Dairy
Spreading the Omega-3 news at The Farmers Summit (Philippines)
(O&T Farms booth at the International Farmers Summit, Phillipines)
Feb 2020
As a global leader in land-based Omega-3 livestock ingredients, O&T Farms participated in the International Farmers Summit Feb.12-14, 2020 in Pasay City, Philippines. The International Farmers Summit, the largest agrifood exhibition and forum in Asia, gathered farmers, breeders, food processors, and suppliers from across the world. Our associates from The Camden Trading Group and BMC presented the linPRO branded products at The Farmers Summit.
This year, O&T Farms brought linPRO-24, the custom formulated Omega-3 animal feed ingredient developed especially for layers and poultry, to the exhibition. LinPRO-24, made from a blend of full-fat flaxseed, pulses, and canola under O&T Farms’ patented dry-extrusion process, is highly digestible and palatable. The significant level of Omega-3 contained in linPRO-24 supports livestock health and the enrichment of functional food products (eggs and chicken).
Knowing Asia has the largest population of the world’s continents, accounting for 20% of total global food and agriculture exports and 31% of total food and agriculture imports, O&T Farms has actively attended the Asian agriculture and food exhibitions, including the International Farmers Summit, VIV China, and VIV Asia, and we stay connected with local businesses in the region. The company commits to providing the nutritionally better Omega-3 solution across the world.
Innovation is driven by our commitment to R&D
(O&T Farms team at 2020 IPPE)
Jan 2020
O&T Farms continously attended IPPE (International Production & Processing Expo) Jan 28-30, in Atlanta, GA, USA. IPPE is the world’s largest annual poultry, meat, and feed industry event. This year, IPPE attracted more than 32,000 attendees and 1,376 exhibitors from all over the world.
As a proven leader in poultry nutrition, O&T Farms brought Developmental Programming research results to IPPE. The epigenetic research, partenered with University of Guelph research team since 2017, has domonstrated the maternal feeding of linPRO, a land-based and dry-extruded Omega-3 animal feed ingredient, can significantly lead the skeletal development in pullets and improve progeny breast meat yield.
Apart from R&D, O&T Farms has been also dedicated to working collaboratively with feed and food companies in more than twenty countries to improve animal nutrition, human health, and operation efficiency. Our mission is to be the preferred provider of nutritionally better land-based Omega-3 animal feed ingredient across the world.
A great night of appreciation from the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce
2019 ABEX (Achieve Business Excellence) Awards Ceremony happened on October 19, 2019 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. O&T Farms was honored with the ABEX (Achieve Business Excellence) Hall of Fame award for its outstanding contributions to the economic development of Saskatchewan.
Tim Wiens, the president of O&T Farms, said this award means so much to the entire company because it is the recognition of O&T Farms’ hard work and the vision of becoming the leading nutritionally better Omega-3 solution provider across the world.
The Saskatchewan Business Hall of Fame was established in 1990 to recognize businesses that have demonstrated excellence over an extended period of time, contributing to the province. O&T Farms based in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada has gone from the one of the largest egg producers in Canada to the global leader of land-based Omega-3 livestock ingredeints. The company manufactures highly digestible and stable Omega-3 feed ingredients under the name LinPRO, blending flaxseed, canola, and pulses in a patented dry-extrusion process.
LinPRO is both non-GMO and can be organic certified, and is the leading specialty feed ingredient for nutritionally better Omega-3 functional food in the world. With the capacity to annually ship upwards of 110,000 tonnes of their patented, trademarked, and value-added feed ingredient, linPRO to international customers and partners, O&T Farms is selling Saskatchewan worldwide.
Introductory Video of O&T Farms
Welcome to O&T Farms Featured Newsletter: The Nutritionally Better News by O&T Farms
The transition period represents the most critical stage of a dairy cow’s production cycle. The cow undergoes extreme metabolic and physiological changes which increase the risk of production and reproductive failure later-on. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that increasing availability of dietary omega-3 fatty acids can have a profound impact on mammalian immune and reproductive systems; therefore, omega-3 fatty acids may play an essential role in ensuring long-term productive success within the dairy industry.
