By Eric Jenks, Special to NEAFA
For November, NEAFA caught up with Luke Lines, the Northeast and Canada Dairy Technical Sales Manager for Actus Nutrition. “Actus got it’s start in Dundee, IL, but we’re now based out of Eden Prairie, MN,” said Lines. “Actus has divisions for both human and animal nutrition. They’ve been around for about 80 years, and until last year were known as Milk Specialties. Actus uses whey and/or milk, and we break them down to produce specialty ingredients. Actus sells protein through the human nutrition division, and we make milk replacer from whey for the animal nutrition division. We’re the largest milk replacer company in the US, and export to 47 different countries.”
Lines joined Actus approximately a year and a half ago. “I like that Actus is a dairy based company,” said Lines. “We touch about 11% of the milk produced in the US, either through whey or actual milk. We make products for dairy calves, energy boosters for lactating cows and more. We help farmers make milk, and we then work with what they produce as well. We’re an innovative and growing company that is able to make decisions quickly and come out with new products regularly. We have a great research team devoted to innovation.”
Lines grew up in the agricultural industry. “My father is an agricultural economist, and we lived in a lot of different places growing up, either at the schools or farms where he worked,” said Lines. “Both of my parents grew up on farms in Western NY, but after my father left the Miner Institute for a position at Ohio State, we moved and I grew up there. There were not a lot of dairy cows where I grew up, so I went off to Ohio State and majored in Forest Biology for undergrad. My junior and senior year, I worked for the forestry department in Wooster, Ohio over the summer. During my free time on the weekends, I got a job milking cows and found out I had a strong passion for not only forestry but dairy. After I graduated, I joined the Peace Corps and went to Tunisia and was a large animal husbandry specialist for a year, and then I worked with them in Malta as a large animal husbandry specialist as well. From that experience, I knew I wanted to work in the dairy sector. I got my masters in dairy nutrition from Ohio State, and went to work for Elanco animal health in a variety of roles. Before joining Actus, I also spent time working with Merck, Balchem, and AmpliSource.”
Lines has a long history with NEAFA, going back to when NEAFA first formed. “It’s a great organization for making contacts, networking in the ag industry for NY, NE, and even up into Canada,” said Lines. “I’m happy to be involved with and help out with programs that they do, like HHNC, Golf for Good Works, lobbying in Albany, etc. It’s just a really good, positive organization that I’ve enjoyed being a member of for over 20 years.”
Looking to the future, Lines sees a lot of positives for the Northeast. “There’s a lot of growth opportunities in dairy right now,” said Lines. “I’ve been working up here for almost 30 years, and with all of the new facilities coming online, I’ve never seen the dairy industry poised to grow as much as there is right now. There’s a lot of opportunity for young people in the industry. I haven’t seen this much excitement and growth opportunities in the NY ever. It’s a really exciting time to be in the dairy industry here in the Northeast.
For more information on Actus, visit www.actus.com