A holistic approach to unlocking your farm's natural power
The modern farmer must cope with many challenges most of which are seen as out of his control. Next to volatile prices and increasing market demands, they face upcoming legislation and societal concerns about animal welfare and the possible limitations on the use of antibiotics. To support farmers in tackling all these challenges at the same time, De Heus developed the Natural Power program. A hands-on and tailored on farm approach to healthy, highly productive animals by unlocking and boosting their natural power. Increasing farm performance and supporting the producer to use antibiotics more prudently or responsibly.
Antimicrobial resistance has grown significantly in recent decades. According to the WHO, the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in humans, animals and plants are the main drivers responsible for the growth of antimicrobial resistance. It is no surprise that more and more countries have been adopting legislation to intervene in the use of antibiotics in livestock and aquaculture farming. At the same time, role-players throughout the value chain are increasing their standards for animal protein to be produced with fewer antibiotics and higher animal welfare.
Shifting the starting point for change
Livestock farmers are under considerable pressure and besides dealing with low market prices and high input costs, they need to consider dealing with new legislation and increasing market demands as the consumer becomes more empowered with information available at the click of a button. Many producers would rather wait for legislation to come into effect before changing the use of antibiotics on their farms and understandably so. The transition requires time, a well-thought-through action plan and effort to implement changes in all aspects of the livestock producer’s business to ensure healthy and highly productive animals.
With the Natural Power program, De Heus aims to help farmers tackle these challenges in a calculated way. Productivity and sustainability can often be seen as mutually exclusive, but there is an important connection to animal health. The focus of the program is on achieving robust and healthy animals. In doing so, we can help farmers boost their farm’s performance and efficiency, which ultimately leads to better economic results supporting the responsible use of antibiotics. In developing the program, De Heus aims to shift the starting point for change for farmers around the world, from legislation to unlocking and boosting the natural power of animals.
Every farm is different:
It therefore goes without saying that the Natural Power program is tailored individually. The Natural Power program is a multispecies and holistic approach based on three pillars:
• Management
• Nutrition
• Health
Each pillar contains the key factors that influence animal health and performance in livestock farming such as:
• Water quality
• Housing,
• Climate,
• Biosecurity,
• Reducing disease
• Responsible use of antibiotics
• Optimal nutrition combined with the right feed management strategy.
Producers who commit to the program receive tailored advice based on their individual situations. This includes legislation, market standards and increasing social demands in their part of the world. Thanks to the program’s wide scope, De Heus specialists can map out the producer’s needs within each pillar and reveal where the quickest wins are for improvement. With support and involvement from other important farm stakeholders such as veterinarians, genetics companies and independent advisors, De Heus can help producers align their strategy and set common goals.
Unlocking your Natural Power
The globally developed Natural Power program can be customized to local circumstances to help farmers all around the world. Several De Heus business units performed a trial run of the program during the past year and followed an extensive training program involving all aspects related to the farming operation. During this training, farmers also provided De Heus with valuable feedback with points of improvement to our approach and ideas on how the program could add more value. We aim to help farmers boost their farm’s performance and efficiency, which ultimately leads to improved economic results supporting the responsible use of antibiotics.
The Pork producers who took part in our trial runs were very receptive to implementing the methodology and were enthusiastic about the technical advice we gave them. By using the program’s farm scan, our specialists identified biosecurity as one of the focus points that the pork producer needed to address first.
Internal and external biosecurity measures help prevent the introduction and spread of diseases on and around a farm and on surrounding farms.
Get in touch with your local De Heus Specialist to learn more about unlocking your farm’s potential - https://www.deheus.co.za/meet-our-team
