With the swine market enduring ongoing volatility, producers face profitability challenges and are ever more driven to ensure they can make optimal use of their biggest cost: feed. When selecting a feed additive which helps achieve this, predictability and consistency are crucial.
In today’s Industry Perspectives piece, Novonesis’s Dr. Lea Hübertz Birch Hansen, Global Technical Product Manager, Swine, and Lena Raff, Senior Portfolio Manager, Swine, present their view on the current and future market situation while discussing the ongoing focus on delivering high quality feed additives and the global research Novonesis is conducting with its well-established BIOPLUS® probiotic product.
[Feedinfo] The swine market has experienced real volatility over the last few years, which has provided financial challenges for producers. Can you tell us more about this, and how you have been able to work with customers through such price swings?
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[Lena Raff] The volatility seen in the past few years resulting in profit losses for producers has put focus on the importance of predictability and consistency in performance, not just of the pigs, but also of the feed additives used in diets. High quality in feed additives is a must and should be part of the decision when selecting which feed additive to use. For us at Novonesis, offering high quality products that perform consistently to our customers is high priority. |
Lena Raff |
We work closely with our customers to find solutions that help them in their everyday challenges. We are fortunate to have worked with many of our customers for a long time. This creates trust for both parties, which is essential for an enduring collaboration.
[Feedinfo] Your BIOPLUS® probiotic has been available for a long time and is well-regarded in what is now a much more crowded market. Can you tell us more about the product and why it has been able to withstand the test of time?
[Lena Raff] Yes, it’s true that BIOPLUS® has more than 40 years of experience on the market. It is a dual-strain probiotic consisting of the strains B. licheniformis and B. subtilis, all natural, and over time we have been, and still are, accumulating data on the performance of this probiotic product in all corners of the world. This is important as the swine business is moving fast now, and as mentioned, the space for probiotics is becoming more crowded than it was 40 years ago. A close collaboration with our customers is also key to learn about their everyday challenges and together find a natural solution that helps them stay profitable.
[Feedinfo] There are so many different types and strains of bacteria used as probiotics in livestock feed. How can producers be confident about what they are offering when it comes to knowing the correct strain, its purity, viability, and whether the correct quantity is being fed?
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[Lea Hübertz Birch Hansen] At Novonesis, we leverage the knowledge and teamwork of our global organisation to make consistent products that deliver on performance and quality every time. Consistent results start with consistent quality. Consistency in identity, purity, quantity, flowability and viability is key for Novonesis when offering products to producers, so these parameters are naturally also met by BIOPLUS®. Let me elaborate on what that means: |
Dr. Lea Hübertz Birch Hansen |
- Identity: The right bacteria in the right bag. We use DNA fingerprinting to ensure that the right bacteria are produced every time. Rigorous inventory control and constant tracking guarantees the correct materials in the blend and final product.
- Purity: Only the right bacteria in the right bags. Ten in-process samples are taken per batch for purity checks and 45 different microbial and chemical contaminant analyses are carried out per batch from fermentation to release.
- Quantity: The right number of bacteria according to label. Our global qualification and validation standards ensure consistent outcomes for every product batch . Consistent quantity every time is secured via high quality and validated counting methods.
- Flowability: The right bacteria flow and mix well. Another way to improve the likelihood of consistent quantities being delivered is by using a product that is easy for the mill to handle and mix into the feed. Ease of handling at the mill will provide the end user with the best opportunity to observe improvement in their operation. Our probiotic blends are uniform in particle size and dust very little, ensuring a uniform distribution of the probiotic in feed.
- Viability: The right bacteria are viable and ready for action. Our Bacillus-based probiotics are stable with great shelf-life and viability. Being included in the feed as spores, the probiotic bacteria can survive pelleting and are compatible with most commonly used feed additives. Germination triggered by different factors in the gut ensures that the probiotic bacteria are active when needed.
[Lena Raff] It’s also important that customers are aware of what their challenges are, so that they can confidently choose the right probiotic for them. All probiotic strains have different features, so choosing the right one for a certain challenge is important.
