Skip to main content

InTouch et UNIFORM-Agri collaborent pour continuer à améliorer l'efficacité des exploitations laitières

Submitted by tpacalier on Fri, 11/29/2019 - 06:22
InTouch, la plateforme primée de nutrition et gestion des données d’élevage, et UNIFORM-Agri, l'un des principaux fournisseurs de logiciels de gestion de troupeaux au monde, sont heureux d'annoncer une nouvelle collaboration passionnante de partage de données, dans le but de fournir aux exploitations laitières des outils et informations de pointe pour la gestion des troupeaux.

Durabilité

Submitted by tpacalier on Fri, 11/29/2019 - 04:46

Durabilité

La question de la durabilité n'est plus un négociable en agriculture. Toute l'industrie est confrontée à des pressions croissantes pour réduire les émissions de méthane et de dioxyde de carbone. Face à l’intérêt croissant pour les ressources limitées de notre planète, il nous incombe d’être proactifs dans la recherche de solutions et de partenariats susceptibles de réduire la pression sur l’environnement et de donner la priorité à la durabilité sur les exploitations agricoles. KEENAN est à l'avant-garde pour aider les agriculteurs à atteindre une empreinte carbone neutre. Nous avons breveté un certain nombre de nos innovations qui rendent nos machines non seulement plus sûres mais également durables et économiques.

Carbon Trust valide KEENAN comme première mélangeuse "écologique" au monde 

KEENAN, a été certifié par le Carbon Trust comme une solution d'alimentation plus durable et prouvée pour réduire les émissions de méthane en élevage. KEENAN est depuis longtemps synonyme d'ingénierie à la pointe de la technologie en matière de nutrition animale, notamment grâce à sa capacité à produire un mélange homogène unique qui optimise la santé du rumen et garantit des performances régulières et continues pour les animaux.

Après avoir étudié les résultats de la mélangeuse KEENAN et examiné les données du contrôleur KEENAN, le Carbon Trust a établi que la mélangeuse pouvait augmenter l’efficacité du rumen en fournissant des aliments plus faciles à digérer pour les bovins. Carbon Trust a également vérifié qu'une réduction de la production de méthane liée à une performance accrue du rumen (par litre de lait et un gain de poids vif quotidien chez les bovins) est le résultat d'une amélioration de l'efficacité alimentaire chez les animaux d'élevage. .

KEENAN estime que cela peut générer jusqu'à 25% de méthane en moins lorsqu'un troupeau  reçoit des rations provenant de la mélangeuse KEENAN et du contrôleur KEENAN.

<>Accordion

Há muito a ser dito para na busca de equilibrar nossos pontos fortes, e essa é uma mentalidade que Bianca Martins tem adotado firmemente durante sua trajetória de sucesso.

Submitted by ebetioli on Wed, 11/27/2019 - 12:43

Em apenas 12 anos na Alltech, Bianca foi da área de vendas em 2007 para o cargo de gerente geral do México, que assumiu no início deste ano.

"Não há limites para as mulheres no campo", diz Bianca.

"Mas podemos ver mais sucesso quando as mulheres respeitam suas próprias aptidões naturais".

Bianca é graduada em zootecnia, com MBA em Agronegócio e mestrado em produção e nutrição animal concluído em 1998 e, animada por se desenvolver na carreira, começou a trabalhar em uma empresa de produção de monogástricos em larga escala no Brasil, antes de ingressar na Alltech.

Aproveitando as oportunidades apresentadas para adquirir experiência durante esse período, Bianca passou algum tempo no departamento de premix, bem como com a equipe de pesquisa no laboratório de nutrição animal, bioquímica e patologia de aves.

Bianca recorda que nesta época esta indústria era um ambiente composto, em sua maioria, por homens.

Ela lembra de ter apenas algumas colegas no campo, mas nunca na mesma empresa.

“Curiosamente, nunca tive uma referência feminina no meu trabalho, nem mesmo na área de pesquisa ou finanças, todos eram homens”, diz Bianca.

“Lembro que, no começo da minha carreira no agronegócio, contei mentalmente quantas mulheres encontrei em um congresso nacional que tivemos no ano de 1997.”

“Havia 250 pessoas na sala, mas foi uma tarefa fácil; éramos apenas sete mulheres e eram compostas por quatro nutricionistas internas e três que atuavam no campo com agricultores, e uma delas era eu.

Trabalhando em um setor que, segundo ela, agora é desafiado diariamente a se reinventar e permanecer lucrativo, Bianca dá os créditos àqueles que trilharam o caminho antes dela.

“As mulheres começaram a mudar o campo há mais de 20 anos, quando decidiram estar presentes no agronegócio.”

“As primeiras mulheres do agronegócio tiveram que lutar para ter voz no setor.”

