SPRING SUMMER BONUS MAGAZINE 2026

hit raw protein and energy numbers. Formulating with Natural Power in mind involves strict amino acid balancing and achieving lower crude protein. Focusing mainly on crude protein as a measure of a formulation is an outdated approach that can often result in an oversupply of nitrogen. This can be harmful because it overloads the animal's digestive system, wastes money, and pollutes the environment. Crude protein is just a rough measurement of all the nitrogen in the feed, much of which the animal cannot actually use. To ensure the animal still grows well, nutritionists can add precise amounts of pure, synthetic amino acids (like lysine, methionine, and threonine). This step meets the animal's muscle-building needs perfectly without overloading its digestive tract. Furthermore, nutritionists set a formulation matrix that favours high-quality, highly digestible ingredients that are easy on the animal's stomach, especially during young growth phases. Limits are set on anti-nutritional factors in formulation, which restricts the use of raw materials that contain natural plant toxins or irritants (like specific raw legumes) that cause gut inflammation. Nutritionists can also formulate specific enzymes (like phytase and xylanase) into every batch of feed. These enzymes break down tough plant fibers and minerals, ensuring the animal digests its food fully and leaves no waste behind to irritate the gut. Risk management is also a critical part of feed formulation. Many raw materials contain naturally occurring mould toxins (mycotoxins) that may damage the delicate lining of an animal's gut, potentially opening the door for diseases to take hold. To minimise the impact of these toxins, the formulation system connects directly with the lab's quality control test data to prevent high levels of mycotoxin contamination in a ration. If grain testing shows a rise in mycotoxins, as has often been seen after a wet harvesting season, nutritionists can recommend including or increasing the dosage of specialised toxin binders (like clay or yeast cell walls) in the recipe to trap and neutralise the toxins safely. Finally, even when all effort is taken in formulating the optimal ration for farm requirements together with Natural Power , achieving the correct intakes goes hand in hand with making sure livestock receives the correct nutrition. The responsibility for this lies in efficient farm management. Animal nutritionists can design and produce the best feed in terms of nutrients and raw materials, but if the animals do not receive sufficient feed allocations on farm, even the highest quality feed cannot ensure that performance goals are met. Feed intake is important to fulfill nutritional needs; no intake means no nutrient absorption. Conclusion Natural Power is a concept that combines each aspect of animal health management and nutrition to optimise livestock production. The production of animal feed is an area where Natural Power can be implemented to make a vital difference in not only animal performance on farm, but in sustainability, food safety, and resource optimisation. For any technical and nutritional assistance, please contact your De Heus technical advisor - https:// www.deheus.co.za/meet-our-team/. www.deheus.co.za | 031 785 1575 | infosa@deheus.com Spring/Summer 2026 BONUS www.agribonus.co.za 8