2011 September/October Issue - Land O'Lakes Inc.

feed sooner and enhances dry feed intakeduring all of lactation.In another instance, dairy cattle that aremilking heavily have accelerated body weightloss, which decreases milk production.Purina invented a solution called Propel®Energy Nuggets, a highly-palatable, high-energyproduct specially formulated to be usedas a nutritional supplement for lactating andpost-fresh transition cow diets.“We consistently offer a return onLand O’Lakes Purina Feed’s investmentin R&D by uniquely meeting the needs ofour customers, by developing productsthat perform, and by helping to build andmaintain our reputation for deliveringanimal nutrition in ways that none of ourcompetitors can,” Luhman said.At LongView, scientists and researchersconduct about 80 studies per year,ranging from experiments in nursery,Purina’s Early DaysTo best appreciate how the inventionof commercial animal feeds transformedAmerican commerce and transportation,imagine all of the cars and trucks on theroad today—but no gas stations. That isoddly similar to the dilemma horse ownersfaced in the late 1800s. Keep in mindthat, until the 20th century, horses andmules were the very engines that droveprogress. They cleared and plowed theland. They transported goods to market.They moved families westward.When traveling, wagon and buggy driverswould need to stop in town after townto buy corn, grain and hay to feed theteam. The next challenge was to blendthese random ingredients in the properproportions—a bit too much corn, forinstance, could cause colic in a horse andtragically derail the itinerary.In 1894, 24-year-old William H. Danforthcould see that commerce was being constrainedlargely by one fundamental thing– the lack of a reliable supply of available,portable and nutritionally balanced animalfeed. Purina Mills grew out of his desire tooffer a solution to this challenge.grow/finish, gestationand lactation. For example,when studyingpig starters, scientistslook for improvementsin growth, efficiency, littersize, uniformity andhealth. When they studyhorse feeds, they arelooking for rapid musclerecovery, longevity, evenor moderate growth offoals, good bone developmentand palatability.LongView’s unique swineresearch facility allowsthem to evaluate and developproducts and feeding programs forevery stage of pork production.“Land O’Lakes Purina Feed prides itselfin providing nutritional feed optionsto support the needs of many animals,and we guarantee that animal ownerswill see a difference with our feeds,”said Chris Goodwin, marketing manager,Land O’Lakes Purina Feed. “Every day, wefeed more than 100 million animals. Ourend goal is to lead the industry in innovationsthat are important to our customers.These could be innovations that improveanimal health, animal behavior, efficiency,convenience or whatever parameter is importantto a specific animal owner.”Emphasis on QualityFrom its inception, the primary differencebetween Purina and its competitorswas an insistence on quality. In 1916,Purina was the first in the feed business toestablish an analytical laboratory to testthe final product before it went out to customers.As the largest feed manufacturerin the United States, Purina was able toinsist on top quality ingredients from sellersand, to this day, maintains a list of “approvedsuppliers.” Through LongView,Purina has also spearheaded the industry’smost innovative system for testingLand O’Lakes Purina Feed feeds more than 100 million animals per day.“Land O’Lakes Purina Feedprides itself in providingnutritional feed options tosupport the needs of manyanimals, and we guaranteethat animal owners will see adifference with our feeds.”– Chris Goodwin, marketing manager,Land O'Lakes Purina Feedingredients and monitoring nutritionalconsistency. Purina delivers quality interms of feed/food safety and consistency,meaning the feeds are unadulterated andwill provide nutrition with no risk to healthor well-being.“This is where Land O’Lakes PurinaFeed really separates itself from the competitorsand where R&D comes into play,”said Luhman. “When those physical andperformance attributes are met every time,the animal owner knows that the animalwill eat the feed and perform consistentlyon the feed. For the animal, it means thatevery mouthful will be the same every singletime they eat. Consistency is very important,and it also means that there is lessrisk of nutritional upsets when feed is highquality and consistent.” !www.landolakesinc.com SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 19