National Agri-Women Focus on Maine’s Growth Potential at Annual Convention in South Portland

 

Highlights local company improving animal health by reducing the use of antibiotics 

SOUTH PORTLAND – Maine Agri-Women are hosting the annual American Agri-Women convention in South Portland at the DoubleTree Hotel, Nov. 5-8, 2015. AAW is the largest coalition of farm, ranch and agribusiness affiliated organizations throughout the country. The organization works to ensure a safe, reliable and affordable food, fiber and fuel supply.

Tour and Reception: Agri-Women will tour ImmuCell of Portland, Maine today and take part in a reception starting at 2 p.m. The tour and reception will also include Maine Agricultural, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) Commissioner Walt Whitcomb and state agricultural officials.

“It is great that a national group of this caliber is visiting an innovative Maine company that is taking the lead in reducing dependence on antibiotics for food production,” said DACF Walt Whitcomb. “We are very excited that our state is hosting a celebration of American Agri-Women’s 40th year advocating for agriculture in Maine and nationally.”

American Agri-Women (AAW) is the nation’s largest coalition of farm, ranch and agribusiness women with more than 50 state, commodity and agribusiness affiliate organizations throughout the country. AAW members have been advocating for agriculture since 1974 and are now celebrating their 40th anniversary. 

AAW has been celebrating its 40th anniversary DRIVE ACROSS AMERICA. AAW visited and educated consumers about American grown food and fiber and visited with AAW affiliates and members along the way. It has been a great way to recognize and honor the important role that women play in American Agriculture and to develop a stronger network between American agriculturalists and consumers. After highlighting the exceptional agricultural, food and fiber system in the U.S., the DRIVE concludes at the national convention at the Double Tree in South Portland, Maine.

ImmuCell is a public biotechnology company that is developing, manufacturing and selling products that improve animal health and productivity in the dairy and beef industries. Their product focus encompasses prevention, diagnosis and treatment of economically important bovine diseases. ImmuCell is a publically held company that trades on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol ICCC.

Some examples of ImmuCell products:

• ImmuCell’s 85 employees have protected 16 million calves with their First Defense product since it hit the market. First Defense provides calves immediate immunity, thereby reducing dependence on treatment antibiotics and maximizing a calf’s genetic potential. First Defense in sold in the US, Canada, Japan, Korea, and China.
• ImmuCell is in the final stages of FDA approval for a product that would treat subclinical mastitis in dairy cows (Mast Out). It is unusual that a company of ImmuCell’s size invests to take a new product through the FDA approval process – but they are doing just that with Mast Out, their intra-mammary treatment for subclinical mastitis. Currently a producer’s only option is to treat mastitis with antibiotics.

A. Since there are no antibiotics allowed in our food supply, producers are required to dump the milk of treated cows down the drain rather than sell it.

B. Because the active ingredient in Mast Out is not an antibiotic (it’s a naturally occurring food preservative that we’ve further purified), producers would be able to treat mastitis and sell the milk/meat since it is safe. 

For more information on American Agri-Women: http://www.americanagriwomen.org/

For more information on Immucell: http://www.immucell.com