AFIA’s roadmap for education and networking in 2025 [Podcast]

Steven Kilger - 00:00

Hello, my name is Steven Kilger, I'm the managing editor of Feed & Grain Magazine and the host of the Feed & Grain Podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today as we dive deep into the issues affecting the feed manufacturing, grain handling, and allied industries.

Today's episode is brought to you by the BinWhip from Pneumat Systems. The powerful dual impact BinWhip removes the toughest buildup and blockages in industrial storage silos without hazardous silo entry. Learn more today at BinWhip.com.

Today my guest is Sarah Novak, the chief operating officer at the American Feed Industry Association. Sarah was nice enough to sit down with me at IPPE this year and talk about what AFIA has planned for both digital and in-person education programs and what other trade shows and networking events the Association will be hosting in 2025.

I hope you enjoyed the interview. If you want to help out with the podcast, please rate us and subscribe. If you're listening online, sign up for the Feed & Grain newsletter, Industry Watch, to see when new podcasts drop and stay up to date with all the news from around the industry. With that out of the way, on to the show.

Hi Sarah, thanks for joining me today.

Novak - 01:03

Nice to see you, Steven.

Kilger - 01:05

It's weird being at IPPE and recording versus my computer, but it's nice because I get to actually see people.

Novak - 01:11

I love doing podcasts. I listen to podcasts on my personal time, so now I can actually be on a podcast. Very exciting.

Kilger - 01:17

My favorite thing about podcasts is I don't have to be on camera first.

Novak - 01:20

A hundred percent. I was very glad when you told me this, that it was audio only.

Kilger - 01:26

If people who are listening to this are not going to be able to come to IPPE at this point, if you didn't make it, very sorry, but it is what it is. But AFIA has invested so much in just doing these shows and programs for people throughout the entire year. Can you tell me a little more about what you guys have going on?

Novak - 01:41

We have an exciting 2025. We're at a really interesting point in the animal feed industry. We have a lot of folks that are retiring and we're trying to entice others to get into the industry. So, a little bit of our focus is on some of our new training programs.

We've had two online programs. We've had one online program for many years with K-State, the Fundamentals of Feed Manufacturing.

Kilger - 02:03

I've taken that program. I highly recommend it to people who are interested.

Novak - 02:07

Excellent. Then you should take our next one, AFIA 600. It's about quality, feed quality, manufacturing quality. It helps support our safe food program. We just introduced it last fall was the first course we're offering again here, I think in mid-March, and then we'll have another one in the fall. It's an online course on quality and feed quality. So really our members have asked us for more of that training type of education.

So, we've got those two programs. The other one that we've done every year in the training realm is our PCQI, Preventive Controls Qualified Individual. It's a mouthful. It's easier to say PCQI.

We do that every July in Nashville. But what's exciting this year is in December; we're going to do a PCQI refresher. So PCQI is a part of the Food Safety Modernization Act. So every manufacturing facility needs to have someone who's PCQI qualified, which can happen through either education and training or experience.

So now that FSMA has been around for many years, People are looking for that refresher course and some people were actually taking PCQI again and it wasn't quite the right fit. So they wanted that, I've taken PCQI, but now that I've done it, what are those additional questions I have? So, we're offering for the first time a PCQI refresher course in December this year. So we're really excited about that program.

Kilger - 03:20

And that's an in-person course?

Novak - 03:21

It is an in-person course. It is in-person just like the one in July is in-person and the one in December will be in-person. Both will be in the Nashville area. So we try and put it somewhere in the Midwest-ish. I'm a Wisconsin girl, so Nashville, I will say is Midwest. I don't know if I'm offending them or not. I don't mean to, but we're trying to find it somewhere in the heartland and where it's easy for people to drive in and out of.

Kilger - 03:42

That's good. It seems like you guys are investing a lot in both digital learning opportunities, but then also keeping with the in-person, which I think is good because obviously everyone can't make it to an in-person event every time, but we still have fun, new people coming into the industry, a big training. So that's really good to hear. I think so. And how long do those current courses last, especially the online ones? What's the kind of commitment to that?

Novak - 04:22

Yes, I think the KSU one is a little bit more formal. Each week you get a set of recordings to listen to and question and answer. I think it goes over the course of six, seven weeks or something like that. Pretty easy to commit to.

