October 1, 2010
Keenan ties up with ADM Alliance Nutrition
Keenan Global Partnership joins with ADM Alliance Nutrition, another US animal feed firm, in one of its gain-share ventures with feed companies, advisory organisations or banks.
At the Ploughing, Gerard Keenan said ADM Alliance Nutrition are interested in adding Keenan's "physical" nutrition technology to the chemical nutrition technology which has long dominated the industry.
Keenan, a nutrition and feed mixer company, claim to be leaders in "physical" nutrition- the science which explains why, for example, straw in the form of dust is not a good feed, but beet in the form of pulp is. Physically presenting cattle feed correctly adds up to 30% in feed conversion, according to Keenan data.
Gerard Keenan's target is to do business in a substantial proportion of US dairy and beef cattle herds. Although 60%-70% of US livestock farmers use feed mixers, Keenan's penetration is very low.
Keenan believes now is a good time to drive forward in the US, as farmers and the feed industry shift from corn-based towards forage-based animal nutrition, and use more distillers grains from the ethanol industry.
Matt Gabler ADM Alliance Nutrition says their Gain Plan venture with Keenan can be "a game changer for the dairy industry". If it succeeds, ADM's many thousands of farmer clients will buy the Keenan mixers and nutrition programmes through ADM.