Innovation in the paddock

Ngapouri Research Farm doesn’t just work with academics and researchers, it has commercial partnerships too, such as the relationship with Carrs Supplements, makers of Crystalx. For more than 10 years, research manager Dr Mark Oliver has been working with the UK company, maker of this popular molasses nutraceutical.

The crystalline molasses block, developed in Cumbria, contains micro and macro nutrients that help cows transition from calving to milking, a time of high energy consumption.

Anecdotally, farmers had noticed that the molasses block also had a positive impact on bloating in cattle. Bloating occurs when there is a buildup of gas in the rumen, commonly after an animal has eaten grass containing clover, which produces a foam that the animal struggles to belch out. It can be fatal. It seemed that cattle with access to the molasses block did not suffer bloat in the same way as those who did not.

Mark and colleagues at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute developed a study to test whether the effect farmers had noticed was actually associated with the molasses block. They developed a bioreactor which allowed them to see what may be happening inside the rumen. The bioreactor features real-time gas pressure and composition outputs and also has relevance to greenhouse gas research.

Having tested the effects of the molasses block sufficiently in the lab the research team was able to move on to sheep and cattle at Ngapouri. A further project is planned for 2024 pending funding.

Mark has also collaborated with commercial enterprises to produce a number of nutrition-packed animal feeds. For example, in 1995 he worked with a nutritionist at Camtech (now Dunstan Horsefeeds) to create Uni-C pellets, a complete diet made up of lucerne (65 per cent) and barley (30 percent) with the addition of fibre and trace elements.

Uni-C pellets are now used to feed animals at Ngapouri Research Farm and at other research institutions including MSD Animal Health and AgResearch Palmerston North.