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What You Need to Know About Beef 2018 ‘Pitch in the Paddock’ Winner ‘ProAgni’

Pitch in the paddock winners

A probiotic that could provide the feedlot industry with a $370 million boost took out the top award at Beef 2018’s ‘Pitch in the Paddock’. In this event, eight finalists pitched their start-up companies to a panel of judges and a packed audience. Feed additive company ProAgni won the top prize and received $5000 as well as a half-day mentoring session with KPMG partner Hamish Doley.

In the ProAgni pitch, co-founder and chief technical officer Robert Bell said that long-term exposure to low doses of antibiotics in the cattle industry could lead to resistant gut bacteria. “Part of the reason antibiotics are used is to manage transition time,” he said. “Animals are traditionally born and raised on a grass system then moved to a more intensive feeding system, like a feedlot… This transition time is a huge cost to industry and can cause death and morbidity rates to rise.” Read more 

ProAgni cattle probiotic wins pitch in the paddock at Beef 2018

Pitch in the paddock winners

A PROBIOTIC that could bring $370 million in gains to the feedlot industry has taken out the top award at Beef 2018 Pitch in the Paddock.

In a style, similar to the television show Shark Tank, eight finalists pitched their start-up companies to a panel of judges and a packed Beef 2018 audience.

A cash prize of $5,000, as well as a half day mentoring session with KPMG partner Hamish Doley was awarded to feed additive company, ProAgni.

In his pitch, ProAgni, co-founder and chief technical officer, Robert Bell said long term exposure to low doses of antibiotics in the cattle industry could result in resistant gut bacteria.

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MLA Producer Innovation Award to be presented at Beef 2018

Cattle steers together in a row

Blue-sky concepts as variable as an on-property abattoir, a feed compound that saves the use of antibiotics, and genetic gains made through sexed semen run through the entries chosen as finalists for the MLA Producer Innovation Award to be presented at Beef 2018.

Consumer resistance to grain- finished stock that had been fed antibiotics or ionophores is behind the development of a dry-form probiotic compound, which is at the heart of the entry from ProAgni Pty Ltd.

Their recognition of a significant pain point for producers, that they could no longer supply their grain finished stock to large processors because of their use of products containing antibiotics or ionophores, saw them develop the unique feed supplement, branded ProTect AIF.

In doing so, other benefits, such as improved feed conversion and ease of use, as well as a potential 75 per cent reduction in induction times, have been identified. Read more