirical way, they succeeded in improving the use of these microorganisms.' The active selection of interesting new strains remained, for a long time, empirical and based on observation.

Image credit: Helen Carmody on Flickr

Progressively, the intuitive approach made way for a scientific approach to enable the isolation of increasingly efficient strains. During the first part of the 20th century, the discovery of the laws of heredity and of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, as a medium for this heredity, enabled the development of a new science, genetics. 'In 1996, Saccharomyces cerevisiae became the first eukaryotic organism to have its genome sequenced,' recalls Didier Colavizza, Doctor es sciences and head of Biotech Centre in the Lesaffre R&D department. At the time, 20 laboratories and 150 researchers had joined forces for 10 years to achieve this advance. Lesaffre invested heavily in this by co-participating the Yeast Industrial Platform. The genome of a yeast extends across 12 to more than 50 million base pairs. 'Enormous calculating power was required to assemble all the data produced by the sequencing, to annotate the genomes, and to compare them to each other,' stresses Dr Colavizza. 'Today, with the evolution of techniques, we sequence yeast genomes in our R&D centre in less than one week and for less than 75 euros.'

Thus, all industrial strains used at Lesaffre have been sequenced. However, in nature, 'a very small number of microorganism species have been identified,' reveals Dr Toussaint. At Lesaffre, the strain library contains a collection of 12,250 microorganisms (yeasts, bacteria, and filamentous fungi) which is continually being enriched. While 90 percent of this yeast collection features yeasts of biotechnological interest close to Saccharomyces cerevisiae, their microbiology team is now keen to explore other ecosystems to expand and diversify this collection. 'Selecting unconventional yeasts constitutes an important part of our work,' stated Dr Toussaint. 'These are the yeasts present in the environment, the potential of which remains very poorly realised, and which remain a source of biodiversity and new functionality.' Using genetic techniques, these strains can in fact transmit specific supplementary characteristics to our industrial yeasts and thus generate future products.

From classic genetic techniques to genetic engineering
In bread-making, classic genetic techniques enable the selection of yeasts giving new aromas or enhanced efficiency. 'The main techniques used is based on the natural ability of the yeasts to be cross-bred. This technique, also called hybridisation, consists of creating offspring from two individuals with complementary characteristics, in order to obtain yeasts that combine these two characteristics. The exposure of yeasts to mutagenic agents (such as ultra-violet rays) generates randomised mutations in the genome. Mutated strains are then selected according to the characteristic that we wish to prioritise,' outlines the microbiology R&D manager. Another technique uses the yeast's ability to accumulate mutations and select yeasts with improved properties.

Genetic strategies have evolved at the same pace as the evolution of understanding our strains' genomes and have thus enabled new approaches similar to quantitative genetics. 'The principles of these improvement techniques remain the same, but these techniques are now used on a much larger scale,' describes Dr Toussaint. 'Previously conducted from a few hundred of strains, the selection programs are now carried out on several tens or hundreds of thousands of strains. The use of robotics screening platforms make it possible to rapidly isolate the best individuals from a large starting population and thus constantly feed their flow of new and interesting candidates that will make the products of tomorrow.' These high-speed screening programs, for which read very high-speed, would not be possible without the support of new key skills, such as biostatistics or bioinformatics.

Nonetheless, all these 'classic' genetic techniques present limitations. The mutations are random, do not always involve the desired characteristics and are sometimes tricky to reproduce. The polygenic character of technological characteristics makes it difficult to improve industrial yeasts.

To remedy this, genetic engineering offers several advantages. 'It makes it possible to closely modify the DNA structure, to overexpress certain genes or to replace them with other genes, with new functions or that are drawn from other species.' Gene transfer techniques make it possible to intervene in a precise way on certain sequences of the genome. It therefore becomes possible to focus solely on certain improvement criteria, such as the increase in fermenting power, increased yield, the production of aromas or the resistance to inhibitors.

In Lessafre's Leaf business unit, which specialises in the biofuel sector, the introduction of eight genetic modifications, some of which are derived from species other than yeast, has enabled the latter to produce ethanol from plant biomass waste. 'Ordinarily, yeasts are not able to hydrolyse plant materials such as xylose, a sugar that contains five carbon atoms,' describes Dr Toussaint. 'With these genetic modifications, the yeasts become capable of producing enzymes hyrolysing C5 sugars.'

