Winner of Inventor program will be honored at Aqua InDepth, a global aqua conference taking place in the Netherlands this September

The journey toward feeding a population of 9.7 billion people by 2050 will require the global protein industry to be better, faster and more efficient than it is today. Alltech Coppens recognizes that aquaculture has a leading role to play, and that increasing production will not only come from giant leaps in new technologies but from small steps forward, enabling farmers to move beyond simple challenges.

“We understand that farmers are inherently inventors. At Alltech Coppens, we want to pay tribute to the small and big innovations happening each day on aqua farms across the world. We want to empower farmers who are contributing to a Planet of Plenty™ by supporting their inventions and bringing them to a global stage,” said Pat Charlton, CEO of Alltech Coppens.

No invention is too simple or complex for the Inventor program. Ideas can come from all aspects of aquaculture: Hatchery, feeding, growing, catching, processing or marketing. Along with having the opportunity to showcase their invention to leaders and peers of the aquaculture industry, the winner of the Inventor program will also win €2,000 worth of Alltech Coppens feed. Additionally, the winner will receive support from the Alltech Innovation team to help them develop their idea and communicate it to the aquaculture industry.

Farmers from around the world are encouraged to enter their inventions by emailing inventor@alltech.com by Thursday, September 5, 2019.

[DUNBOYNE, Ireland and OOSTERSINGEL, the Netherlands] – InTouch, the award-winning feed management platform, and UNIFORM-Agri, one of the world’s leading herd management software providers, are pleased to announce an exciting new data-sharing collaboration, empowering dairy farmers with cutting-edge insights and herd management tools.

Each day, InTouch manages the feeding of over 300,000 cows in 37 countries worldwide. As part of the animal health and nutrition company Alltech, InTouch puts particular focus on providing farmers and nutritionists with the most relevant insights and analytics for delivering optimum nutrition to the herd. Creating a link between InTouch and UNIFORM-Agri’s herd management platform to automatically share herd data will further enhance the value of insights that can be provided. This collaboration will also reduce the need for manual input of data and ultimately enable both farmers and nutritionists to work together to make more informed herd-management decisions.

“At InTouch, we continually strive to evolve and deliver the best service to our customers,” said Conan Condon, director of InTouch. “Collaboration is a key part of this, and we are delighted to now work with such a respected name like UNIFORM-Agri to enhance our user experience. Together, we can provide the most effective insights and ensure that the herd’s diet can be quickly adapted to any changes in milk output.”

This desire to provide the best service possible is shared by UNIFORM-Agri, which for decades has been working together with dairy farmers globally to improve management efficiency.

“With UNIFORM-Agri, we want to support dairy farmers and their suppliers worldwide with the best and most user-friendly software solutions that help to build a profitable and sustainable business,” said Harm-Jan van der Beek, managing director of UNIFORM-Agri. “Working together with a partner such as InTouch helps us to achieve the goal of making it easier for the dairy farmer to gain more insights into the herd, leading to better results.”

There are an estimated 450 million people living with diabetes worldwide according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), with a staggering 53% increase expected by 2045. In a breakthrough that may offer hope to those affected by the chronic disease, researchers with Alltech Life Sciences have developed a possible alternative to current insulin treatments. The compound, called NPC43, is effective when administered either orally or by injection.

The results from 12 years of scientific research were recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. The paper details the development of the novel treatment for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. NPC43 works by reactivating dormant insulin receptors, thereby allowing blood glucose to enter cells. Furthermore, it inhibits glucose production from diabetic liver — a condition associated with insulin resistance that worsens the problem of having excess glucose in the bloodstream.

“Imagine insulin to be a key and an insulin receptor to be a lock that allows glucose to enter cells,” explained Dr. Ronan Power, chief scientific officer at Alltech. “Type 1 diabetics can’t produce keys and, although Type 2 diabetics can, they possess broken locks. The result of either type is that the glucose door remains shut. What we have discovered is a way to open the lock without a key, even if the lock is broken.”

In addition to enduring the pain and anxiety of injections, those living with diabetes are often faced with limited access to affordable treatment. Insulin prices have more than tripled in the last 10 years, becoming unattainable for most underinsured patients.

“The compound has the potential to be revolutionary,” said Dr. Zi-Jian Lan, senior research scientist with Alltech Life Sciences. “Since it works when administered orally, this could mean the elimination of injections, pens and pumps, and provide an affordable alternative to insulin.”

