Phileo Lesaffre Animal Care helps Cattle Handle Heat Stress

As we move into summer, dairy and beef producers become concerned about hot spells and what oppressive heat and humidity can do. When heat stress strikes, feed intake can decline, milk production can plummet, immune and metabolic processes can be negatively impacted and growth rates can be affected. To address these issues, successful producers address the need of more water, providing shade and avoiding overcrowding, providing fans and even sprinklers to help keep cattle comfortable.
Due to the negative impact of heat stress on animal feed intake, it is important to address their diet.  Phileo Lesaffre Animal Care (www.phileo-lesaffre.com), the animal and nutrition business unit of Lesaffre Yeast Corporation (LYC), is dedicated to help provide producers with evidence-based solutions in the form of nutritional additives that enhance animal health and performance.  LYC is a family-owned business that was founded in northern France in 1853 with a philosophy that “Nothing is more precious than life”. As a global expert in the field of yeast and yeast fractions (components, extracts etc.) and selenium-enriched yeasts, the Phileo-Lesaffre team is able to offer evidence-based solutions in more than 70 countries with 16 production sites across the five continents.  The team’s progress is measured by the most advanced scientific outcomes as well as the field input of experienced farmers and ranchers.
With its U. S. headquarters in Milwaukee, WI and plants in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Dothan, Alabama, Phileo is dedicated to investing in research and finding solutions to challenges affecting animal well-being and production.  Research and development is a major priority for the company.  Some of the company’s areas of research have shown the following:
• Improvements in feed digestibility, feed intake and animal performance
• Cost-effective nutritional alternatives, providing substitutes for unsustainable or limited feed sources
• Reducing the risk associated with bacterial toxins and mycotoxins through binding and detoxification
• Enhancement of immune response and digestive health in preventive management
• Reduction of pathogen pressure to help limit the risk of antibiotic resistance
• Optimization of physiological mechanisms against stress, to support animal welfare

Results of heat stress projects
According to Matt Cravey, Ph. D., PAS and head of the North American Ruminant Programs here in the United States, data from a recent 2016 study conducted with the Dr. Jeff Carroll at the USDA facility near Lubbock, Texas showed the positive effects of using a combination of yeast products to help reduce some of the negative issues associated with heat stress. Cravey says, “We know how detrimental heat stress can be to performance for feedlot cattle. This study was designed to determine if supplementation of a combination of proprietary yeast products manufactured by Phileo Lesaffre Animal Care could mitigate the negative impacts associated with heat stress.”
The study included 32 crossbred, phenotypically similar beef heifers divided into two pens for 50 days. The first group was fed a standard finishing ration, while the other was fed the same ration supplemented with a top dress of four grams of a proprietary yeast product.     After the 50 days, the heifers were transported to an environmentally controlled facility and placed in individual stanchions where indwelling jugular catheters and vaginal temperature loggers were inserted.
Initially, the heifers were kept in normal temperature conditions for 48 hours, followed by four days of intense heat and humidity stress. During this period, hourly blood samples were collected for serum isolation and a whole blood sample was collected twice daily for complete blood cell counts. Data collected included body weight, water intake, respiration rate and serum cortisol, glucose and NEFAs. Results of the of the yeast tested cattle showed the following positive results:
• Reduced body temperature
• Increased water intake (~1.5 gallons/hd/day)
• Tended to have decreased respiration rate
• Tended to have less serum cortisol (indicator of less stress)
Cravey notes, ““From this study, we have shown that our products have reduced the negative effects of heat stress on beef cattle.  In other studies we have also seen a reduction in digestive disorders.  Increased water intakes were also observed with similar results in a dual-immune challenge study with Dr. Carroll’s group”.
Cravey adds, “We have peer reviewed published research documenting increased milk production in dairy cows that were supplemented a specific strain of our yeast during the hot summer months.  In addition, we have validated that this strain helps to ‘buffer’ the pH in the rumen and increase volatile fatty acid (VFA) production (VFA’s are utilized as energy by the animal), thereby improving feed utilization and measurable performance parameters.”
There are various feed additives and therapeutic treatments used in the livestock industry to promote animal well-being, health, and performance.  Each of these is used in a specific stage of animal production and at a unique dose rate. According to Cravey, “At Phileo Lesaffre Animal Care, we are dedicated to defining the best use of our products, including various strains, and combinations of products, in specific dosages that can help producers produce healthy animals.  Our North American team of regional sales managers has been in the livestock industry for a considerable time and have a tremendous amount of experience. Phileo’s technical group interacts globally to determine the best use of products at the right time to support our sales managers.  We welcome any questions producers may have about our company and products.”   
Cravey stresses, “We are definitely not stopping here.  We have multiple studies being conducted in North America, and the world.  We have a ‘thirst’ for science-based solutions that enhance animal health and performance.  It’s not a coincidence that our mantra is ‘Raising Life’.”

Producers wanting to learn more about products can go to their local feed supplier and ask for Phileo Lesaffre Animal Care products by name or can contact the company through the website at www.phileo-lesaffre.com.