Towards synthetic biology
However, sometimes these molecular genetic techniques require the insertion of selection markers, often genes resistant to antibiotics. The risk is that these pass to other organisms and spread into the environment.

In addition, more precise molecular techniques have been developed. This is the case with genome editing techniques such as Crispr-Cas9. 'By managing the Cas9 protein, it is possible to induce a double-strand break in yeast's genome DNA, at very precise points, to introduce genes favouring the production and yield of amino acids or specific proteins.' With this level of precision, it is possible to create new microorganisms producing metabolites such as S-adenosylmethionine or glutathione; new yeasts that can be used as probiotics for human, animal and plant health.

Better still, synthetic biology now offers the possibility of building genomes using computer-aided DNA synthesis techniques. This will soon mean it is possible to make genetic engineering simpler, faster and less costly thanks to the use of engineering principles such as standardisation, automatisation and bioinformatics. 'This was the stuff of science fiction 30 years ago,' notes Dr Colavizza, 'However, in 2010 the first bacteria genome was recreated in an entirely synthetic manner by the Craig Venter team in the United States. And, in 2014, the same was achieved with the chromosome 3 in S. cerevisiae yeast.'

Moreover, a global project called 'Yeast 2.0' is ongoing. Its aim is to reconstitute the complete genome of the S. cerevisiae yeast. 'By synthesizing in this way the genome of this yeast, it will now be possible to model it so that it produces aromas, enzymes or new antibiotics, according to the needs of populations,' explains Dr Colavizza. 'Such synthetic organisms could also be used as models for human diseases in order to identify therapeutic targets for new treatments.' In summary, concludes Renaud Toussaint, 'Synthetic biology is part of the continued development of genetic engineering and is the start of a new era at Lesaffre, with new opportunities for all our activity sectors.'

For more information visit the Lesaffre website, HERE.

July 28, 2020

New ship unloaders to expand Singapore’s environment-friendly cement handling

Bruks Siwertell has secured a new order that will see the company deliver three new Siwertell ship unloaders to Jurong Port in Singapore. The trio will join existing Siwertell technology, delivered in the late 1990s, and together they will ensure the environment-friendly handling of Singapore's cement imports.

'This is a further, very positive endorsement of our Siwertell ship unloading technology, ' says Ola Jeppsson, Bruks Siwertell Sales Manager, APAC. 'The new units, like all Siwertell unloaders are totally enclosed, and will secure the continuation of extremely efficient, high-capacity cement handling for the port, without dust emissions or spillage, so no cement is wasted and the environment is protected.'

Image credit: Bruks Siwertell

Singapore upholds strict environmental standards in cement handling and Jurong Port works closely with its local government authorities on establishing requirements and measures to minimise fugitive dust from such industrial operations, and maintaining operational safety standards.

As the world's largest common user cement terminal for over twenty years, Jurong Port's Cement Terminal started off with three high-capacity Siwertell ship unloaders that collectively met the cement handling needs of multiple smaller import terminals.

'With the evolution of technology and equipment, Jurong Port is delighted to work with Siwertell to take our terminal's capabilities and standards further in our vision of becoming a Next Generation Multipurpose Port,' said Tan Wee Meng, Chief Technical Officer, Jurong Port.

'It is now time to retire two of those hard-working unloaders,' continued Mr Jeppsson. 'They have served the terminal well for over two decades, and their proven performance was a deciding factor in the port once again opting for Siwertell technology. The new units will continue their legacy of impressive through-ship efficiencies and will work alongside one of the older units, which will remain in service. Together they will handle Singapore's cement import volumes.'

Like their predecessors, the three new ST 490-M screw-type rail-travelling unloaders will each discharge cement, fly ash and cement slag from vessels up to 50,000 dwt at a continuous rated capacity of 800t/h.

Two of the new unloaders are scheduled for delivery in May 2022 and the third by the end of 2022. All will be fully assembled prior to delivery and transported by heavy-lift ship. Final commissioning and performance tests will be carried out in Jurong Port.

Besides Jurong Port, there are two rail-mounted ST 640-M Siwertell unloaders, in operation at Jurong Island, which handle coal and biomass for TP Utilities' Tembusu Multi-Utilities Complex (TMUC) power-generation facility.

