Over the past several years, there has been a lot of work on the energetic cost of systemic inflammation, leaky gut and immune activation. Pathogens can trigger all three of these responses and pose a significant threat to a farm beyond just illness. So how do you know if your herd is dealing with this type of challenge? On-farm sampling.
One of Papillon’s keystone services is on-farm pathogen sampling. By collecting fecal, TMR, and forage samples from all groups of cows on a dairy, our team is able to gain insight into the type of pathogens present and how they are affecting the cows. Papillon’s sampling targets both toxic and non-toxigenic clostridia, pathogenic E. coli, and Salmonella.
Often, pathogen sampling data tells a story and indicates feeds or management factors that can be addressed to improve feed hygiene and reduce pathogen pressure on the cows. Examples include identifying feeds that sit out too long allowing pathogens to multiply, challenging forages that should be managed to limit inclusion, or potential sources of fecal cross contamination.
Papillon benchmarks each farm’s sampling results against regional values so we can determine the risk of pathogen-related issues relative to other dairies in the region and target our probiotic solutions accordingly. This sampling program drives our formulation of BaciFlex® and creates a family of regionally customized probiotics that use natural Bacillus technology to support herd health.
In addition to regular farm sampling offered to nutritionists and producers to identify pathogenic challenges, a more thorough, nationwide sampling is conducted every 3-4 years. This large-scale sampling allows Papillon to reevaluate the species of pathogens present on dairies throughout the country and update the strains of Bacillus used in the regional formulations of BaciFlex. Based on the most recent resampling, new strains of Bacillus were added to all BaciFlex formulations. As a result, benchtop evaluations showed product efficacy improved from 91% to 95%
Harnessing the power of on-farm sampling allows us to improve the value of Papillon’s branded probiotics, like BaciFlex, and ensures the right product is selected for the challenges on the dairy.
