02 February 2022 – The issue of sustainability is no longer just confined to boardroom discussions. It has been actively implemented by players in the animal agriculture and nutrition industries for a number of years now as they look to answer customer and regulatory demands to lessen their impact on the planet and its resources.
While it is no stranger to meeting these demands, French premixer, miXscience is looking to further its sustainability drive. The company, which has production facilities in France and Brazil, and currently serves more than 1000 customers in over 50 countries – representing around 10 million tonnes of manufactured feed – has armed itself with a renewed sustainability strategy to improve its and its customers’ contributions to eco-conscious animal agriculture and feeding.
For more on this, Feedinfo recently sat down with the company’s CEO, Jean Pierre Paillot, Marketing Strategic Director, Véronique David and Business Line Innovative Solutions Director, Michel Layus to get a behind-the-scenes look at miXscience’s refreshed commitment to sustainability and what exactly this entails.
[Feedinfo] Mr Paillot, in September miXscience launched a renewed, multi-prong focus to contribute to sustainable animal agriculture. What led to this development in company strategy?
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Jean Pierre Paillot |
[Jean Pierre Paillot] Contributing to sustainable animal farming has always been a key focus for miXscience. What is new is demonstrating how we can contribute, along with our customers in France and internationally, to the development of sustainable animal farming. We are a subsidiary of the Avril Group and our new positioning echoes the group's raison d'être: “Serving the Earth”. This concept, which the group launched in May last year, is all about contributing to creating a healthier food, energy and agricultural future for people and the planet. It is a contract of commitment that will guide the transformation of Avril and miXscience. |
[Feedinfo] Some might say that sustainability has been a major focus for a number of animal nutrition players for years now and that miXscience’s renewed strategy might be a little late to the game. What would you like them to know?
[Véronique David] We have been involved in the development of sustainable animal farming for many years. Alongside our first customer, (and sister company) Sanders, which is one of the top 10 feed producers in Europe, we have developed real expertise in reducing the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry, which has cemented miXscience as a recognised player in this field. The Sustainable Animal Health Management approach that we communicated in 2017 is a perfect illustration of this. We now want to capitalise on this expertise, which was acquired in the French market, and share it internationally.
This new positioning is both an accomplishment and a new start. As a responsible player in the animal protein food chain, and in conjunction with our customers, we want to strengthen our daily commitment to the development of sustainable livestock farming.
[Feedinfo] Let’s talk a bit more about this positioning and how miXscience is approaching improving sustainability in animal ag differently to its competitors.
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[Véronique David] First, it may be helpful to clarify what we mean by "sustainable farming". At miXscience, sustainability in animal farming is not only a question of protecting the environment. We believe that, in addition to this, to be truly sustainable, animal farming also needs to be technically and economically efficient, respect animal welfare and health, and produce food of high sanitary and nutritional quality. At miXscience 100% of our business offering is directly linked to theses four axes: |
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Véronique David- For Animal Health, our main focus is demedication and the related subject of immunity. Our project development today in this area represents more than one third of our R&D budget
- For Animal Welfare, our priorities are animal integrity and the reduction of stress effects
- In terms of Environmental Protection we believe this can be addressed through the reduction of carbon emissions, the efficiency of natural sources and the reduction of environmental effluents
- For Product Quality, our work focusses on both the nutritional and sanitary quality of animal products
For each issue related to these four challenges, we have developed a holistic approach that that combines our vast portfolio of products and services to offer our customers unique combinations of solutions. We cannot claim to be making a significant contribution to the development of sustainable animal farming by offering products alone. Our customers need more than that. The road to sustainability is still a long one and we have the experts, the digital tools and the training sessions to help our customers along the way.
[Feeinfo] Looking at these four values, what solutions are you currently offering your customers to help them tackle these challenges?
[Michel Layus] Through our large product portfolio – which includes premixes, minerals, and feed and farm specialties – and our services – covering areas such as nutrition and raw materials, industrial processes, farm management and value chain, sales animation, etc, – we have the capability to address many of our clients’ concerns.
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For example, when it comes to environmental concerns, we offer a tool called Matriciel®, which can calculate the environmental impact of feeds. It can be integrated into the formulation software and allows formulas to be improved upon in several areas of environmental concern, such as CO2 emissions, energy consumption, soil eutrophication, etc. It guides the feed producer in their production and supply choices. In fact, coupled with our formulation concepts and specialties, we can demonstrate a 50% drop in CO2 emissions in ruminants, while reducing formula cost by 7%.
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Michel LayusFor poultry producers, we provide an original approach to the problem of chicken breast quality, which combines formulation and products to preserve their competitive edge. To do this, we have worked with genetics companies on the characterisation of the different strains and technical feeding programmes in particular, but also on housing recommendations. We are also conducting research on new generation amino acids and on defining the ideal protein profile for poultry.