The implications for NPC43 could extend beyond diabetes to any syndrome or disease associated with insulin resistance. That may include polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), cardiovascular disease, obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.  

The research was conducted in cultured human cells and in animal models of severe Type 2 diabetes. The next milestone in the development of NPC43 will be clinical trials.

Alltech, Inc. has filed an international patent application covering this technology (PCT/US18/30371).

Download image: https://photos.alltech.com/pf.tlx/sVsSMsWfaWo

Caption: In a breakthrough that may offer hope to the millions of people affected by diabetes, Dr. Zi-Jian Lan and his research team with Alltech Life Sciences have developed a possible alternative to current insulin treatments.

Media Contact:

press@alltech.com

Tests of varying scientific nature and credibility are widely alleged to have the ability to differentiate between good and bad organic trace minerals (OTMs). The basic parameters that can be analyzed include mineral percentage, nitrogen-to-mineral ratio, percent of bound mineral, molecular weight, bioavailability and stability. While some of these analyses can provide meaningful and valuable information about defined or individual products, understanding the limitations of these tests is critical if they are to be successfully applied in the assessment of OTMs.

Mineral percentage

Accurate quantification of the total mineral content of OTMs is routinely used by all manufacturers, and cost comparisons between OTMs will consider this when calculating their relative value. Total mineral content, however, gives no information regarding OTM bioavailability and, as such, is limited in terms of calculating the true relative value of a product.

Nitrogen-to-metal ratio

Calculating the molar ratio of nitrogen to metal can be a useful way to assess glycine-based chelates. When assessing more complex products, such as proteinates, the nitrogen-to-mineral ratio will not give an accurate reflection of the true potential for mineral bonding. More complex amino acids can bind metal atoms through their side chains via sulfur and oxygen atoms. As there is no involvement of nitrogen in this side chain bonding, it is possible to underestimate the potential for binding by only considering the nitrogen-to mineral ratio. The nitrogen content of various products can also be artificially inflated, giving the false impression of a product with high nitrogen-to-mineral ratio.

Solubility

It is often asserted that an OTM must be soluble to be bioavailable, but many peer-reviewed publications have shown that insoluble OTMs have the potential to be more bioavailable than their soluble counterparts. An evaluation of OTM solubility will be of little benefit unless one considers the effects of the digestive processes and the changing pH environment within the GI tract.

Molecular weight

Numerous claims have been made about comparing OTMs based on size, and these claims erroneously indicate that a smaller-sized bonding group creates a more stable and more bioavailable OTM. Correlating the molecular weight of an OTM with its stability constant indicates quite clearly that, rather than size being of critical importance in generating a stable OTM, the type of bonding group is of far greater significance.  

Bioavailability

In vitro lab-based assays, which attempt to assess bioavailability, have been developed, making use of cell culture-based assay systems that can determine the transfer and uptake of minerals across cellular membranes. These techniques, however, can’t accurately reflect the influence of digestion on the OTM. As such, their value when comparing different products is limited.

Stability

When we talk about the stability of OTMs, we are referring to the bond strength that exists between the bonding group and the mineral; the greater the bond strength, the more stable the product. Polarography can be used to assess the bond strength of OTMs — but polarography is only suitable to test materials in solution and can only assess the soluble fraction of organic mineral products. OTMs are increasingly solubilised as a result of the in vivo conditions of the GI tract, so the results of the polarographic tests alone should be interpreted with caution.

Percent of bound mineral

Historically, determining the percent of bound mineral required utilizing filtration through a low-molecular-weight membrane. The mineral retained behind the filter was assumed to be bound, while the mineral in the filtrate (solution) was assumed to be unbound. Such methods, however, are subject to manipulation, as changing the pH of the buffer can cause precipitation and lead to false estimates of the true bound mineral percentage.

The only validated assays that fully quantitate the bound mineral level of an OTM utilize techniques known as ATR-FTIR (attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared) and PXRD (power X-ray diffraction) and were developed by researchers at Alltech’s European Bioscience Centre.

The first assay uses a form of infrared (IR) spectroscopy to measure the bound mineral percentage, whereas the second assay uses a form of crystallography to measure the unbound mineral level. These two assays are complementary to each other, and both are peer-reviewed and published. In the case of the IR assay, this was independently validated and verified by the Central Reference Laboratory (CRL), which reports directly to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

Conclusion

While simple tests based on mineral percentage, nitrogen-to-mineral ratio, molecular weight, bioavailability and stability are used by different manufacturers, these tests only provide limited information about individual products and are not suitable for comparing different classes of product. If products will continue to be compared through these tests, understanding their limitations is critical.

