SoftAcid® is an excellent alternative to Antibiotic Growth Promoters (AGPs) in livestock feed, due to its specific and unique ability to either kill or inhibit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. As a result, SoftAcid promotes growth and improved animal performance of various species of livestock.
Feeding Trials
Farmers co-operative Felleskjøpet Agri BA is the largest feed producer in Norway. With 57 grain depots it is also the largest grain collector in the country. SoftAcid has been instrumental in the co-operative's anti-Salmonella programme, and part of the mechanism that enables Felleskjøpet to guarantee Salmonella-free feed for their customers.
Extensive trials have also been carried out at Danske Slagterier (The Danish Bacon & Meat Council, see Table 1). SoftAcid has been found to have better palatability than pure organic acids, with inclusion rates of up to 2% having no detrimental effect on feed intake.
Table 1: Results from Danish Feeding Trial
| Product | Control | 1.0% SoftAcid | 1.5% SoftAcid | 2.0% SoftAcid |
| No of groups | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| No of pigs | 402 | 402 | 402 | 403 |
| 4-6 weeks | ||||
| Daily gain, g | 137 | 155 | 154 | 158 |
| Daily intake feed, FUp | 0.24 | 0.25 | 0.25 | 0.25 |
| FUp/kg gain | 1.92 | 1.7 | 1.72 | 1.69 |
| 6-10 weeks | ||||
| Daily gain, g | 487 | 507 | 510 | 489 |
| Daily intake feed, FUp | 0.89 | 0.93 | 0.92 | 0.91 |
| FUp/kg gain | 1.83 | 1.83 | 1.80 | 1.86 |
| 4-10 weeks | ||||
| Daily gain, g | 374 | 392 | 396 | 382 |
| Daily intake, feed, FUp | 0.68 | 0.71 | 0.70 | 0.70 |
| FUp/kg gain | 1.83 | 1.80 | 1.78 | 1.82 |
FUp – Feed Unit pig. One unit of FU=approx. 12.65 MJ/kg metabolic energy.
Results show that SoftAcid is an effective product for prevention of digestive problems, which leads to better utilisation of the feed and improved animal performance. It was also found to have a positive influence on the microbial population of the pig's digestive system, resulting in a reduction in the number of coliform bacteria present in the small intestines. It should be noted that the performance of SoftAcid was found to be similar to that observed with pure formic acid.
Trials conducted in Germany (see Table 2) also show that replacement of a formic/propionic acid mixture on a 1:1 basis with SoftAcid gave an improved performance in terms of feed intake, weight gain and feed conversion ratio.
The trial was conducted with post-weaning piglets from the age of four weeks until they were approximately ten weeks old. The dosage was fixed at 0.6% for both products. Results show that there was an additional live weight gain of 15 grams per day due to the use of SoftAcid, giving an extra weight gain of 1.2 kg.
These results show the benefits of SoftAcid against a leading competitor acid with respect to weight gain of the animals.
Table 2: Results from German Feeding Trial
| Test parameters | 0.6% Formic/Propionic acid mix | 0.6% SoftAcid |
| No of pigs | 236 | 236 |
| Start weight/kg | 30.87 | 31.18 |
| Finish weight/kg | 91.35 | 92.85 |
| Days | 77.7 | 77.7 |
| % lean meat | 55.0 | 54.5 |
| Weight gain (kg) | 60.48 | 61.67 |
| Daily feed consumption/kg | 2.16 | 2.19 |
| Feed conversion ratio | 2.77 | 2.75 |
| Daily weight gain/g | 778 | 793 |