Reproductive failure is a predominant reason for culling on North American dairy farms representing nearly 30% of herd culls1 . This represents a significant economic loss within the industry and influences herd sustainability, especially in incidence where reproductive failure occurs during a cow’s first lactation. Omega-3 fatty acids have been suggested to improve reproductive processes in dairy cattle and offer a potential dietary solution to the problem. The commercial feed ingredient known as linPRO-R is rich in these fatty acids and, therefore, may support a well-rounded reproductive management program on-farm.
Researchers at Penn State University -led by Dr. Troy Ott- are conducting a large-scale commercial research project to evaluate the effects of feeding linPRO-R to transition dairy cattle on subsequent reproductive performance. Preliminary results from this research were presented in at the 2019 annual Meeting of the American Dairy Science Association2. The data showed that, even in a high-performing herd, feeding linPRO-R three weeks prior to calving improved 1st service conception rates of primiparous cows by more than 10% when compared to a control group.
“Seeing such a reproductive response in a herd that already had exceptional conception rates was unexpected”, says Ott. “It would be interesting to see what level of response might be attained in a herd experiencing poor or average reproductive success.”
In addition to reproductive failure, chronic inflammation after calving represents another significant source of economic loss on-farm, due to increased risk of involuntary culling and associated reductions in milk production. In particular, mastitis represents the costliest inflammatory disease within the dairy industry, today. Dietary omega-3 fatty acids have been identified as regulating inflammatory immune responses in mammals3; therefore, it was hypothesized that feeding linPRO-R may induce an anti-inflammatory in dairy cattle when fed to transition dairy cattle.
Earlier work conducted presented by Penn State researchers at the 2017 American Dairy Science Association Meetings reported a reduction in inflammatory markers when dairy cattle were fed linPRO-R post-partum4. Currently, Dr. Ott is examining the effects of feeding linPRO-R on the immune function in transition dairy cows raised in a commercial settings.
“Our ongoing research is trying to determine if feeding a diet containing omega-3 fatty acids promotes changes in immune function that are beneficial to cow health and whether this contributes to improve reproductive performance and milk production”, says Ott.
The benefits of improving dietary availability of omega-3 fatty acids for dairy cattle continue to unfold through high-caliber research initiatives such as those being conducted by Penn State University. The data generated on linPRO-R- especially data from commercial trials- continue to help producers and their nutritionists formulate practical feeding strategies that will support long-term production and economic success on-farm.
Janna Moats, MSc, PAg
Technical Services Manager
Helping to explain Omega-3 enriched feeds to valued prospects from Asia
O&T Farms brought linPRO, its dry-extruded plant-based Omega-3 animal feed ingredients to the 2019 Saskatchewan Asia Trade Conference on July 11th, 2019 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
This year’s conference focused on the trade opportunities between Asia and Canada, as well as giving updates on Canadian agricultural commodities. The conference also offered a unique opportunity for Saskatchewan exporters to connect with trading partners and potential buyers from Asia.
O&T Farms, as a platinum member of Saskatchewan Trade & Export Partnership (Step), connected with 89 approved buyer representatives from Vietnam, China, Japan, and Philippines during the Business to Business (B2B) matching meetings. In March this year, O&T Farms also participated in VIV Asia in Bangkok, Thailand and connected with hundreds of Asian agricultural businesses. With an understanding of international trade, O&T Farms spread the Omega-3 news to the Asian market.
Aug 2019
Over the past decade, the benefits of linPRO-R for dairy cattle health and milk production have been demonstrated in controlled research trials; however, commercial data was lacking….until now!
In 2016, O&T Farms collaborated with researchers at the University of California (Davis Campus) on an ambitious project to evaluate the impact of linPRO-R in early and mid-late lactation dairy cow diets under commercial production settings.
