Unlocking Gut Health: A New Era in Animal Nutrition

The Real P3 Podcast episode, hosted by Casey Bradley, delves into the future of animal nutrition, emphasizing the importance of gut health in monogastric species like swine. Casey, recognized as a thought leader in swine nutrition, shares insights from recent travels to industry events, such as the Iowa Pork Congress and IPPE in Atlanta. The episode reveals a shift towards a holistic approach to nutrition, moving beyond traditional amino acid profiles to encompass gut health's complex role in animal well-being.

Casey discusses the necessity of integrating various disciplines, including veterinary science and genetics, to address the nuanced needs of individual animals. This interdisciplinary approach is aimed at enhancing precision nutrition, thereby improving feed efficiency, growth rates, and overall health. The conversation touches on the potential of genetic advancements, like PERS-resistant pigs, to contribute to sustainability and climate change mitigation.

A significant focus is placed on debunking the misconceptions surrounding feed additives and their economic implications, advocating for a broader understanding of their benefits beyond immediate financial returns. Casey highlights the underestimated connection between phytase, a commonly used feed enzyme, and gut health. Phytase not only aids in phosphorus absorption but also impacts other nutritional and health aspects, showcasing the intricate relationship between nutrition, gut health, and animal health.

The episode calls for breaking down silos within the industry to foster a collaborative environment that encourages innovation and practical application of research findings. Casey's vision for the podcast is to serve as a platform for diverse voices in the field to discuss the complexities of gut health and nutrition, aiming to drive progress through shared knowledge and experiences.

Listeners are invited to contribute to the conversation, emphasizing the podcast's role in bridging gaps between various facets of animal health and nutrition. The episode concludes with a reminder of the importance of empathy towards animals, encouraging listeners to appreciate the connection between their work and the well-being of livestock.

Transcript

0:00:00
 Welcome to the Real P3 Podcast, hosted by me, Casey Bradley. We're diving into the heart of animal nutrition and health, broadening our scope with insights from the industry leaders and experts from the Sunswine Group and Swine Nutrition Management. Join us for a journey of discovery and practical advice as we navigate the ever-evolving world of monogastrics. Produced by the Sunswine Group and sponsored by Swine Nutrition Management, this podcast is your gateway to the latest in animal nutrition, where every episode promises to be as enlightening as it is inspiring. Tune in, learn, and grow with us. This is the Real P3 podcast, where science meets heart and knowledge transforms into action. 

Hi, everyone. I thought we'd do a little something different for this episode. It's just going to be me today talking to you about how I envision the changes coming to the real P3. As many of you known, or call me, I'm a thought leader in the swine industry, the swine nutrition space. And I do respect that authority and have that ability to shape how we discuss things. As I've mentioned in our introduction implies, I'm going beyond swine nutrition, and I consider myself more of a monogastric nutritionist than just a swine nutritionist today. And I've been on a whirlwind of travel lately for different work projects and trade shows. So I've been at Iowa Port Congress and then all week at IPPE in Atlanta. And that episode will be following this one. So I'm going to highlight some interviews I had from those events and then just my takeaways and thoughts because I was also able to attend the scientific forum and listen to some poultry research and some interesting perspectives coming out of that scientific forum with the different students, but also a lot of conversations I had.

0:02:12
 But I think for the interim, I'm going to really start focusing the conversation of the real P3 and from a nutrition perspective, more on gut health. And that's come from different conversations I've had with clients and colleagues in the future with different technologies. And because we also hear and see different research trials and advances being made in a specific narrow focus. And the more I learn about animal nutrition, application of that nutrient or nutrition for that specific animal is vital and I don't think we're there yet. I really truly believe we all want to talk about precision nutrition and today it's really focusing on hitting that amino acid growth curve for the animal and blending different diets with different amino acid profiles and energy. While that's still important, I still believe with my work that I have been able to do with DSM on Verax when I was there and continue to support that we really truly need to add in more things and more complexities to what we consider nutrition and gut health. And I'm telling you, I'm really tired of hearing is this continuous joke about veterinarians and nutritionists. And depending on what side of the fence you're on, what that joke is in the laugh. And we say veterinarians try to play nutritionists and nutritionists try to play veterinarians. And I always tried to stifle that conversation because in my career, I've always had a good collaborative strategy with veterinarians. I actually like the fact that I can say I'm not a veterinarian and pawn off certain topics to veterinarians and I've been in a lot of Facebook groups lately trying to learn more from the consumer. It's obviously for my nutritional products I'm targeting more that direct-to-consumer market than business to business that I have done in my career. And everybody likes to play veterinarian. And then I make a comment to consult your veterinarian and, Oh my gosh, I'm seen as the evil person because that's not a good thing. But I legally have to say that in any advice that I give, but we want to talk about gut health and it's really more, not just gut health, that's a targeted tissue that we're looking at. So when we look at gut health, that's that mouth to the anal cavity, right?

