PO Box 475, Lavington NSW, 2641 Australia +61 2 6040 0683
Find a supplier

Don’t get grass fever

Dont get grass fever
With the season getting better and forage crops growing rapidly it can be tempting to introduce stock onto crops.
Double check that your crops ready, as a weeks of patience now can play dividends in the long run.
  • Ensure secondary roots are established
  • Ensure grazing activity will not pull plants out
Allowing for high levels of biomass prior to grazing will generate faster growth now and more active regrowth after the first grazing.

ProAgni takes gold in global innovation awards

Edison Award ProAgni

An Australian breakthrough in creating antibiotic-free livestock supplements and feeds has taken out gold in the Edison Awards, which recognise the best global innovation and innovators.

NSW-based ProAgni was named the global gold award winner for the Health & Wellness, Agricultural Innovation category for its ProTect™ solution, which maintains cattle and sheep health and aids weight gain during feeding without antibiotics.

Judged by a panel of 3,000 business executives from around the world, the Edison Awards attract entries from some of the world’s biggest companies including PepsiCo, IBM, Reebok and Lego.

The silver award winner in the category won by ProAgni was Pivot Bio, a Silicon Valley based company that has raised nearly $100m in venture capital to date.

“After a thorough review, the Edison Awards’ judges recognised ProTect™ as a game-changing innovation standing out among the best new products and services launched in their category,” said Frank Bonafilia, Executive Director of the Edison Awards.

ProAgni’s CEO Lachlan Campbell said the award recognised both the global interest in antibiotic-free food and ProAgni’s position as a world-class innovator in providing a solution to red meat producers.

“Our motto is ‘if you don’t have to use antibiotics why would you?,” he said.

”Using Australian-developed technology, ProAgni developed a product which optimises digestion and has shown significant improvements in productivity for livestock producers without the use of antibiotics.”

ProTect™ helps sheep and cattle stabilise rumen pH, thus allowing optimised weight gain and ensuring animal health and well being without antibiotics.

Trials in Australia and the US have shown using ProTect™ products provide efficient weight gain, with less time on feed, providing benefits for the environment and efficiency gains for livestock producers.

The market is telling us consumers globally are happy to seek out and pay a premium for antibiotic free meat,” Lachlan said.

If Australian beef and lamb can supply these markets while returning gains to the producer and the industry then it is a win all round.

“We saw the chicken market go from 3% antibiotic free to 40% in 5 years in the US and the same thing is going to happen in red meat.”

A range of ProAgni products, including those utilising the ProTect™ technology, are available through resellers and direct around Australia and are being trialled extensively in other markets.

Clostridial diseases

Grasses

With the recent wide spread and much needed rainfall over much of the eastern Australia, many confinement-fed sheep are being turned out onto rapidly growing feed. Beware, this is the perfect time for clostridial diseases to become a real problem. Rapid changes in feed types can make the intestinal tract of animals the perfect environment for the proliferation of these deadly bacteria.

If you have not vaccinated recently, maybe now is the time to ensure you animal health program is up to date. An injection of a clostridial vaccine such as 5 in 1 or 6 in 1 can be a great insurance policy against potential losses.

Joint industry phD Project

PHD applications for joint project

ProAgni is excited to announce our joint Industry phD project with CSIRO and UNSW. 

We are now accepting applications for:

Development of Microencapsulation technology for targeted delivery of enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

Forages consist of 40 to 100% of ruminant diet. Forages are often high fibre and low quality, and digestive pathways can further limit digestibility and nutrient utilisation. The use of targeted enzymes can potentially improve fibre digestibility and feed utilization rate. The challenge is the delivery of such enzymes in active form to the hind gut for digesting the residual fibre fraction, since passage through the upper gastrointestinal tract of ruminants and specially the low pH environment of the abomasum can cause inactivation of target enzymes.

This project aims at developing a microencapsulation technology that enables protection of enzymes during passage through the various pH environment in the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants enabling release in the hind gut (cecum/large intestine). The successful delivery of these enzymes in active form in the hind gut is expected to enhance feed utilization rate in animal production with significant economic benefit.

Click here to apply