April 30, 2008

Pancosma launches new beef supplement for higher conversion efficiency

Press Release

A performance enhancing supplement for medium to high starch beef diets, based on naturally occurring active ingredients, has been launched by Pancosma.

In pre-launch testing, the supplement XTRACT 7065 demonstrated greater than 10 percent improvements in feed conversion efficiency in a number of scientifically monitored trials.

As a component of the 'XTRACT Systems for Feeding Beef' programme developed by Pancosma, XTRACT 7065's active ingredients are capsaicin, eugenol and cinnamaldehyde. The first of these modifies feed intake patterns over the course of a day, reducing the size of the first big meal after fresh feed is dispensed and increasing the size of meals later in the day.

The beneficial effects of this include reduced rumen acidosis, increased overall feed intakes and a corresponding uplift in live-weight gains.

The eugenol and cinnamaldehyde modes of action combine to extract more energy from a given amount of feed. Cinnamaldehyde stimulates the production of propionate, the precursor of blood glucose, thereby reducing the acetate(C2):(C3)propionate ratio resulting from rumen fermentation. Eugenol increases the total energy extracted from the diet in the form of higher volatile fatty acid production.

The new supplement's active ingredients are micro-encapsulated with hydrogenated vegetable oil in a controlled-release formulation that gives an extended duration of activity in the rumen and, in specific cases, modifying feed intake patterns. The recommended feed rate is 1,000mg/head/day.

In a farm-based trial involving 153 beef cattle on barley straw and ad-lib concentrates, feed conversion was improved by 16 percent, from 6.4 to 5.4, in treated animals compared with a negative control (see Table 1). Daily weight gain was similar while feed use was 14 percent lower in the treated group.

Table 1: Production data of 153 cattle