
Livestock health for healthier humans and animal welfare
Healthy animals are more productive. Thus, we take a preventative approach to livestock health through targeted nutritional concepts.
Why livestock health matters: Healthier animals are more productive
Many of us start the day with a slew of supplements to optimize our health. What about livestock health? What if the world’s 24 billion farm animals received the same standard of targeted nutrition?
Enhancing animal nutrition is essential for every farm. Healthy animals are more productive; they have better feed conversion, need fewer medical treatments, and reduce the risk of transmission of zoonotic diseases (those which pass between animals and humans).
Over the past few decades, we have vastly increased our detailed understanding of animal nutrition and developed very specific diets that optimize livestock health and welfare. We also know more about gut health and how microbiomes can influence health and performance. Evonik has been at the forefront of this search for improved feed solutions.
Evonik Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) means using advanced data and technology to help optimize every stage of livestock production – animal nutrition, health, and farming in one holistic approach.
Click here to learn more about our solutions for better livestock health.
Healthier food animals mean healthier humans
High quality protein is a cornerstone of a healthy human diet. Healthy, safe, and affordable fish, eggs, meat, and dairy products promote human health and wellbeing. By improving animal nutrition, we take a preventative approach to livestock health. We ensure that they remain healthy and need fewer veterinary treatments, for example with antimicrobial drugs. Healthy, well-fed animals are essential for sustainable food production.
The overuse of antimicrobial drugs in animal farming, particularly as growth promoters, has contributed to the issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – a serious public health issue. Strict reduction of antibiotic use and replacement of antimicrobial growth promoters (AGPS) with gut health solutions should be pursued in order to reduce the risks and occurrence of AMR.
In addition, omega- 3 is essential for human health and many people consume fish as a source of these fatty acids. Veramaris – our joint venture with DSM – is producing omega -3 fatty acids from algal oil, a breakthrough innovation, which helps conserve the natural biodiversity of our oceans. So, the algal oil can improve human health, when used as a fish oil alternative in aquaculture feeds.
Our solutions for better livestock health
The benefits of applying gut health solutions for livestock are proven by scientific feeding trials and include:
- Improvement of feed conversion ratio (FCR) and body weight gain (BWG)
- Reduction of pathogens in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT)
- Replacement of antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) and prevention of antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
- Improvement of livestock health parameters like footpad lesion scores in broilers or diarrhea incidence in piglets
- Reduction of nitrogen and greenhouse gas emissions