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Specialist Sven travels abroad!

Powerful in animal feed also takes us across country borders.


September 2024 we have been asked to go abroad to achieve better results in terms of growth and efficiency on beef cattle farms. These companies are mostly self-mixers who put together a ration with loose raw materials and premixes. Also, the ways of feeding are often different from what we are used to in the Netherlands because certain resources are simply not available.


Important to know is that the quality of the meat, and by that we mean color, fat cover, marbling, tenderness as well as carcass conformation were not allowed to change adversely when changes were applied. Quality took precedence over quantity here.


Upon arrival, it was immediately apparent that a step could be made in terms of digestion and utilization. This was quickly evident from the undigested parts in the manure and the amount of concentrate fed in combination with carcass weight at 18 months of age.


To show this clearly we sieved the manure so that it was immediately clear to the farmer what was happening in the animal. When sieving, we saw that there were many undigested parts of feed concentrate as well as a lot of intestinal mucosa in the manure. This indicated poor digestion and rumen function and intestinal acidification.

Intestinal mucosa in manure
Intestinal mucosa in manure

By sieving, the farmer sees right away what the animal has done with the ration being fed and usually the explanation of what we mean is better understood than just explaining it purely theoretically.


We then adjusted the rations using the resources available in the country. We started to steer more at the rumen level. In addition, we optimized vitamins, antioxidants and minerals. In this way we expect better rumen function, feed utilization and growth while maintaining meat quality.


After several weeks, it was time to review the animals and manure. On one of the farms, a 250 animals were fed the new approach and another 250 were fed the old way. This allowed us to see the difference clearly. We can see the difference in digestion in the two pictures below.


Clearly, with our approach the digestion is a lot better and the rumen and intestinal acidification is gone. We can see this in the sieve image which now runs from small to large. It is also noticeable that the stickiness (intestinal mucous membrane) which was visible before, is now not present and the manure is easy to sieve out. There are still bits of grain visible but this is already a lot less than it was and we will never get rid of it completely with the way we feed it.


Besides the digestion of the manure, we noticed that the animals in the modified group took in less feed. This can be explained by the fact that the absorbed feed is better utilized and thus no longer passes through the animal and ends up in the manure. The feed remains longer in the rumen and thus ensures a more satiated feeling. This cuts both ways, less feed and higher utilization.


The farmers were enthusiastic and will continue with our approach. In mid-2025 we will travel again to assess growth and meat quality.


Do you have questions following this case study? Please contact Sven Harmsen


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