Dr. Ron DeHaven has been named administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). As administrator, he will manage programs that are critical to the protection of U.S. livestock, plants, and food supply. DeHaven replaces Bobby Acord, who retired April 3, 2004, after almost 38 years of federal service. Acord served as administrator since November 2001.
Since April 2002, DeHaven has served as deputy administrator of APHIS for Veterinary Services, the nation’s chief veterinary official, where he provided leadership in safeguarding animal health, most notably the management of the detection and investigation of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in a cow in Washington in December 2003. He served as the acting association administrator for APHIS from October 2001 through April 2002.
From 1996 to 2001, DeHaven was the deputy administrator for the Animal Care (AC) unit of APHIS, administering the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act. Before assuming the deputy administrator position, DeHaven was AC’s western regional director in Sacramento, CA, for seven years.
DeHaven obtained a doctor of veterinary medicine degree from Purdue University in 1975 and a masters in business administration from Millsaps College in Mississippi in May 1989. After graduating from veterinary school, he spent four years in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps before beginning his career with APHIS in 1979.
Franco to be Keynote Speaker
Dr. Don Franco, president, Center for Biosecurity, Food Safety, and Public Health, will be the keynote speaker at the American Fats and Oils Association’s (AFOA’s) annual meeting October 13-14, 2004, in New York City, NY. Franco previously served as vice president of Scientific Services, National Renderers Association, and president, Animal Protein Producers Industry, and is a recognized authority on public health and veterinary medicine.
Franco was born on the Caribbean island of Trinidad where he received his primary education. He later attended the University of Guelph in Canada where he obtained a degree in agriculture by way of a major in animal science. Franco’s interest in tropical diseases of livestock brought him to the University of the Philippines, where he obtained a degree in veterinary medicine, finishing second in his graduating class. His formal education also includes a master’s degree in public health from Emery University, where he also served for five years as a faculty member. Franco is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, for which he chaired the Examination Committee for two years.
After completion of his veterinary degree, Franco returned to Trinidad in 1964 to establish a private practice and serve as a special advisor to the minister of agriculture for the control of cattle diseases. In this role, his work included the testing and eradication of tuberculosis in cattle. Franco relocated to the United States, accepting a position with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Atlas-Stord to Distribute Grinder
Atlas-Stord has been named the exclusive North American agent responsible for marketing and distributing the TMA line of raw material grinders. Engineered and manufactured by TMA Maschinenbau in Pocking, Germany, the grinders have been making the rendering process more efficient for more than 30 years with their unique design and low maintenance requirements.
The low horsepower grinder units feature cutting discs that are individually machined, hard faced, and completely renewable. The discs can be refurbished individually resulting in reduced maintenance and production shut down.
TMA Maschinenbau chose Atlas-Stord to represent their respected line in large part because of the company’s reputation for manufacturing quality products, as well as their extensive knowledge of the rendering industry.
Pet Food Council Member Drive
The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) has launched an intensified effort to increase membership on its Pet Food Council. A newly published brochure outlines the benefits and influence council membership can have on regulatory issues, marketing, and professional development.
The Pet Food Council currently consists of over 80 AFIA member pet food manufacturers and ingredient suppliers, led by a 15-member execu-tive committee.
The council’s mission is to develop educational programs and publications, address legislative and regulatory issues, and respond to industry trends and issues. The coun-cil has existed for over eight years.
For more information about the Pet Food Council, contact AFIA at (703) 524-0810, or e-mail marketing@afia.org.
Poultry Litter to Fuel Power Project
According to the National Chicken Council, Fibrowatt, based in Philadelphia, PA, has begun initial construction for the company’s first U.S. power plant to be fueled by poultry litter. The plant, expected to be completed in two years, will be built on 84 acres in Benson, MN. Once completed, equipment will be tested for six months, followed by another six months to ready produc-tion capacity, a company official said.
The plant is designed to burn over 500,000 tons of poultry litter per year in combination with other agricultural biomass to generate 50 megawatts of electricity. The electrical output will be sold to Xcel Energy under a 21-year power purchase agreement approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. The plant has already contracted with 30 companies and 100 barns to produce the poultry waste.