Preliminary research with Penn State University and the University of Saskatchewan demonstrated benefits of linPRO-R related to both animal health and production. Furthermore, producers and nutritionists using the product in the field claimed improvements in overall reproductive performance of their dairy herds.
“Since including linPRO-R in the diet of early lactating cows, my clients have observed a significant improvement in animal conception rates.”– Tim Emerson is an independent dairy nutrition consultant who has developed feeding programs that include linPRO-R.
To substantiate these claims, O&T Farms collaborated with Dr. Peter Robinson and Dr Nadia Swanepoel from the University of California, Davis. Robinson and Swanepoel worked directly with larege-scale California dairy producers to execute these trials with the objective of evaluating the impact of feeding linPRO-R to early and mid-late lactating dairy cattle on reproductive performance, milk production and composition, health incidences, milk fatty acid profiles and the overall economic impact for the producer.
After 3 years of intense data collection from > 1, 000 lactating cows,the results are in!
The overall conclusion made by the UC Davis team is that feeding linPRO-R at 2.5% D.M. to early and/or mid-late lactating dairy cattle offers an economic benefit to producers through improved production efficiencies, reduced health incidences and improved maintenance of pregnancy by the animal. Furthermore, increasing the dietary concentration of linPRO-R results in a linear improvement in the omega-3 fatty acid composition of the milk, which could open new market opportunities for value-added products.
For more details on this research click on the links below or contact O&T Farms.
Learning more about Omega-3 enriched diets for breeder hens at the 2019 PSA
Discussions on poultry research at the University of Guelph continued through this summer. O&T Farms attended the PSA (Poultry Science Association) Annual Meeting on July 15th, 2019 in Montreal, QC, Canada. This year’s meeting continued to focus on poultry nutrition, health, and production. The second stage of the O&T Farms’ epigenetic research on breeder birds, in collaboration with the University of Guelph, was presented during the meetings by University of Guelph researchers.
As a proven leader in poultry nutrition, O&T Farms, in collaboration with the University of Guelph, initiated a series of research projects focused on developmental programming in both broiler and pullet breeding stock, starting in 2017. The purpose of the research was to determine the effects of feeding omega-3 fatty acids to breeder birds on reproductive efficiency, embryonic survival, as well as the epigenetic influence on progeny performance, development, and overall health. The first and second stage of the research has shown that the maternal feeding of linPRO can significantly improve skeletal strength in young pullets by nearly 22% compared to the control.
O&T Farms manufactures several digestible and stable omega-03 animal feed ingredients under the brand name linPRO; blending flaxseed and pulses through our patented dry-extrusion process, linPRO is non-GMO and also available under certified organic labels.
Jul 2019
O&T Farms collaborated with the University of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre in a multi-disciplinary research project to evaluate the effects of feeding linPRO-R to dairy cattle on the fatty acid profile and sensory characteristics of havarti cheese.
Consumers are increasingly concerned about the food they eat; viewing it not only as a means of nutrition but as a strategy for disease prevention.
Therefore, opportunities exist in the functional feeding of livestock to enhance not only the health and productivity of the animal but for the development of omega-3 enriched food options for consumers.
Identifying effective omega-3 feed ingredients that can be used towards the natural production of functional dairy foods will have a significant impact on agri-food business, dairy industries and consumer availability of essential nutrients.
LinPRO-R is a dry extruded feed ingredient rich in the omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). The product is commonly fed to dairy cattle to promote animal health and performance; however, the presence of omega-3 fatty acids suggests a potential market opportunity for the development of functional dairy products.
Results show that feeding linPRO-R to dairy cattle can significantly increase the omega-3 fatty acid content of the milk with minimal losses during cheese manufacturing.
Sensory evaluations of havarti cheese made from linPRO-R fed dairy cows indicated that panelists were unable to identify differences in flavour, taste, colour compared to the control cheese.
