August 30, 2022

Study shows profitable return on investment for beef rearer with Anpario's Orego-Stim

New beef research shows that Anpario's 100% natural oregano essential oil (OEO) supplement, Orego-Stim, resulted in a 5% improvement in daily liveweight gain and an ROI of 2.5:1, the company said.

A commercial study was undertaken with an Aberdeen Angus contract beef rearer for a UK retailer. The aim was to evaluate the effect of the feed additive on the performance of growing Aberdeen Angus cross beef cattle.

"Orego-Stim can be seen to be an effective component of forage-based rations for supporting target weight gains in growing beef cattle," said Laura Corbett, product technical manager at Anpario. "Building good frame and maximising performance on grower forage-based rations will benefit costs of production in the longer term."

A total of 140 housed steers, 260-280 days of age, brought in at around 160kg and reared to around 450kg liveweight, were split into two groups. The control group were fed a forage-based basal total mixed ration (TMR) and the OEO supplemented group were fed the TMR with Orego-Stim included to provide 3g/head/day. The cattle were weighed every four-six weeks throughout the four-and-a-half month study period.

The addition of Orego-Stim to the ration resulted in a 5% improvement in daily liveweight gain and an additional 4.5kg of total liveweight gain throughout the study. The cattle fed rations supplemented with Orego-Stim had no notifiable health issues and the additional total liveweight gain resulted in more profit, with a return on investment of 2.5:1.

The outcome of the commercial trial demonstrates how Orego-Stim can benefit growing cattle performance by aiding ration palatability and intakes, supporting good animal health,and minimising the impact of any stress during rearing, the company said.

- Anpario