INTERVIEW: Kemin Asserts Essentiality of

Lysine in Dairy Cattle for Functional

Benefits and Performance
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18 Sep 2018 Source: Feedinfo News Service

18 September 2018- Between pressured dairy prices worldwide and drought-induced shortages of
good grass and other home-grown fodder in much of Europe, cattle producers are naturally
interested in making sure they get the most out of their animals. To do this requires staying up to
date on the evolutions of nutritional requirements, particularly when it comes to complex protein
and amino acid considerations.

This was the rationale behind Kemin’s amino acid event series, held earlier this summer in
Madrid. The topics presented in the series were varied, reflecting our broadening
understanding of the benefits of amino acid supplementation and focusing on milk and protein
production, reproduction, immunity, casein production, and even the amino acids concerns of
small ruminants. One of the most important messages was presented by Javier Mateos
Aguado, Senior Ruminant Business Manager for EMENA at Kemin Animal Nutrition and
Health, who focused on avoiding wasteful overfeeding by better understanding of the
nutritional needs of cattle and carefully meeting those needs with calibrated supplements
whose protection against ruminal degradation makes them optimally digestible. Feedinfo
caught up with Mr. Aguado after his presentation to learn more about how Kemin’s approach
to amino acid nutrition in dairy animals is further advancing animal performance and
supporting farm profitability.
[Feedinfo News Service] Is it still necessary to convince most producers that
lysine is an essential for ruminants? Why?

[Javier Mateos Aguado] Lysine (Lys) and methionine are the two essential,
limiting amino acids and their supplementation is required mainly for two
reasons. First, cows are ruminants, and the micro-organisms (i.e. bacteria) in
rumen that help cows break down grass and other feedstuffs also
indiscriminately break down protein sources, reducing the availability of
certain amino acids; the rumen micro-organisms themselves provide a
source of amino acids for the cow, but only about 60% of what the cow
needs. Second, outside of rumen microbial protein, no one singular protein
feedstuff can provide these amino acids in needed amounts.

Essential amino acids cannot be synthesized by the animal and must be

added to its diet. Limiting amino acids are defined as those contained in the
diet at lower levels than animals require. In most feeding practices,
methionine and lysine have been recognized as the first and second limiting
amino acids, respectively, for lactating dairy cows. Lysine is one of the first
two limiting essential amino acids in dairy diets and must be added to the
cow's diet, as it cannot be produced naturally within the body.

Lysine essentiality is based on six main functions and benefits: better Javier Mateos Aguado
prediction on formulation; better immunometabolism status; precursor in Senior Ruminant Business Manager, EMENA
Kemin Animal Nutrition and Health
mammary gland for non-essential AA; essential role in energy and fatty acid
metabolism via carnitine; improved milk production and milk components
synthesis; and assistance absorbing calcium, which plays a specific role in
collagen and connective tissue formation.
[Feedinfo News Service] You talk about Kemin’s amino acid expertise in terms of a
“ten-year journey”. How has understanding of amino acids in ruminants evolved over
that time?

[Javier Mateos Aguado] From the 1980s to the 1990s, dairy cow nutritionists started to
formulate crude protein into metabolizable protein-based diets. Different systems were
published in this period, with metabolizable protein (MP) as the common denominator. These
systems needed to clearly determine both the values of the raw materials supplied for MP and
the needs of the animals. The next important step in protein formulation of rations for
ruminant was the identification of limiting amino acids in protein synthesis. With this
practice, we not only maximize protein synthesis in milk, but also the efficiency of used and
absorbed amino acid.

Today, herds are reaching very high yields due to a combination of genetic improvement,
handling and feeding. In addition to dairy production, farmers should be concerned with the
quality of milk, protein and fat, and also with the health and fertility of their animals. The
Kemin Amino Acid Program continuously provides nutritionists the best tools in the market
to more accurately formulate diets for amino-acid balancing without feeding excessive levels
of metabolizable protein. This leads to increased profitability for farmers, feed companies and
dairy industries.
[Feedinfo News Service] What are the three steps of Kemin’s validation criteria to
confirm the essentiality of lysine?

[Javier Mateos Aguado] The characteristics necessary to effectively evaluate rumen-

protected lysine are concentration, rumen escape, intestinal availability and Lys metabolizable
as the percent of total lysine contained in the product available and utilized by the animal.
High rumen escape is not enough to ensure that the animal receives the MP lysine needed.
Higher levels of MP lysine provide a more efficient use of protein because the lysine is
intestinally available to the cow. LysiGEM™ technology is supported by data-driven research
using sophisticated models that are validated in a three-step process:

Step One: The Lab – Kemin Ruminant In Vitro Release Model studies the behaviour of the
different rumen-protected lysine supplements by simulating all gastric phases to show the
superiority and stability of LysiGEM™ compared to competitors.

Step Two: In the Animal – LysiGEM™ combines a high rumen-protection rate and intestinal
availability, resulting in the highest metabolizable lysine content for ruminant formulation as
measured in in vivo conditions in the most prestigious research centres.

Step Three: In the Dairy Farm & Industry – In countless fields and academic and industry
trials, LysiGEM™ consistently produced the best productive performance results and
profitability, enhancing cheese efficiency as well as allowing more accurate ruminant diet
formulations.

