New silage additive from BASF helps to ensure safe animal feed for dairy farming in Japan
- Lupro-Cid NA enables high-quality silage preparation even under challenging conditions
- Organic acid product helps dairy farmers protect feed quality, improve safety during silage making
Tokyo, Japan – July 11, 2018 - A new silage additive from BASF, Lupro-Cid® NA, can help dairy farmers in Japan prepare and store excellent silage even under challenging weather and storage conditions. This low-corrosive organic acid product, launched recently, also makes silage production easier and safer.
The quality of silage feed depends on the ensiling process, during which lactic acid bacteria multiply. This leads to the creation of fermentation products which preserve the silage, maintaining its quality. Lupro-Cid NA is a blend of buffered formic acid and propionic acid: formic acid is effective in controlling butyric acid fermentation, and propionic acid is effective against mold formation and aerobic deterioration.
“Excellent quality silage is crucial to keep dairy cows productive. BASF’s organic acids help dairy farmers protect the quality of their feed in a safe, easy way,” said Tomoyoshi Kajiura, Local Business Representative, Nutrition & Health, BASF Japan. “We aim to make the best use of our organic acid products to further improve dairy farming in Japan.”
Japan is one of the largest markets for silage additives in Asia Pacific. The Ministry of Agriculture in Japan has set a target1 to raise the self-sufficiency rate of roughage in Japan, including silage, to 100% by 2025. Among the 1.42 million dairy cows in Japan, some 800,000 (around 59% of the total) are in Hokkaido2. However, Hokkaido has faced rising temperatures, typhoons and increased rainfall in the past decades, making silage preparation and storage more difficult. There is a growing demand for silage that can remain at high quality over long periods of storage in any environment.
Buffered with sodium, Lupro-Cid NA is also the first low-irritant and low-corrosive organic acid product in the Japanese market. The addition of sodium to the product has successfully reduced the metal-corrosive and skin-irritating properties of pure acids that create difficulties in safe silage preparation. Lupro-Cid NA will thus allow significant improvements in safety for dairy farm workers.
Besides Lupro-Cid NA, BASF also offers to the Japanese market Amasil® NA, a blend of formic acid and sodium formate.
1) Situation Over Feed (April 2018), Ministry of Agriculture, Feed
2) Livestock Statistics (as of Feb. 1, 2017), Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
About the BASF Nutrition & Health division
BASF Nutrition & Health provides a comprehensive product and service portfolio for the human and animal nutrition, pharmaceutical and flavor & fragrance industries. With innovative solutions and modern technologies we help our customers improve their business efficiency and the sustainability of their products. Our human nutrition solutions include vitamins and carotenoids, plant sterols, emulsifiers and omega-3 fatty acids. Vitamins and carotenoids also form an important part of our animal nutrition portfolio, as do other feed additives such as trace elements, enzymes and organic acids. We provide the pharmaceutical industry with a broad range of excipients and selected large-volume active pharmaceutical ingredients such as ibuprofen and omega-3 fatty acids. Furthermore, we offer aroma ingredients such as citral, geraniol and L-menthol. BASF Nutrition & Health operates sites in Europe, North America, South America and in Asia-Pacific. For more information, go to www.basf.com.
About BASF in Japan
BASF has been a committed partner to Japan since 1888. Activities cover four business segments including Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions and Agricultural Solutions. BASF has 24 production sites, including 16 admixture plants of the Construction Chemicals division. In addition, BASF maintains a strong research and development presence in Japan with its facilities in Amagasaki, Yokohama, Chigasaki, and Naruto. As of the end of 2017, BASF employed 1,087 employees in Japan, and achieved sales of about €1.7 billion to customers in Japan. For further information, please visit: www.basf.com/jp.
About BASF
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The more than 115,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of €64.5 billion in 2017. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS). Further information at www.basf.com.
