Tony’s Tractors

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Here’s an interesting announcement. Elanco has signed an agreement to buy the worldwide rights to Posilac from Monsanto. The deal includes the product’s supporting operations. I hope they have good luck with it. There sure are a lot of activists against it. I don’t think they’ve got any scientific basis for their fears but sometimes perception is reality. I sure don’t mind the product and think it’s perfectly safe.

“Global dairy demand is increasing, outstripping supply, and consumers are seeing rapidly rising prices,” said Jeff Simmons, president, Elanco. “With the purchase of Posilac, Elanco can enhance its overall product portfolio and work together with the industry to provide dairy farmers more options and give consumers affordable choices. Critically, we remain focused on the health and care of the cow in working with farmers to increase global milk supply.

Elanco has exclusively sold sometribove outside of the United States for a decade. Posilac has been safely used for more than 14 years.

Under the terms of the agreement, Lilly will acquire all rights to the Posilac brand, as well as the product’s U.S. sales force and its manufacturing facility in Augusta, Georgia. In return, Monsanto will receive a $300 million upfront payment, as well as contingent consideration. The Posilac dairy business manufacturing and sales teams will be integrated into the Elanco business. The transaction is expected to close near the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2008, contingent upon clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Anti-Trust Improvements Act and other customary closing conditions. Lilly confirmed that the acquisition will not result in a change to the company’s full-year 2008 financial guidance, as detailed in its second quarter 2008 financial results press release issued July 24, 2008.

Popularity: 47% [?]

One of the key people involved with the Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Seminar was Gary Robertson. He’s the brand manager for Ingelvac MycoFLEX. You can actually see him sitting in the back left part of this picture during the presentations.

Gary says they’ve been very fortunate to obtain CircoFLEX in ‘06, MycoFLEX in ‘07 and just recently, Ingelvac CircoFLEX-MycoFLEX in ‘08.

Since this “combo package” is brand new I asked him what makes it possible. It’s all in the adjuvant which is also part of the FLEX platform. It’s called IMPRAN FLEX. Gary says this is an aqueous-based polymer adjuvant which is very safe and easy to use. He says it’s been very successful and refreshing to the industry to have a safe product for two problem diseases. He also says they’re working on new FLEX products, so I’m sure we’ll hear more about that in the future.

You can listen to my interview with Gary here: Download audio file (bi-nc-08-robertson.mp3)

BI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

A very important component of a swine herd management plan is nutrition. Boehringer Ingelheim’s Swine Health Seminar featured nutritional consultant, David Funderburke. He and his wife have their own business, working with large producers domestically and internationally.

In his presentation, David said that producers need to apply the technology that’s available and “push the limits” so they can capture as much value from feed as possible. Since his clients have different commodity positions and are different in the types of risks they’ll take, he says he tries to fine tune their feeding programs to fit both their personality and what’s going on inside their operation as far as costs and budgets.

Looking forward he says the cost of energy to produce a pig is going up so he says we need to find more ways to release energy from feed. He encourages producers to look at alternative energy sources.

You can listen to my interview with David here: Download audio file (bi-nc-08-funderburke.mp3)

BI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

Dr. John Kolb is a professional services veterinarian for Boehringer Ingelheim. He was on the program to talk about Ingelvac MycoFLEX.

John says it’s a unique product designed to be a single dose member of the FLEX family. Because it’s part of the FLEX platform, he says it’s easy to combine with another product like CircoFLEX. This is due to the special adjuvant used by the platform.

He says that this product provides producers with a good single dose option to treat mycoplasma hyopneumoniae while allowing other treatment options to be included if needed.

You can listen to my interview with John here: Download audio file (bi-nc-08-kolb.mp3)

Ingelvac MycoFLEX offers the flexibility to be administered to pigs as early as 3 weeks of age (weaning), providing protective immunity throughout the grow-finish period. Depending on your vaccination schedule, Ingelvac MycoFLEX also may be administered later in the nursery. Appropriate timing of vaccination is dictated by the exposure patterns of mycoplasma in your herd. Vaccination with Ingelvac MycoFLEX should be placed at least 2 weeks prior to onset of exposure to Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae or at least 5 weeks prior to the onset of seroconversion. It is recommended that you work with your veterinarian to determine the optimum timing of vaccination for your herd.

BI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

Popularity: 44% [?]

In addition to pork producers, a number of veterinarians attended the Boehringer Ingelheim Swine Health Seminar. I spoke with Dr. Randy Jones who has been in practice in eastern North Carolina for 23 years. I first asked him if he thought his local BI Rep, Dan Johnson, was doing a good job and he said “He does a great job.” Dan has played a big role in putting this event on, along with a lot of other people and I would echo that.