The only validated assays to assess mineral chelation are based on the use of techniques known as ATR-FTIR and PXRD and were developed and validated by researchers at Alltech’s European Bioscience Centre. 

References:

Byrne, L. A., Hynes, M.J., Connolly, C.D. and Murphy, R.A. (2011) 

Analytical determination of apparent stability constants using a copper ion selective electrode. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 105(12):1656-1661.

Byrne, L.A. (2010) Analytical assessment of peptide-metal interactions and subsequent stability. Ph.D. Thesis. Dept. of Biology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland.

Cantwell C, Byrne L, Connolly C, Hynes MJ, McArdle P, Murphy RA. (2017)

Quantitative assessment of copper proteinates used as animal feed additives using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) analysis. Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess. 2017 Aug;34(8):1344-1352.

Murphy R.A. (2018) Organic Trace Minerals: Optimised Stability Enhances Bioavailability International Animal Health Journal Vol 5 (2) 28-32

Murphy, R.A. (2018) Minerals, Meals and Molecular Malnutrition: How Mineral Form Can Impact Feed Quality and Cellular Health. International Animal Health Journal Vol 5 (1) 42-46

Murphy R.A. (2015) OTM bond strength, relative stability

Feedstuffs July

Murphy, R.A. (2010) Drilling into mineral analysis – structure and stability explained. All about feed Vol 1 (4) 21-23

Murphy, R., (2009).  Chelates: Clarity in the confusion. Feed international January/February 22-24.

Animal rights are very different from animal welfare or animal care, which is related to the welfare state of the animals and the care they receive from farmers and people l

Reducing — or even preventing — the use of antibiotics in poultry operations has become a very important issue in recent years. Consumers are continuing to drive the demand, and opinions on antibiotic use in meat production have taken a top spot on the list of food concerns. While antibiotic usage is often acceptable to poultry producers, they should consider alternatives practices in order to stay competitive in today’s market.

Bacterial Resistance

Increased bacterial resistance to antibiotics has caused regulatory boards to become stricter about antibiotics in animal feed. The biggest concern is that antibiotic residue could be found in the meat and could possibly, then, be transferred to humans through food consumption.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations estimates that antimicrobial resistance is a cause of death for 700,000 people a year worldwide. The large-scale use of antibiotics could significantly increase that number, leading to the death of up to 10 million people by 2050. This issue is also of concern for the World Health Organization (WHO), which states that, if measures are not taken to contain this situation, superbugs will be more lethal than cancer by 2050.

Marketability

In markets like Europe, where large multinational supermarkets and fast food chains are now demanding antibiotic-free products, it’s more important than ever for producers to be aware of the concerns about antibiotic residues in meat in order to continue successfully exporting their meat.

  The use of performance-enhancing antibiotics in animal nutrition has been banned in European Union (EU) countries since 2006, putting them ahead of the curve. Additionally, since the EU has a relationship with other important markets, they are also restricting the consumption of food products from animals whose diets include antibiotics. Clearly, if other countries want to export their products to the EU, adapting to these new standards of production will be necessary.

Antibiotic-free Solutions

At first, it may be difficult for producers to adapt their operations to a new diet. To help make this a smooth transition, take inventory of your operation and determine where you might be able to integrate new high-tech equipment. Also, implement an efficient and high-quality vaccination program that will keep your birds healthy and reduce the need for antibiotics.

Before making this change to the birds’ diet, it is important to consult with a technical nutritionist to evaluate environmental factors, such as water and air quality, as well as the ration and vaccination program, and to avoid any sanitation issues on the operation.

Natural alternatives to antibiotics are also available. Researchers have worked diligently to find solutions that are not harmful to human health while maintaining the quality and productivity of poultry operations. Companies and universities around the world are partnering to study and explore various natural solutions as alternatives to antibiotic use.

Three natural alternatives to potentially include in your birds’ diets are probiotics, prebiotics and organic minerals. Probiotics are beneficial microorganisms that keep the intestine healthy and support the birds’ development. Prebiotics prevent the growth of harmful bacteria in the animal’s gut, and organic minerals are essential for the general development of all animals.

