Devenish, formerly known as Devenish Nutrition, was founded in Northern Ireland in 1952. Devenish Nutrition provided the Irish agricultural sector with products and services primarily through home mixers and the feed industry. The current management team bought out Devenish Feeds in 1997, and the company became Devenish Nutrition Ltd. At this time, the company employed 23 staff with a turnover of £5 million, with 60% of the sales in traded products. Presently, over 90% of sales come from Devenish manufactured products. In 1998, two US feed companies in Minnesota and Iowa were acquired and amalgamated under the Devenish Nutrition brand. By 2012, Devenish Nutrition International had been established, which increased sales in markets outside the UK, Ireland and the US, and the company’s turnover had increased to £95 million, employing 165 staff globally. In 2013, two sites in England were acquired – Hi Peak Feeds, an organic compound feed manufacturer, and a food grade quality facility in Widnes. Most recently, A-One Feeds in England was acquired in the latter half of 2014. Devenish’s mission is to ‘create value by developing and supplying quality nutrition products and solutions, new technologies and distinctive customer support to the Agri-Food sector ’. One of the company’s core strengths is continual innovation which allows consistent delivery of high quality products. Additionally, Devenish is privately owned and not shareholder driven, allowing the company a high degree of independence, focused on building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with customers.

Idea to launch via the Innovation Catapult

The research and product development cycle followed by Devenish can be viewed as an ‘innovation catapult’ with five stages, as shown in Figure 1. Ideas are generated at the ‘front end’ of the business, by the persons dealing directly with customers, be they in sales, technical support or from a research and development function. Engagement from all sectors of the business are encouraged and supported. The product or idea enters an initial evaluation conducted by a team who represent a cross section of the business, with representatives from each sector. Products are thoroughly assessed for both technical and commercial feasibility, whilst taking into consideration the company’s brand values and the core values of research and development. For example, a project which would have a positive impact on the environment (such as CO2 mitigation) would score higher than projects which are concerned solely with profitability. If considered viable after initial evaluation, the product will enter the innovation catapult for further consideration. At this time, a basic proof of concept, marketing plan and ‘freedom of operation’ plan are required, and from this a decision will be made whether the product will be invested in and developed. The product is evaluated to scientific publication standards at universities and research facilities, followed by an evaluation on Devenish commercial trial farms through full scientific trials. Once fully assessed at Devenish trial facilities the product will be tested on commercial farms, after which it will be placed back within the relevant business sector with an established launch team. The launch team will be responsible for bringing in to place and finalising details such as technical documentation, planning and logistics, after which the product can be launched and become available to customers.

Devenish has four ruminant research facilities; a commercial dairy research farm, a specialised dairy heifer rearing unit, bull and heifer finishing units. In addition to this, Devenish conducts collaborative research with University College Dublin (UCD) at the UCD Dairy Innovation Centre. The dairy research farm has 250 milking cows split into three feeding groups, which are rotated around the housing after each milking to minimise environmental effects. On all trials, each treatment diet is packed into a specific colour-coded bag in order to ensure the trial is blind to the operator. Each pen of animals on all trials is colour-coded to match the treatment diet they are being fed, and on the beef units this has been taken one step further by tagging each animal with coloured ‘management tags’ to ensure complete accuracy.

Innovation on the Dairy Farm

There are three main foundations to a profitable livestock enterprise – farm management, nutrition and health. The performance and profitability of the entire system will be negatively affected if any of these aspects are compromised. In dairy cows, one of the most important aspects of nutrition is the prevention of hypocalcaemia (low blood serum calcium levels). The two main causes of hypocalcaemia are high levels of potassium in forage (which decreases calcium absorption and subsequent utilisation) and the increased demand for calcium immediately after calving. During the dry cow period the demand for calcium is relatively small, but at calving calcium is mobilised into the milk, and a substantial amount of calcium is needed for uterine contractions during calving.

Hypocalcaemia is detrimental to milk production, immunity, fertility and milk quality. It will cause rumen contractility to be depressed, insulin resistance to increase and can lead to a displaced abomasum. These are contributing factors to reduced dry matter intake which will cause milk production to deteriorate, and in severe cases can lead to ketosis (negative energy balance). Calcium is responsible for maintaining muscle tone and function; a lack of circulating calcium can cause muscle weakness, which in turn can have a negative impact on the contractility of the teat sphincter and the uterus, leading to increased incidence of mastitis and retained foetal membranes. Hypocalcaemia also increases the risk of metritis, dystocia and uterine prolapse.

