In it for the long haul

Alltech is a farming-household name across the world. Since its founding in 1980 by the late Dr Pearse Lyons, it has been to the fore of research and development in the areas of animal health, feed, and nutrition. One thing it is not so well-known for is film-making but that didn’t stop the company from entering that particular arena when the documentary, A World Without Cows, was released in September 2024. It was a departure, but not altogether surprising. “I have been with Alltech for 35 years," says Patrick. "So, I worked for Dr Lyons and I’ve been used to us doing some out-of-the ordinary things, whether that was sponsorship of the World Equestrian Games, or whatever else," he adds, smiling.
The documentary, as explained in a press release at the time of its launch, ‘explores the cultural and economic significance of cows, their role in nourishing the world, and their impact on climate’. It was commissioned by Dr Mark Lyons but its creation and final cut were the work of two journalists who were given full independence throughout the process. It was a story that needed telling – regardless of who told it. Patrick explains: “There is a growing frustration within the ag community – and I think rightfully so – because historically it would always have been recognised as a very valued industry and occupation. And there’s a frustration that we’re now being blamed for a lot of the problems [climate].” Alltech’s Planet of Plenty strategy, conceived by Dr Mark Lyons, introduced three basic foundations, Patrick says – sustainability, science and storytelling – and storytelling has been recognised as a powerful tool: “In agriculture, we haven’t always been very good at telling our story outside of the ag world. I think we are improving, and I think there is an appetite to learn about what is being done in that world."

While a negative backlash to the documentary was anticipated, it never really came, Patrick says, and he believes that the integrity with which the film was made is the reason: “It is a very honest documentary. At one of the film festivals we attended in San Diego, we were awaiting some [negativity] and actually the commentary we received was that while they [some attendees] didn’t  agree with animal agriculture and animal farming, they thought that  the documentary had given a fair and honest appraisal of the situation. Our intention was never to tell people what to think. Our intention was to just ask people to think,” says Patrick.
It is a valid request when you consider the growing world population that is expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050. In his November 2024 keynote address at Teagasc’s Sustainability in Agriculture conference, Dr Badi Besbes, chief of the sustainable animal production, feed, and genetics group of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), said this growth would lead to an increased demand for animal-sourced food. Consumption of this type of food he said, is estimated to increase by 20 per cent in 2050 compared to 2020.

Food security

Patrick was born and raised in the UK, the son of a farmer. He remembers his father saying, ‘people need to have been hungry to remember the value of farming’. He references this in relation to a question still on the topic of cows and their role in reaching climate targets - or not, as many believe. While A World Without Cows uncovered some really interesting stories resulting from the complex relationships between cows and humans, it also documented the ways that cows can positively impact the environment – a chapter of the story not often told. Yes, cows emit enteric methane, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, but the documentary also revealed how cows support soil health by boosting soil fertility through manure and grazing; how they provide critical nutrients for humans that are not easily obtained from other sources; and how they support carbon capture through regenerative grazing, which helps store carbon in the soil. So, are we past demonising cows and other livestock? “The risk of making short-term decisions to hit short-term goals is fairly dangerous,” Patrick says. “Cow numbers have been declining ever since I’ve been in the industry – that is nearly 40 years ago – because the industry has become much more efficient.
 “When I joined Alltech, the average herd size in the UK was about 85, and today it’s about 200, so herd sizes have increased while the total number of cows and number of herds have reduced, but the efficiency of production has improved.”
Food security, Patrick says, is a relevant point to make in this discussion and it was the point made last May when the then taoiseach, Simon Harris, ruled out a cull to the national herd to safeguard food security and to support our agricultural sector. He said, at the time, that nobody was questioning if we need less beer or what Diageo, for example, is doing, and he added that farming is sometimes seen as a ‘discretionary extra’ when it is a ‘core part of the economy’. Patrick adds: “I’m not against reducing cow numbers as long as reducing cow numbers can maintain food security. But if you risk food security as a result of achieving green targets, I think that’s potentially a dangerous place to be in.
“We have been able to track this kind of thing with Alltech’s E-CO₂ business that has been carbon footprinting herds since the early 2010s to show that actually the best way to improve the sustainability of our industry is to improve efficiency.”