“Vi algumas representantes dessa geração facilitar mudanças extraordinárias na maneira como produzimos alimentos.”

“Tive a sensação de que elas eram gigantes quando eu era jovem, com uma voz forte que exigia muito respeito onde quer que elas decidissem estar.”

"Elas abriram todas as portas para a próxima geração, as quais agora faço parte."

Olhando para o presente e para a indústria do jeito que é hoje, Bianca acredita que a mulher não apenas foi aceita, como também passou a desempenhar um papel importante, mas diferente do papel dos homens.

"Não significa melhor ou pior", continua ela.

“Isso significa que a indústria aceitou homens e mulheres que persigam o mesmo objetivo, trabalhando juntos para alcançar um objetivo comum.”

“Mas vivemos tempos de mudanças sem precedentes.”

"A maneira como vivemos, os relacionamentos familiares, a política, a educação, a comida e as crenças têm mudado tão profundamente nas últimas décadas, dando-nos tantos novos fatores para lidar diariamente."

A comunicação e a tecnologia, afirma Bianca, são fundamentais para isso e se manifestam como alguns dos desafios que enfrentaremos no futuro.

“O agronegócio deve encontrar uma maneira de compartilhar mais informações com os consumidores. A geração atual deseja comer de forma saudável, com menos impacto ao meio ambiente.”

“O gerenciamento e a adaptação dos avanços tecnológicos no campo também precisam de uma organização cuidadosa, em termos de incorporação destes para melhorar a produção e a rastreabilidade exigidas por nossas cadeias de suprimentos.”

“Será revolucionário, por exemplo, se a indústria puder encontrar maneiras de prever uma doença e evitá-la antes do colapso de um sistema, como vimos recentemente com a situação da febre suína africana na China.”

"Os robôs, a block chain e o reconhecimento facial são as novas ferramentas do futuro?"

Com essa mudança em andamento, Bianca sente que a mulher pode se concentrar nos atributos que as diferenciam de seus colegas com vistas a alcançar o sucesso.

“As mulheres são líderes incríveis, com um alto nível de espírito de equipe e guias excepcionais em uma cultura de mudança.”

“Em algumas pesquisas antropológicas de natureza feminina, podemos encontrar proteção e prevenção como comportamentos principais de grupos femininos.”

“Quando um grupo de animais está em perigo na natureza, as fêmeas são as primeiras a alarmar e proteger o grupo, às vezes em detrimento de seus objetivos individuais.”

"Transportando essa ideia para as relações humanas, em qualquer tipo de projeto em que as mulheres possam expressar seu cuidado e respeito à individualidade, elas terão sucesso".

Em um setor que Bianca considera rico em oportunidades, há espaço para indivíduos de qualquer gênero que tenham boa vontade e buscam ter sucesso.

“Repito sempre para os que estão chegando: se você pode sonhar, pode fazê-lo, basta fazer um esforço extra para fazê-lo rapidamente.”

<>Premium Content
Off
<>Featured Image
Há muito a ser dito para na busca de equilibrar nossos pontos fortes, e essa é uma mentalidade que Bianca Martins tem adotado firmemente durante sua trajetória de sucesso.
<>Date
<>Featured Image License
Off
<>Feature
Off
<>Crop Science Focus Areas
<>Article Type
<>Regions

ONE: Конференция идей Alltech

<>Hubspot
<!--[if lte IE 8]>
<script charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript" src="//js.hsforms.net/forms/v2-legacy.js"></script>
<![endif]-->
<script charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript" src="//js.hsforms.net/forms/v2.js"></script>
<script>
hbspt.forms.create({
portalId: "745395",
formId: "920b6a6d-072b-4673-aa18-4e395e7c20ca"
});
</script>
<>Event Header Image
ONE

How to solve the greatest challenge in the feed industry

Submitted by lkeyser on Mon, 11/25/2019 - 13:50

Over the next few years, food production must almost double to meet the needs of the world population and the global demand for protein. This has put pressure on the livestock sector to maximize output while reducing the usage of resources, making animal feed the largest and most important component in the industry to provide healthy and sustainable animal protein.

One of the biggest challenges for the feed industry and animal nutrition is the rising cost of feed, which can account for up to 70% of total production expenses. Furthermore, around 25% of the available nutrients cannot be fully utilized by the animal due to anti-nutritional factors in the feed, which could be costly for the global livestock industry.

Today, the greatest challenge for the nutritionist in the feed industry is reducing this indigestible fraction and maximizing feed efficiency based on nutritional and economic factors, which often vary and may be unique to each production system.

