Creating nutrition technology partnerships for animal production solutions

Don Orr

Dr Donald E Orr, Jr, President of United Feeds Inc, joined the company as Vice President of Nutrition and Development in 1984. He is responsible for the company’s US premix/base mix operations, a joint venture company in China and United Feeds’ Swine Record program. Prior to joining United, Don was on the Animal Science Faculty at Texas Tech University and has been a swine nutritionist with Central Soya. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from Purdue University, a Master’s degree in Animal Industry from Penn State University and a PhD in Swine Nutrition from Michigan State University.
Don currently serves on the Board of Directors for the American Feed Industry Association and has been recognized as a Distinguished Agricultural Alumnus and “Old Master” by Purdue University.

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United Feeds is a nutrition technology company that emphasizes research to improve livestock production profitability. Since our founding in 1956, most of that research has been focused on swine. In addition to having some of the most extensive swine research capability, we have partnered in alliances and joint ventures to take new ideas from concept to commercialization. Today we are involved with joint alliances in the development of an advanced bacterial-origin phytase, plus protected long chain omega-3 fatty acid products for sows, boars and stallions. Additionally, we are jointly developing microbial probiotic-based products for swine, as well as providing decision-making tools such as our Swine Record system and prediction model for our producer customers. A major emphasis in this presentation will involve the phytase technology patented by Cornell University and further developed by Phytex LLC, a joint partnership of United Feeds and Protein Scientific.

Phytase

The use of phytase in animal feeds has received considerable attention due to its potential for reducing feed costs as well as environmental concerns. Although phytase is well researched and much is known about the enzyme protein, there are still many opportunities to improve phytase enzymes and their use as we gain a greater understanding of how and where phytase works in the digestive tract.

As summarized by Lei and Stahl (2001), an ideal phytase should have at least three characteristics:

The last two essential characteristics are fairly self-explanatory, but are not easily realized. The effective release of P in the digestive tract, however, involves a myriad of factors and interactions. The ability of a phytase enzyme to effectively release dietary phytate-bound P is determined by its enzymatic properties, such as catalytic efficiency, substrate affinity, pH and temperature optima, and resistance to proteolysis. Among them, pH optima and the resistance to proteolysis are particularly important and factor heavily into determining the efficacy of a particular phytase in vivo.

The ability of a phytase enzyme to function effectively at the low pH of the stomach is critical. Low pH is a requirement for the action of phytase as its substrate (phytate) needs to be in soluble form and this will be possible at low acid pH ranges such as between 2.0 to 4.0 (Selle et al, 2000).

Enzymes are proteins and as such will be broken down by proteases present in the digestive tract ultimately rendering them ineffective. Since the primary site of phytase action is the stomach, one might postulate that an ideal phytase should be resistant to pepsin, the predominant gastric enzyme in both chicks and pigs.

Presently, a couple of fungal phytase products are available in the market, and their comparison is fraught with interpretive problems. The biochemical characteristics, in terms of pH and temperature optimum, proteolytic susceptibility, and specific activity, differ greatly among phytases (Igbasan et al., 2000). The standard accepted assay procedure for measuring the specific activity of phytase is conducted at pH 5.5. Based on in vivo phytase enzyme functionality, it seems reasonable to question whether this standard assay adequately predicts efficacy of phytase enzymes in the animal. The real question is where and at what pH is iP released in the gut from the phytate complexes present in corn and soybean meal. There may be concerns whether measurement of phytase activity at pH 5.5 may over or underestimate the specific activity of different phytase enzymes in vivo.

To investigate in vivo efficacy of bacterial phytase, Dr. D. H. Baker’s group at the University of Illinois has performed a series of experiments in young pigs (Augspurger et al., 2003, 2004a,b). They used graded levels of iP and phytase in the diets and found a linear increase in aP release with graded level of OptiPhos, with a release of 0.13% aP by 500 FTU/kg diet and 0.20% aP by 1,000 FTU/kg from OptiPhos (Table 1). The observations differ substantially from previous information generated with Natuphos where the response to phytase was generally reported to plateau at 1,000 FTU/kg with 0.10% P-release (Jongbloed et al., 1996; Kornegay et al., 1998). The linear improvement in P releasing ability of OptiPhos would allow for significantly more iP to be replaced with phytase than is currently being practiced.

New phytase enzymes such as OptiPhos, possess characteristics more ideally suited for optimum functionality in the animal. These new enzymes, primarily of bacterial origin, possess the requisite pH optima and protease resistance that allow for functionality under gastric conditions, the primary site of phytase activity. However, due to differences in their in vivo performance characteristics, (i.e., pH optima), one must evaluate these enzymes based on cost per unit of P-release and not simply on cost per unit of phytase activity (FTU/kg). Data indicates that the improvements in functional characteristics of these new enzymes result in greater P-releasing efficacy in both pigs and chicks.

