We all know that proper nutrition is an essential key to health, whether it’s humans or dairy cattle, but the exact benefit of adding a certain ingredient to the diet may be difficult to quantify. That’s why Novus International puts a great deal of time and effort into performing field trials in real world situations to prove the efficacy of their animal nutrition products.
I talked with Novus’ sales manager for the northeast United States Suzy Demeester about the importance of their field trials. “It allows us to work with nutritionists to show them the monetary and economic value of our products, as well as get the customer to feel comfortable using our product on the farm,” Suzy says. “Most of the time, it’s a win-win for everybody.”
Suzy used Novus’ Agrado-Plus antioxidant as an example of a product that they need to show producers how it works for them. “It is a product that does so many things in the cow that often times you can’t measure exactly where it is affecting because it works in the gut, it works in the rumen, it works on the feed,” she said. “So if you have a specific objective and you’re measuring specific things in the end, you can show the value that way.”
Listen to my interview with Suzy from World Dairy Expo here. Suzy Demeester Interview
A recent field trial that Novus performed was to show the effectiveness of their products in mycotoxin mitigation. According to Ruminant Account Manager Bob Myers, the trial was done on the farm where both aflatoxin and zearalenone in the TMR were affecting a herd. “Because he had such a broad spectrum of problems going on, we attacked it with a broad spectrum approach,” Bob said. That included using Solis, ZORIEN® MOS, and Agrado-Plus.
“We tested the herd’s vitamins A and E prior to the trial and then we tested the vitamin levels in the herd 60 days later,” he explained. Both were improved and they also saw an increase in milk production.
Listen to Bob’s interview here. Bob Myers Interview
2010 World Dairy Expo Photo Album
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