Visit the Bruks Siwertell website, HERE.

Jim Raben elected Chairman of US Grains Council

The delegates of the US Grains Council (USGC) elected Jim Raben, a farmer from Illinois representing the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, as chairman of its Board of Directors at its 60th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting, held virtually on Tuesday.

'It's always been my way to cultivate relationships because together we are stronger, our collective voices are heard more loudly, and we can work together to achieve our common goals,' Mr Raben said in his incoming remarks. 'The Council works around the clock and around the globe to find and expand new pockets of demand for the products we offer. That's why I've chosen for my theme Building Relationships, Building Trade.'

Jim Raben, USGC Chairman
Image credit: USGC

Mr Raben has been working on his family farm since 1973, more recently with help from his two sons. He spent nine years on the Illinois Corn Marketing Board before joining the Council's board in 2015 as an at-large member. Mr Raben has also previously served as the Board liaison for various USGC Advisory Teams (A-Teams).

The delegates elected as secretary-treasurer Joshua Miller of the Indiana Corn Marketing Council. Additionally, Don Duval, Illinois Corn Marketing Board; Duane Aistrope, Iowa Corn Promotion Board; and Verity Ulibarri, United Sorghum Checkoff Program, were elected as at-large directors.

The full USGC Board of Directors is now as follows:
- Jim Raben, Illinois Corn Marketing Board – Chairman
- Chad Willis, Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council - Vice Chairman
- Joshua Miller, Indiana Corn Marketing Council - Secretary/Treasurer
- Duane Aistrope, Iowa Corn Promotion Board - At-Large Director
- Brent Boydston, Bayer Crop Science - At-Large Director
- Don Duvall, Illinois Corn Marketing Board - At-Large Director
- Greg Hibner, J.D. Heiskell Hawkeye Gold - Agribusiness Sector Director
- Wayne Humphreys, Iowa Corn Promotion Board - Corn Sector Director
- Jim Massey, United Sorghum Checkoff Program - Sorghum Sector Director
- Tadd Nicholson, Ohio Corn Marketing Program, State Checkoff Sector Director
- Rick Schwarck, Absolute Energy - Agribusiness-Ethanol and Co-Products Sector Director
- Mark Seastrand, North Dakota Barley Council - Barley Sector Director
- Verity Ulibarri, United Sorghum Checkoff Program - At-Large Director
- Ryan LeGrand, US Grains Council - President and CEO

Outgoing Chairman Armstrong said in remarks to the delegates that the Council is fortunate to have many qualified individuals passionate about the agricultural industry in leadership positions at the Council.

'Our new chairman, the Board of Directors and the Board of Delegates provide excellent insight into the challenges and opportunities in the international trade arena,' Armstrong said.

The Council's meeting continues Wednesday with Advisory Team meetings in the morning and a closing general session in the afternoon, featuring presentations by US-China Business Council President Ambassador Craig Allen and former Assistant Trade Representative Sharon Bomer Lauritsen.
More from the meeting is available on social media, using the hashtag #grains20.

Visit the USGC website, HERE.

Considering the options: Pushbutton vs HMI display controls

by Gary Roberts, Automation, Northwind, USA

Those of us that are familiar with controls systems have seen some of the benefits that can be gained when using a human machine interface (HMI) versus using a simple pushbutton control panel.

Some of the main benefits an HMI provides include increased efficiency, safety, and overall functionality. While a pushbutton panel is easily understood and simple, it can be severely limiting in the level of complexity the systems it can handle. Another limitation is that the efficiency of a pushbutton panel depends solely on the experience of the operator.

Pushbutton control panels
Plants have been running for ages using pushbutton equipment control. This method is well understood by the people who operate these systems and their efficiency is directly tied to the experience, proficiency and focus of the operator. Because pushbuttons are simple, it is sometimes an inexpensive solution for use in small systems. Ideally, a pushbutton panel is used on a simple system with just a few pieces of equipment. For example, it may be easier to understand and functionally adequate to run a small vacuum and receiver system by simply using a “start/stop” button.

Pushbutton panels begin to exhibit shortcomings when the system grows to more than just a few pieces of equipment. With multiple machines in operation, it is not always clear which machine is running at any given time and this can make diagnosing issues a nightmare. Another shortcoming of pushbutton panels is that it is hard for new workers to learn how different operating systems interact with others on the plant floor.

