Lighthouse Agri-Solutions Founder Lesley Nernberg is part of an exclusive group that can say, “I packed up everything I owned in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and moved to Bangkok, Thailand.”
“For me, Bangkok is really a hub,” Nernberg said. “I do some work in Thailand but for me it’s also a way to reach much of Asia.”
An animal nutrition and business development consultant supporting feed ingredient and feed additive companies across Asia and the globe, Nernberg works with Northern Soy Marketing (NSM) to communicate the value of northern-grown soybeans and soymeal in Asian feed markets.
“It’s been a very natural fit,” Nernberg said. “What Lighthouse offers aligns quite well with NSM’s mission. I help clients with their messaging, how to position products and highlight their advantages to get their products to the end user, which is ultimately feed mills or integrator systems. I tend to work with smaller, medium-sized companies because they tend to not have that technical support within their company, so I fill that gap.”
Nernberg grew up on a grain and livestock farm between Winnipeg and Saskatoon before heading to the University of Manitoba, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in animal science and a Master of Science in animal nutrition, focusing on poultry.
“I kind of wanted to be a vet, but kind of not,” Nernberg said. “I decided on animal science and was able to gain employment during the summer on the poultry side in the poultry research facilities. That job got me close with one of the professors and I was asked to continue on to do my master’s in poultry nutrition.”
From there, Nernberg worked for a local feed mill across Western Canada, Landmark Feeds, selling poultry feed. A couple years later, the company was purchased by Maple Leaf Animal Nutrition and Nernberg became a poultry nutritionist, giving him direct experience with feed formulation, quality control, research and development, troubleshooting on farms and sales training.
“I was with Maple Leaf Animal Nutrition for 12 years,” Nernberg said. “I went from being a poultry nutritionist to being a swine nutritionist and then doing both. So, I’m familiar with both poultry and swine, which is sometimes unique in the industry.”
In 2010, Nernberg pivoted.
“I decided to make a bit of a move out of feed manufacturing but still kind of within the industry,” Nernberg said. “I went over to the Canola Council of Canada, where I was the canola meal manager.”
Pretty soon, Nernberg’s work for the Canola Council of Canada led him home to Thailand, where he’s lived for 14 years and has cultivated a deep familiarity of the regional feed and livestock industries.
“Long story short on a work trip to Thailand, I met my now wife,” Nernberg said. “Whether it was serendipity or coincidence, Wilbur Ellis was bringing its sister company, Connell Brothers, into Asia and was looking for a technical person to expand from commodities into other feed ingredients and additives. By chance, they opened an office in Bangkok in 2010 or 2011, and I moved here in 2012.”
Seeing the Lighthouse
After almost a decade of working for various companies in Asia, Nernberg launched Lighthouse Agri-Solutions in 2021. A few years later, NSM and Lighthouse joined forces to promote the quality, consistency and reliability of northern-grown soybeans and soybean meal.
“Lighthouse is well positioned to support NSM’s efforts in explaining the nutritional and economic value of northern-grown soybeans and soybean meal,” Nernberg said. “My knowledge of vegetable protein meals, ingredient evaluation and the role of protein quality in feed formulation paired with my experience in helping nutritionists and buyers look beyond simple crude protein measures to practical feeding value is valuable to NSM.”
For Nernberg, working with both ends of the supply chain is the most interesting part of working with NSM.
“Part of the enjoyment is that we are connecting the actual growers of the soybeans to the person that’s going to use their product at the end of the day,” Nernberg said. “Soybean growers maybe don’t really know what’s happening with their crop after it leaves the farm so part of it is educating soybean farmers and then link them with an end user.”
Supported by soybean checkoff dollars, NSM is dedicated to expanding export markets for Minnesota and South Dakota producers. With Nernberg’s help, the dream is becoming reality, slowly but surely.
“Southeast Asia is quite an important region to consider, and we never know what China’s going to do,” Nernberg said. “You can’t always put all your eggs in the China basket, so it’s good to be diversified. Hopefully, my role is acting as that regional insight and helping with that communication, the technical information into how they can really apply it at their feed mill.”