Designing a Solution to Hypocalcaemia

Manipulating the dietary cation-anion balance (DCAB) of a ration is a common way of reducing the risk of hypocalcaemia. DCAB diets balance the minerals found within the feed, to create favourable conditions for calcium mobilisation. This is achieved by reducing the DCAB, creating slightly acidic conditions in the blood which stimulates the utilisation of calcium by increasing Vitamin D3 production, which has a positive impact on calcium release from bone and absorption from the intestines. A positive DCAB value indicates a more alkaline diet (more cations present) while a negative value suggests a more acidic diet (more anions present). Feeding acidified diets which are high in anions (e.g. chlorine and sulphur salts) has been shown to reduce the prevalence of hypocalcaemia, by inducing mild acidosis and acidifying the blood. SoyChlor™ is a product that has been developed specifically as a palatable anion supplement. Transition cows can be fed either a full DCAB or partial DCAB diet. The optimal DCAB (meq/kg) for a full DCAB diet is between -100 and -200, and between -50 and +50 for a partial DCAB diet. A commercial mineral which has balanced levels of anionic salts is used in full DCAB diets, whereas partial DCAB diets focus on minimising potassium and sodium levels and supplementing the diet with magnesium chloride. Urine pH can be monitored to ensure the diet is effective.

There are many other aspects that must be taken in to account in order for a nutritional solution such as SoyChlor™ to be effective in providing a solution to hypocalcaemia, so practical advice is of utmost importance. Therefore, selecting feedstuffs with a low potassium content, avoiding feeding sodium and potassium buffers, correctly balancing dry cow rations for calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and sodium and supplementing the diet with Vitamin D3 are all crucial for SoyChlor™ to be successful.

‘Grass roots’ innovation

Farm management involves the relationship between the amount of pasture utilised and the profit per hectare, and using agronomy to produce a feedstuff of a higher quality. In recent years, there has been a lot of emphasis on soil improvement programmes; improvement of soil fertility by physical, biological and chemical means. Physical fertility is impacted by soil compaction, biological fertility by earthworm population within the soil and microbial activity, and chemical fertility by mineral balance, nutrient availability and the pH of the soil. A study by Teagascin 2014 found that only 11% of dairy soil samples in Ireland are of satisfactory quality (Teagasc, 2014). A compacted soil will reduce the earthworm population, which in turn will have an adverse effect on biological fertility. Soil compaction will also predispose plants to stress during both dry and wet periods through the restriction of rooting depth. The earthworm population within a soil is one of the main indications as to how biologically active that particular soil is. An active population of earthworms in a soil will improve overall farm productivity by improving drainage, soil aeration and structure, and availability of nutrients.

Based on the principle that a soil rich in microbial activity will also be beneficial to productivity, Devenish recently began a programme to trial soil and slurry improvement agents. The product which was successfully tested is commercially available as Digest-It™, and is a preparation of natural composting micro-organisms, enzymes and nutrients. Digest-It&tm; stimulates the activity of aerobic microbes by digesting suspended solids in slurry and converting them in to liquid nutrients which can be utilised by plants. Initial trials using Digest-It™ have resulted in significant increases in grass dry matter yield (11%), and a 34% reduction in ammonia release. As with SoyChlor™, practical advice must also be taken in to account in order for this innovation to be a success. Devenish is involved in various other cutting-edge innovations across the agricultural sector, such as the use of chlorophyll as a fluorescent marker during meat processing to extend shelf life and reduce pathogens, and LiDar scanning to analyse and determine the sequestration of carbon by plants during growth.

Innovation is at the core of continual development within the agricultural industry. Innovation is ‘the process of translating an idea or invention into a product or service that creates value’. In some situations, innovation means improving something that already exists – in other cases something completely new will be created. Striving to further refine existing products, and create new ones if the need arises, will be the driving force behind the continual improvement of this industry. Devenish has an unrivalled innovation pipeline for both the livestock sector and the agricultural industry as a whole, and will continue to provide practical solutions to on-farm problems through the use of state-of-the-art methods.