International Protein Sires, also known as IPS, celebrates 20 years as an international bovine genetics corporation. When Ron Sersland bought the fledgling company from founders Marlowe Nelson and Alvin Piper the proven sire lineup and market base provided excellent opportunities for growth. Through Sersland’s aggressive business strategy, IPS has experienced rapid development. This expansion came as the result of a superior proven sire lineup along with worldwide marketing through a vast network of independent distributors.

The North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge (NAIDC) board of directors elected two new board members: David Prentice, DVM, Elanco Animal Health, Elgin, Iowa, and Christie Stanley, PhD, Land O'Lakes Purina Feed, Amarillo, Texas.

Growth of Diamond V, the global leader in fermentation technology for livestock and aqua, continues with the construction of a new worldwide headquarters and expansion of its second, recently constructed, manufacturing plant.

Animal Welfare Approved announced a call for proposals for its 2011-2012 Good Husbandry Grants. Now in its fourth year, the Good Husbandry Grants program has funded nearly 100 projects across the country to improve farm animal welfare. Certified farmers and those who have submitted an application for AWA certification may apply for up to $5,000 towards projects such as mobile housing, breeding stock, and on-farm processing equipment.

Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) announced plans to expand lysine and threonine amino acid production capacity at the company’s Decatur, Illinois, facility. When the expansion project is completed in the second half of 2013, ADM will have the ability to produce 340,000 metric tons of lysine or threonine annually. ADM has also begun preliminary engineering work to increase lysine production capacity at its Clinton, Iowa, corn processing complex, with a target total capacity of 70,000 metric tons of lysine HCl equivalent. Both expansion projects include investment in plant infrastructure to enable further capacity increases in the future as needed.

The enzyme solutions available to nutritionists, producers and others looking to optimize nutrition in poultry, pork, beef, dairy, aquaculture and companion animals will be expanding as the result of a strategic collaboration announced between Novus International, Inc. and Verenium Corporation. The partnership is the result of the focus Novus has on generating enzyme solutions to optimize nutrition – and the resulting feed costs – in a number of production livestock species, as well as companion animals with the highest performing quality solutions.

MMI International announced a corporate donation to the Cattlemen’s Ball of Nebraska. This donation benefits The Eppley Cancer Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Each year the proceeds from the Cattlemen’s Ball of Nebraska go to The Eppley Cancer Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and other Nebraska healthcare organizations.

JCB officially marked its 65th anniversary by presenting thousands of employees around the world with gifts to mark the occasion. The milestone was celebrated as JCB also reported a strong recovery from the deepest-ever recession in the global construction equipment industry with a return to robust earnings.

In the May 21, 2011 issue of Progressive Dairyman, we published an interview with Amber Driscoll, corporate liaison for PETA. The intent of the article was to create industry awareness of the new dairy care standards PETA developed. It was not meant in form to declare an endorsement by Progressive Dairyman, Progressive Publishing and its publishers and employees. Since publishing the article, we’ve been asked to clarify this statement made by Driscoll: “PETA developed these standards with input from animal welfare experts Dr. Temple Grandin and Dr. Mohan Raj, and incorporated recommendations made by the dairy industry itself, including the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP).”

In collaboration with the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP), AgriLabs is offering an award to two veterinarians – one beef and one dairy – to encourage and fund recent graduates in their post-graduate continuing education efforts. Named as a tribute to Bruce Wren, D.V.M., each award will provide $5,000 for professional-development training so these practitioners may better serve their producer-clients. Completed applications are due July 15, and the presentations will be made at the annual AABP Awards Banquet.