This can lead to increased training time and lower production as a trainee is learning to use the system. Further limitations of pushbutton panels come in the area of documentation. Because there is no display available on the panel, it is often necessary to go to each piece of equipment in the plant to document weights, flow rates, etc. Also, in order to troubleshoot a pushbutton panel, the panel door must be opened. This can lead to safety hazards with live voltage or difficulties troubleshooting if the panel is powered off.

Read more HERE.

FAWEMA company profile

Today the FAWEMA brand reaches every corner of the globe and is renowned for German reliability, efficiency and ultra-strong build quality in each and every machine produced.

Their product range comprises machines and lines for filling and packaging dry products for almost all areas of application.

FAWEMA brings you the entire know-how of packaging technology. They draw up overall design proposals – from product feed to palletising. Moreover, FAWEMA is always open to new developments – new applications, new industries, new packaging technologies.

They do this by investing time and energy, bringing together the most innovative minds and giving their younger engineering talent the tools and ability they need to solve the packaging challenges of tomorrow.

FAWEMA is synonymous with reliability and punctual delivery, thanks to the commitment of its employees at their factory in Engelskirchen-Ründeroth and service technicians worldwide.

Since 1920, FAWEMA has been completely dedicated to one thing: PERFECTION.

Read more HERE.

Lallemand strengthens its Centres of Excellence team

Lallemand Animal Nutrition have recently appointed some new members to their Centres of Excellence teams, adding talent to ruminant, forage and monogastric fields.

Image credit: Coolship Yeast on Flickr
(CC BY 2.0)

Emmanuelle Apper, Ph.D., Manager of the Centres of Excellence, commented, 'With this team, we expect to reinforce expertise in our various fields of investigation and to bring value by providing high-quality science and communicating our work both internally and externally. We also expect to accelerate our innovation processes.' With these new hires, the Centres of Excellence will cover Lallemand Animal Nutrition's major markets as well as new and emerging markets such as the pet food industry.

Ana Rodiles, Ph.D., has joined the Monogastric Centre of Excellence as a senior scientist. In this position, Dr Rodiles will lead bioinformatics analysis trials on pets, fish, shrimps, and horses and will actively participate with research and development in these fields. In addition, she will ensure scientific intelligence in the field of bioinformatics to develop and test new models and will train both research and marketing teams.

Dr Rodiles holds a master's degree in aquaculture and a doctorate in fish nutrition from the University of Cadiz (UCA, Spain). She conducted a postdoctoral research on fish gut microbiota at the University of Plymouth (PU, UK), enabling implementation of bioinformatics analysis. During her scientific carrier, Dr Rodiles worked with massive data analysis of the microbiome of more than 15 animal species and published 35 peer-reviewed papers. Finally, she jumped into applied sciences in farming animals working as a gut microbiota researcher for a Dutch company for two years before joining Lallemand.

*Laurie Guillot*
*Image credit: Lallemand*

Laurie Guillot joined the Ruminant Centre of Excellence based at UMR MEDIS, INRAE Rhône Alpes Auvergne-University of Clermont Auvergne as a research project leader. Ms Guillot will lead some research projects applying molecular biology based approaches — OMICS — to document the mode of action of Lallemand Animal Nutrition products and will develop new methods and models.

Ms Guillot holds a master's degree in microbiology. She has worked for four years as an engineer at INRAE where she researched the human gut microbiota. She has strong experience in anaerobic microbiology, molecular biology methods and the use of animal models like gnotobiotic rodents.

*Richard Scuderi*

*Image credit: Lallemand*

Richard Scuderi has joined the Forage Centre of Excellence in Chazy, N.Y. (USA). Mr Scuderiwill lead some innovative research projects applying OMICS technologies to characterise Lallemand Animal Nutrition bacteria strains and investigate the application of forage inoculants during ensiling and their subsequent animal performance during feedout.

Mr Scuderiholds a master's degree in animal science from the University of Vermont. Prior to joining Lallemand Animal Nutrition, he acted as the director of dairy nutrition and quality assurance for Mercer Milling Company in Liverpool, N.Y., for two years. He has also conducted research at the University of Vermont's College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Animal & Veterinary Sciences Department, Burlington, Vt.

Visit the Lallemand Animal Nutrition website, HERE.

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