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Jim Helfter, Advanced Biological Concepts® Founder
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In Memory of Jim Helfter
Founder and CEO of Advanced Biological Concepts®
June 6, 1942 – October 26, 2014
Jim Helfter, the founder and late owner and CEO of Advanced Biological Concepts®, was dedicated to providing livestock producers with nutritional technology to achieve maximum animal health for the production of drug and hormone free meat and milk for over 45 years.
Jim’s evolution into holistic thought began when he was an aerospace researcher for the Martin Corporation, Aerospace Division in Colorado. Jim spent a lot of time studying animals in relation to his research on interplanetary travel and became concerned about the long-term effects of the widespread use of antibiotics in animals. He questioned the wisdom of injecting animals with antibiotics and hormones to treat the symptom or to make livestock grow faster. Jim’s experience as an owner and rider of long distance endurance horses added another dimension to his understanding of nutrition and mineral balance in performance animals as well as food producing livestock.
Jim’s years of hands-on experience taught him that animal health problems are due to nutritional deficiencies from single source diets and related environmental conditions such as confinement. He dedicated his company to the prevention of disease through nutrition. The company’s mission to “Improve the quality of life for mankind by improving the quality of life for animals through nutrition” is a reflection of Jim’s total commitment to this concept.
Jim dedicated his life to helping animals through improving their well-being both physically and mentally. He was a unique scientist blending his brilliant mind with uncommon intuition to develop state of the art animal feed products as well as ways to detox soil and water. From his roots in the aerospace industry to pioneering organic farming, Jim’s rebel nature kept him in the limelight defending both Nature and animals.
Jim was not afraid to take on the “giants” and he defended Nature and her creatures with his whole being, continuing to fight for the right to have organic and wholesome non-GMO feeds for animals. He was world recognized for his contribution to soil and water decontamination and was working on projects to assist a number of countries.
Jim passed away on October 26, 2014. He ensured that a system was put into place with trusted employees and professionals to carry on his legacy within ABC for generations to come.
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The late Bill Johnson of
IDM Free Choice Minerals
IDM Mineral World
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Bill Johnson
"IDM Free Choice Minerals"
June 13, 1933 – October 19, 2008
Bill (William Duane) was born in Osage, Iowa, on June l3, l933. Bill attended country schools in Mitchell county and graduated from Orchard High School in l95l.
Bill joined the Air Force in February of l952 and took his basic training at Lackland Field in San Antonio, Texas. He served in combat duty in Korea from January l953 to January l954 and spent the next eight years on several different Air Force Bases. Bill was discharged from the Air Force in Feb. l962.
Bill and Ruth were married on June l4, l952 in Osage, Iowa. They subsequently had 2 children, a daughter, Randi jo, who died in 2005, a son, Richard (wife, Teresa) who lives in Cedar Falls, Iowa. They have 3 grandsons, and 5 great grandchildren.
After leaving the Air Force they lived in Osage where Bill sold Morman feeds and also worked in a shop repairing televisions and doing electrical work. In l966 they moved to Sumner, Iowa where they owned and operated a television and appliance store.
Beginning in 1972, Bill was employed by TCI in Audubon, Iowa. TCI mineral company, started by Tully Talbot, was a pioneer in the free-choice mineral concept. They moved to Austin, MN in 1976 where Bill worked for McFleeg. Bill and Ruth moved back to Sumner in l979, where they again owned a television business, with Bill doing the TV repair.
The 80's were not turning out to be the best years for business, so they sold out, and Bill went to California and worked for Judd Zentmier, eventually taking over the mineral business from him. Bill was very successful in introducing the self regulated mineral concept to mega-dairies in California. These dairies were fed truck-farm processing waste; for instance, tomato rinds would be fed in the morning and carrot tops in the afternoon. With the free choice system, he was able to maintain a rolling herd average of 70 to 100 lbs of milk.
Bill and Ruth moved back to Iowa in 1987. When Tully Talbot passed away, the company was dissolved. A few years later, Bill, the former general manager of the old TCI company, resurrected the concept of individual free choice minerals and continued to develop and refine the technology under the logo of IDM.
In 1988 Helfter Enterprises, Inc, dba Advanced Biological Concepts®, started manufacturing the product line for IDM. Eventually Bill Johnson retired and Advanced Biological Concepts® purchased IDM.
No one knows where Bill got his knowledge about dealing with cattle, but he seemed to just "know" what cows were feeling and needed. Bill's dad was in the cattle business for many years when Bill was growing up, so maybe some of his "feelings" were inherited from his Dad.
Bill died in Riceville, Iowa on October l9, 2008, after an extended illness. His pioneering knowledge about livestock mineral nutrition is greatly respected and sadly missed.
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Richard J. Holliday, DVM, Senior Veterinary Consultant for Advanced Biological Concepts®
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Dr. Richard Holliday
Senior Veterinary Consultant, Livestock Division
Richard J. Holliday received his DVM degree from the University of Missouri in 1959 and conducted a private mixed practice in NW Missouri for 25 years.
He had been employed as the Staff Veterinarian by Impro Products for many years, and is now the Senior Veterinary Consultant for Advanced Biological Concepts® Organic Division, formerly Helfter Feeds, Inc, of Osco, Illinois.
Dr. Holliday became certified as a Veterinary Acupuncturist in 1988 and was President of the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society for a 2 year term from 1992 to 1994. Holliday has been actively involved in promoting organic agriculture and holistic veterinary medicine for over 40 years. He recalls that his interest in these concepts began when he was 14 years old and read Louis Bromfield’s books“Pleasant Valley”and“Malabar Farm."
Richard and his wife Ruth have been married for 56 years and have 3 daughters, 15 grandchildren and two great-grandsons.
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Gordy Jordahl, Water Physiologist, Advanced Biological Concepts®
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Water Physiologist
Gordy has over 35 years experience in the field of plant pathology and water physiology. He attended the Salk Institute and worked side by side with Dr. Peter Salk (a scientist and son of the late Jonas Salk, developer of the Polio vaccine), instituting a market for plant growth regulators on cover and row crops in the Midwestern states.
In the Mid 1980’s, he began consulting for numerous poultry operations in the south central region of the U.S., reading and recommending solutions for health based on water analysis. Gordy formulated numerous water soluble products for all classes of livestock in the late eighties to early nineties, based on water analysis. He consulted for several fluid fertilizer companies for many years making recommendations based on water soluable soil analysis through prescription fertility for crops. He developed numerous products compatible with organo-phosphate type pesticides to enhance a safety net for a healthy environment, crops and livestock.
Gordy worked numerous years in the field of soil science with the late Dr. Joe Waters, a major contributor to Western Fertilizer Handbook, used at many major University Agronomy departments. From the mid 1990’s to the present day, he has worked with Helfter Feeds Inc.® and Advanced Biological Concepts®, contributing to the field of water physiology based on livestock suitability and mineral formulations to enhance health and harmony in the organic livestock industry.
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