Improving animal and feed performance with feed innovation

Scientific innovation is critical for the future of animal nutrition and protein production. Some key areas of focus for the global animal feed industry to improve animal and feed efficiency are:

  • Improving animal performance characteristics (e.g., feed-to-weight-gain ratios, smart feed for more nutritious animal products)
  • Minimizing costs (e.g., less expensive base ingredients, more efficient utilization of grain for feed)
  • Maximizing feed production efficiencies in a sustainable way (e.g., processes and practices)

While traditional feedstuffs continue to be used at high rates, new and novel feedstuffs are now routinely implemented in animal feed formulation. A range of innovative applications are being used to optimize and assess the continued development of efficient and sustainable advances. Advanced technologies, such as nutrigenomics, reveal the relationship between feed nutrients and gene expression. Nutrigenomics allows the industry to identify feeds that can help animals reach their genetic potential by directly impacting the genes responsible for growth rate, meat quality and disease prevention.

Another technology that will allow for the prompt characterization of the nutritional value of raw feed materials is in vitro digestion modeling. These models, which can be used for both poultry and swine, provide real-time decision-making options to maximize feed usage while also improving animal production.

A third area of feed innovation involves providing supplemental feed that contains exogenous enzymes, also known as feed enzymes, which aid digestion by promoting the release of nutrients that are typically unavailable to the animal, improving animal performance in a sustainable way.  

The role of enzymes in the feed industry

Enzymes, which are essential for life, serve a wide range of functions and are especially important to the feed industry, thanks to their ability to break down nutrients. Enzymes are naturally occurring catalysts that speed up the rate of most chemical reactions that take place within cells.

Enzymes play a key role in the animal’s digestive process. Although digestive enzymes are produced by the animal itself — or by naturally occurring microbial organisms in the animal’s digestive system — producers have also used exogenous feed enzymes for many years for nutrient utilization and improved performance in animal feed.

Using poultry nutrition as an example, feed substrates and enzymes can generally be thought of in three ways:

  1. Naturally produced endogenous poultry enzymes in the digestive tract of the bird for the liberation of nutrients from feed components, such as starches, proteins and lipids
  2. Exogenous enzymes not native to the animal’s digestive system that act on recalcitrant substrates, which are not easily digested but which could potentially be utilized as nutrients, such as the glucose in cellulose in poultry diets (e.g., use of cellulase enzyme in poultry nutrition)
  3. Exogenous enzymes not produced by the animal’s digestive system that could act on difficult-to-digest substrates, as well as any anti-nutritive effects, due to compounds such as β-glucans, xylans and phytate (e.g., phytase enzyme in poultry feed)

Performance and profitability are often the primary reasons for utilizing feed enzymes, as they are the direct result of the improved digestibility and the increased availability of nutrients like phosphorous, carbohydrates and amino acids and, in turn, an increase in available energy as well. However, feed enzymes also allow for the use of a broader range of feedstuffs, which can allow for flexibility in the formulation of the diet by using non-conventional sources or alternative raw materials. These alternative sources are a direct result of the growing demand for corn, wheat and soybean meal. The increased demand for grains has also increased their value, leading feed producers and nutritionists to look for alternative feedstuffs to reduce costs. Non-conventional dietary sources, however, might not be as readily digestible, as the animal may lack the necessary endogenous digestive enzymes and, as such, will glean less nutrition from the feed. The utilization of exogenous enzymes to make the feed more digestible increases the nutritional value of these non-conventional feed sources for the animal.

Over the past 20 years, enzyme supplementation in the animal feed sector has grown and developed dramatically. The global feed enzyme market is currently estimated to be more than US$1 billion and is expected to grow by another 8% over the next five years. Right now, phytase holds the largest market share; however, the use of proteases and NSP enzymes, such as xylanase, has accelerated to such an extent that they are being included in over 57% of monogastric diets. Enzymes in poultry feed has been the largest segment, followed by the swine and aquaculture industries.

Feed enzymes over the years

Early research studying the role of enzymes in poultry nutrition was already taking place in the 1920s. The R&D evolution continued through the 50s and 60s, when barley diets were commonly fed, and research showed that enzymes improved poultry performance. During the 80s and 90s, a better understanding of NSPs in fiber and their impact on animal performance became a focus of the research, and the use of xylanase also became prevalent. During the late 90s, the use of phytase became standard practice. Currently, in terms of the feed penetration of phytase and carbohydrase enzymes such as xylanase, the feed enzyme sector is a mature market. The benefits of providing exogenous enzymes in the feed include the reduction of anti-nutritional factors in the animal feed, the use of lower-cost feed ingredients and an improvement in feed conversion and animal performance — but in order to get the most out of your animal nutrition, it is important that you choose the right feed enzyme to meet your needs.

A unique process development

The majority of feed enzyme production originates by using both bacterial and fungal microorganisms produced either from the submerged fermentation (SmF) or solid-state fermentation (SSF) processes. 