Randy says “I think it’s always good to get all the segments together.” He says this event has been growing and it sure sounds like it has. He says that the impact of the global marketplace has become an issue that all producers face here in the U.S. Input costs are the number one issue but disease is also big on the minds of producers with PRRS still the top of that list.

When it comes to advice for producers he says, “You have to have a plan and stick to it.” He says “you’re going to fail,” but it’s his job to minimize those failures. When it comes to looking ahead he says people have to eat and there’s more and more of them so he thinks the industry will work its way through the current tough times.

You can listen to my interview with Randy here: Download audio file (bi-nc-08-jones.mp3)

BI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

I know that the folks at Boehringer Ingelheim feel like they get as much from the opportunity to interact with their customers here at the Swine Health Seminar as they hope their customers get from them. Several on the BI staff have made that comment.

So, I’ve made sure to interview a few of them, like Bill Van Staaldvinen (left) speaking here with Dr. Dennis DiPietre (more on him later). Bill is a production manager for a large operation and he’s based in Washington, NC. He really likes this seminar. It’s his fourth one and he says he always takes something away with him.

When I asked him about being able to interact with other producers he says that’s one of the best parts of the event. He says, “When you hear that someone else tries this and it works, you’re willing to try it.”

You can listen to my interview with Bill here: Download audio file (bi-nc-08-staaldvinen.mp3)

BI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

After talking with Dr. Steve McOrist I’m betting that the United States could win a gold if there was a swine competition in the Olympics. That’s because he says that the U.S. has a number of advantages over other countries when it comes to pig production. For example, he says we’ve got a good backup system for vaccines and technological and nutritional support as well as breeding programs.

A key point he made in his talk here was that producers are relying on the tools available and that they should be looking forward with a good risk management program in case the number of those tools gets smaller. If products get removed from the market then fewer choices to fight a disease will mean increased chances for disease resistance. So he says, “Be prepared to think about risk management.”

You can listen to my interview with Dr. McOrist here: Download audio file (bi-nc-08-mcorist.mp3)

BI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

Dr. Mike Roof is Executive Director of Bio-Research for Boehringer Ingelheim. His job today was to provide an overview of where the company is on the PRRS issue (Porcine Reproductive & Respiratory Syndrome). He says it’s still the big problem disease and he wants producers to know that BI hasn’t given up on it. He also wants producers to know, “There’s no magic bullets for PRRS. There’s going to be incremental progress over the next few years.”

Mike says that “I learn more from these meetings than I give out” when I asked him what he’s hearing from participants. He says there’s two main things. Producers want to know about the timing of vaccine use and about maternal immunity.

Mike also says that BI is working on ten new vaccines outside of PRRS and has a growing R&D group in cattle.

You can listen to my interview with Dr. Roof here: Download audio file (bi-nc-08-roof.mp3)

BI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

Our emcee for today’s Boehringer Ingelheim Swine Seminar is Dr. Stephan Lange, Director of the Swine Division. He oversees sales and marketing.

I asked him what he thinks of this conference. “I think it’s crucial these days to share knowledge and insure that what we know and what the producer knows is kind of aligned.” He says that besides the speakers on the program there’s plenty of time for Q&A and direct interaction with producers so that BI gets feedback they need.

The main thing he’d like producers to take away from this seminar is how important it is to keep animal health under control in light of high input costs. “Those who survive will be the ones having their animal health under control.” He says that using vaccines will get you a lot further with what you get out of your feed. In other, words, prevention is the best medicine for getting the most out of your feed.

You can listen to Dr. Lange’s opening remarks here: Download audio file (bi-nc-08-lange-open.mp3)

You can listen to my interview with Dr. Lange here: Download audio file (bi-nc-08-lange.mp3)

BI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

The Boehringer Ingelheim Swine Health Seminar has started. The man who handles this territory for BI is Dan Johnson. He welcomed everyone to the seminar and introduced Dr. Stephen Lange, BI Swine Marketing Manager, who is emceeing our program.

Dan says that participants come from a number of states, mostly east of the Mississippi River. We have the full range of people working in the industry including both corporate and independent producers, veterinarians, nutritionists, as well as BI representatives. Dan says they’ll be learning new things about the industry and that the biggest benefit to producers is the sharing of information and building bonds with other producers. This is the 7th year of the Seminar and he says it just keeps getting bigger.

You can listen to my interview with Dan here: Download audio file (bi-nc-08-johnson.mp3)

BI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.