The average of total lysine bioavailability in LysiGEM™ is more than 42%. The high lysine
bioavailability of LysiGEM™ is due to its particle size, specific gravity, encapsulation
technology and high lysine content. Proven to be a reliable rumen-protected lysine source,
LysiGEM™ is achieving the most cost-effective lysine intestinal availability on the market
today. And not only that, Kemin has many successful field trials demonstrating economic
benefits for our customers and positive health performance for animals.
[Feedinfo News Service] What makes Kemin’s amino acid formulation approach new?
How does it differ from today’s prevailing approach?

[Javier Mateos Aguado] Dairy farm management is continuously seeking a balance between
income and costs. We must face the future knowing that milk is not a regional product, but a
global raw material whose price is fixed by the market—a difference for which we must exert
better financial control of farms, as well as undertake improvement processes for production
cost, nutrition, food safety, animal health and management. Spreading awareness about these
extra benefits may require continuous exploration of different technologies, strategies,
alternatives and approaches. Our program provides the best rumen-protected amino acids and
the right tools for their implementation. With our technical knowledge and support, we make
sure that our ruminant amino acids are implemented correctly to optimize the benefits for our
customers.
[Feedinfo News Service] What kind of effects on milk protein and milk quality/composition can you
demonstrate through the supplementation of rumen protected lysine?

[Javier Mateos Aguado] A key benefit of balancing amino acids to meet lysine requirements
is achieving maximum milk production while not overfeeding other expensive nutrients.
Additionally, the use of rumen-protected lysine allows dairy producers to feed diets lower in
crude protein and reduce the overall nitrogen excretion from their cows into the environment.
Supplementing rumen-protected lysine will have a positive R.O.I. and net income in farm
field conditions, mainly due to direct impact on milk production and milk protein synthesis
improvement. Doing so also showed an increase in milk casein production that significantly
affects the industry because it is required for increasing cheese efficiency.

[Feedinfo News Service] Can rumen protected amino acids be useful in meeting
environmental imperatives (for example, affecting nitrogen excretion)? How much of an
economic improvement can be brought about by improving nitrogen efficiency?

[Javier Mateos Aguado] Kemin amino acid formulation allows the feed industry and farmers
to use and select local feed ingredients according to their own interests and in the face of new
challenges and trends, all while staying in line with new European environmental policies and
maintaining profitability. Among the benefits include: controlling nitrogen going into our
aquifers and the air, reducing protein in rations and increasing protein efficiency. Estimating
the energetic cost of feeding excess dietary nitrogen to dairy cows, the excess nitrogen has a
large negative effect on milk gross energy (-52 to -68 Kcal). The Kemin Amino Acid Program
reduces nitrogen excretion into the environment, helping producers meet more stringent
environmental restrictions, improve nitrogen and protein efficiency (6%) and manage protein
cost in diet.
[Feedinfo News Service] What are the “functional benefits” of the use of rumen
protected lysine, separate from its performance effects?

[Javier Mateos Aguado] A key benefit of balancing amino acids to meet lysine requirements
is achieving maximum milk production while not overfeeding other expensive nutrients. In
addition, the use of rumen-protected lysine allows dairy producers to feed their cows diets
lower in crude protein and reduce their cows’ overall nitrogen excretion into the environment.
Lysine is also used as the precursor of non-essential amino acids in the mammary gland. It
plays an essential role in energy and fatty acid metabolism via carnitine synthesis, decreases
metabolic disorders incidence and improves dairy herd fertility. Moreover, lysine is important
for the animal’s proper growth because it helps absorb and conserve calcium and has a role in
the formation of collagen and connective tissue.
[Feedinfo News Service] Are there other important effects of the use of rumen protected
lysine that we haven’t had a chance to talk about yet?

[Javier Mateos Aguado] Amino acids serve a high number of functions in the body: tissue
proteins (connective epithelial, nervous and muscle); enzymes; messenger and receptor
proteins; ion channels; blood; and milk proteins. All these functions are linked directly to
immune status, fertility/reproduction, gene expression, etc. We are in a very preliminary stage
in terms of amino acid knowledge, and a lot of research is still required, but nutritional
models need to be adapted to new findings. The challenge of the models today is to determine
the additional amino acids beyond the animal requirement—the implicit efficiency of amino
acids utilization. The transfer efficiency reflects the use of amino acids for other metabolic
purposes in addition to the cow’s net requirement.
[Feedinfo News Service] Tell me about the work that Kemin is doing to help better
understand the role of rumen protected amino acids in dairy diets. What are the most
important avenues of research going forward?
[Javier Mateos Aguado] The topics related to amino acid nutrition are very broad, including
knowledge of animals’ physiology and metabolism, environmental influence and evaluation
of raw materials and nutritional composition. Determinations of the nutritional requirements
of amino acids, feed management and ultimately, the formulation of rations that allow animals
to have suitable zootechnical performance according to productive factors. These factors
include genetics, health, workforce and production objectives. Kemin is working in close
collaboration with universities and research centres to develop the amino acid concept and try
to better understand the essentiality of amino acids in all animal functions.
Also, Kemin has partnerships with dairy nutritionists to most effectively implement new
findings at a practical level, for cost-management and providing the correct product for their
needs. Kemin is recognized as a leader in amino acid ruminant nutrition, and we believe in
serving as a visionary and a market reference that communicates and keeps nutritionists well-
informed and updated about the most recent research.