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Des Moines, Iowa
October 26, 2007
Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, announces that it is
further enhancing its commitment to the forage marketplace by
expanding its field personnel dedicated exclusively to forage
producers and bolstering both its Nutritional and Grain Sciences
Analytical Lab and Livestock Nutrition Center. This
significantly increases forage sample testing and feed trial
capacity.
These moves mark a growth in the already strong commitment
Pioneer has made to the forage marketplace through its broad,
integrated product-and-services approach to forage producers.
Combining high-yielding corn silage and alfalfa seed product
lineups with cutting-edge forage additives and nutritional
expertise, Pioneer is dedicated to remaining the leading
provider of comprehensive forage programs.
"The industry tends to talk about the ingredients in a forage
program separately," says Bill Mahanna, Pioneer global
nutritional sciences coordinator. "At Pioneer, we're really
looking to provide growers with the best nutritional package for
their operation."
Part of this package is expertise. Pioneer recently announced it
hired two new dairy specialists - Dann Bolinger for Michigan and
Kevin Putnam for New York and New England. Bolinger was formerly
employed as an Extension dairy educator at Michigan State and
Putnam as nutritionist with Blue Seal Feed Company. Both will be
dedicated exclusively to working with regional dairy and beef
producers to provide nutritional forage expertise to help
customers get the most from their feeding program.
Earlier this year, Pioneer expanded its livestock information
management team with the hiring of two livestock information
managers. Leo Brown is based in Bloomington, Ill., and Jim Smith
is located in Mankato, Minn. Brown and Smith join Steve
Soderlund, Ph.D., in Parker, Colo., and Rick Weber, PAS, in
Lincoln, Neb. As livestock information managers, their role is
to share information from the Pioneer research pipeline with
livestock producers and communicate customer needs back to
Pioneer.
Pioneer brings together all the components for a comprehensive
livestock nutrition and forage program, from intensive product
development and selection to extensive sample and performance
testing.
In addition to expanding field staff, Pioneer has enhanced its
Nutritional and Grain Sciences Analytical Lab in Urbandale,
Iowa. The lab has added drying capacity to speedup sample
testing as well as increasing near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR)
capacity. These changes will enable the lab to process more
samples and provide results to producers more quickly. In 2006,
this facility analyzed more than 50,000 samples. Of these,
18,500 were corn forage samples, nearly 20,000 were corn grain
and 7,000 were alfalfa samples. The expansion is expected to
raise the number of samples tested by 20 percent this year to
60,000 samples tested.
Customers will gain from further expansion at the Pioneer
Livestock and Nutrition Center, which has increased capacity to
handle and condition grain. This allows Pioneer to better
formulate diets for animal-feeding trials. The additional
capacity supports the regulatory approval process for transgenic
products as well as helping with characterization of hybrids,
varieties and forage additives for nutritional value.
Integrated Forage Program
Pioneer customers can see the best real-world results when they
tap into the knowledge of their nutritionists and Pioneer
experts to develop and manage a comprehensive nutritional
program for their animals.
According to Mahanna, knowing how corn, alfalfa and forage
additives work together is a real advantage Pioneer can provide
customers.
Pioneer agronomists and account managers can assist producers
with decisions concerning the entire silage spectrum - from
planting to harvest to feedout.
"At Pioneer, we understand the impact of plant population,
growing environment and bunker management, and we work with
customers and their consultants to improve their forage
production and management," says Mahanna. "We conduct research
on various forms of corn in the diet. Whether it is fed as
high-moisture corn, steam-flaked or rolled. We also work with
Pioneer nutritionists in other countries to introduce new tools,
such as infrared photography, to better understand heat loss and
nutrient shrink in all types of fermented crops."
"Nobody makes as much information available to customers as
Pioneer," Mahanna says. "Our goal is to help the customer get
the best performance from the Pioneer® brand products they use -
whether that's pounds of milk or feed:gain ratio."
Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, is the world's leading
source of customized solutions for farmers, livestock producers
and grain and oilseed processors. With headquarters in Des
Moines, Iowa, Pioneer provides access to advanced plant genetics
in nearly 70 countries.
DuPont is a science-based products and services company. Founded
in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable
solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for
people everywhere. Operating in more than 70 countries, DuPont
offers a wide range of innovative products and services for
markets including agriculture and food; building and
construction; communications; and transportation.
® Registered trademark of Pioneer Hi-Bred. |
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