Regarding animal welfare, we have developed a holistic approach to control the risk of lameness in ruminants. From a ration audit and the evaluation of the state of the feet using our Noliscore® application, we can provide a nutritional action plan to correct the observed imbalances. To complete the nutritional approach, we recommend the application of our patented biocontrol solution: Nolifeet®. Biocontrol in animal husbandry is a different solution compared to chemical or pharmaceutical products. Nolifeet® is based on selected bacteria and can be applied by weekly spraying on the legs of ruminants. It has the ability to influence the microbial populations by promoting the development of positive bacteria. We have also developed other biocontrol solutions for swine, poultry and for aquaculture, and have about 15 patents registered in this regard.
In terms of animal health, we have made great strides in the demedication for aquaculture and piglets.
For salmon and shrimp, we have developed A-Live®, a patented solution based on natural phytoactives. By positively modulating the gut microflora and improving digestive health, it provides an ultimate gain in biomass leading to better harvests and economic results under challenging farming conditions. The efficacy of the solution has been proven in more than 30 positive trials run in several countries across Central and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
For piglets we have Valopro Win®, a unique hybrid solution for use during post-weaning management. It is a combination of specific fibrous elements, which allows for the lessening of protein in formulation and facilitates digestive safety and performance improvement. With improved feed conversion, and therefore a lower formulation costs, it can translate into fewer antibiotic treatments and less work for breeders.
[Feedinfo] Lameness in cattle and demedication in swine and aquaculture, although very important issues for farmers, are just some of the animal health and welfare concerns they are dealing with currently. What other key issues (i.e., heat stress, salmonella, etc.) concerning animal health and welfare are you exploring solutions for? When will they be available for the market?
[Michel Layus] Our ambition is to propose solutions to the current major problems of livestock farming. Some of these we already have on the market, while others will come in several generations of solutions (products and services), because we believe that only an all-encompassing approach is effective in addressing these concerns.
Heat stress is one of these issues and its direct control and consequences have been long-term programmes at miXscience. When considering the condition in broiler poultry, we have already deployed various solutions that address key concepts concerning this. This includes facility management, rearing management, and adapted nutritional programmes that feature our Metalixir S® feed additive, which contributes to the welfare and performance of the animals under heat stress conditions.
Mycotoxins are also a key issue; the prevalence of which experts say will increase thanks to global warming. Here again we recommend holistic solutions to our customers that involve concepts including the choice of raw materials, sorting of risk fractions, adapting formulations to the sensitivity of the target species, rapid analysis kit, etc. This is underpinned by our Protect® range of mycotoxin management products, which is comprised of the most basic binder solutions to the biotransformation of mycotoxins and supporting the physiological functions of the animal.
The management of salmonella is obviously another major issue as it is first and foremost a public health problem. Our practical knowledge of the whole chain allows us to support our customers, especially poultry integrators, from hatchery to processing with a complete diagnosis and the implementation of good practices. We are also investigating biocontrol solutions, or specific technologies applied to raw materials or feed, that can help control contamination or decontaminate products. These solutions are in the industrial development phase at our company and subject to the approval of our control authorities.
[Feedinfo] What changes have you, as a company, adopted to improve your own sustainability score? How are you contributing to reducing your carbon footprint?
[Jean Pierre Paillot] As part of the Avril group, miXscience is fully integrated into the organisation’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy called “SPRING”. It is a framework for action that centres Avril’s sustainability approach around five pillars and 14 themes that reflect its mission. It is also the name of a company-wide CSR scoring index which is currently comprised of 25 diverse indicators and actions for progress that were derived from consumer and societal demands related to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, animal welfare, product safety and quality, etc.
We have also put a particular focus on our actions towards animal welfare in our R&D operations. We have an ambitious programme focusing on the development of alternative methods to in vivo digestibility trials. We invest substantial time and budget internally, which are reinforced by active participation with our partners.
In addition, along with Sanders, we have put considerable effort into finding credible solutions to decrease the environmental footprint of their feed formulas. This includes promoting responsible raw material sourcing with a priority to reduce the level of our soya imports as much as possible. We are also working on decreasing feed protein levels overall without affecting animal performance.
We also initiated actions to accelerate the decarbonisation of our logistic chain and have committed to converting 100% of our fleet of trucks for downstream transport to Oleo 100, a biofuel produced by Avril, by 2023. At the end of 2021, around 80% of deliveries were already done with trucks using this fuel, which can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60%!
We are also committed to the “Taking action for the climate” promise which is one of the six priorities of Avril’s “Serving the Earth” initiative. This means a pledge by the entire organisation to reduce its direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. This will usher in a new, exciting chapter for all of us and 2022 will be the year we develop the roadmap and the concrete actions needed to achieve this!
Published in association with miXscience
