04/10/2025
Fuelling the Rumen, Feeding Innovation
In an industry first, and brought to you by Thompsons’ Technical Team, alongside long-term Performance Partner Zinpro Corporation, Zinpro IsoFerm is now available to the Northern Ireland dairy industry. Zinpro IsoFerm is an essential nutrient that enhances the digestibility of fibre fractions in the diet, driving both energy and microbial protein production with significant benefits in milk yields and animal performance. Zinpro IsoFerm is a breakthrough Innovation in Dairy Nutrition.
The background
The most unique characteristic of a dairy cow is her rumen, the large fermentation vat which utilises microbes to convert the feed she consumes into the nutrients she needs. Much of a cow’s ability to produce high volumes of quality milk, centres around healthy rumen function and increasingly - as environmental sustainability comes to the fore - efficient rumen function also plays a significant role.
For many years, nutritionists have focused on optimising rumen conditions to maximise efficiency. Key areas of focus have been optimal rumen pH, providing rations with synergistic sources of energy and protein as well as maintaining appropriate levels of functional fibre in the rumen. But recent research carried out by Thompsons’ long term partner in performance nutrition, Zinpro, has brought to the market new research and new data that shows that although huge progress has been made to make the rumen as productive and efficient as it can be, in many situations certain nutrients required by the ruminal bacteria - and in particular fibre digesting bacteria - are in short supply.
The science
Branched chain volatile fatty acids (BCVFAs), commonly called isoacids, are an essential nutrient required by rumen bacteria to grow and reproduce. Isoacids are naturally occurring in all feed ingredients, but the quantity supplied by many of our highly fermentable, forage-based rations will not be enough to supply what the bacteria need. Fibre-digesting bacteria, in particular, depend on other rumen bacteria to make these isoacids available from the cow’s diet. So whenever the supply of isoacids is insufficient, it’s the fibre-digesting bacteria that are impacted most.
Zinpro IsoFerm contains a unique blend of isoacids that are readily available in the rumen. Feeding IsoFerm enriches the supply of isoacids in the cow’s diet, ensuring that the fibre-digesting bacteria have an adequate supply of this essential nutrient. Target feeding the fibre-digesting bacteria in this way ensures their growth and function are optimized, increasing digestibility of the fibre fraction within the ration, and helping the rumen function more efficiently. For the cow, this means a greater supply of microbial protein and VFAs (energy) from the rumen, which are necessary to drive milk production, replenish body reserves, and support the growth and development of the calf.
By stimulating fibre digestion, feeding Zinpro IsoFerm enables the cow to maximise the nutritional value of every kilogramme of feed that she consumes. This means she can produce more milk from less feed, driving greater feed efficiency and ensure better utilization of protein from the diet.
Zinpro IsoFerm is a New Innovation in Dairy Nutrition. This winter it will be offered as part of the Thompsons’ Range of compound feeds, across the range of Thompsons’ Dairy Blends and as a new Iso-Transition Nut for dry cow rations. For further information contact your local Thompsons’ representative or Belfast on; 028 9035 1321.
