Emma Slater, Pig Technical and Commercial Advisor

Department: Pig, Poultry, Leisure – Technical team

My new role

I have recently moved into this role giving me the opportunity to build on my piglet expertise, from the Young Animal Feed team, to also covering sow and finisher pigs. I’m enjoying working closely with account managers across the country from Cumbria down to Cornwall.

VITAL focus

Afbeelding: VITAL Photoshoot-0722LR-01482

Since starting my role, I have been focused on the latest addition to our successful VIDA starter range, VITAL - the nutritional solution to zinc free. This has involved a huge amount of work including extensive UK trials, testing, overseeing commercial trials, collecting data and collating valuable feedback from producers.

I have worked alongside Ade (ForFarmers Nutritionist) and the Nutrition Innovation Centre on the practical application of VITAL on UK farms and driven the technical side of the project, from concept to implementation.

Every farm is unique so we take an individual approach which has seen great results. We’ve found that the expectation is different for different producers and we’ve taken time to understand what these are - using this as a foundation for our zinc free approach.

My favourite part of working on VITAL

It’s been exciting to introduce a new product to our piglet range especially one that is helping to provide a solution for our producers as they navigate their zinc free journey.

VITAL customer feedback

As we move closer to the zinc ban, we have seen great interest from producers. Trials so far have been positive, showing feed consistency, health and performance are comparable to those fed zinc, which is great to see.

Advising customers

Afbeelding: VITAL Photoshoot-0722LR-01348

We take a holistic view as there are several factors that influence the use of zinc in a piglet feeding regime, such as the environment and water quality. We use our Nutricare framework to understand each of these factors to determine the right solution for each customer.

We then review the whole regime to ensure we recommend the right VITAL diet which is  optimal for that scenario.

Find out more about our new zinc-free piglet feed, VITAL here