Make It or Buy It: Superior Nutrition to Boost Animal Growth
Livestock producers and feed mills face constant pressure to optimize animal nutrition while controlling feed costs. The challenge lies in maximizing the nutritional value of feed ingredients to enhance growth rates and feed efficiency. Traditional feed processing methods, such as chemical treatments or low-temperature processes, often fail to achieve these goals. They may leave intact anti-nutritional factors (ANFs) that reduce nutrient absorption and digestibility, leading to poor growth and elevated costs.
High-shear dry extrusion is designed to unlock the full potential of feed ingredients. Unlike chemical or low-temperature methods, our mechanical processing uses heat and pressure to rupture cell walls and denature ANFs like trypsin inhibitors. This process makes the nutrients more accessible and digestible for animals. The critical advantage of mechanical processing lies in enhancing the bioavailability of essential nutrients like amino acids and vitamins. Extensive testing has shown that extruded soybeans using this technology have a 92% amino acid digestibility and an 85% deactivation of anti-nutritional factors. Breaking down these complex structures makes the nutrients more accessible to the animal’s digestive system, leading to better absorption and utilization. Our methods enhance nutritional availability for poultry, swine, and dairy diets.
For poultry, the quality of protein in feed is critical. Extruding soybeans to create ExPress® soy meal increases the digestibility of soy proteins, leading to improved growth rates and feed efficiency. Feeding trials found that poultry fed with extruded full-fat soybeans have higher body weight and decreased feed conversion ratio by 9 points compared to those fed non-extruded soybeans. This improvement in feed conversion equates to a 2.5% decrease in feed costs and a 6% decrease in feed intake. This is because the extrusion process denatures anti-nutritional factors and enhances the availability of amino acids, particularly lysine, which is essential for muscle development in poultry.
In addition, corn undergoing high-shear dry extrusion improves starch digestibility, creating the ingredient Hi-Gel™ corn. This leads to a more consistent energy supply, which is vital for the rapid growth rates seen in modern broiler production. The combination of ExPress® soy and Hi-Gel™ corn in broiler diets can see birds reach market weight up to 4 days sooner.
Swine diets benefit significantly from the use of extruded ingredients. Pigs require a high-energy diet with easily digestible proteins to support rapid growth, particularly in the early stages of life. ExPress® soy meal improves protein and lipids’ digestibility, leading to better growth performance and feed efficiency. This also removes the need for added proteins or fats to the diet, with ExPress meal filling and exceeding the necessary nutritional requirements. During feeding trials, swine fed ExPress soy meal consumed 24.4 lbs. less feed while maintaining optimal growth.
For dairy cows, the goal is to maintain body condition and maximize milk production and quality. By improving the digestibility of feed ingredients, particularly proteins and fats, our extrusion technology helps cows convert feed into milk more efficiently. A key benefit of ExPress® soy meal in dairy diets is the increased availability of rumen-protected protein. This type of protein bypasses degradation in the rumen and is absorbed in the intestines, providing a higher level of amino acids directly to the cow. Combined with the highly-gelatinized Hi-Gel™ corn, over traditional steam-flaked corn, Cows saw a productivity increase of 4.5%, an improved milk production of 1 liter per head per day.
Insta-Pro International’s commitment to enhancing animal nutrition through superior mechanical processing is evident in the tangible benefits seen across various species. Our technology increases the bioavailability of essential nutrients and leads to better overall animal performance. Whether poultry grows faster and more efficiently, swine achieve better growth rates, or dairy cows produce more milk, the advantages of Insta-Pro’s mechanical processing are clear.
