Focus: Agriculture
Alltech’s got the right stuff: algae By Campbell Wood
A
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
lgae had a prominent focus at the recent Alltech conference in downtown Lexington — a conference that addressed the challenges of feeding an exploding world population. The microorganism that grows in preponderance in wet places around the planet has become an important component of Alltech’s strategy. Alltech grows massive quantities of heterotrophic algae, which can be grown in the dark, under controlled conditions at its facility in W inchester, Ky. Algae biomass, abundant in oil, has been integrated into the company’s nutrient-rich feeds for livestock, poultry, aquaculture and pet food, and the company’s research into algae’s promising potential is ongoing. One of the speakers at the conference, Kyle Raney, who has worked extensively with Alltech’s algae program, told Business Lexington that Alltech’s core competency is with yeast. Thirty-three years ago, Dr. Pearse Lyons
founded Alltech with yeast as a primary focus, because of its nutrients and other beneficial attributes for animal health. Alltech has a slew of products made with yeast components, and Raney said there are hundreds of yeast strains to work with. Alltech began studying algae about six years ago, and in 2010, the company acquired the for mer Martek algae plant in Winchester. Raney said that algae strains number in the thousands, with variations of content that of fer up a smorgasbord of nutrients. “You can even take one specific strain and grow it in three dif ferent ways,” said Raney. “One way may produce oil, another proteins, another lipids or fats. Any given vitamins can be found in dif ferent species. There is such variety.” Alltech has a database with about 500 strains of algae, said Raney, and at any given time, active research is being conducted on five to 10 of them. “It could be very simple research to just see if we can get it to grow,” he said, “or very detailed research to see what it can pro-
duce and to see if it can be done economically, scaleable to large production.” At Alltech in Winchester, six final-stage fermenters — three 265,000-liter tanks, two 149,000-liter tanks and one 90,000-liter tank — produce the algae biomass rich in nutrients. It takes just nine days to produce 20 tons of algae biomass from one final-stage fermenter. The fermentation starts at laboratory scale in a cryovial and moves up the ladder through larger and lar ger fermenters until harvest time from the final-stage fermenters. The tremendous yield of highly nutritious biomass using a mere 100,000 square feet, the facility’s size, shows ef ficient land use. To give an idea of the potential algae holds for agriculture, the Alltech website states that an “acre of Chlorella algae can produce as much protein as 21 acres of soybeans, 49 acres of corn, 95 acres of wheat or 994 acres of barley.” All of the oil-rich algae biomass produced in Winchester goes into Alltech products. “There are several algae products that
are produced out of the plant,” said Raney. “The main product is made through a patented process and contains high levels of oil, up to 70 percent, and DHA.” DHA is a valued Omega-3 Fatty Acid that supports brain and eye development, cognitive health and general immunity. DHA is typically added to the food chain by the use of fish oil. With the global issues of overfishing and mercury contamination, DH A produced from a closed system deriving it directly from algae can assure buyers o f product quality and purity. When Alltech acquired the W inchester facility, it came with a pilot plant. The pilot plant is a scaled-down version of the production system, and it allows for ongoing research and experimentation to evaluate different algae strains and study dif ferent production processes before taking them to a commercial level. It appears that algae is quickly growing to become a part of Alltech’s core competency — a competency to help agriculture meet pressing challenges now and in the time ahead.
Growing to our global potential with Alltech crop science In November 2012, Alltech kicked off its inaugural Graduate Academy, inviting outstanding young leaders to take part in a year-long training program. Out of a pool of more than 1,500 applicants, 20 graduates from across the globe wer e selected through a rigor ous evaluation pr ocess. Four of those chosen graduates ar e from Kentucky. The four Kentuckians are recounting their experiences learning about agribusiness, brewing and distilling, and other Alltech initiatives, through a monthly blog exclusive to Business Lexington. By Rebecca Noble
T
ALLTECH GRADUATE TRAINEE
oday, our world has the potential of 3.4 billion acres of arable land. This is land that can flourish environmentally, nutritionally and economically, and yet sustain its natural landscape, ecosystems and population. It’s the responsibility of agribusiness to meet this potential. As part of the Alltech Graduate Academy, I was placed within Alltech Crop Science, a division of Alltech where our global potential for raising crops and our responsi-
bility to the environment conver ge. If each grower produces up to one extra ton of grain per acre of land, we could produce up to 3.4 billion extra tons of grain — enough to feed future generations. This is an unbelievable and even daunting opportunity; however, as a member of the Graduate Academy, I am mandated by Dr . Pearse Lyons to think big, be bold and work hard to feed a growing global population. With exposure to top business, marketing and technical minds across different regions of the globe, my training with Alltech tells the story of a business innovating and driving modern agriculture to feed and nourish billions. Now based in our European headquarters in Dunboyne, Ireland, I work to collect, communicate and distribute infor mation to growers in the region through a range of sales and technical forces. Alltech Crop Science provides naturally based solutions for modern agriculture, rooted in more than 30 years of Alltech’s global innovation, education, application and involvement and uses our core yeast fermentation technology. My job as a project coordinator is to help growers ensure their crop is getting the right nutrition at the right time and is maximizing its inherent genetic potential.
