France: Phytogenics to reduce antibiotic use at dairy farms

With a budget of €2.5 million, Neolac is supported by 3 complementary partners:

• Biodevas Laboratoires, a research and development lab specialising in the conception and production of organic solutions based on 100% natural active ingredients to reduce synthetic products in the agricultural sector
• INRAE, France’s National research institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment
• SODIAAL, the leading dairy cooperative in France.

Neolac is an ambitious research and development programme to reduce the economic, health and ecological impact of one of the 3 main breeding pathologies in the dairy sector: udder infections at all physiological stages of the cow (peripartum, lactation, dry-off). “These are the most consuming of chemical inputs and with which there are not enough scientifically validated alternatives,” says François Blua, managing director of Biodevas.

Quantified ambitions: The objectives displayed by Neolac are multiple

• Increase the number of farms by 50% which carry out selective drying-off (i.e., without systematic use of antibiotics) whereas today it is estimated that one in 2 farms still uses antibiotics at drying-off on all cows, even healthy ones;
• Reduce the number of cows that have mastitis during lactation to 1 in 3 cows, compared to 1 in 2 today;
• Reduce the use of chemical inputs from 30% to 50% in the dairy sector to manage this pathology;
• Generate a gain per farm and per year of several thousand euros by reducing breeding costs (total economic impact of clinical mastitis: from €5,000 to €7,000 per year for a herd of 60 dairy cows) and thanks to the improvement of classic milk payment criteria (fat content, protein level, cell level, etc.).

Phytogenic solutions

Of the 3 phytogenic solutions, which are based on plant extracts, 2 have already been developed by Biodevas Laboratoires and experimental phases have already started.

“Our phytogenic solutions are 100% natural,” says François Blua, who adds: “We start with the selection of organic dry plants from which we extract the active substances of interest using a unique internal extraction process. Then we mix them in nuclei suitable for any type of use in animal nutrition – premix, minerals, top feeding, drinking water, etc.”

The Neolac programme has also enabled the creation of 8 direct jobs at Biodevas Laboratoires, including a doctoral student to follow this work, and 2 jobs at SODIAAL.

At INRAE level, this work will expand knowledge to broaden understanding:

• How does the immunocompetence of cows vary during lactation and how can plant-based nutritional solutions modulate this evolution?
• How do immune cells in dairy cows respond to inflammation?
• What is the role of antioxidants in plant extract products in regulating the integrity of mammary tissue?
• What is the effect of the antioxidants in plant extract products on the ability of cows to produce a normal immune response early in lactation?