The customers should also ask for high quality products – make demands and look at the data that lies behind. Does it fit into your production system? Can it be used for several types of diet and in combination with other feed additives? Those parameters are important to deliver a positive result.
[Feedinfo] Consistent positive effects are important when investing in and feeding an additive such as probiotics, especially in sectors where profitability can swing erratically. Can you talk about the trials you have done and whether they have shown this consistency?
[Lea Hübertz Birch Hansen] We have more than 40 years of experience with BIOPLUS®. More than 140 trials have been carried in recent years. Our extensive research and experience about this product demonstrate consistent, repeatable results in supporting optimal pig performance with BIOPLUS®.
According to a meta-analysis including 25 trials with close to 28,000 sows, BIOPLUS® application consistently demonstrates the ability to reduce empty days and return to oestrus which effectively limits overall non-productive days within the sow herd. Not only is sow unit profitability dependent on reproductive performance, but it is also highly linked to piglet vitality and robustness. Based on the 25 sow trials, feeding of BIOPLUS® implied an annualised productivity improvement equating to one additional robust piglet weaned per sow per year.
Variation of pigs weaned per sow within batches is no different than variation that is given to any biological system. It cannot be eliminated; however, additional value is obtained if it can be reduced. A recent multi-farm system evaluation of nearly 8,500 sows not only demonstrated a positive shift in the mean number of piglets weaned, but also identified the benefit of reduced variation in the number of piglets weaned from litter to litter over a one-year period. Improved variation provides greater operational predictability.
BIOPLUS® has not only proven consistency over time but has also demonstrated steady performance during times of greatest stress. Through various evaluations, BIOPLUS® has helped to reduce the negative impacts of stressful scenarios and helped to maintain performance. Analysis of 36 studies run over a 30-year period and involving 10,000 nursery pigs demonstrated an 8% improvement in average daily gain and a 4% improvement in feed conversion rate. This data was collected from multiple geographies, various management and environmental conditions, and a variety of genetic sources of pigs, yet resulted in positively impacted performance in 83% of the studies conducted. Ultimately BIOPLUS® improves confidence in production predictability.
[Feedinfo] As a global company, you are producing probiotics for use across the world, in many different systems and environments, as well as for producers who may have differing goals. How do you ensure you are able to meet the requirements for good performance across such a range of conditions?
[Lea Hübertz Birch Hansen] We continue to invest in delivering high quality products, testing our products in facilities in all regions to make sure our products perform consistently in all regions of the world.
When developing new probiotic solutions, after multiple in vitro screening rounds, we move into the pig. The first rounds of studies are mode of action studies where we, for example, carry out disease challenge studies or investigate nutrient digestibility. Secondly, we move into large-scale performance studies in controlled commercial-like facilities. Finally, we investigate the efficacy of the probiotic in commercial settings by selecting farms that have the capability to register different production parameters and at the same time are eager to improve specific productivity or health parameters. We exert ourselves to demonstrate the efficacy of our probiotic products in all regions under various climates, genetics, feeding and management systems.
[Lena Raff] This is also highlighted by customers as the key to being a trusted feed additive supplier. Our customers need to know that our solutions fit into their operations no matter which country or region they are in. The everyday challenges that our customers face can differ from region to region and therefore it’s important to keep investing in research and analysis of the market to be able to support our customers best.
[Feedinfo] What are you doing to meet the increasing call for sustainability in the sector?
[Lena Raff] At Novonesis we take pride in being as sustainable as possible. We have been ranked by Corporate Knights to be one of the most sustainable companies in the world. Sustainability is part of our culture, including when we innovate, operate, source and in the logistics of bringing our natural solutions to our customers.
We will continue our research in bringing these all-natural probiotic solutions to our customers in the future. We know that strains matter, and that different strains have different features that can help overcome the challenges we see today, tomorrow and in the future.
Published in association with Novonesis