Headquartered in Belo-Horizonte, Prodap combines nutrition, consulting and technology services to streamline ruminant farming operations, said DSM.
“Through its portfolio of digital solutions, it collects data and develops insights in real time, which are then translated into nutritional solutions tailored to customers, with remote or in-person support provided by its expert consultants. Prodap operates in the states of Mato Grosso and Minas Gerais and employs 330 employees, serving over 5,000 farms across Brazil with impressive customer retention rates ”.
DSM said Prodap will complement its deep knowledge of animal nutrition and consulting skills with its extensive consulting experience, facilitating an even higher level of client experience.
Additionally, by supporting more efficient agriculture, the acquisition contributes to DSM’s commitment to enable a double-digit reduction in livestock emissions on farms by 2030 as part of its 2021 food system commitments, he said.
The transaction, which remains subject to customary conditions, is expected to close in 2022.
This Brazilian deal follows the announcement last week of DSM’s merger with Firmenich. Regarding animal nutrition and health, DSM said the combined activities will continue to focus on specialist science and technology-based solutions for the ever-increasing demand for protein, while also alleviating the pressure on the planet’s limited natural resources.
Precision farming is growing rapidly, driven by the growing demand for sustainability, efficiency, traceability and animal welfare in food systems under pressure to provide animal protein to the world’s growing population, DSM said.
Existing precision nutrition solutions from the Dutch company for animal nutrition and health include Verax, an integrated animal management system that leverages data to provide a deeper understanding of animal health, productivity and welfare And SustellA smart sustainability service designed to improve the environmental sustainability of animal protein production.
David Nickell, vice president, sustainability and business solutions, nutrition and animal health at DSM, spoke with FeedNavigator about the trend of real-time cycle analysis (LCA) in agriculture and how Sustell ties into that at VIV Europe 2022 in Utrecht last week.
Watch the interview in the video above.
“It’s about the user experience. We are taking a complex process and making it more intuitive. Sustell offers the full environmental footprint, including 19 different environmental variables. It offers a holistic view, allowing a business to compare and contrast between farms and run “what if” scenarios. It is very fast in terms of feedback and there is a technical interface and a business interface. ”
A business with 2,000 farms, for example, can use Sustell to see how each of its farms ranks, Nickell continued, giving it full ownership of its footprint, knowing which farms are performing better than others, in terms of environmental parameters. “You can apply best practices from high-performing farms to other farms. You can set benchmarks. It allows you to really question your business.
Some players in the dairy farming arena are well advanced in terms of using sustainability metrics, as the industry has focused heavily on it, but large broiler farms, also heavily controlled, are working. in this business for some time, Nickell said. “People are starting to realize that it takes significant investment, experience and understanding to do it right. “
The industry must first measure to understand what needs to change, and retailers are influencing the rest of the supply chain in terms of monitoring their environmental footprint, he added.
A significant number of retailers have adhered to science-based goals and set their own Scope 3 goals, so they have to reduce year-on-year and 90% of a retailer’s carbon emissions are upstream, on the farm, with the nutrition a huge part of that. “50% to 80% of that farm footprint is food related. A large part is made up of the raw materials that enter the feed “.
While monitoring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in livestock production is important for meeting collective commitments under the Paris Agreement, there are many other environmental variables of considerable importance, he said. These include nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, soil quality, water use, land use and impact on biodiversity.
Investors are also increasingly focused on the risk and return of livestock production, and insurance companies are now looking at climate risk in their books: “It all comes down to measurement “,Added sustainability leader DSM.