Danisco Animal Nutrition, a division of DuPont Industrial Biosciences, announced the launch of its Axtra® PHY enzyme in Canada. Axtra® PHY has already been helping producers in the animal nutrition industry in the United States and is increasingly being introduced into other markets around the world.

Axtra® PHY begins degrading phytate and breaking down its anti-nutrient effects at much lower pH levels, much earlier in the animal’s digestive tract. This valuable process enables the release and digestion of the beneficial nutrients naturally present in the feed that would otherwise bypass the animal’s digestive system. Less supplementation of these valuable nutrients is required, resulting in improved animal performance, efficiency and lower-cost diets with fewer of the undigested nutrients making their way into the environment.

“We are excited to bring our award-winning phytase to the Canadian marketplace,” said John Van Oort, business manager for DuPont Canada. “We have broiler trials that demonstrate Axtra® PHY can enhance phosphorus and calcium release by 20 percent and decrease feed conversion ratio by 8 to 10 percent.

“For swine, we see a body weight gain of up to 20 percent in piglets, and a reduction in their phosphorus excretion of an astounding 57 percent,” said Van Oort. “These benefits will give animal producers the edge they need in today’s competitive environment, while also reducing their environmental footprint.”

Additionally, DuPont offers an unprecedented approach to dosing. While some in the industry choose to super-dose feed with phytase, DuPont supports producers by recommending dosages that take into account a combination of factors – species, diet and age of the animal. Optimal dosages of Axtra® PHY prevent producers from wasting money on products that do not provide any added benefit.

The optimal recommended dose (1,000-1,500 FTU/kg, depending on species) has proved vital: evidence shows that when used at the correct dose for the animal, the award-winning Axtra® PHY phytase doubles the rate of phytate degradation in the upper digestive tract, releasing extra nutrients, energy and protein more quickly. To ensure customers use the most cost-effective dose, Danisco Animal Nutrition offers producers the Optimize Feed Service™, a one-of-a-kind service that enables customers to calculate the correct dose of phytase, using matrix values based on 300 data points for poultry and 560 data points for swine. This includes 14 dosing studies across different ages of pigs on different diets, and 10 dosing studies across different ages of birds on varied diets.