A recent study by Alltech analyzed two groups of birds: one group with antibiotics in their diet and the other group fed an antibiotic-free diet that included natural, yeast-based solutions.  The results showed that the flock’s health in each group was comparable. In addition, the antimicrobial-free birds showed a significant increase in weight, improved intestinal function and a lower mortality rate.

It’s becoming clear that the preference for antibiotic-free feeds and products is not merely a market trend; rather, it is an inevitable change that promises to become increasingly more present in our daily lives. Producers must adapt to this new reality in order to remain competitive in the protein industry. It is possible to reduce the use of antibiotics while still maintaining the quality, health, productivity and profitability of the operation by using natural alternatives.

Mastitis records are an essential part of dairy herd management for many progressive dairy operations.

Mycotoxin contamination can affect even the most well-run dairy farms. Pat Crowley, on-farm specialist at Alltech, details how farmers can reduce the cost of production on their dairy farms by detecting mycotoxins early.

The following is an edited transcript of Tom Martin’s interview with Patrick Crowley. Click below to hear the full audio.

Tom:              Patrick Crowley is an on-farm specialist at Alltech based in the dairy capital of the USA, Wisconsin. He has over 23 years of experience in the dairy industry and is known to be the silage expert on the team. He works with dairy producers, nutritionists and consultants, troubleshooting a range of issues on farms in the Midwest. Among those issues is the management of mycotoxins. He joins us to provide an update on efforts to mitigate the risk of mycotoxins without breaking the bank. Thanks for being here, Patrick.

Pat:                 Thank you for having me.

Tom:              So, if you would, bring us up-to-date on the mycotoxin issue. What are you seeing as you work with producers?

Pat:                 This year, when I look back and see what we're looking at and finding on dairies this year, I’ve really got to go back to last fall. Last fall, we had a tremendous amount of rain. We're predicting it was the wettest fall in over 100-plus years that we have had, so we go back there and we identified this risk and the weather challenge. What we did, we brought it to the dairy harvest analysis, a North American Harvest Analysis. What that is, is we randomly checked corn silages out on the dairy, just spot-checking them. We did about over 100 to 150 different samples, and what we're looking at is what mycotoxins were coming off the field before fermentation, before storage, before feed-out, so we really understood what was out there. When I look back to the average sample, if you take all the samples' average amount, it was 6.25 mycotoxins per sample, and that's fresh out of the field. The main mycotoxins that we were seeing were the type B trichothecenes, the DONs, or some people would call the vomitoxins, the fusaric acid and the fumonisins. They're really, would you say, the bat on what started to come in off the field before we went through any type of fermentation process.

Tom:              Could you put that level in perspective? What does that mean?

Pat:                 Great question. We've done this harvest analysis for the past four or five years, and we started from 2.5 mycotoxins; then, next year, we're at 3.5. The next time, we're at 5. Now, we're at 6.25 average number of mycotoxins per sample. Year to year, it just steadily increases a small bit, which becomes concerning — but what I'm very happy to see is more people are understanding mycotoxins, what it can do, where they're coming from and how we can work with them, and it brings us to what we're doing today.

Tom:              So that measurement was taken last fall and, of course, winter sets in.

Pat:                 Correct.

Tom:              Do you see an explosion when warm weather arrives?

Pat:                 Yes. A lot of people got into their 2018 corn silage, some as soon as December; some were just getting into it here in March. The mycotoxins, when we look at the mycotoxins that we bring in on a fresh sample, that level will not go down, so we're going to have that base level no matter what. What we want to do is create an environment that doesn't increase through storage and fermentation. So, when these people are getting into their 2018 silage in December to March, we kind of hit a brutal winter in the Midwest. Everything was held at check or at bay with the mycotoxins, but once we started receiving warm weather, a little bit of moisture in the air, things started to thaw, we did see an explosion of mycotoxins — and a few new mycotoxins, such as zearalenones and the penicilliums, which is a storage mold mycotoxin. It became much, much more prevalent.

Tom:              Could you translate that level that you detected into consequences? What does the threat look like?

Pat:                 The threat is real. The threat is absolutely real, but the important part is understanding what the risk is. A lot of times, we use risk. What's your mycotoxin risk? It's similar to your threat, but we need to understand that we need a test for it, and then we work with the producers. Can we dilute it? Can we understand where the mycotoxin is coming from? Say it's from corn silage. Can we reduce a rate to reduce the risk to the animal, or are we going to have to look at mitigating this with a product of some sort?

