Energy drives everything in animal performance. From muscle growth to milk production, reproduction and immunity, beef and dairy cattle rely on efficient conversion of feedstuffs into usable energy. However, not all formulations allow animals to achieve their optimum production potential.
While rations may appear nutritionally balanced, sometimes they lack key elements. Stress, immune activation and reduced insulin sensitivity can divert energy away from productive functions toward maintenance. This results in cattle consuming feed but failing to fully capture its productive value, ultimately impacting the bottom line.
The Importance of Glucose Utilization
For ruminants, converting glucose to energy is one of the most important functions to maximizing the value of feed. Glucose powers essential biological functions including milk production, fetal development, muscle growth, immune response and reproductive performance.
Unlike monogastric animals, ruminants rely heavily on rumen fermentation to generate glucose precursors. In fact, as much as 90% of circulating glucose in ruminants can originate from fermentation pathways.
But even with adequate energy in the diet, inefficiencies can emerge. Poor forage digestibility, inadequate rumen fermentation, heat stress, transport stress, disease challenges and high physiological demands can all reduce how effectively animals utilize available glucose.
The Role of Chromium Methionine
Even with sufficient amounts of glucose, ruminants still need help maximizing how it’s utilized. That’s where chromium methionine comes into play.
While chromium does not actually increase insulin or glucose, it does increase the sensitivity and action of insulin to improve glucose uptake. In fact, it magnifies the response, increasing insulin binding at the surface of the cell and increasing the duration of the signal.
This matters because improved insulin sensitivity allows animals to more efficiently direct nutrients toward performance outcomes instead of losing energy to metabolic inefficiency.
More Productive Energy Leads to Better Performance
When glucose utilization is optimized, the impact extends across productive functions, whether in beef or dairy cattle. Zinpro® has unlocked a more effective way to meet chromium needs with Zinpro® Availa® Cr (chromium methionine) to help producers convert more nutrients into productive energy and measurable performance gains.
Research into Zinpro Availa Cr has demonstrated improvements in:1
- Milk production
- Feed efficiency
- Lean tissue accretion
- Stress tolerance
- Immune response
- Reproductive performance
The Zinpro Difference
Zinpro Availa Cr was designed using Zinpro proven amino acid complexing technology. The chromium is tightly bound to methionine in a unique structure the body readily recognizes and absorbs.
This is fundamentally different from other chromium sources like chromium picolinate or chromium propionate. Zinpro Availa Cr is bioeffective, meaning it’s not only readily absorbed into the bloodstream, but it’s also better able to reach target tissues, which is critical in production animals to help produce measurable outcomes that impact the bottom line.
Optimizing glucose utilization can help cattle direct more energy toward growth, production and performance. Learn more about Zinpro Availa Cr and the role it plays in helping producers capture more value from every pound of feed.
References
1 Summary of 19 dairy peer-reviewed studies and 39 overall studies across species.
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