Table 1. Efficacy of graded levels of an E. coli phytase (OptiPhos) in young pigs (Augspurger et al., 2003).
	Weight gain,	Gain/feed,	Fibula ash		Bioavailable
Diet^a	g/d^b	g/kg^b	%	mg	P release, %^c
1. P-deficient basal diet	248	449	41.8	431	-
2. As 1 + 0.075% iP (KH2PO4)	334	535	41.7	529	-
3. As 1 + 0.150% iP (KH2PO4)	425	561	46.8	676	-
4. As 1 + 500 FTU/kg OptiPhos	321	513	47.1	603	0.130
5. As 1 + 1,000 FTU/kg OptiPhos	375	563	49.1	701	0.195
^a Phytase was provided as OptiPhos™ (Phytex, LLC, Portland, ME). ^b Data are means of 10 individually-fed pigs over a 21-d feeding period; average initial and final weights were 7.2 and 14.1 kg, respectively. ^c The linear regression of fibula ash (mg) for Diets 1 to 3 as a function of supplemental iP intake (g) was Y = 430.5 ± 16.8 + 10.2 ± 1.1X (r2 = 0.87). Bioavailable P release (equivalent P yields) for Diets 4, 5, and 8 to 11 were determined by calculating equivalent bioavailable P intake (g) from the standard curve, dividing that by the total feed intake (g), and multiplying by 100.

Long Chain Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation

Long chain omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, play an important role in swine reproduction by improving fertility in boars and sows. EPA and DHA are found in marine sources, which may lose potency if the oil is unprotected and less stable. EPA and DHA are also known to reduce the inflammatory responses by protecting against performance suppressing effects of disease and auto-immune responses, as well as improving bone and joint health. United Feeds has conducted 12 sow research trials involving over 2,000 sows utilizing a stable, protected marine source of EPA and DHA called Fertilium. Average increase in the total born and live born range from 0.5 to 0.6 more pigs for the omega-3 fed sows. This effect has been consistent in trials conducted through various seasons of the year and has also been consistent in limited trial data using only gilts. It appears that a significant increase in live embryos occurs in Fertilium-treated sows when examined post-mating.

The research of Penny (2000) and co-workers is recognized around the world for the use of fish oil to raise the DHA in boar diets and thus improving sperm production and function. These improvements also resulted in significantly improved breeding performance from the fish oil treated boars. This concept is being carried forward in the U.S. by the launch of a boar top dress product called Repromax.

Texas A & M horse research on stallions fed long chain omega-3 fatty acid supplemented diets showed significant increase in mean sperm concentration and improved sperm motility while in storage. Using the JSR technology involving DHA to enhance semen quality in males, United Feeds will be introducing a DHA enriched product for stallions called Magnitude. Additionally, omega-3 supplementation for the horse offers therapeutic and preventative maintenance for joints.

Microbiology Alliance

The feeding of microbial products will definitely be a major part of future animal agriculture. By partnering in an alliance, United Feeds is able to grow in intestinal microbiology and access top scientists as well as excellent laboratory capability. The use of platform technologies for database management will greatly enhance further product development. Truly novel systems are being used to evaluate gut microbial populations, for the development of products to replace antibiotics and other growth promoters.

Decision-making Tools

The United Feeds Swine Record program provides a system of quarterly pig performance and economic records for swine producers. Through producer partnering and cooperation, trained records people at United Feeds are able to provide herd performance audits and composite peer group comparisons. Nutrition products and production phases can be reported for usage rate and cost of production. At a recent Midwest U.S. swine conference, this decision-making tool was used to provide financial justification to veterinarians and herd owners as to whether a producer should be using farrow to finish, breed to wean or wean to finish for a particular farm. As an extension of this decision-making capability, growth models such as “StrataPlan” can identify constraints and strategies for improving profitability.

Applications in the U.S. today involve pork processor and profitable sales weight, barn close-out strategy and waste effluent (N&P) output as affected by diet and genotype.

Transforming into a Technology Company to Provide Solutions

United Feeds has been able to gain the critical mass of a larger technology company through partnering and alliances. These alliances have broadened our Technology Group. Opportunities are presented to connect technologies at different companies and bring improved products to market. Intellectual property rights and marketing opportunities are important components of these partnerships and alliances.

Literature cited:

Augspurger, N.R., et al. 2003. J. Anim. Sci. 81:474-483.
Augspurger, N.R., et al. 2004a. J. Anim. Sci. 82:1100-1107.
Augspurger, N.R., et al. 2004b. J. Anim. Sci. 82:1732-1739.
Igbasan, F.A., et al. 2000. Archives Anim. Nutr. 53(4), 353-373.
Jongbloed, A. W., et al. 1996. In: M. B. Coehlo and E. T. Kornegay (ed.) Phytase in Animal Nutrition and Waste Management. Pp259-274. BASF Reference Manual DC9601, BASF, Mt. Olive, NJ.
Kornegay, E. T., et al. 1998. BASF Technical Symposium, Durham, NC. P. 125.
Lei, X. G. and C. H. Stahl. 2001. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 57:474-481.
Penny, P.C. et al. 2000. Pig News and Information. 21(4):119-126.
Selle, P. H., et al. 2000. Nutr. Res. Rev. 13:255-278.