Evonik to invest in methionine for dairy cows

A special coating protects the amino acid from undesired degradation in the rumen. The new plant is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2015. The investment is in the low double-digit-million-euro range.

Evonik Executive Board member and Chief Operating Officer Patrik Wohlhauser explains, ” We continue our strategy of offering amino acids also for special applications in addition to MetAMINO, which is used mainly in poultry and pig feed. This opens up new growth opportunities for our amino acid business.”

“The new plant for Mepron will give us a direct presence in the important US dairy cow market,” says Dr. Reiner Beste, Head of Evonik’s Health & Nutrition Business Unit. The US, which has the world’s largest number of high yielding dairy cows, is the most important sales region for the product. A similar potential exists in the European Union. The US are responsible for about 12.5% of the global milk production.

When Mepron is used in dairy cow rations, farmers can reduce the amount of crude protein in the feed with no adverse effect on performance. This lowers the total feed costs for the producer and increases the profitability of dairy cow farming.

In addition, the environmentally compatible production of agricultural products conserving resources is becoming more important for ecological reasons. Feed rations that are optimised on the basis of amino acids relieve the animal’s metabolism and —because of the lower nitrogen excretion — also the environment.