DRONGEN – Agrimprove, the functional feed ingredients brand of Royal Agrifirm Group, has introduced a new feed mitigator called FeedLock®. This product has proven to mitigate viral contamination of feed. It is used as a biosecurity measure on farm to close feed-related entry routes for contamination by enveloped viruses like African Swine Fever virus (ASFv), PED and PRRS.
The global pig market is increasingly vulnerable for viral threats. Many viral challenges are causing big economical losses in the industry. Not only people, vermin and contagious materials are able to enter viruses into farms, so are feed and feed raw materials. FeedLock® is a product that fills a gap in the current biosecurity practices used on farm and feed mill. This feed mitigator has proven to mitigate viral contamination of the feed, and this way stop viruses from infecting farms via the feed. Together with independent research institutes, universities and international partners Royal Agrifirm Group established a dataset of in vitro data, confirmed in vivo proving that FeedLock® significantly reduces the viral challenge in feed contaminated with Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED), Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) or ASFv.
FeedLock® is based on a targeted combination of Medium Chain Fatty Acids (MCFAs) and therefore different from most other feed mitigating additives. This naturally based solution is not only sustainable, but also very safe to work with for farmers and feed mill employees. At the same time FeedLock® will provide technical improvement of the animal’s performances. This was recently confirmed in a study at Kansas State University which showed significant better feed intake, growth and feed conversion rates, with a linear increasing dosage of MCFA,” explains Kobe Lannoo, Category Manager Pigs from Agrimprove. “This makes FeedLock® not only a sustainable feed mitigator, but also an economically beneficial solution for farmers, integrators as well as raw material suppliers.”
