SELECTIONS - Spring 2007
Products from Fresh to Stress
By Rob Hamaker, Agrarian Marketing Corporation
On our dairies, we all are striving for and expecting improvement. At Select Sires, careful selection is made to ensure that your herd's genetic potential is maximized with each new crop of calves. These improvements are crucial in an increasingly competitive market.
For us at Agrarian Marketing Corporation®, the direct-fed microbial market is well established and the industry as a whole has been expanding over the past two decades. Many commercially available cultures have not changed during this time and may very well be the same cultures your father or grandfather used years ago. Back in the mid 1990s when Agrarian opened for business, its foundation was based on a "new" technology unlike any other commercially available product.
This "new" technology utilizes L-form Lactobacillus in contrast to the traditional freeze-dried microbial cultures used by our industry competitors. Having worked in this industry for the past 20 years, an inherent variable among your typical direct-fed microbial products is a fragile shelf life and non-compatibility with many ingredients found in dairy rations. Benefits of using the L-form Lactobacillus include improved stability, broad-based compatibility and excellent shelf-life properties.
Since this is a new use of L-form technology, it is important to understand the basics of the process. An L-form (named for the Lister Institute) is a bacterial cell from which the cell wall has been removed; they become susceptible to osmotic change. However, if their growth environment is osmotically controlled, they proliferate and offer five advantages in the fermentation process. First, lacking the cell wall, they become larger than their normal counterparts. Second, as they adapt to their new environment, they increase their output of other biochemical products. Third, since some cell walls are strongly antigenic, the L-form population is a strong stimulant for immune functions. Fourth, the large products array excreted by these cell walls will range from enzymes and potential nutrients to complex oligosaccharides. Finally, L-form Lactobacilli retain their acid producing capacity, and their ability as the environment changes to revert to normal form Lactobacillus.
Where will these products fit into your dairy?
The best answer would be where “stress” is involved. We feel any stress that can be removed from the cow or calf will make for improved production and reproduction. Stress periods include freshening, weather related events such as “heat stress”, high somatic cell counts, exposure to elevated levels of mycotoxins in the feed and the rearing of newborn calves. Our products are split into three categories including:
Select BioCycle™
This family of products is formulated for improved digestion, udder health and reproductive performance. Products range from a single L-form Lactobacillus to a highly complex formula containing yeast culture, active dry yeast, enzymes, microbial sugars, specialized proteins, rumen-protected minerals and multiple proprietary L-form Lactobacillus cultures. These products are available in a feed stable form that can be top-dressed, included in Total Mixed Ration (TMR) or incorporated into your protein/mineral supplement. Several of the BioCycle products are especially effective when herds experience challenges specific to mycotoxin exposure.
Convert™ Calf Products
All calf-care products are formulated for a healthy start to add protection from everyday environmental challenges. The Convert calf-care product line consists of several products, which provide unique L-form Lactobacillus, freeze dried Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, microbial sugars and specialized proteins. Designed to augment the newborn calf nutrition during the first 21 days of life, Convert calf products are available in gel, bolus and powder forms. This is an economical program that helps protect the valuable herd replacement.
BioFresh® Products
This line of products is formulated as an individual animal supplement to address challenges caused by reduced immune functions, caused by stress associated with freshening, digestive upsets and environmental mastitis challenges. These convenient, easy-to-use products are available in both bolus and water dispersible drench forms. The BioFresh products provide critical vitamins and minerals to supplement the fresh cow’s variable intake, improve immune function by supplying L-form Lactobacillus, microbial sugars and specialized proteins. BioFresh also triggers a digestive response through the supplied enzymes and yeast. Beneficial to sick and off-feed cows, these products supplement the necessary nutritional requirements for treated cows and in combating high somatic cell counts.
Since 1997, thousands of dairy producers have seen the positive results from this family of cow and calf products. These products are not just another microbial. The Agrarian family of products is based on the cutting-edge L-form technology. The L-form bacteria have the ability to help overcome the affects of mycotoxins and other environmental challenges. This technology, which is proprietary to Agrarian, along with other unique ingredients stimulate immune response and help the animal to overcome the imposed stresses common to the dairy industry.
Find out how you can put this family of products to work in your herd to improve reproduction, production, calf performance and profitability. Contact your Select Sires professional or Agrarian Marketing Corporation at (888) 254-1482.
™Select BioCycle and Convert are trademarks of Agrarian Marketing Corporation.
®Agrarian Marketing Corporation and BioFresh are registered trademarks of Agrarian Marketing, Middlebury, Ind.
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