For more information on this research, click the links below:
Jun 2019
Developmental programming has the greatest application potential for modern chicken production to help meet changing and growing global market demands.
The concept of developmental programing refers to the ability of specific exposures during pre- and early life to result in epigenetic changes that may impact the development, health and production potential of the offspring.
For example, the availability of a specific nutrient in chicken feed – such as omega-3 fatty acids – can impact embryonic development and result in profound effects on the production potential and health of the progeny later in life.
Understanding the implications of these exposures will provide a valuable tool towards ensuring sustainability and advancement of the poultry industry.
In collaboration with the University of Guelph, O&T Farms has initiated a series of research projects focused on developmental programming in both broiler and pullet breeding stock which are currently in progress.
The objectives of this extensive research initiative include:
1. Evaluate the effects of feeding linPRO in pullet breeder diets on egg enrichment of omega-3 fatty acids, embryonic and pullet skeletal development, progeny productivity, egg quality and bone health in hens.
2. Evaluate the effects of feeding broiler breeders linPRO during rearing and laying on reproductive performance of breeders and the effects on gastrointestinal development of progeny with or without pathogenic challenges
3. Effects of maternal exposure to omega-3 fatty acids on hormonal dynamics and influence on behavioral development post-hatch
Preliminary data on pullet skeletal development were presented at the Animal Nutrition Conference of Canada (ANCC) in Niagara Falls, Ontario (May 15th, 2019), and suggest that the maternal feeding of linPRO can significantly improve skeletal strength in young pullets by nearly 22% compared to the control.
“The results demonstrated effectiveness of maternal and post-hatch feeding of omega-3 fatty acid in support of skeletal strength in young pullets which can greatly reduce poor egg shell quality and skeletal maladies seen in laying hens across all housing types.” said Dr. Elijah Kiarie, Assistant Professor in Poultry Nutrition at the University of Guelph, and primary investigator for this research.
More data will become available within the year with egg enrichment data, and broiler progeny performance data scheduled for presentation at the 2019 Poultry Science Association Annual Meeting in Montreal, Canada this July.
April, 2019
Amino Acid Digestibility and Apparent Metabolisable Energy of linPRO offers Improved Nutritional Precision for Laying Hens
REGINA, SK., CANADA – O&T Farms Ltd. recently collaborated with researchers from the University of Saskatchewan on a feeding trial to determine amino acid digestibility coefficients and apparent metabolizable energy values (AME) of linPRO in laying hens.
The precision of laying hen nutrition is increasing thanks to improved scientific technology and collaborative efforts between Universities and Industry. It is widely accepted that the nutritional value of dietary proteins for livestock can vary significantly between ingredients due to several factors including processing methods used and the type of animal consuming the feed.
In order to provide accurate nutritional data of O&T Farms’ linPROTM product – specifically for the laying hen industry – a metabolic trial was conducted to determine the apparent ileal digestibility coefficients of key amino acids and to estimate the AME values. The research was conducted at the University of Saskatchewan and was led by Dr. Rex Newkirk. According to Janna Moats, Research and Development Manager at O&T Farms “the data collected from this project will enable precision diet formulating practices in laying hen operations that feed the linPRO product.”
“LinPRO™ is manufactured using a patented dry-extrusion process which minimizes the anti-nutritional factors that may otherwise impact poultry performance, and improves the overall nutrient digestibility for the birds,” says Moats. The product comes as a flowable mash for easy handling and feeding, and overcomes challenges historically associated with on-farm feeding of ground flaxseed or flaxseed oil to poultry, which can cause digestive disturbances in the hen and limit nutrient availably.
Click here to read more about the LinPRO digestibility study.
Contact:
Janna Moats
Research & Development Manager
O&T Farms Ltd.
Email: JannaMoats@otfarms.ca
Cell: (306) 533-4345
Twitter: https://twitter.com/OandTFarms
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/otfarms
