Volga, SOUTH DAKOTA —As US livestock farmers embrace technology to propel a new future of feed – improving profitability through better performance, health and reduced environmental footprint – a fast-rising company championing this evolution in the feed additives space has announced an expansion of its team to help farmers succeed.

CBS America has announced the addition of industry veteran Michael Lash to bolster its sales and business development teams, focused on supporting customers and partners across the US. Lash, based out of Humboldt, Iowa, brings a wealth of knowledge and experience. He holds a degree in Animal Sciences from Iowa State University and has over 15 years in a variety of progressively senior industry roles.

“We strongly believe the best opportunities to advance production are centered around innovations that not only move agriculture forward but make a real difference at the farm level to the success and profitability of farmers,” says Mark Peters, Sales and Marketing Director with CBS Bio Platforms. “We are very pleased to bring Michael on board to help champion this vision as a member of our growing CBS America team. He shares our passion for innovation at the farm level, bringing a strong practical production understanding to help farmers determine the best fit for their farm.”

Rise of the Feed Science Platforms

The enhanced CBS America focus of CBS Bio Platforms was launched in 2020 anchored by a newly established distribution center in Volga, South Dakota. Leading the CBS America activity is the company’s newly expanded portfolio of flagship feed technology solutions — the CBS Feed Science Platforms (FSPs). The FSPs cover a range of solutions to benefit swine, poultry, aquaculture and ruminant production, including five areas — Bio-Catalyst technology, enhanced yeast technology, grain management technology, functional fatty acids, and phytogenetics and probiotics.

“The industry’s ability to meet a new generation of challenges and opportunities relies on getting more advantages out of feed, with science-fuelled, bio-based additives emerging as a major factor,” says Lash, who comes from a farm background growing up on his family’s farm in South Central Iowa – a diversified livestock and row crop operation. “CBS is at the forefront and I couldn’t be more excited to join the team at this important time of industry evolution bringing more options to US farmers.”

New pathways to performance

New advances in bio-based feed technology offer fresh pathways not only to transform efficiency and performance but also animal health, he notes. “I think we’re just on the cusp of really understanding and capturing the broad potential in this area. One of things I try to do is bring a practical production understanding to make sure applications work in the best way possible for the farmers implementing them.”

The next several years and beyond promise many new opportunities to increase value and advantages from feedstuffs – in ways both traditional and more cutting edge, says John (J.D.) Baltzell, Sales Manager, USA, CBS Bio Platforms. “The industry requires greater flexibility and options to lower costs, boost efficiency and meet a wider spectrum of demands. Feed science innovations put more power in the hands of farmers to meet these needs, while having much greater control of their own success.”

CBS America has rapidly boosted activity in 2021 driven by demand for FSPs along with ongoing advances from an R&D pipeline featuring numerous partnerships with leading institutions in Canada and the US. A key factor in locating CBS America in Volga was proximity to South Dakota State University in Brookings – a global leader in animal agriculture research, particularly in swine. CBS and SDSU recently entered a new three-year agreement, building on a previous five-year phase, to explore new opportunities to produce quality pork sustainably and profitably, with an emphasis on nutrition and feed technology interventions.

Synergy drives success

“As we learn more from research we are able to continuously evolve the FSP portfolio and related application strategies,” says Baltzell. “The good news is farmers today not only have more and better options, but complementary technologies that work well together. The inherent synergy among the CBS options is a big advantage ensuring the whole result is always greater than the sum of its parts.”

The FSPs are backed by a process to help each operation determine “What’s your FSP fingerprint?” — a new approach to precision livestock feeding that helps individual operations identify how they can best integrate and capture synergies among different types of feed technology.

More information on CBS Inc. Feed Science Platforms is available at fsp.cbsbioplatforms.com and additional CBS Inc. information is available at.www.cbsbioplatforms.com.