Tom:              Is research into that possibility underway?

Pat:                 Absolutely. Our recommendations and our understanding currently on the mycotoxins is all research-based, so that absolutely gives us leaps and bounds’ advantage over our competitors, but mainly, when you sit down and look at it, it gives us a great advantage to work with the producers to have a complete understanding of what's going on, what we may see, and how do we want to deal with it. So, everything is research-based, and that's where I really find out truly where the value of what our knowledge is and our services are.

Tom:              Which regions are most effected? Where is it most prevalent?

Pat:                 Mycotoxins are everywhere. I wish they were just regional-specific or region-specific, but unfortunately, they're not.

                        Each region has their different temperatures, climates, storms, weather patterns, so every region is unique in what type of mycotoxins they may have, but I don't feel any region is safe from mycotoxins. It's going to be everywhere. It's just a matter of what type of mycotoxins, and it changes from up in Wisconsin in the dairy land compared to down in Texas. We're going to deal with different mycotoxins than what they're going to deal with.

Tom:              So how do you go about actually detecting the presence of mycotoxin contamination?

Pat:                 Well, we go out to the dairy and walk through the forages, have the discussions with the producers, the dairy farmer, the herdsmen, the crop people, and we evaluate the forages. So, we go on-farm and we look at their storage units, whether it would be a pile or a bunker or a bay unit. First, we look just for simple visual identification. Can we see bad areas, spoilages, molds that are producing mycotoxins? Can we see them with our eyes? Some cases, yes, some cases, no, but then we take the next step and we use — I personally use a thermal-imaging camera, so I can look at the units, the storage units, and more closely be able to identify stresses or challenges in that unit that you can't see with the naked eye, and have a better understanding.

                        After that point, a lot of producers want to — we want to test for it. We want to go out and test for mycotoxins. We want to be able to have an accurate understanding of what we're dealing with, if we're dealing with anything, or if we're dealing with a large situation that could blow up. I really lean on — and probably it is the biggest and the best tool I have, my resource — that's the Alltech 37+^® lab in Nicholasville, Kentucky. They are an amazing group to work with, with good response. They are able to test for over 50 mycotoxins that we know, that our research — that we have research and understanding what these mycotoxins are, what they can do, and how do they act with other mycotoxins. We can relay that into what we call REQ, our Risk Equivalent Quantity, to the dairymen and say, "This is your risk," but that's the best one. That's by far my best tool in my toolbox right now.

Tom:              How about the animals themselves? Can you detect whether or not an animal has ingested mycotoxins?

Pat:                 Absolutely, and that's a lot of what I do on-farm — very visual, hands-on. I’m passionate about cows. I do walk a lot of cows and talk to a lot of producers and herdsmen, but absolutely, you can see that, and it ranges from changes in dry matter intake, fluctuation in milk production components, whether it'd be butter, fat or protein. Walking the pens, it could be inconsistency or variability of manure, spit-up cuds. Spit-up cuds is a classic sign of very, very high DON levels, where they're spitting their cud. There's a tremendous amount of what you can see from the cow. In all honesty, the cow tells the whole story. The cow is where you need to read and understand where the changes are. What's happening? How does she look? Is she rough coat? Thin coat? Is she moving well? All of these factors go into, “Do we have a challenge or not?”

Tom:              In the introduction, I mentioned how to mitigate the risk of mycotoxins without breaking the bank. What kind of strategies can producers follow to affordably manage mycotoxin risk?

Pat:                 Great question, especially with the dairy economy, where it's been and where it is — and hopefully, it is improving, but at a slow rate. Initially, I understand the risk, and that's why we rely back on the testing, then are we able to — the saying is “the solution is dilution.” Can we dilute the specific feed ingredient while there's a byproduct of corn silage where the mycotoxins are coming from on the dairy? Can we dilute that to lower the risk to the animal? Sometimes you can, sometimes you cannot. At that point, if we can't reduce it, we look at research-based products.

Tom:              Are there some other things that the producer can do to prevent the development of the mold in feeds?

Pat:                 Absolutely. When I visit with a lot of dairymen, they want to know, "What can I do better next year? What can we change? Is there anything we can do on farming?" Great question. Yes, absolutely, there's stuff producers can do, and it really starts in the field, anywhere from your tillage practices, turning the soil so the soil microbes can break down our residue, our trash, our corn stalks, the leaves, whatever is out there —  allowing that to happen, but also crop rotation, rotating your crops. In the dairy land, we're fortunate; we can rotate corn to alfalfa to beans to wheat and continue that and break the cycle of some of these molds and mycotoxins that may be in the field, but there are areas that don't have that, and they're not able to do that because, possibly, they're sloped, the lay of their land, you would say, where they're going corn on corn on corn on corn.

