Kenny Berg Research and Education Fund Adds Value to Liquid Feed Industry
Written by: Paul Davis, Ph.D. | October 7, 2024
In my professional role at the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA), I am fortunate to have a wide variety of roles and responsibilities. Some are rooted in regulations and compliance, and some are closer to the farm gate. My heart will always lie with the latter. Perhaps working with AFIA’s Liquid Feed Committee best allows me to combine my formal education, scientific research and my passion for animal agriculture. It is through the Kenny Berg Liquid Feed Research and Education Fund, managed by the Institute for Feed Education and Research, that I’ve seen many valuable research projects come to life.
Since 2014, the Liquid Feed Committee and IFEEDER have worked together via the
Kenny Berg Research and Education Fund to foster a positive image of liquid feed as a source of nutrient supplementation for livestock, financially supporting research, education and promotions for the further development of the liquid feed industry. Each year at AFIA’s Liquid Feed Symposium (LFS), the committee raises money to support its efforts and awards universities funding for chosen research projects. Research data generated from this program significantly promotes the growth of the industry.
The Kenny Berg Research and Education Fund has awarded over $120,000 since its inception, enabling more than 20 liquid feed research projects.
As a graduate student at the University of Florida, my research work was supported by AFIA’s Liquid Feed Committee and shortly after, the initiative was given its current name in honor of an industry pioneer, the late Kenny Berg. I remember being so proud to have been chosen to present that research at the 2002 LFS in Indianapolis, Ind. As an example of the impact of the Kenny Berg fund and its projects, I still see my work in approaches to reduce free-choice consumption of liquid supplements cited currently.
Since I joined the AFIA staff in 2017, being the contact for the Liquid Feed Committee and helping with LFS has been an enjoyable part of my job. In those seven-plus years, five research projects that were supported by the fund were finalized and presented at subsequent symposiums.
Most of the recent research has focused on growing cattle and the stresses associated with shipping and receiving. The inclusion of molasses showed production benefits when used in lieu of or in combination with other feed ingredients. Research from the University of Minnesota in 2018 helped the industry hone in on the optimal level of sugars (from molasses) to include in the diets of beef calves in the post-weaning phase. In 2017, researchers at Kansas State University compared the use of molasses in place of more traditional sugar sources in growing swine diets and documented effects on pellet quality as well.
While raising dollars for the Kenny Berg fund has taken on quite the fun persona, as we have held a live auction at LFS each year since 2016, it is easy to see that liquid feed research is serious business. Undoubtedly, the liquid feed industry is enhanced, and the body of nutritional knowledge is a little deeper, thanks to this fund and the visionaries who founded it.