Antioxidants Help Stabilize Fats, Maximize Profitability

Antioxidants Help Stabilize Fats, Maximize Profitability

With the high cost of feed ingredients, getting the most nutritional value from the ingredients you use is essential to maximizing profitability. Fats are energy dense which makes them an excellent choice to give a cow that extra boost. Unfortunately, much of the fat used as an energy source in feedstuffs is high in unsaturated fatty acids, which can cause problems.

“When we grind feedstuffs, exposure to air causes oxidation to start,” said Lyle Rode, PhD, Ruminant Technical Manager for Novus International. “That reduces the digestibility of the added fat in the ration.”

Antioxidants are an important tool for stabilizing fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins in feed ingredients. Rode said, “Adding antioxidants to the feed can help stop that oxidation reaction from occurring before it even hits the animal’s body.”

“Antioxidants work inside the animal’s body, too,” Rode added. “They make the fat less toxic to rumen microorganisms. The antioxidants also prevent the formation of free radicals, which helps to achieve a low oxidative balance in the cow’s digestive tract which optimizes digestion, increases performance and protects animal health.”