So far, my training with Alltech Crop Science has taken me to the corn fields of Iowa, the wheat fields of Ireland and the vineyards of Italy. My initial focus was the marketing and sale of Grain-Set, a per formance product. Grain-Set increases the quality of the crop and encourages a higher yield for the grower. An increase in the nutritional value of the forage eaten by a dairy cow means more milk production for the dairy far mer. Nutrition remains our biggest focus, because it naturally links Alltech’s Animal Health and Crop Science divisions and allows for concise marketing and branding that continues to build trust in our brand. In Iowa, for example, the weather and soil conditions can vary between the northwest, northeast, central, east central, southeast and southwest, and its 99 counties usually organize information differently. In Italy, the length of the country extends from southern France to northern Africa. This variance doesn’t just af fect agronomic conditions; it also implies dif ferences in culture, which affect the sales and marketing aspects of business. Europe itself spans from Ireland to Turkey, which means a one-size-fits-all marketing and sales plan will not produce the same, or even similar, results. In working
for a global company like Alltech, experiencing, understanding and interpreting the culture and business climate of each countr y and region are keys to success. As a project coordinator , I aim to immerse myself in the market of each country and gain knowledge of each landscape and persona to figure out what works best on the local level and then extrapolate carefully to the larger, global picture. In this essential communications role, I have seen the many aspects of Alltech’s business, with a glimpse beyond marketing into sales, technical support and operations. It’s an opportunity for rapid, but well-supported, career development. As exemplified by my own experience, the Alltech Graduate Academy offers a wealth of opportunity for young Kentuckians who want to gain global experience in a strong, pioneering business. As Alltech’s innovation, application, education and involvement expand day-by-day, the opportunities will only continue to grow. It’s hard to speculate on the progress I will have made between now and my next blog. But one thing is clear: the potential is big. For Alltech, Alltech Crop Science and those of us in the Graduate Academy — it’s 3.4 billion acres kind of big.
S
M I L E Y
P
P
E T E
I N G U B L I S H
$2.00 ER A PA R T N
RES IN PROG
www.bizlex.com
LEXINGTON
BORN & READ
Manufacturing
BIG ASSETS Focus: Advanced
S
cky’s Taking Kentu plans super region bly line to the assem By Erik A. Carlson
and Louisvil of Lexington hen the mayors their cities in plans to join transform th announced effort to g, th concerted regional manufacturin a hub for advanced already kne Bluegrass into sed Kinemetrix people of Lexington-ba left Toy could play out. how this story years ago when Jim Peyton build Kinemetrix Founded 16 type of fa his own company, for the exact ota to form assembly lines Gray and Louisville processes and Mayor Jim area. Upo cilities Lexington hope to attract to the the Blu as Fischer plan known Mayor Greg “super region” t Movement (BEAM hearing of the Advancemen PAGE 18 grass Economic
BUSINESS LEXINGTON
W
SEE KINEMETRIX
practice t’s common measure these days to sucrial entrepreneu of outcess by the level attracted to side funding taking that a project. But overlook view can often an equally important makmarker of success: of the assets ing the most hand, includyou have on cash ing your internal your comflow, to grow This is pany from within.went how Carey Smith sprinklers to from selling of large cool the roofswarehouses factories and in the PHOTO that were baking ILLUSTRATION to where BY DREW PURsummer heat chief execCELL he is today as Lexingof utive officer Ass Fans, a ton-based Big despite company that,and continrecession the in the uing weaknessnot seen a economy, has Smith spoke single layoff. Lexingwith Business ton’s Tom Martin.
I
SEE CAREY
SMITH PAGE
16
ND CAP & DIVIDE TO APPROACH A DIFFERENT EMISSIONS CURBING CARBON PAGE 19
s in it for us?
What’ merger of AT&T If the proposed approved, how will and T-Mobile is Kentucky benefit? By Dan Dickson
WRITER the nation’s seconT s giant AT&T, to merge with ommunication carrier, wants largest wireless fourth in size among wirele tran Mobile, ranked $39 billion deal. But the of Ju estimated carriers, in an stymied by a U.S. Department action has been T-Mobile woul tice lawsuit. of AT&T and th “The combination of consumers all across an of millions choices result in tens prices, fewer services facing higher United States mobile wireless products for Cole. “Consume lower-quality general James said deputy attorney PAGE 22
C
CONTRIBUTING
SEE AT&T
OCTOBER PHOTO BY MILY MOSELEY
subscribe online
@om
PRSRT STD U S Postage Paid Lex., KY Permit # 409
E • VOLUM 14, 2011
INSIDE
www.bizlex.c
chevy chaser Southsider BusinessLexington
434 Old Vine Street • Lexington, KY 40507 859.266.6537 • www.smileypete.com
18
Business Lexington • March 29, 2013
1 7, ISSUE 2
ION WITH A CONVERSAT INTERIM GATTON COLLEGE HACKBART DEAN MERL
PAGE 19