RumenShield Dairy - Non-Medicated Feed Additive to Improve Milk Yield in Dairy Cows

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Antibiotic growth promoters have been used extensively throughout the world to increase milk output in dairy farming, leading to an average 5.4% increase in milk yield. This leads to greater productivity and profitability. Due to concerns over antibiotic-resistance and overuse of antibiotics, these have been banned in the EU since 2006. While non-antibiotic replacement products are used in the EU, these are not as effective. As such, EU dairy farms are at a competitive disadvantage when competing globally. Mayo Healthcare has developed RumenShield Dairy, a non-antibiotic feed additive which acts upon the rumen microbial community to enhance feed efficiency, improve milk output and health of the animal. In preliminary trials has shown an increased milk yield of 7.16% - leading to increased revenue of €173/cow, with a 3.8x return on investment seen. RumenShield Dairy has also shown additional benefits to the cow including reduced rates of lameness, mastitis and increased rates of fertility, which are estimated to save €275-300/cow. RumenShield Dairy acts upon methanogenic bacteria in the rumen. In vitro studies have shown use of RumenShield Dairy can reduce methane emissions by an average of 63%. This has the potential to transform the EU dairy sector, leading to a €4.067Bn increase in dairy output, with a potential 2.74% reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions. Increased productivity and reduced carbon footprint shall make the EU dairy sector more competitive internationally, leading to increased exports, job creation and sustainable food production. This multi-party FTI project will optimise the formulation and then manufacture RumenShield Dairy. It will complete large-scale field studies demonstrating superiority over current gold-standard products, leading to a scientific opinion from EFSA regarding product use. The total market opportunity in the EU is €864m, with a total global market size of €2.559Bn. We aim to launch the product on the market during Q3, 2021.