The Maschhoffs will be one of the first swine operations to evaluate the product commercially.

December 5, 2019

3 Min Read
pigs at a feeder
National Pork Board

Privately-held biotechnology company, Agrivida announced its phytase enzyme feed additive is now available for use in swine operations following receipt of GRAS status from the Food and Drug Administration. Successfully implemented in commercial diets for 50 million chickens, the corn-based GRAINZYME Phytase enzyme is known for its high enzyme concentration.

According to the company announcement, only 2 to 4 pounds of ground GRAINZYME corn is needed per ton of feed to conveniently deliver "super dosed" levels of phytase in animal feeds. Since the phytase is embedded in corn, nutrient credits are also provided, thus saving "nutrient space" in the ration. Compared to traditional phytase products, the phytase is expected to offer swine producers similar benefits to those observed commercially in poultry, including improved nutrition, feed conversion, and animal performance, and an improved return on investment.

"After the exceptional results of GRAINZYME Phytase in commercial poultry operations, achieving GRAS status in swine now allows us to continue to implement our strategic plans," says Rajiv Singh, interim CEO at Agrivida. "Our next steps include pelleting trials, animal performance studies comparing GRAINZYME Phytase to traditional phytases, and trials using varying doses of phytase together with diets of differing nutritional specifications to determine optimum performance."

The largest family-owned pig producer in North America, The Maschhoffs, will be one of the first swine operations to evaluate the product commercially. "Super dosing is a very interesting topic," says Bradley Wolter, Ph.D., president and CEO of The Maschhoffs, who also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "That's the big advantage that GRAINZYME offers and why we're bullish on the technology and have invested in Agrivida. We are pleased to be on the forefront evaluating this new product because we think it may deliver the enzyme to the hind gut. This will be exciting to assess."

Agrivida will now conduct research at scale in thousands of pigs from the grower through finisher stages, which will also help determine the optimum phytase dosing throughout the swine life cycle. Due to their immature digestive systems, young pigs particularly benefit from feed enzyme supplementation. For example, three feeding studies with weaned piglets and young growing pigs published earlier this year in the Journal of Animal Science demonstrated the product provided improvements in growth performance, digestibility of calcium and phosphorous and bone parameters.  As an added bonus, swine producers should also benefit from a more sustainable environmental footprint.

"We welcome additional swine producers to participate using GRAINZYME Phytase in their commercial operations," says Michael Lanahan, Ph.D., chief commercial officer at Agrivida and one of the scientists involved in its development. "Since pigs and chickens are both monogastric species, I fully anticipate we'll observe the same high-value proposition in swine that we're now seeing in commercial poultry operations."

Swine operators interested in conducting trials with the product at scale can contact Agrivida via the website contact form or by calling 781-391-1262.

Source: Agrivida, which is solely responsible for the information provided, and wholly owns the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.

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