Alltech ruminant seminar succesful

29-11-2007 | Feed processing | News

Worldwide the dairy industry is experiencing a boom time with strong whole and skim milk prices experienced by milk producers throughout the world. Against this positive outlook, 160 participants attended Alltech’s seminar on ‘Elevating Animal Performance and Health – Gut Efficiency; The Key Ingredient’.

The seminar held at Alltech’s European Bioscience
Centre was opened by Aidan Connolly, vice-president, Alltech Europe and chaired
by Sylvie Andrieu, European technical ruminant manager. A panel of six
international industry experts presented their views and participated in
question and answer sessions with the attendees.

Michael
Hutjens from Illinois University , USA, commenced the
opening session with an inspiring talk about the current best management
practices in rumen and gut health from a US perspective. He mentioned practical
management tools such as the use of feed additives for optimal rumen
performance.

Prof. Sergio Calsamiglia, Barcelona
University ,
Spain, explained the relationship between rumen health and food borne disease
such as E. coli contamination. He provided an overview of E. coli
food contamination and potential routes to reduce the risk were examined,
including the use of Bio-Mos®.

Prof. Jean-Pierre Jouany, INRA ,
France, discussed the contribution of ruminants to global methane emissions and
put that into perspective dairy cow contributions to global greenhouse gas
production. He reviewed strategies which mitigate the effects of methane
production from genetic selection to management and nutritional strategies,
including the use of yeast cultures such as Yea-Sacc®1026.

Dr. Liam
Sinclair, Harper Adams University College , UK, outlined his experience on
diet synchrony and its effect on rumen function. He reviewed the latest research
results obtained with Optigen®, clearly stating its beneficial effects on rumen
metabolism.

Dr. Declan O’Rourke, Ortec Consultancy, UK, presented
on the practical aspects of calf gut health management, explaining the crucial
interactions between nutrition, gut health and immunity, emphasising the
importance of targeting the gestating cow to boost the immunity of the calf. The
improvement in colostrum quality was discussed and the importance of Bio-Mos® in
cow diets to improve calf health was evaluated.

Dr. Juan
Tricarico, Alltech Inc , USA, delivered a comprehensive talk on antibiotic
resistance in ruminants and the mechanisms involved. He then discussed the role
of Bio-Mos structure on the antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacteria.

The question and answer sessions provided an opportunity
for industry professionals to explore the issues and created a forum to discuss
the key issues facing the dairy industry.

Related
website:
Alltech

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