"Innovation is so important to producers right now. Producers have a lot of issues they're facing," said Scott Hine, Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer with Novus International. "Specifically in North America, there's been a lot of talk about raising without antibiotics or a reduction in antibiotics and that's resulted in changes to the diet, which has changed the microflora in the gut and created new problems. So really, innovation is at the core of solving all of our producers' issues."

Producers don't face the same challenges they did a few years ago. So Novus is looking at new feed additives and applications that can deliver on the current needs of producers and help keep their flocks efficient and profitable.

Novus' theme this year is Pushing Boundaries. Hine said it focuses around providing new information and solutions to problems customers are facing like meat quality.

"Woody breasts and white striping are quite prevalent and costing the industry millions and not just in North America. These solutions are portable. They can work all over the world, and we can help design them with our customers for their feed applications," Hine noted. "For gut health challenges, we're providing products that are helping our customers reduce inflammation, reduce stress and help poultry grow and absorb those nutrients extremely well."

Another project that's Novus has just started working on but Hines said has had excellent results so far, is their epigenetics strategy and program.

"We're looking at how to help modulate the gene production of the animals by feeding maternally, so the chicks grow better because mom ate well," Hine concluded.