IFEEDER's Strategic Plan For FY2011

EDUCATION GOALS

• Goal:  IFEEDER believes the future of the feed industry lies in recruiting people interested and challenged by industry careers.
  
  Project example:  Funding should promote the attractiveness of a career in the feed industry focused towards potential new employees with travel scholarships for animal agriculture students to attend AFIA meetings and/or other industry symposia
  
  
• Goal:  IFEEDER believes the industry should provide and promote positive messages about the work and products of the industry.
  
  Project example:  Partner with animal production industries to educate the consuming public on the value of animal products in providing a nutritious diet to sustain a growing global population.
  
  
• Goal:  IFEEDER believes that educating the feed industry can be a powerful tool in educating communities and families about animal agriculture.
  
  Project example:  Fund an education/resource template for feed companies to engage their employees in understanding how to address the animal agriculture critics in their communities.

RESEARCH GOALS

• Goal:  IFEEDER believes that government regulatory and legislative proposals must be science-based, and IFEEDER must maintain a liquid asset fund to challenge questionable or “directed” science that seeks to be a means to an end in over-regulating the feed industry or lacking justification based on real science and its meanings.
  
  Project examples:  Fund food/feed safety studies, such as economic and process studies in discussion of impending food/feed safety legislation/regulation.  Fund an economic study to estimate the ban on low-level antibiotics on both income to the industry, as well as the larger issue of loss of production and income to the animal producer community.  Studies in the environment area could include determining the cost/benefit of clean air restrictions on effluents from feed industry operations or examining impending labor regulations governing the so-called “dust standards.”  Funding could be provided to AFIA to assist in defining compliance tools for recent regulations/legislation via webinars, compliance guides and other needed assistance. 
  
  
• Goal:  IFEEDER believes that understanding the potential contaminants in feed are paramount to producing a safe feed and food supply from meat, milk, eggs and fish. 
  
  Project example:  Fund studies that will define the impact of Salmonella and/or other human/animal pathogens in feed.  Follow-up work might include ways to control/reduce these.  Defining methods to validate feed industry critical control points would assist in this effort. 
  
  
• Goal:  IFEEDER believes that the National Research Council has a rich history of assisting the feed industry since 1928 by assembling world class scientists to review research and develop cutting edge nutrient requirements for animal production classes. 
  
  Project examples:  Leverage funding for NRC nutrient requirement studies by participating in pools of projects deemed essential for the feed industry’s sustainability.
  
  
• Goal:  IFEEDER believes the impact of the feed industry and its carbon footprint are part of the larger footprint of animal agriculture.  Consumers, customers and others wish this to be defined.  Projects to assist in the overview of the industry’s sustainability index are necessary to answer consumers’ and customers’ questions.
  
  Project examples:  Fund research on the carbon footprint of commercial animal feed production to determine the sustainability index.  Provide education and outreach about the results.  After review of this research and if indicated, fund research to reduce the carbon footprint.  Further efforts could include studies to provide a baseline of the U.S. livestock industry.  This would include leveraging funds from other livestock organizations and universities for such studies.