                        Every year we do that, we're increasing the risk of mycotoxins to attack the plant health, and that's what we're really trying to do. When I have those conversations with dairy producers, my question back is,
“What can we do to increase plant health?” Because that's where we want the plants to be able to fight off these mycotoxins as best as they can.

Tom:              I know that you've actually developed a four-step guide to making great silage. Could you give us a brief description?

Pat:                 Yeah, just very simple, nothing rocket science, but your first step would be seed selection — selecting the right seed, the right variety, the correct variety for that specific dairy, whether it's digestibility, yield, starch levels or whatnot. Starting there, always starting with the right seed, then it goes into harvest. We're going to jump right into harvest, correcting it, correcting the moisture, getting the correct chopper length, harvesting as fast as we can and putting it away as fast as we can. That's a crucial part, just because Mother Nature doesn't always give us the windows that we need to harvest, so when we go, we need to be at the right time and get it done quickly.

                        The third step is storing it — getting it to the piles, getting it to the bunkers, the silos, the bays, wherever you would have it harvested — doing it quickly, packing it, trying to pack or remove the oxygen so fermentation can take place quickly and adequately to create a more stable feed. Lastly, it's definitely feed-out. We can do all those things right, but when it comes time to feed the animal, if we don't feed enough face per day, we're not removing spoilage or molds or whatnot and feeding it to animals. We're creating more issues. So, really, the four steps: the right seed; harvest correctly at the right moisture, chop length; packing it well, taking the oxygen away; and then feed-out, being on our toes, understanding, removing the junk, if there is any — and also even testing, just so we have an understanding of what's going on.

Tom:              Listening to this conversation, Patrick, is a reminder that farming really is not only hard work, but it's complicated work. It's intellectual work. You've got to be a scientist.

Pat:                 Producers, dairy producers, crop producers, with technology advancements, we're out there to help them. We want to be a part of their team because, in all honesty, their experience and their knowledge is just as great if not greater than mine, so I want to bring more to the team, but I'm not leading the team. I want to be part of the team to help resolve their issues. It's very complicated. They're doing a great job. It's just a lot to do.

Tom:              And I know that Alltech has actually launched an On-Farm Dairy Support team. How is that team actually getting out there and working with producers? Much of what you just said, or more?

Pat:                 Yeah. We have the on-farm team, a very talented, very diverse group of people across the area, whether it'd be across the U.S., or even some of us go to different countries — but very talented, very diverse, and we focus on four main categories. That would be the forage quality, which would be more like what I would be doing out on dairies, but also herd analytics, cow comfort, talent development, employee development on-farm, but we're bringing — with a team that's so talented and diverse, we're able to bring value, knowledge and service out to the producers to help them achieve their goals, help them find and discover the bottlenecks, the challenges, how do we get over them, how do we move on, how do we help them achieve their goals and maximize profitability, increase efficiency? We're bringing a value to what we're doing with Alltech.

Tom:              Patrick Crowley is an on-farm specialist at Alltech. We thank you so much, Patrick. Very interesting.

Pat:                 Thank you.

I want to learn more about mitigating mycotoxins on my dairy farm. 

O Brasil é o quarto maior produtor mundial de tilápia, atrás de China, Egito e Indonésia, levando as criações do país a um patamar de destaque. Uma das alternativas para o produtor se diversificar perante a concorrência e ampliar suas possibilidades de lucro pode ser oferecer ao consumidor diferentes tipos de cortes, aproveitando um grande trunfo deste pescado: a versatilidade.

Confira abaixo os tipos de cortes que poderão marcar presença nas gôndolas dos supermercados:

Contrafilé
Corte retirado de uma das partes internas da costela, perfeito para aperitivos e prático para o consumidor final, que busca um corte pronto para as suas necessidades. Geralmente, é comercializado em embalagens de 300 gramas.

Filé borboleta
O filé é formado pelas duas partes do contrafilé unidas e costuma ser comercializada em embalagens de 300g, 500g e 1 quilo.

Posta
Com um preço mais amigável, é um corte realizado em torno da espinha do peixe.  De modo geral, é possível encontra-la em fatias grossas, médias e finas para peixadas, moquecas e até mesmo empanadas.

