A closer look at the micro level of animal nutrition

Producers face increasing regulatory requirements and expectations regarding efficiency and sustainability standards. Nutrition plays a pivotal role in supporting these challenges, not only in animal performance but also in building resilience and maintaining long-term productivity.

Cargill Animal Nutrition & Health (ANH) approaches this starting from a micro perspective to bring a macro, much larger, impact. Within its Micronutrition and Health Solutions (MHS) business, the focus lies on a deep understanding of microelements and its impact on the animal gut microbiome. Understanding the role of these elements and focusing on the combined effect on animal health and performance, the solutions developed move beyond traditional feed additives.

Precision in nutrition

Micronutrition is a fundamental pillar of Cargill MHS’s business. The approach integrates and combines various technologies, including postbiotics, phytogenics, anti-mycotoxin agents, and enzymes, into solutions — each selected and combined to complement the animal’s health.

The work extends across multiple species, including ruminants, poultry, pigs, aquaculture, equine, and pets. Innovation is at the core of this business, and key themes in research and development include contributing to research on good farming practices that can help reduce antibiotic reliance, improving overall feed efficiency, and supporting sustainable production systems.

By combining deep nutritional and scientific expertise with digital tools and extensive field knowledge, Cargill MHS solutions help connect data, learning, and science to provide practical nutritional advice. This enables producers to fine-tune feed conversion, enhance nutrient utilisation, and achieve consistent performance outcomes while maintaining regulatory and sustainability standards.

Health starts with the gut

Maintaining gut health is increasingly recognised as critical to supporting overall health.  Within its portfolio, Cargill MHS combines microbiome expertise with digital analytics to identify early indicators of imbalance and potential health risks.

This is particularly true in poultry, where the use of Galleon, a microbiota analysis platform built from a large database containing over 50,000 samples from 23 countries, is notable. Galleon analyses relationships between feed composition, additive use, animal age, and environmental factors. The resulting insights allow more targeted nutritional interventions that support performance, immune function, and help animals maintain balance under stress.

Through this data-driven, science-based approach, Cargill MHS business contributes to the broader goal of reducing antibiotic dependence in livestock systems through good farming practices.

From research to practice

Cargill MHS operates in more than 40 countries, with its production centred in three state-of-the-art facilities across Europe and the USA. These facilities draw on local expertise to apply global research findings in practical settings. The combination of scientific knowledge, the use of digital tools, and on-farm experience provides the backbone to deliver the right products, at the right time, in the right amount for each life stage of different species, showing how sometimes micro adjustments can yield measurable effects on animal health and performance.