Recap of the leading magazine articles published in Feed & Grain in the last year
The end of each year is a time to reflect on what we’ve accomplished in the last 12 months and review our successes. Using audience data as the judge, the following articles were the most read Feed & Grain cover stories, features and columns written in 2023:
Special reports
A favorite since our semi-annual construction report first appeared in 2020, managing editor Steven Kilger’s Feed and Grain Milling Projects Sprawl Across North America (No. 3) landed in the top three in 2023. Our exclusive list in each January and June/July issue is a great way to stay up-to-date on the new grain and feed processing and handling facilities coming online in your area and nationwide.
Lisa Cleaver’s Top 3 challenges impacting animal feed industry (No. 6), predicted supply chain woes, a continued labor crisis and high inflation to be the top issues heading into 2023 — all of which are still dominating headlines today, 12 months later.
In the February/March issue, Cleaver covered the grain industry outlook with her Top 5 challenges impacting the grain industry (No. 10), including insights from stakeholders across the grain handling industry. New government regulations, keeping up with the technology curve, and transportation woes, specifically with rail, were among the top industry concerns in the early part of 2023.
Facility profiles
Facility profiles rank high with readers year after year. Making the top five, editor Elise Schafer’s profile, New Feed Mill Advances Crystal Valley's Growth Mission (No. 5), detailed how Minnesota-based Crystal Valley Cooperative consolidated four separate feed mills into one cutting edge, high-speed location with the construction of a new 280,000 ton/year feed mill in Trimont, Minnesota.
The No. 1 spot on our list goes to Cargill Elk River Innovation Center advances animal nutrition research (No. 1), which profiles Cargill’s new modular feed mill, located at the Global Animal Nutrition Innovation Center in Elk River, Minnesota. The facility’s unique design is flexible and responsive to changing needs — perfectly suited for the research it was designed to conduct for Cargill’s swine, dairy and poultry businesses.
Tech pieces
Facility automation is so prevalent in our industry, there are nearly unlimited opportunities to share its features and value with our readers. Cleaver rounded up a comprehensive list of considerations to make when upgrading feed and grain processing facility automation systems with Thinking About Upgrading your automation? Here's where to start (No. 4).
While the next article focuses on sustainability and circularity, its detailed explanation of the technology behind raising Black Soldier Fly Larvae caught readers’ attention. Maximizing Circularity: From insects to high-value products (No. 7) covers the partnership between Innovafeed and ADM to expand production of zero-waste alternative protein ingredients for animal feed.
Columns
A few notable columns wound up in the Top 10 most read magazine content of 2023. An Editor’s View examining criticisms of US food safety came in second with Film fuels misunderstandings about US food system (No. 2). The editorial urges readers and consumers to recognize how high a priority animal producers place on human and animal safety.
Ioannis Mavromichalis’s regular column Nutritionists’ Nook offers a global perspective on a variety of topics for animal nutritionists. His article Incorporating commodity grain in precision (No. 8) outlined both the opportunities and challenges feed producers can encounter with uncharacterized commodity raw materials.
Longtime Feed & Grain contributors Dr. John Foltz and Dr. Jay Akridge have been offering readers trusted management advice for decades. In The Case for prioritizing middle management support, the authors shine a light on the important role and heavy weight middle managers carry in feed and grain facilities. Research shows companies that provide specialized support for these roles are more profitable and successful than those who don’t.