Naturally occurring microbial strains for the production of enzymes are of great value and continue to be utilized, but the use of recombinant versions accounts for the majority of industrial enzyme production today. 

Solid-state fermentation systems can be tailored to address specific needs based on the substrate and microbial selection. For example, Aspergillus niger produces a cocktail of enzymes that contain multi-enzymes such as phytase, xylanase, cellulase, protease and β-glucanase. These enzymes, both as individual applications or as a concoction of enzymes, have a broad spectrum of industrial applications.

Early assessments characterized SSF as being a simplistic process, less technologically advanced than the SmF process, but that assessment was later shown to be erroneous and based on a poor understanding of SSF process requirements. Recent rigorous studies have shown that, with the proper design, the technical and economic advantages of SSF far outweigh those of SmF. The many economic advantages of SSF over SmF include a lower capital investment, lower energy requirements, a lower environmental impact based on water consumption and waste generation, and lower costs for downstream processing. Additional studies are needed to continue identifying opportunities for agro-industrial residues as substrates and to match the appropriate microbes to cultivation conditions. Tray fermentation has become the proven leader in large-scale SSF applications, and much work has been completed on the control of key parameters to optimize growth at a commercial scale. Innovations in engineering to allow for large-scale SSF processes offer a major opportunity for growth in the commercial enzyme industry.

Maximizing feed efficiency with enzyme technologies

Enzymes are well-known to be an effective solution for optimizing feed efficiency. Enzyme supplementation in animal diets increases nutrient digestion by breaking down anti-nutritive components, such as phytate and NSPs, into forms that are more readily absorbed by the animal, reducing the environmental impact as well, while saving on costs for producers. 

Feed efficiency starts with an accurate knowledge of raw materials and their quality, allowing for the precise adjustment of the feed formulation. How well an enzyme performs, in many cases, is determined before it even reaches the animal. Feed processing methods — whether milling, grinding or, particularly, pelleting — can have a major impact on enzyme stability. Furthermore, digestive tract conditions, particularly pH changes and substrate availability, can also influence enzyme efficiency.

Enzyme characteristics can vary widely depending on the source. Solid-state fermentation has the potential to offer competitive advantages based on cost and efficacy.

Click here for more information about the Alltech Enzyme Management Program.

<>Premium Content
Off
<>Featured Image
<>Date
<>Featured Image License
Off
<>Feature
Off
<>Animal Nutrition Focus Areas
<>Crop Science Focus Areas
<>Article Type
<>Products
<>Regions
<>Image Caption

Food production is required to almost double to meet the needs of the world population and the global demand for protein, putting pressure on the livestock sector to maximize output while reducing the usage of resources. This will make animal feed the largest and most important component in the industry to provide healthy and sustainable animal protein.

<>Content Author

Dr. Jeffrey Bewley: Get tech-savvy on your dairy

Submitted by rladenburger on Mon, 11/25/2019 - 13:44

To improve profitability and meet consumer demands, farmers need to manage dairy cow comfort as well as intakes, body temperature, stress levels and additional aspects for each cow. Without precision dairy monitoring and real-time data, this is nearly impossible. Dr. Jeffrey Bewley, Alltech's dairy housing and analytics specialist, shares where technologies like robotic milking and sensors come into play.

The following is an edited transcript of Kara Keeton’s interview with Jeffrey Bewley. Click below to hear the full audio.

Kara:              Dr. Jeffrey Bewley, Alltech's dairy housing and analytics specialist, is with me today to talk about the impact of technology on the dairy industry. Glad to have you today, Jeffrey.

 

Jeff:                Glad to be here. Thank you.

 

Kara:              I know your interest in the dairy industry grew from your involvement with your family's dairy operation in Kentucky. How did experiencing a traditional operation inspire your research today?

 

Jeff:                In the end, what drives me is helping dairy farmers and helping improve the lives of dairy cows, and that was something that was instilled in me from a very young age on the dairy farm in Kentucky from my grandfather. He was actually quite a good dairy farmer and didn’t realize it at the time, but I learned a lot from him. I learned the importance of understanding records and data. From a way too young age, I was working with spreadsheets for the dairy farm, and that got me interested in data. I really guess I was probably born at the right time in that regard because, now, we have a data explosion. You hear about terms like big data and precision dairy and the internet of things, and here I am in the right place at the right time, because those are now very important parts of dairy operations and are going to continue to be more and more important because there's a massive opportunity with the amount of data that we have available to us now on dairy farms.

 

Kara:              You mentioned precision dairy monitoring. What opportunities can that provide to dairy operators?

 

Jeff:                Basically, when I refer to precision dairy monitoring, I'm talking about monitoring individual variables on the same animals across time. We might be looking at something behavioral — for example, a Fitbit for cows kind of an idea — or we might be looking at something within the milk or something physiological with the animal, or looking even with image analysis to look at the contour of the animal for something like how thin or how fat the animals are.