Peito de tilápia
Assim como o contrafilé, é uma ótima opção para petiscar. É menos encontrada nas gôndolas de grandes redes de supermercados, mas pode ser encontrada em peixarias e feiras de rua.

Cabeça de tilápia
Perfeita para caldos e pirões, a cabeça de tilápia geralmente é encontrada em peixarias, uma vez que não existe um alto consumo que a faça entrar no mainstream das gôndolas do supermercado.

Pequenas tilápias
Tilápias de aproximadamente 250g sem cabeça e sem pele, cuja apresentação fica parecida com o peixe porquinho limpo.

Essas são algumas opções que podem colaborar para aumentar a lucratividade de produção, investindo em diversificação.  A receita que não pode faltar é o conhecimento do potencial de compra do seu cliente, as opções são diversificadas e podem ser oferecidas de acordo com o hábito de consumo. Ótimas vendas!

Autora: Luciana Lacerda (Zootecnista - Universidade Estadual Paulista)

Ficou com alguma dúvida sobre os tipos de corte de tilápia?

Então vamos continuar a nossa conversa. Preencha o formulário abaixo para compartilhar suas questões e receber mais dicas sobre aquacultura. 

Conheça as vantagens de aplicar o Honey

Em busca de atender às demandas do consumidor final e da indústria por frutos de melhor coloração e °Brix, a Alltech Crop Science, com base em sua expertise em soluções para fruticultura, trouxe para o mercado o Honey. A nova solução possui em sua composição nutricional potássio (K), boro (B) e molibdênio (Mo), que somados a componentes orgânicos precursores e sinalizadores auxiliam diretamente no gerenciamento metabólico, elaboração e distribuição da seiva, regulando o fluxo de açúcares das folhas para os frutos, tornando-o mais eficiente, melhorando o teor de sólidos solúveis totais (°Brix), a coloração e a formação do fruto. A nova tecnologia colabora ainda no maior peso e padronização de frutos, com consequente aumento da produtividade e no rendimento industrial.

No entanto, o trabalho para melhoria dos aspectos de qualidade não está associado exclusivamente ao uso do Honey, práticas adequadas de nutrição, fitossanidade e manejo são necessários para o sucesso do tratamento. É importante lembrar que existe uma regulação dos produtos finais e do tamanho do dreno sobre a atividade da fonte. Se a capacidade de acumulação de carboidratos no dreno é pequena, ocorrerá acumulo dos carboidratos de transporte na fonte, reduzindo a atividade fotossintética dessa. No caso inverso, com aumento do tamanho do dreno, aumenta a atividade fotossintética da fonte. Contudo, o aumento exagerado do tamanho do dreno pode causar colapso na fonte por inibição dos fotossistemas e inibição da síntese dos componentes fotossintéticos. O transporte de carboidratos, via floema, só é limitante em condições extremas de estresse ambiental.

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Com aves mais resistentes à doenças, ovos produzidos em granja de Goiás alcançam índice de 91% de qualidade

Aves mais saudáveis resultam no aumento da produtividade e, consequentemente, em uma qualidade maior dos ovos. Para alcançar essa resistência nas galinhas poedeiras, a utilização de soluções naturais à base de minerais na forma orgânica estão entre as alternativas mais eficazes para os criadores de aves de postura. Premiada por ser a primeira granja na américa latina e segunda no mundo por conquistar a marca de 500 ovos por galinha produzidos em 100 semanas, a Granja Pavão, localizada no município de Abadiânia (GO), notou aumento de 6,5% em sua produção nos últimos anos, tendo índice de 91,5% de ovos de qualidade em seu plantel (a média nacional gira em torno de 85%).

Essa qualidade é atingida graças à casca do ovo, que é responsável pela durabilidade e resistência das propriedades nutricionais, sendo muito importante para a inserção do produto no mercado. Quanto mais espessa for a casca, maior segurança na logística das granjas até a mesa dos consumidores. “Nós trabalhamos hoje com 91% de qualidade. Notamos que isso é decorrente do trabalho que realizamos com o uso dessas soluções naturais, ou seja, com a utilização de minerais orgânicos”, explica Luiz Fernando Pavão, um dos proprietários da Granja Pavão.

