While it has long been known that potassium is vital for all living creatures to live, it now seems that many feed manufacturers are not seeing its true value.
In a recent report for the feed industry journal Wattagnet, Ioannis Mavromichalis laid out the basic facts of potassium’s importance. The editor in chief of Pig International states;
-
"First, it is required for the proper functioning of the nerves and muscles. In experimentally-induced potassium deficiency, animals first lose their appetite and consequently their productivity, followed by muscle weakness and even paralysis. Of course, such levels of deficiency are rather difficult to achieve, but these experiments demonstrate the importance of potassium.
-
Second, potassium is involved in the electrolyte balance at cellular level affecting respiration. Potassium deficiency leads to intracellular electrolyte imbalance that is the basis for many metabolic disorders. This is a practical problem during heat stress, where normally the dietary electrolyte balance is increased.”
Why Isn’t Vital Potassium a Standard Feed Additive?
The answer lies a general belief that animals probably get enough potassium from their main feed, coupled with a lack of data to prove that belief wrong."
Most feeds are based on cereals or their by-products, which as a rule are very low in potassium (often as little as 0.2%). Many farmers use soybean meal, oily seeds or animal products as feed additive for a source of protein. In doing so, they are also adding potassium, and are likely making up any shortfall in the animals’ diets.
Cereal based that includes soybean meal as an additive, are thought to contain 1% potassium (or 10g per kilo finished feed).
What can cause critical problems, is if protein is being added to feed in the form of cereal by-products (for example, brewer’s grains), as this may lead to a potassium deficiency. In these situations, a feed additive (such as potassium chloride or monocalcium phosphate) can make the difference between a healthy or an undernourished animal.
Does Your Feed Contain Sufficient Potassium?
However, there is a great deal of guesswork in knowing precisely what the minimum limit of potassium is for maintaining good animal health. As standard animal feed already contains some potassium (however small), it is impossible to measure the impact of a zero-potassium diet.
As Mavromichalis notes, “We are in desperate need of modern data on animal potassium requirements. As new by-products and alternative ingredients enter feed formulations for monogastric animals, it is imperative to work with established figures and not with the classic corn-soy potassium average.”
Given the impact on animal health for potassium-deficient diets, feed manufacturers may be consider automatically using a feed additive to ‘cover all the bases’. But such a cavalier approach to the science of animal husbandry is unlikely to be economic. Instead, what is needed is far more analysis of the potassium contents of animal feeds, even region by region, including the effect of adding protein supplements. Only then will farmers be able to make an informed choice on the efficiency of potassium feed additives.
If you would like to know more about the impact of potassium on animal health, particularly in combating heat stress, then you can read Ioannis Mavromichalis' excellent article ‘Wattagnet’ on the topic in the industry journal Wattagnet.
If you would like to know more about purchasing potassium as a feed additive, as either potassium chloride or monocalcium phosphate, then please take a look at the AG CHEMI GROUP catalogue.
Or contact a sales team member direct:
Timur Khafizov, potassium chloride on +420 777 227 387 or timur.khafizov@agchemigroup.eu
Alexandra Chepak, monocalcium phosphate on +420 777 996 157 or alexandra.chepak@agchemigroup.eu
Article photo credit: modernfarmer & emersonblognews