 

                        So, we're looking at these variables, trying to perform a management by exception approach. We're looking for animals that maybe are deviating from their normal behavior; that might indicate that it's time to take some kind of an action with that animal. For example, there might be an early indication that that animal is becoming sick. These technologies provide us an opportunity to monitor cows 24 hours a day. They're watching that animal, and they give us an early indication that something is going on. If we're able to detect something early, then the chances that we're going to have a successful intervention are higher, so, basically, it's all about making the lives of the animals better.

 

Kara:              I love the idea of a Fitbit for dairy cows. How are farmers embracing this technology? We all know some are tentative to move to something new. In your work, your research and your work on the farms and with farmers, are they accepting this new technology? Are they seeing the benefits of this into their operation?

 

Jeff:                They're generally fairly accepting of the technology. I think they see the value in it. They see the real-world stories, and they see the differences that the technology can make. The biggest issue, ultimately, probably comes down to cost. There's a cost involved, and the last few years have not been the strongest for milk prices, so it's been a little bit difficult in terms of adoptions, because people haven't had the extra capital to invest in those kinds of improvements. But for those that have had that or those that see that they need it to take them to the next level, they've been able to adopt that type of technology very readily and very successfully.

 

Kara:              Those that are embracing technology, of course, still have to focus on the day-to-day operations. Is technology replacing the human factors in operation, or is it just enhancing their ability to run a successful dairy operation?

 

Jeff:                It is definitely not replacing it. It may replace, in some cases, some of the monotonous tasks that are involved. For example, if we think about something like robotic milking, milking is pretty much a monotonous task, and robotic milking is able to do that, but in general, I would actually say that the use of technologies on dairy farms increases the need for people that really can understand cow behavior and can interpret what that information means. It increases the level of skill required.

 

                        So those that really understand animals and really can read beyond what the data might say are the ones that are going to benefit the most from the technologies. The people that use it as an easy way out are not going to be very successful. The analogy that I use a lot of times is, for example, if people want to lose weight, then it would be really nice if we could go down and take a pill and automatically lose weight. In reality, you still need to exercise and eat better, and I think that's the case with dairy farms too.

 

                        It's not an easy way out. We can't put a technology and, suddenly, things get better. You still need to be a good manager and know how to use and interpret that data.

 

Kara:              You spoke of the automatic milkers on farms, and that technology is a time-saver and labor-saver for farmers. How are technologies impacting dairies across the world? Are we seeing, on a global scale, this technology embraced, or is it more in the U.S. and maybe Europe?

 

Jeff:                There are definitely differences in the technology adoption around the world. I think, in general, Europe and Israel are the biggest adopters of technology. The United States is definitely behind in that regard. I think a lot of that has to do with labor costs. European labor costs are higher. That means that the technologies start looking economical sooner. Then, another factor is that a lot of our operations in the U.S. are larger, and some of the technologies, the economy as a scale, aren't quite there, so it still makes sense to do things with people instead of with technology, in that case. Also, I think the economic conditions in the last few years would have an impact, too.

 

Kara:              With your work at Alltech and the research that you're doing here and around the world, what new technologies are on the horizon that will really change the way that dairy producers manage their animals in the future?

 

Jeff:                I think it's really neat, what's coming on, in terms of being able to analyze variables within the milk, so there are a lot of biological parameters that we can pick up in the milk. The nice thing is we don’t have a variable cost associated with attaching something to every animal in the herd. We can use the same technology to monitor sometimes 10 or 15 different variables with the same technology.

 

                        The other place is in image analysis — so, being able to use the same technologies that are used in the human industry for looking at facial recognition or even the same kind of cameras that are used in the Xbox, for example, to look at something like how fat or how thin the animals are and measure that automatically, basically, just using geometry to do that, or being able to track the movement of the limbs as the cow walks, to be able to pick animals up that have feet and leg problems sooner, or being able to use that kind of technology to monitor feeding behavior and which cows are eating, how much time they're eating, and perhaps even eventually getting into how much that they're eating. These two areas, I think, are huge opportunities that we're going to see more and more technologies come out in the next decade.

 

Kara:              While technology is being embraced by the dairy industry, it is still, in large part, a family-friendly industry. There are a lot of family dairies out there. As you work with different farms, what do you see as the changes in the operations? Are the families still seeing a future for the industry? Do you see it changing in another direction in the future?

