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January 11, 2016

11/01/2016: Cross-functional role of trace minerals

http://issuu.com/gfmt/docs/mag1510_w1/36
Nutritionists are being asked to keep it all in balance – health and welfare of the animal and, at the same time, maintaining production efficiency and creating the highest quality end product possible  
 
by Cassio Villela, Novus International  


First published in Milling and Grain, October 2015


Increased animal production pressures, including higher feed ingredient costs and stricter standards and regulations, have created many challenges for the industry and for the animals themselves. Nutritionists are being asked to keep it all in balance – health and welfare of the animal and, at the same time, maintaining production efficiency and creating the highest quality end product possible. Key nutrition requirements are well-established and known, but with the challenges and evolving regulations facing the industry, many are taking another look at the role micronutrients play in building metabolic balance, efficiency and peak performance in animals.
    
Improved growth performance, immune development, structural integrity of tissues, bone development and strength, protection against oxidation and enzymatic activity are all benefits that can be seen with the right trace mineral nutrition management. Specifically, zinc, copper and manganese perform important roles in helping swine and poultry operations reach their potential, but when needs are met, it’s clearly evident in the animal.

When animals are zinc deficient, the result is poor growth, delayed sexual maturity, abnormalities in fetuses, diarrhea, skin lesions and compromised immunity. Zinc’s cross-functional role is critical in animal development. When required levels are fed, it builds skin integrity, improves immunity, helps with normal growth and development and serves as an essential component for multiple enzymatic activities. The core absorption site for zinc is the duodenum, and about 60 percent accumulates in the muscle and 30 percent accumulates in the animal’s bones. Zinc also modulates enzymatic activity and assists with enzymatic structural stability in the 300 known zinc-dependent enzymes.

Copper deficiency is identified with poor growth rates, anemia in piglets, low fertility rates, disorders in bone and connective tissue, weak vascular tissue and impaired egg shell formation in poultry. Often, copper is used as a growth promoter to improve appetite, as well as increase antibiotic activity and feed efficiency. Like zinc, the major site of absorption is the duodenum. Copper concentration occurs with 45 percent accumulating in the bone and 25 percent accumulating in the skeletal muscle. Copper is critical to immune function and is also a cofactor for several enzymes. 
  

Read the full article in Milling and Grain HERE.    
 

The Global Miller
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