The AFIA 600 one, we release all the videos on day one and you have a period of about six weeks to watch them. So if you want to watch them all in three days, you can. If you want to watch one every other day or however it works best for your schedule, if you want to watch them on the weekends, you can do that. But the AFIA 600, we release them all at the same time. So it gives a little more flexibility to the attendees.

Kilger - 04:55

And you partner with K-State for those, right?

Novak - 04:57

For the AFIA 500 is with K-State. The AFIA 600, we actually worked with Iowa State to create the content, but we manage it all in-house.

Kilger - 05:05

That makes sense. Iowa State has a great feed program.

Novak - 05:07

They do. They've got a new feed mill out these days at Iowa State. Have you had a chance to visit it?

Kilger - 05:12

I haven't, at least gets to visit all the facilities these days.

Novak - 05:15

I've heard great things about it.

Kilger - 05:16

Yeah, it's supposed to be a very cool facility. You have other trade shows coming up.

Novak - 05:20

We do. Our big trade show is IPPE. And then we have a couple of programs. I like to call them networking slash education because the networking is such an important component. So, the big one is our purchasing of an ingredient suppliers conference. That's in March and we're going to be in Orlando. Registration is open.

We got about 600 people at that event. We have a great education program. We have some market outlook type conversations. We have a speaker on AI this year. But everyone shows up for the reception, so it has a huge networking component. There's a lot of business that truly gets done there. We have two events in the fall that are worth mentioning. Our liquid feed symposium, second to none. If you were in the liquid feed industry, if you're working in the cow calf, if you're working in that segment, there is nothing like this. So, they have market outlooks, weather outlooks, they bring in researchers on the latest research and they will get about 150-175 people. Great program for those in the liquid feed industry. Can't recommend it enough data from September and registration will be opening probably early summertime. And then our final event, our other one, is our equipment manufacturers conference. We fondly call our EMC event.

That is where kind of all the equipment, when you're going to build a feed mill, you have a builder and you have a bin guy and you have someone who's building your pallet mill and your buckets and your elevators. There's so many vendors and partners you're working with. That's where all these guys get together and they have a program. Their education program is amazing. One year it was all about HR, last year it was all about AI.

They really do a fantastic job bringing together some really interesting speakers. And they have a golf tournament where they raise money for the EMC Scholarship Fund, which is hosted at our foundation IFEEDER. They do a raffle, so they have a lot of fun in networking as well.

Kilger - 07:12

Yeah, I'm always jealous of the golf outings and stuff that I see pictures for.

Novak - 07:17

They enjoy their time on the golf course. They work hard and they play hard. Isn't that what we all aspire to do?

Kilger - 07:23

It's all for a good promise to you, because if I remember correctly, the golf outing is a charity golf outing.

Novak - 07:28

It is.

Kilger - 07:30

The scholarship foundation and things like that.

Novak - 07:32

Yes. They're supporting IFEEDER between the IFEEDER scholarship and the EMC scholarship. I think they're supporting seven or eight universities. So really getting that next generation of folks into the industry.

Kilger - 07:44

It all comes back to that.

Novak - 07:46

Yes. As I have a child in college, I know how expensive it is, but any little bit really does help these students get through college a little bit easier.

Kilger - 07:55

And it also gives awareness to an industry that a lot of college kids might not think about entering because they might just not be aware of it. Where can people find out more information if they want to?

Novak - 08:05

The best way is just going to our website www.afia.org.

Kilger - 08:13

And you can find a ton of other great information on there as well.

Novak - 08:16

Absolutely. It's going to be a busy year for us this year.

Kilger - 08:19

Yeah, I think so. And if people want to get involved, I think it's a great time to do it. There's going to be a lot of changes in the feed industry over the next couple of years.

Novak - 08:27

I certainly see, you know, aging and the retirements, which I'm always excited. I was just on the trade show floor about 30 minutes ago talking to a gentleman that I met pretty much within the first two or three months. So, I've been to AFIA and he's getting to retire at the end of the year. And it's so exciting to see these folks like enjoy their retirement, but it's sad to see them go.

Multiple speakers - 08:49

Thank you again so much for talking.

Kilger - 08:50

I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Yeah. Happy to do it. And until next time everyone stay safe.