 

Jeff:                Well, one of the things that's particularly nice about robotic milking, for example, is that it takes away a task for a small dairy that really takes a lot of their time. With robotic milking, you can have one robot handle 50 or 60 cows, so it works very well for a small dairy and allows them to be able to not have to be tied down to three times a day when they're in the milking parlor with that monotonous task. Most people would argue that one of the biggest advantages of investing in a robotic milking system — particularly for a smaller dairy — is quality of life improvement. I think that technology has an opportunity to really improve the lives of small farms. Also, it's something that a lot of younger people really gravitate toward. In many cases, you hear stories where it's something that the next generation maybe wasn't that interested in being the dairy farmer and carrying on the family legacy until the robot came about, and then, that increased their level of interest to be able to continue that operation.

 

Kara:              So, from the health of the animal, the production on the farm, operations and even the life of the family members, in the bottom line, the technologies in the dairy industry are all-around improving what they're seeing in their operations.

 

Jeff:                They have a lot of potential for improving things at a lot of different levels. I think there's always a reality check that comes in that, sometimes, the data doesn’t do necessarily what it was supposed to do. You have to do something with the information that turns into a meaningful decision, and the economics of those technologies become very important also, so it's not necessarily magic, but I often say that the technologies don’t change the cows and they don’t change the people. They will change the way the two work together.

 

Kara:              Well, thank you so much for your time today, Dr. Bewley, and we appreciate you coming.

 

Jeff:                Thank you.

 

Kara:              That was Dr. Jeffrey Bewley, Alltech's dairy housing and analytics specialist.

 

I want to learn more about solutions for my dairy operation. 

<>Premium Content
Off
<>Featured Image
<>Date
<>Featured Image License
Off
<>Hubspot
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<h2><strong>Have a question or comment?</strong></h2>
<!--[if lte IE 8]>
<script charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript" src="//js.hsforms.net/forms/v2-legacy.js"></script>
<![endif]-->
<script charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript" src="//js.hsforms.net/forms/v2.js"></script>
<script>
hbspt.forms.create({
portalId: '745395',
formId: '2c5ba201-30c0-4669-9dc4-c9711ca1b006'
});
</script>
<>Feature
Off
<>Primary Focus Area
<>Animal Nutrition Focus Areas
<>Article Type
<>Image Caption

Technology has given dairy farmers access to huge amounts of data, but it takes skill to utilize this data to make operations more successful.

Metais pesados e a nutrição animal

Submitted by ebetioli on Fri, 11/22/2019 - 07:04

Com o aumento mundial da diversidade de suprimentos alimentares para a nutrição animal, problemas com a segurança alimentar aumentaram proporcionalmente. Da mesma forma, a conscientização da população a respeito da segurança alimentar e a implementação de alertas de segurança alimentar orientados pelo governo e pela indústria também aumentaram.

A salvaguarda da qualidade dos ingredientes na alimentação animal é essencial para garantir a segurança alimentar. Nos últimos anos, a contaminação frequente de suplementos minerais com metais pesados, dioxinas ou bifenilos policlorados (PCB’s) tem sido problemática em todo o mundo. Em resposta a incidentes de contaminação, alguns governos como por exemplo a União Europeia, adotaram medidas de alerta para detecção de metais pesados em microminerais e assim garantir a segurança alimentar na cadeia, incluindo a rastreabilidade do campo ao garfo.

O cádmio, arsênico e chumbo são metais pesados que podem ser transferidos para os humanos por meio de produtos de origem animal contaminados, por este motivo a importância de fornecermos alimentos seguros para os animais durante a produção.

Alguns casos de contaminação por metais pesados geraram preocupação na população e alertas, como por exemplo em 2004, quando sulfatos de zinco originários da China contendo altos níveis de cádmio foram incorporados nas rações para animais em 1500 fazendas ao redor da França e da Bélgica. Neste mesmo ano, outro caso preocupante ocorreu na Noruega, onde similarmente, o sulfato de zinco contendo cádmio, foi incorporado na dieta dos animais resultando em um produto final - carne de ovinos e bovinos e salmões - também contaminado. Da mesma forma, os níveis de cádmio elevados na África do Sul em 2007 ocasionaram a produção de ovos inférteis (Johns, 2007).

Dioxinas e PCBs são minerais contaminantes, que assim como os metais pesados, podem interferir na saúde humana. As dioxinas formam um grupo de 210 policlorados compostos aromáticos, 17 dos quais são de natureza toxicológica.  As dioxinas são especialmente problemáticas porque são muito solúveis em gordura e tem meia-vida muito longa; assim eles podem potencialmente se acumular nos tecidos adiposos dos animais.

