Kevin Perryman, global trace minerals consultant with Selko Feed Additives (A Trouw Nutrition brand), describes Selko’s R&D focus and the value to the producers and the industry.

Perryman said Trouw has many R&D projects underway, but a new area of research that began just a few years ago is looking at the potential synergy that may exist when feeding a combination of trace mineral together. There’s a fair amount of research supporting the efficacy of individual trace minerals, like hydroxy trace minerals or certain organic trace minerals.

“We tried to take a look at, if we fed these trace minerals together, would there be an opportunity for some additional performance that could be provided back to the broiler,” he explained. “We got involved in a number of independent studies and that work is continuing today. Sure enough, our hypothesis turned out to be correct. What we've been able to clearly validate is that by feeding a diet where the majority of the supplemental trace mineral is hydroxy, along with a small amount of a high-quality organic trace mineral source, we are able to increase the overall performance of broilers, primarily in the area of feed efficiency.”

Perryman said the Trouw Nutrition team is excited about their validated findings to-date but know there’s more work to do.

“But this is an area that is evolving very nicely for us and no doubt will be of value to the industry,” he said.

How does this R&D impact producers?

Perryman said there isn't a day that goes by where producers are not being confronted with questions about sustainability, carbon emissions and other environmental issues, which they are looking to the industry to help them answer.

This research shows that the broiler industry can continue to improve beyond where it’s been in the past - primarily in the area of improved feed efficiency.

“I think everybody recognizes that if we can improve overall efficiency, we’re going to lower the carbon footprint per unit of meat produced, which implies we're getting t more of the right nutrients into the bird to drive productivity and health, rather than seeing them excreted out the back end of the bird,” he said. “We're going to be more environmentally compliant. At the end of the day, that's all going to add up to more revenue in the pockets of our customers. So, more than ever, I believe that R&D has great relevancy for producers.”

Industry focused on sustainable practices, efficiency

“I've been in the industry a long time. Previously it was all about growth and feed efficiency,” he said. “Those factors are still very important, but today our customers want to know where we're going from an environmental compliance standpoint with our research efforts. Hopefully, this new area of research, which continues to be validated via independent research, is going to help to further support how we can best work together with the industry to successfully address these questions in the months and years to come.