Measuring the footprint

The E-CO₂ business (Alltech CO₂ ) that Patrick refers to came as a result of an acquisition, announced in early 2015, of a company providing on-farm environmental assessments and programmes. Patrick explains: “The business that we bought was doing carbon footprinting, but it has evolved into a business that can now measure sustainability. As the age-old saying goes, you can only improve things if you measure them and there isn’t a farmer today that doesn’t believe that they need to do better next year than this year and better again in five years. And they expect to do better through genetics, through better management, through the husbandry decisions they make on the farm. In my dad’s day, it was known as land stewardship, we’ve renamed it as sustainability today."
The company has, to date, carried out more than 20,000 assessments using on-farm and online approaches, and Patrick explains the significance: “Now there is a metric there that we can use to evaluate the decisions that are being made at farm level and actually give guidance to farmers, and food companies, on how improvements can be made.”
Farmers and landowners are in a unique position, Patrick says: “When we look at the opportunity to sequester carbon, it is really only forestry and agriculture that can do that. Everyone else is doing it by either buying credits that are coming from those industries or by reducing certain things within their systems.  Some of the projects we’ve been involved with have clearly shown that you can move certain farming practices to a carbon negative positioning.”
The E-CO₂ business has been running for 15 years now, Patrick says, and it has built ‘an enormous dataset’. One of the key discoveries that has emerged from the data is the real meaning of ‘sustainability’. Not only does it refer to things like methane and emissions, but also the economics and profitability of the farm, says Patrick.
“If, at the end of the day, farmers are forced into using a more expensive input system, but are not rewarded for that, then they will go out of business. And that is not sustainable,” says Patrick. “So for us, one of the important things to do is to highlight that improved sustainability can actually also be more profitable in the process.”
Additionally, he explains, they have been able to highlight the importance of cow robustness. Patrick explains: “So a cow with higher fertility, a cow that has less mastitis problems, a cow that has less lameness problems – all of these things support a more sustainable cow because she will produce more milk in her lifetime of production.” Of course, the question of who pays for the sustainability efforts of the farmer and the sustainability credentials of a farmer’s livestock must be answered by people other than the farmer, Patrick agrees.

Additive value

Alltech’s role in supporting farmers in sustainable production is multi-faceted and, as well as developing its own nutritional offerings, the company has been involved in complementary acquisitions and partnerships. Two years ago, it announced that it had acquired a majority interest in Swiss feed-additive company, Agolin, producer of plant-based oil blends to optimise feed intake and performance. Patrick comments: “It’s been a hugely successful acquisition for us. We recognised that, although we are operating in this area of improving efficiency of the animal, there was also a need for a more direct approach in terms of research and technologies coming through that area.  But there are no silver bullets. We have worked for many years in the silage additive business, and we would always say, if you don’t make good silage, you won’t make good silage with a silage additive, it will just be a little bit more expensive. I think the same thing applies here. These technologies are part of a holistic farm approach.” That said, there is a real need for these feed-additive technologies now, but the regulatory requirements make it challenging to bring them to market in a timely and cost-effective fashion, Patrick says.  “What it means is we’re perhaps behind other regions with the speed with which we apply these technologies.”
But that does not dissuade Alltech’s research teams around the world – including at its Dunboyne facility in Co. Meath – from focusing on creating a pipeline of new technologies across all species, Patrick says. “ We are still today selling products that were sold when Dr Lyons started the company.

Yea Sacc continues to be an important product and a growing product within the the overall portfolio. But I think we all know that if our business is based, in 10 years, on selling more Yea Sacc or more Sel-Plex, and only those, then it’s a weakened business model. So the exciting thing is, we’re not resting on our laurels in that regard. We have acquired some interesting and exciting technologies and we are also evolving and developing more partnerships.”
For Alltech that takes the form of joint ventures, or partnering with product development companies, or signing strategic agreements. For example, in 2021, it entered a joint venture with DLG (for the second time) when it became 50:50 partners in Finnish company, Kärki-Agri; last year, it signed an agreement with Tobermore Concrete, CEMCOR, and Road Safety Contracts to become a partner in the Mid-Ulster Biorefinery and Circular Economy Cluster, which aims to construct a 10-megawatt biomethane facility in Northern Ireland; and also in 2024, it signed a two-year strategic partnership with Meat Business Women. Patrick comments: “I think companies within agriculture should be looking at  who they should be partnering with to help them achieve their goals over the next 10 years.  I see it very much being part of our future development and I think that’s the right way to go because no one has a monopoly on good ideas.”
One interesting partnership for Alltech, Patrick explains, is on a representative level, with German company Alzchem. It sees both companies join forces to ensure that the German company’s methane-reducing slurry management/storage product reaches farmers. Patrick explains: “So it is their product, their brand,  but we’re partnering with them to actually get that delivered out to farmers and producers.” This is significant as, Patrick says, Alltech research shows that up to 90 per cent of methane emissions can be eliminated from slurry storage with the right additive.

Longstanding service

Patrick speaks fondly and positively of his almost four decades working with Alltech. When Dr Pearse Lyons died in March 2018 and his son, Mark, took the reins, it was an effectively-managed transition, Patrick says: “It’s been remarkably smooth for a number of reasons: one of which is that Mark has maintained, largely, the trajectory [of the company], and  within the global management team, there are a lot of people who who have worked here for many years.
“Mark learned at Pearse’s side, and I think he’s channeled an awful lot of what Pearse would have done. Pearse very much took us into an acquisitional process both on the nutrition side and on the technology side, and that has continued with Mark.”
The private and family-run nature of a company the size and scale of Alltech positions it as an outlier, but Patrick says that has been a real strength of the company, and it has not been on the family’s agenda to ever take it public. “I think for us, the single-minded goal is to focus on how we can continue to be successful with our current structure. It [private ownership] does allow for two things. It allows for a very quick decision-making process and it also allows for very patient capital. Mark invests in projects that are given time to be successful, but in a public business, may not be given that level of latitude.”