Incidentes recentes de contaminação por dioxina na cadeia alimentar tiveram efeitos significativos na indústria de alimentos para animais. Em 1999, a crise alimentar na Bélgica foi causada por uma contaminação de dioxina presente em alimentos para animais, o que levou à proibição da comercialização dos produtos cárneos e ovos produzidos na Bélgica para mais de 30 países. Da mesma forma, em dezembro de 2008, a contaminação por dioxinas na carne suína na Irlanda levou a retirada completa de produtos à base desta proteína. A carne contaminada foi enviada para mais de 20 países. Este fato acarretou em um colapso na indústria irlandesa gerando a perda de 1.400 vagas de emprego. Mais tarde, em dezembro, o abate de todos os animais em 21 fazendas de bovinos de corte na Irlanda foi ordenado quando os níveis de dioxina encontrados foram 100 a 400 vezes acima dos níveis considerados legais.

Para garantir que os alimentos fornecidos aos animais não estejam contaminados, a UE estabeleceu normas pela Diretiva 2002/32/CE, impondo limites máximos para as substâncias indesejáveis ​​na alimentação animal (tabela 1).

Tabela 1: Limites permitidos pela UE de metais pesados na nutrição animal

MineraisNaMedidaCerta_Alltech_Impurezas_Tab1.png

Um estudo realizado entre os anos de 2009 a 2016, em mais de 29 países da América Latina, América do Norte e Ásia-Pacífico analisou os níveis de metais pesados em diferentes tipos de alimentos para animais (3147 amostras) e identificou que  todas as amostras estavam contaminadas por pelo menos um metal pesado em concentrações superiores aos níveis permitidos pela União Europeia (tabela 2).

MineraisNaMedidaCerta_Alltech_Impurezas_Tab2.png

O estudo mostrou ainda que ao menos uma amostra em todos os países estava contaminada por pelo menos um metal pesado com concentração acima do permitido pela União Europeia (gráfico 1)

MineraisNaMedidaCerta_Alltech_Impurezas_Grafico1.png

Sistemas de garantia de qualidade

Fontes minerais inorgânicas são usadas para fabricar minerais orgânicos. Como vimos anteriormente, os riscos de contaminação associados a minerais inorgânicos são motivo de preocupação para os fabricantes de suplementos minerais. Ao escolher um mineral inorgânico ou orgânico, uma atenção especial deve ser dada aos sistemas de garantia de qualidade implementados pela indústria. Algumas questões são importantes: o fabricante usa apenas fornecedores aprovados, ou seja, sem matéria-prima contaminada por metais pesados? O fabricante realiza auditoria de seus fornecedores?

A rastreabilidade das matérias-primas para fabricação do produto final é uma obrigação de todos os fabricantes de aditivos para a nutrição animal. Certificações de empresas respeitáveis, por exemplo, demonstram o compromisso de um fabricante com a qualidade e segurança do alimento.

A Alltech possui um programa de controle de qualidade dos minerais orgânicos, o Alltech Q+. O sistema foi projetado para garantir que todos os produtos que a Alltech oferece sejam seguros, eficazes e nutritivos. O Alltech Q+ atende ou excede os requisitos de todas as principais certificações globais de segurança e é implementado em todas as instalações de produção da empresa, garantindo que as matérias-primas sejam obtidas apenas de fornecedores aprovados e que todas sejam testadas para verificar a existência de PCBs, dioxinas e metais pesados. Ao final do processo de produção, o mineral orgânico produzido pela Alltech é reavaliado antes da entrega. Não há outra maneira de garantir qualidade, segurança, rastreabilidade e consistência a todos os clientes em todos os lugares.

A Alltech mantém seu compromisso de sempre oferecer produtos de alta qualidade aos seus clientes, que gerem benefícios aos animais, ao meio ambiente e aos consumidores.


Quer saber mais sobre o programa de Gestão de Minerais da Alltech? Entre em contato conosco:

<>Premium Content
Off
<>Featured Image
Metais pesados e a nutrição animal
<>Date
<>Featured Image License
Off
<>Hubspot
<!--[if lte IE 8]>
<script charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript" src="//js.hsforms.net/forms/v2-legacy.js"></script>
<![endif]-->
<script charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript" src="//js.hsforms.net/forms/v2.js"></script>
<script>
hbspt.forms.create({
portalId: "745395",
formId: "eb15fb29-dec7-4783-afb6-366b3372ee99"
});
</script>
<>Feature
Off
<>Article Type

Tecnologías para mascotas: ¿Increíble o demasiado?

Submitted by ldobler on Thu, 11/21/2019 - 12:31

La tecnología puede ayudarnos a manejar nuestras apretadas agendas, continuar con nuestras metas para un buen estado físico y para mantener contacto con nuestros familiares y amigos que viven lejos. En realidad, los dispositivos tecnológicos más recientes también pueden ser ventajosos para nuestras mascotas, pero ¿pueden tener alguna desventaja?

