Marketers review new products, services for today's producer.

Editor's note: We invited representatives from leading organizations that serve the North American pork producers to provide agri-marketers with an update on their operations and activities.

ADM ALLIANCE NUTRITION, INC. by Larry Williams, Vice President-Sales and Marketing, ADM Alliance Nutrition, Inc., Quincy, IL

ADM and its people serve as an essential link between pork producers and consumers by putting cutting edge technology to work in support of our customers. Proven Performance from Innovative Nutrition is our pledge of providing the highest quality, research-backed products, programs and technology that enable pork producers to effectively enhance pork production efficiency and productivity.

ADM Alliance Nutrition provides pork producers with a wide variety of feed products and ingredients. All products and ingredients are supported by our association with ADM Research. We have a very active research group whose focus is to continually develop new products, identify new ingredient uses and validate the benefits of ADM Alliance Nutrition's portfolio of products, programs and services available to pork producers.

Products include the patented FROSTCOATS prestarters, MOMENTUM prestarters/starters, ADM's natural-source vitamin E, patent-pending PremiDex and CitriStim. PremiDex and CitriStim are functional, natural-sourced ingredients derived from ADM product streams and are examples of how ADM is "Resourceful by Nature."

We distribute products, programs and services with an approach that best benefits our customers within given geographic locations, whether it is domestic or global. ADM Alliance Nutrition utilizes a multi-faceted approach to delivering technologically advanced goods and services to pork producers, working via a network of sales representatives, dealers, distributors, as well as distributing direct to feed manufacturers and end users.

We have feed and ingredient manufacturing facilities located in most of the major swine production areas.

Distribution outside of the United States follows this same premise. Our swine feed products can also be obtained in Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, China and South Korea.

Swine production is in a continuous state of change. Pork producers have become increasingly sophisticated and more discerning purchasers. Food safety from a producer and consumer perspective has come under closer scrutiny.

ADM Alliance Nutrition has always been known for stringent quality control standards that today are even more tightly controlled to help insure feed security and food safety.

Our focus is on offering innovative, technologically advanced business solutions to pork producers. We also recognize that each customer has a desire for their expectations to be met or exceeded on an individual basis rather than being treated as part of a group.

ADM Alliance Nutrition's best tool to communicate with pork producers about innovative products, programs and services is our active sales network. Sales and marketing efforts are supported by dissemination of product and technical literature. Working with the sales channel as well as direct to pork producers is a team of highly trained and knowledgeable technical experts.

We are actively involved with the World Pork Expo, where we feature technology and commercial products as well as our MoorMan's ShowTec products for show pigs.

ADM Alliance Nutrition promotes usage of the Internet as a communications resource. At www.admani.com, pork producers can immediately access product and technical information in the quest to efficiently produce safe, wholesome pork.

ADM's presence is felt beyond its business units through a variety of projects with a goal of strengthening the communities where we live and work.

CTB, INC. by George Murdoch, Managing Director CTB Inc.'s PigTek Business Unit, Milford, IN

CTB has been involved with pigs through its Chore-Time brand almost from the beginning of its existence in 1952.

In November 2006, CTB announced the acquisitions of pig equipment manufacturers Laake GmbH of Herzlake, Germany, and Porcon Beheer B.V. of Deurne, The Netherlands. These three brands, Chore-Time, Laake and Porcon, comprise PigTek Pig Equipment Group--a CTB business unit with an exclusive focus on providing project and product technology solutions to the pig industry worldwide.

PigTek, through Chore-Time Hog Production Systems, Laake and Porcon, offers pig producers industry-leading feeders; drinkers; ventilation, heating and cooling systems; controls and software; computer-controlled sorting systems and scales; animal-friendly stalls, pens, slats and flooring; and feed storage and delivery systems.

CTB has made previous acquisitions in the pig equipment arena including the acquisition of Staco, Inc., a leading manufacturer of feeders and other equipment for the swine raising industry, in 1998, and the purchase of the assets of Swine Service Specialists, Inc., a manufacturer of pig feeding equipment including the AQUA FEEDER and AQUA TUBE Feeder Systems, in 2004.

CTB also will continue to separately offer pig equipment through its Fancom B.V. and Roxell N.V. subsidiaries located in the Netherlands and Belgium, respectively.

With existing sales staff, distribution networks and customer bases in place, PigTek's selling groups each are focused on the markets in which they are already strong.

Chore-Time Hog Production Systems (based in Milford) retains its focus on sales in the U.S. and Canada. Laake (based in Germany) will pursue sales in Germany and other Western European countries; and Porcon (based in the Netherlands) is focused on Europe, Latin America and Asia. The brands and products we take to each market will vary depending on the needs of the local customer.

Products are delivered to customers through a combination of distributors, builders and/or direct sales, depending on the needs of the local customer and the market being served.

We have seen a number of drivers in recent years that have challenged us as equipment manufacturers. These include continued consolidation activity in developed markets, growth in developing markets, environmental and biosecurity concerns, food safety issues and mounting pressure for companies to address animal welfare issues, especially as perceived by consumers. Ethanol expansion is also driving up feed costs and causing our customers to exploit every opportunity to increase their production efficiency.

In order to respond to these challenges with the best possible solutions for our customers, CTB felt the need to consolidate its approach to the pork industry. PigTek was formed to coordinate the product development, manufacturing and sales for CTB's Laake, Porcon and Chore-Time pig equipment brands.

Operating these brands through a consolidated business unit structure allows us to focus our product efforts on the needs of customers in every region of the world. We think globally, but act locally when it comes to products and service. The PigTek unit allows us to make a broad spectrum of equipment and expertise immediately available to our customers in various parts of the world.

We see strong growth opportunities for CTB in the pig sector, and consolidating these pig equipment brands and industry knowledge under one entity will help us continue to focus our resources on better ways to serve pig producers.

PigTek employs multiple channels to raise awareness of our products: presence at key trade shows at various places around the world; advertisements in industry trade publications; development of literature and other informative sales tools; and through its Web site, www.pigtek.net.

We are also helping to underwrite industry research and testing as well as educational efforts and events aimed at solving industry problems and providing solutions to customer needs.

SCHERING-PLOUGH by Robyn Fleck, DVM, Schering-Plough Technical Services Veterinarian, Swine Business Unit, Kenilworth, NJ

Schering-Plough Animal Health now offers our broad spectrum antibiotic NUFLOR in two convenient formulations; NUFLOR ORAL and NUFLOR PREMIX. These products are indicated for treatment or control options of complex swine respiratory disease.

We also provide veterinarians and pork producers with the high-efficacy Mycoplasma vaccine (M+PAC) and the broadest spectrum protection against swine influenza vaccine circulating in the US, MAXIVAC EXCEL 3.

We offer our products through veterinarians and distributors and in some cases directly to producers.

Today our customers are more concerned with the export market and with food safety. With the new oral formulations of NUFLOR, we have safe and effective products that do not require an injection. Antibiotic therapy administered by injection can be perceived as a negative by some U.S. and foreign customers, so the oral treatment option is an advantage. Oral medications are labor-saving, which is attractive to producers as well.

We target our communication to pork producers using a mixture of advertising and presence at trade shows.