Monsanto product launch shows business benefits of Banff Pork Seminar

New product plus quality audience equals launch opportunity

Left to right: Patty Smith, national account manager for Monsanto Choice Genetics (MCG), Kelly Fleming, marketing and product management lead for MCG, and Michael Lohuis, MCG director of animal genomics.

Eight years in the making. A promise of better meat production without compromising quality. A product geared towards the Canadian marketplace. Monsanto Choice Genetics' (MCG) marketing message was clear as it introduced its new GX terminal sire boar line at the Banff Pork Seminar, the annual seminar for the pork industry held January 16-19, 2007 in Banff, Alberta.

"For us, launching the GX terminal sire line at the Banff Pork Seminar is clearly a matter of profile," says Patty Smith, national account manager for MCG. "An event that attracts around 800 delegates from around the world is an excellent forum in which to introduce a product to both Canada and the world."

The product

Produced over a period of eight years, the GX terminal sire was developed to fill a specific need in the Canadian marketplace. Using what the company describes as a unique process of genetic mapping, Monsanto developed a composite line with the particular traits the Canadian pork industry looks for in its genetics program: lean growth, feed efficiency and meat quality.

"The Canadian pork industry has positioned itself in the world market as a supplier of quality pork," says Smith. "However, the trade-off for that standard of quality can mean less production and less feed efficiency. With the GX boar, we hope to provide producers with a product that provides the best of both worlds."

The genome mapping process allows researchers to identify genetic markers associated with desirable traits and breed those traits into a developing line, says Michael Lohuis, director of animal genomics for MCG. The technology also significantly reduces the time it takes to develop a line.

"Although it requires more effort to produce a composite boar versus a simple hybrid, we believe the long term advantages are worth the investment," says Lohuis.

Process and profitability

The GX terminal sire line is a product of Monsanto's aggressive bid to become a lead player in the burgeoning swine genetics market. In 2005, Monsanto invested 30 percent of its net sales into the company's swine genetics division for research and development — more than three times its average R&D investment across all of its divisions.

It's a significant investment into intellectual property acquired almost as an afterthought in 1999, when Monsanto purchased Dekalb's swine genetics division in a package deal with Dekalb's corn division. It was the talent that came with the acquisition, however, which drove the opportunity.

"The employees who chose to stay all had extensive background in the swine industry," says Smith. "Because of them, we entered the marketplace with a really strong foundation of scientific and marketing talent. From that point it was, and continues to be, a matter of going out and consulting pork producers, processors and veterinarians, identifying their needs and determining how to focus our resources."

Like most corporations of its scale, Monsanto puts its product concepts through an extensive process of marketing, manufacturing, production, operational, financial and R&D considerations before it even reaches the development stage. Naturally, it's profitability that ultimately determines whether or not an idea is going to be among the product concepts that make it to the marketplace. However, Smith says it's not the company's only measure of value.

"We really believe that the customer has to receive a significant portion of the value in order to be considered successful," she says. "There's no doubt that Monsanto wants to cover costs and make a profit on the technology, but at the end of the day we really focus on making sure the customer receives a high percentage of the value."

Benefits to producers

Conferences like the Banff Pork Seminar are becoming powerful ways to reach a quality audience in a very short period of time. For MCG and other companies, it's an opportunity to bring a management team together in a business environment. For producers, it's an opportunity to talk to the management teams of companies and other senior industry players.

"Those are two reasons why we brought along the MCG leadership team and other key product development staff to the Seminar," says Smith. "It's an educational process for everyone involved."

Quality attracts quality

Since its inception in 1972, organizers of the Banff Pork Seminar have strived to create an agenda that deals with the leading issues in the pork industry and a social environment that encourages delegates to participate. Ultimately, those who attend the Seminar are offered the best of both worlds: education and entertainment.

More information on the Banff Pork Seminar, including updates on next year's event, is available on the Banff Pork Seminar Web site at www.banffpork.ca.

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