Industry Leader Mullane Passes
Dennis Mullane, 55, passed away May 24, 2004, after a long battle with cancer.
A devoted member of the rendering industry, Mullane worked in his family’s rendering business, B.A. Tofte Company in Long Island, NY, prior to joining Taylor By-Products in Wyalusing, PA, in 1987. While at Taylor, he served in various executive positions, including as executive vice president and chief operating officer from April 1998 until he joined Excel Corporation, a Cargill Company, as corporate rendering manager in February 2002. In this role, Mullane led the rendering operations for all of Excel’s 10 beef and pork processing plants. According to Excel’s Cary Humphries, “He was a passionate advocate for operational improve-ments, innovation, people develop-ment, and dedicated to worker safety.”
Mullane’s industry involvement also included various positions within the trade organizations, including chairman of the National Renderers Association Communications Committee, chairman of the Fats and Proteins Research Foundation from 1996 to 1998, and an officer with the Animal Protein Producers Industry. He was also an active member of the North American Rendering Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Coalition.
In the mid-1990s, Mullane chaired a committee that published The Original Recyclers in 1996, the most recent book on the rendering industry. He also wrote the preface and his wife, Valerie, contributed to the book’s cover design.
Mullane served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1968 to 1970 and held a bachelor of science degree from Quinnipiac College in Hamden, CT. He is survived by his wife, daughter Tamara, sons Keith and Chad, mother Dorothy Tofte Mullane Roberge, brothers William and Kevin Mullane, and other family and friends. Services were held in Center Moriches, NY.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, 1 Commac Loop, Suite 1A1, Ronkonkoma, NY 11779.
Stewart Retires from U.S. Poultry
Jacquelyn Stewart, vice president, special assistant to the president, U.S. Poultry and Egg Association, will retire from the association June 30, 2004 after over 38 years of service.
Stewart began working for the Southeastern Poultry and Egg Association (now U.S. Poultry and Egg Association) in 1962. In 1965, she left the association to pursue other interests, returning to the organization in 1969, where she has since re-mained. In 1999, Stewart was honored by U.S. Poultry with the Workhorse of the Year Award for excellence and commitment to the industry. She received the Georgia Egg Commission Golden Egg Award in 1993.
University to Study Diseases
The University of Minnesota has received two large grants for animal disease research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service. The grants, totaling $8.8 million over four years, are to study Johne’s disease in cattle and Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) in swine.
Johne’s disease is a bacterial infection in cattle and ruminants (sheep, goats, and deer) that causes chronic gastrointestinal inflammation. Approximately 40 percent of all dairy farms in the United States are infected with the bacterium that causes Johne’s disease, resulting in more than a billion dollars of economic loss every year.
The research goals are to understand how Johne’s disease is transmitted; to develop new diagnos-tic tools to track the disease in herds; to study how the disease progresses; and to develop a vaccine or methods of boosting herd immunity.
Identified by the National Pork Board as the most serious infectious disease facing pork producers, PRRS virus causes severe reproductive failure in sows and pneumonia in growing pigs, resulting in slow and stunted growth. Annual farm losses from PRRS are estimated at $600 million nationwide.
Crucial elements researchers need to better understand are how PRRS arrives on a farm, how it spreads among pigs, and how pigs resist infection. Researchers need to develop better diagnostic tools to track the PRRS virus and to measure the immunity of the herd before beginning to evaluate disease elimination strategies in the field.
U.S. Poultry Funds Research
The U.S. Poultry and Egg Association has approved funding for 15 new research projects designed to acquire information that will be useful in resolving or preventing industry problems, including a project on efficient odor and volatile organic compound removal from rendering emissions using inexpensive catalytic processes by Dr. James Kastner, University of Georgia.
More than $669,000 will be invested in projects in the following categories: diseases, environment, turkey production, layer production, poultry nutrition, processing, further processing, and food safety. Over $3 million is currently committed to ongoing poultry industry research. A summary of the results will soon be available at www.poultryegg.org.
June 2004 Render