6/16/2022:
Whether you’re a multinational or a small local farm, partnerships are always important. Small-scale dairy farmers in Cambodia and those working on major integration projects all know that farming is heavy going without the right network. GD is also in favour of looking at the possibilities together with partners. One of these partners is Elanco. Rinse Boersma discusses the partnership. “Joining forces takes you further.”
Partnerships don’t arise by themselves, of course. For Rinse Boersma, Global Marketing Director at Elanco, GD was an old friend, so he knew exactly who to approach when Elanco was working on a new innovation strategy in Germany. “As a Dutchman in the veterinary field, you cannot ignore the knowledge and expertise of GD. Ynte Schukken (CEO at Royal GD, ed.) helped us to design and implement a new innovation model. One of the things this model revealed was that we needed to forge partnerships, and had to search more widely than we had done before. Since that time, we’ve worked together with GD on various projects, from innovative model studies to field trials.”
Conducting useful scientific research with animals, whether it concerns a model study or field trial, requires extensive knowledge and experience. It involves more than knowledge about a disease. A successful experimental design requires in-depth knowledge about both the target animals and the conditions in which animals are raised in practice. “GD has such expertise in-house, so it’s a valued partner in this field. Our partnership involves more than the process of innovation, it also looks at projects already on the market,” says Rinse.
Fruitful partnership
GD offers Elanco additional knowledge and expertise, while Elanco offers GD a useful network and the ability to reach the world’s animals. “This all comes together nicely in the training sessions we purchase from GD,” says Rinse. “We bring colleagues from all over the world along to the excellent training sessions prepared for us in Deventer (or locally). It works really well, and results in some interesting insights.” Sometimes the training sessions can be both interesting and highly fruitful. “We were taken into the lab during the Advanced Dairy Health course in 2016, where a colleague from New Zealand saw the bulk milk antibiogram. It caught his interest as it was something new to him, and he immediately saw opportunities for it in New Zealand.”
And that’s exactly what happened. That single training session was the catalyst for a new partnership based on the antibiogram. GD visited New Zealand, where the dairy antibiogram was presented to vets. It was so well received, that a large percentage of vets in the country are now using the antibiogram to help their dairy farmers. “I think this is a great example of how you can help each other,” Rinse continues. “We’ve got lots of customers in New Zealand, but we don’t have all the technologies in-house, so a partner is vital. Quality and scientific integrity are central to us, and these characteristics we can find at GD. It’s the best of both worlds.”
Connections and getting to know the context
It’s a way of creating connections, something Rinse considers very important. “New Zealand is a completely different world from a veterinary point of view, with a very different context. Our goal is to connect people. If our colleague from the country hadn’t been at the session in Deventer, the dairy antibiogram would likely still have been unknown there.” The training sessions really stimulate these connections. “It’s a way of bringing people together, getting to know the context in which others operate, and sharing relevant knowledge.
Being aware of the context in other countries is second nature at Elanco, as the company has been working as a global partner for years. “We work with the market, and closely monitor what’s going on locally. The animal welfare laws and housing practices for animals vary greatly from one country to another. We understand different requirements in each country, as long as they are in line with our animal welfare standards and values.” It’s therefore good that partners are aware that Elanco looks at things from a global perspective. “Across the world, dairy farmers only keep three cows on average. In Southeast Asia, many millions of farmers only keep a couple of cows yet manage to earn a good living with them. It’s a world away from the large farms in the US, which are sometimes owned by investors.”
This variation across markets is a challenge, because there’s a massive difference between farms with 3 cows, 30 cows or 100 cows. “Vets often administer treatments themselves at small farms, but this tends to be done by farmers at farms with 100 cows. Veterinary care at farms with more than 1,000 cows is handled differently again. These farms employ specialist staff, and the epidemiology in large herd changes. We have to be aware of these differences, because a farmer with 30 cows does a different job and has different needs to someone with 5,000 cows.” To work in such a range of contexts, Elanco needs various partners with the flexibility to adapt.
Accompany changes
“Animals and their health are very important, so I hope that together with GD we can have a positive impact on animal health, help the sector, and grow together in harmony with this changing context,” concludes Rinse. “Society and people are changing, and it’s important to keep up with this continuous change, together with partners such as GD.