A Granja Pavão aplica os minerais na forma orgânica desde o nascimento das aves, mantendo sua utilização ao longo de toda a vida dos animais, o que garante maior resistência à doenças no plantel. “Temos o retorno com essa menor mortalidade, o que garante maior produção e melhor qualidade dos ovos. Nós não temos gastos com tratamentos, então a vantagem é maior que o custo inicial, se mostrando lá na frente como um ótimo investimento”, avalia Luiz Pavão.

Confira o depoimento de Luiz Fernando Pavão, diretor da Granja Pavão:

Soluções ao produtor

As soluções naturais baseadas em minerais na forma orgânica como o selênio são responsáveis por esses índices de qualidade na produção e na casca dos ovos. Segundo o gerente de vendas da Alltech do Brasil, Eduardo Oliveira, essa resistência à doenças verificada pela Granja Pavão é atingida pela estabilidade gerada no trato digestivo das aves.

“As soluções utilizadas melhoram o empenamento e qualidade da pele dos animais, além do desenvolvimento esquelético, proporcionando melhoria na qualidade de casca, com redução no número de ovos trincados, quebrados e com casca fina, gerando aumento de produção”, salienta Oliveira.

Com o objetivo da auxiliar o avicultor, a Alltech desenvolveu o Bioplex TR Se, uma solução completa de microminerais na forma orgânica, para atender na medida certa as exigências dietéticas nutricionais para as aves, impactando na melhora da saúde animal e na qualidade produtiva.

“Os microminerais na forma orgânica são melhor aproveitados pelo organismo do animal, melhorando sua capacidade imunológica com o aumento na produção de anticorpos, o que gera maior proteção à doenças nessas aves”, explica Oliveira.

El Paraguay está experimentando un desarrollo creciente en lo que se refiere a agricultura y a producción animal, sobre todo en la producción de ganado vacuno. Sin embargo, en este contexto, algunos desafíos se presentan relacionados con los cuidados en sanidad, inmunidad y nutrición animal. Un ejemplo de estos retos son las micotoxinas, sustancias químicas tóxicas producidas por los hongos.

Hoy en día, son conocidas aproximadamente 500 tipos de micotoxinas. Hay dos maneras para que estas sustancias químicas y tóxicas se produzcan: en el campo o durante el almacenamiento de granos y alimentos, de esta manera su aparición es casi inevitable. Cuando están presentes en la dieta de los animales sus efectos generan una pérdida de inmunidad, causándoles un bajo desempeño e incluso hasta la muerte.

Factores climáticos pueden influir también en la proliferación de estos hongos que se desarrollan por el exceso de humedad en el alimento y por las variaciones de temperatura. En Paraguay, con días muy calurosos y noches frescas y húmedas, se presentan las condiciones propicias para el desarrollo de hongos y por consiguiente la aparición de micotoxinas.

El cultivo del maíz, una de las principales fuentes de la dieta de los animales, también termina siendo responsable de producir estas sustancias tóxicas. Como consecuencia, cuando el maíz contaminado entra en contacto con el animal, por la alimentación, perjudica su desarrollo.

Una investigación realizada por la empresa ganadera Apta/Colina de Sao Paulo, la Universidad Estatal Paulista del municipio Jaboticabal y Alltech Brasil, mostró un escenario preocupante para la ganadería vacuna, que puede ser un perjuicio para el productor. En total, se analizaron aproximadamente 100 animales y todos estaban contaminados por al menos una micotoxina, reduciendo la ganancia de peso de los bovinos en 200g por día, por término medio. Ese déficit genera también el aumento de días para la terminación de los bovinos, aumentando los gastos por animal, y consecuentemente, trayendo perjuicios al productor.

Los resultados de la investigación son alarmantes y refuerzan la importancia de que el productor debe estar atento a las técnicas de manejo para minimizar y controlar este problema. Ante esta situación, el uso de secuestrantes es recomendable ya que actúan en la dieta del animal como una esponja, atrayendo a las micotoxinas, las cuales son excretadas sin ser absorbidas por el organismo del animal. Estas herramientas a base de levaduras y extracto de algas actúan en todo el tracto digestivo, reduciendo los riesgos causados por los diferentes tipos de micotoxinas.

Acciones de prevención como vigilar el almacenamiento, intentando al máximo mantener ese grano próximo al 13% de humedad, también es totalmente recomendable. Consejos como esos son aliados para que se puedan abordar los desafíos y continuar creciendo en la producción animal manteniendo la calidad, ya sea bovino, porcino o aves.

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