0:05:25
 So what comes in and what goes out and how the body handles it and processes those feedstuffs and that nutrition really is ultimately gut health. We're lumping a lot of different things into that term gut health. Everybody has a different definition. My definition is really the homeostasis and the ability of those different organs to process and absorb the nutrition that's needed. But the complexity is entering into that as well, the more we study and understand that gut-brain access and the interaction of the microbiome and how that impacts digestion, nutrient utilization, but also the gut health and the integrity of the cells that line our gut. And so it's really complex. And I think it's time to utilize my platform here on the real P3 to dive into that complexity.

0:06:32
 Can we come up with an outcome that we all understand? Can we talk the same language? Can we make progress? And as you know, a lot of things, it's really hard to sell feed additives if we don't have a clear feed efficiency improvement improvement or average daily gain improvement or something that has economic value, where I think we're just at the forefront of understanding what early nutrition and early intervention can prevent. So we have lots of different challenges in our animals.

0:07:10
 It doesn't matter if I have a dog or if I have a winged finish barn of 24 head of pigs or 20,000 broilers on the ground, the complexities we have of getting the right nutrition to that animal on that day at that specific time for what their gut and their body needs is very complex. And I mentioned the veterinary and nutrition role. But other people that need to come to the table as we diverse into new technologies and understanding are the geneticists. Because can we genetically select for certain genes or certain optimizations in that gut that we never thought of? And the CRISPR technologies coming out with DNA and RNA understanding, the door is open. You know, we're talking about PIC bringing out their PERS-resistant pig, for instance. And if we can overcome that with our consumers, the possibilities are endless of what we can do to help sustainability, climate change, maybe even alter the nutrition that we provide our consumers. And so I really think in this category genetics is playing a role. But I also always talk to people that sometimes we get really wrapped up in animal nutrition to say I need to optimize my amino acid ratios down to the thousandth decimal. We can make a picture perfect formula on paper, but the application of nutrition is always the challenge. And that's kind of where the precision nutrition idea is coming from, is being able to get those requirements closer aligned to the growth curve and the need of that pig. 

But to me, I want you to push it further, not just the group average, but the individual pig in that barn as well, of what that average or need is for that pig to truly harness precision. But it goes into the complexities we have in understanding our animals, in how to develop technologies, how to utilize technologies. And a lot of times it's we look at or we stop technologies or thought stopper idea or innovation, because of today's ROI, how it pencils out. But where we need to probably go about it differently, where our mindset is, what's the possibility for five years? And I can use phytase as a great example. People don't connect phytase to gut health, and I have always have, because what does phytase do? Phytase breaks off the phosphorus that's stored in the plant seeds as phytate. Phytate's a natural way for that seed to store phosphorus for seed germination.

0:10:04
 But it also inhibits the ability of that animal, at least from a monogastric perspective, to utilize that phosphorus for its nutritional requirement. But what else phytate does is that it binds other trace minerals. It binds protein. And so when we talk about post-weaning diarrhea, that a lot of times can be disease-related, but it can be nutritionally related. So it's can be that excessive protein

0:10:31
 Getting in the hindgut and being fermented that can offset that diarrhea and so there's a huge complexity to nutrition and Gut health and animal health and what I'm trying to do and hopefully in my platform here on the role P3 is to break down some of those silos. How can we look at application of nutrition? How can we look at application of medications, vaccinations, animal health that the veterinarians need to do as well that align with nutrition, that aligns with the capabilities of our farm staff or our owners of our livestock or our animals in nutrition. And I want to pull it from different genres of nutrition, different genres, different species, but to really come together to really talk about gut health and utilize this platform to go into that deeper meaning. Because as we found, even with Phytase, we went beyond the phosphorus requirements of the animal and helping lower our diet costs and putting less rock in to now we need less protein potentially. But also the fact that we found that if we totally break down the phytate molecule to inositol, where the rings just left, that that has some benefits. As we know that it regulates the gut brain access a little bit. There's some human thoughts on there. It's an energy drinks, right?

0:12:05
 And it has a sweet flavor, but also it does impact different receptors. We dive into some indication on aggression in animals. And so the possibilities, if we all come together and all come together with an open mind, as we talk about gut health, we talk about animal nutrition. We talk about application and management of nutrition. I think the possibilities are endless. And that is kind of where I'm going with this concept of nutrition for everyone. I'm really excited that hopefully you can be a part of the journey.

0:12:45
 If you're interested in coming on to the Rural P3 and giving your perspective of gut health, of animal nutrition, animal health, we'd love to have you. So I just wanted to stop in and give a short episode for this week of kind of getting aligned with where my mind is right now as you listen to these episodes. Coming up next week, we will have those highlights, as I mentioned, from my trade shows that I've attended and my thoughts on different technologies and conversations I had at those events. So stay tuned for those. And as always, if you get a chance today, hug a pig, chicken, cow, lamb, whatever you fancy.