En los humanos, por ejemplo, pasar mucho tiempo conectados con nuestros celulares puede ser perjudicial para nuestra salud mental y física. Por lo que es bueno saber si existe un exceso de tecnología para nuestras mascotas.
Para tener la mejor calidad de vida, las mascotas solo requieren una adecuada nutrición, cuidado, ejercicio y atención. Si bien la tecnología nunca reemplazará la experiencia de un gato acurrucado en el regazo de su amo, o un apegado compañero canino acostado a los pies de su dueño; ciertamente puede simplificar la vida de las mascotas de varias maneras.

  1. Nutrición: Se estima que el 60% de los gatos y el 56% de los perros en los Estados Unidos tienen sobrepeso u obesidad. Así, una herramienta tecnológica para controlar el peso puede realmente cambiar la vida de las mascotas gorditas. Los dispensadores inteligentes y las balanzas inteligentes pueden ayudar con el control de las porciones. Los dispensadores inteligentes para familias con varias mascotas aseguran que cada una reciba la cantidad correcta de alimentos y también pueden ayudar a reducir las peleas por el plato de comida. Mientras que los dispensadores de agua inteligentes fomentan su consumo y son una forma sencilla para controlar si las mascotas con problemas de salud beben lo suficiente o no.
  2. Atención veterinaria: Las aplicaciones pueden también ayudar a conectar a los dueños de mascotas con veterinarios y otros proveedores de asistencia médica. Las visitas a la clínica veterinaria pueden ser estresantes e incomodas, pero con una visita virtual o un chat con un veterinario podemos evitar algunos de estos inconvenientes. Las pruebas de ADN en casa pueden desentrañar el misterio de la composición genética de un perro mestizo, lo que permite a su dueño saber más sobre los posibles problemas de salud relacionados con su raza y los antecedentes de su mascota. Los kits de prueba de microbioma identifican el tipo de microorganismos que viven en el tracto digestivo de nuestra mascota, brindándonos más información sobre su salud, inmunidad y comportamiento.
  3. Ejercicio: Los dispositivos GPS y los rastreadores pueden decirnos qué tan activas han estado nuestras mascotas durante el día. ¿Son pequeños sedentarios o dan vueltas alrededor de la sala de estar? Esta información puede ayudarnos a determinar si un paseo de 30 minutos al final del día será suficiente para cansar a nuestro cachorro, o si necesitaremos pasar más tiempo en el parque con nuestro perro. Esta tecnología también puede ayudarnos a localizar a nuestras mascotas si deciden emprender una aventura en solitario no autorizada.
  4. Cámaras: ¿Quién no quiere ver qué hacen sus mascotas cuando se las deja solas en casa? Ya sea que se trate por la ansiedad de la separación –por parte de la mascota o del ser humano– o por un ferviente deseo de que su engreído se convierta en la estrella del próximo video viral. Las cámaras inteligentes nos dan un vistazo de lo que hacen nuestras mascotas cuando no estamos cerca. También pueden ayudar a mantener a nuestras mascotas a salvo en caso de incendio o robo. ¿Y quién sabe? Incluso puede verlos haciendo algunos destrozos, en cuyo caso, puede llamarles la atención rápidamente a través del video chat.

Las tecnologías para las mascotas definitivamente tienen sus ventajas: las cámaras inteligentes ayudan a mantener seguras a nuestras mascotas y nuestros hogares, caminar por la cuadra para ganar una insignia en una aplicación cuenta como ejercicio, y enviarse mensajes de texto con su veterinario puede brindarle tranquilidad.

Sin embargo, debemos recordar que las mascotas no están muy  apegadas a las tecnologías; su mayor deseo es generalmente el placer de nuestra compañía. La tecnología solo continuará mejorando y haciendo nuestras vidas más fáciles, por ejemplo, actualmente se están trabajando en robots autónomos diseñados para recoger automáticamente las heces de los perros. Y esto plantea la pregunta: ¿al final estaremos abrumados con tanta información sobre nuestras mascotas? Todo lo que sabemos ahora es que esta es una posibilidad.

Finalmente, será mejor que los dueños recuerden siempre que una aplicación, un dispensador inteligente o varias horas de video en vivo nunca reemplazarán lo que más amamos de nuestras mascotas y la alegría que sentimos al cuidarlas.

 

<>Premium Content
Off
<>Featured Image
<>Date
<>Featured Image License
Off
<>Hubspot
<!--[if lte IE 8]>
<script charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript" src="//js.hsforms.net/forms/v2-legacy.js"></script>
<![endif]-->
<script charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript" src="//js.hsforms.net/forms/v2.js"></script>
<script>
hbspt.forms.create({
portalId: "745395",
formId: "f2b3fa68-1214-4648-bc63-84cf2f90d8a5"
});
</script>
<>Feature
Off
<>Primary Focus Area
<>Article Type
<>Image Caption

¿Cómo utilizar la tecnología como dueño de una mascota?

Loading...