Leading the Transition
The freshening period should be an exciting time when dairy producers can look forward to a new generation of productive cows. But too often it can result in a financial drain when cows suffer a drop in their blood calcium and magnesium levels at calving, triggering significant losses and veterinary bills. Now you can do something about it.
Balancing the Dietary Cation Anion Difference (DCAD) has long been an effective way to prevent sub-clinical hypocalcemia. Yet adding calcium-mobilizing anions to the ration through traditional anionic salts has proven unsatisfactory due to palatability. That's not a problem with SoyChlor®.
Introduced by Landus in 1997, SoyChlor was designed to assist pre-fresh dairy cows with DCAD balancing and reducing instances of subclinical hypocalcemia as well as clinical milk fever.
The proven consistency of SoyChlor makes inclusion of the chloride supplement in reduced-DCAD transition rations simple, safe, and predictable. SoyChlor is subjected to routine third-party testing for nutrient content and the chloride content is verified every hour during manufacturing. Every manufactured lot receives at least one chloride test prior to bagging.
SoyChlor's unique ability to consistently deliver chloride while maintaining palatability has made it the preferred feed ingredient by dairy cows across the globe.
SoyChlor Benefits
Reducing incidences of retained placenta, displaced abomasum, metritis and other disorders that have hypocalcemia as their root cause can be achieved by improving a cow's blood calcium status at calving. Supplementing pre-fresh diets with a chloride product, like SoyChlor, which contains essential calcium and magnesium, has been shown to provide that improvement in blood calcium levels.
The purpose of feeding anionic supplements and balancing Dietary Cation Anion Difference (DCAD) is to develop a state of mild, compensated metabolic acidosis in the pre-fresh cow, which will improve her calcium status at calving. This condition is characterized by pre-calving urine pH readings between 6.0 and 6.8. Such acidification of the cow can be accomplished by supplementing the diet with chloride and/or sulfate anions. Chloride has been demonstrated to be 1.6 times more potent than sulfate for acidifying the cow's blood and urine. All of the supplemental anions in SoyChlor are chloride.
The "first generation" traditional anionic supplements were noted for reducing feed intake due to poor palatability. SoyChlor has long been recognized for its acceptance by cows, either when incorporated into a grain mix, or mixed into or top-dressed onto a TMR. As the "new generation" anionic supplement, SoyChlor is manufactured using a novel, wet dissolution process. This process allows soluble chloride ions to absorb into the palatable carrier ingredients, dispersing the chloride at the molecular level. No granules or prills are present to initiate a feed rejection response.
As part of our process controls, the chloride content of SoyChlor is tested daily during production, resulting in 6-8 tests every working day. SoyChlor is also subjected to third-party analysis each week by Cumberland Valley Analytical Services. Further, a sample from every manufacturing lot is securely stored for 6 months after production, in case further analyses are ever required.
Inadequate blood magnesium can disrupt the cow's ability to maintain normal blood calcium levels, even when DCAD has been properly adjusted and the correct state of metabolic acidosis has been achieved. The supplemental magnesium and calcium in SoyChlor are in a very bioavailable form, reducing the need for other sources of supplemental magnesium and calcium.
Inadequate blood magnesium can disrupt the cow's ability to maintain normal blood calcium levels, even when DCAD has been properly adjusted and the correct state of metabolic acidosis has been achieved. The supplemental magnesium and calcium in SoyChlor are in a very bioavailable form, reducing the need for other sources of supplemental magnesium and calcium.
The protein component of SoyChlor is high quality, real, pre-formed, usable protein for the cow. Coming from grain co-products and SoyPlus® high bypass soybean meal, the majority of protein in SoyChlor is ready for digestion without the need for assimilation into microbial protein in the rumen. The true protein in SoyChlor is especially helpful in contributing to the metabolizable protein supply in "high straw" or "controlled energy" pre-fresh diets, which may lack sufficient fermentable carbohydrate to allow rumen microbes to utilize non-protein nitrogen (NPN).
A robust bibliography of scientific articles describing research in which SoyChlor was a trusted anionic supplement in diets of pre-fresh cows can be found at The Research Center. This documented success of using SoyChlor in good DCAD management of pre-fresh cows provides assurance of satisfactory performance on the farm, time after time.
Research & Trial Results
SoyChlor® is a scientifically developed blend of grain byproducts, calcium and magnesium, and a source of chloride that is more palatable than traditional anionic salts. A 2006 Journal of Dairy Science review of 22 published studies confirmed that managing blood calcium levels via dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) balancing can reduce the symptoms of sub-clinical hypocalcemia including ketosis, mastitis, and displaced abomasum. Feeding SoyChlor to manage DCAD and supply essential calcium and magnesium during the pre-fresh period means a boost in blood calcium and, in turn, post-calving performance in your herd.
Bibliography
Body condition alters glutathione and nuclear factor erythroid 2-like 2 (NFE2L2)-related antioxidant network abundance in subcutaneous adipose tissue in periparturient Holstein cows.
The effect of prepartum negative dietary cation-anion difference and serum calcium concentration on blood neutrophil function in the transition period of healthy dairy cows.
Effects of rumen-protected choline in the inflammatory and metabolic status and health of dairy cows during the transition period.
Timing of initiation and duration of feeding rumen-protected choline affects performance of lactating Holstein cows.
Effect of enzymatically hydrolyzed yeast on health and performance of transition dairy cattle.
Diet starch concentration and starch fermentability affect markers of inflammatory response and oxidant status in dairy cows during the early postpartum period.
Effect of Saccarhmyces cervesiae on feed intake parameters, lactation performance, and metabolism of transition dairy cattle.
Effect of heat stress during early, late, and entire dry period on dairy cattle.
Diet starch concentration and starch fermentability affect energy intake and energy balance of cows in the early postpartum period.
Effects of timing of palmitic acid supplementation on production responses of early-lactation dairy cows.
Highly fermentable starch at different diet starch concentrations decreased feed intake and milk yield of cows in the early postpartum period.
Risk factors associated with postpartum subclinical hypocalcemia in dairy cows
The effects of elevated subcutaneous fat stores on fatty acid composition and gene expression of proinflammatory markers in periparturient dairy cows.
Effect of Saccarhmyces cervesiae on feed intake parameters, lactation performance, and metabolism of transition dairy cattle.
Effect of heat stress during early, late, and entire dry period on dairy cattle.
Diet starch concentration and starch fermentability affect markers of inflammatory response and oxidant status in dairy cows during the early postpartum period.
Use of calcitrol to maintain postpartum blood calcium and improve immune function in dairy cows.
Effect of enzymatically hydrolyzed yeast on health and performance of transition dairy cattle.
A dairy herd case investigation with very low cation-anion difference in prepartum dairy cows.
Timing of initiation and duration of feeding rumen-protected choline affects performance of lactating Holstein cows.
Highly fermentable starch at different diet starch concentrations decreased feed intake and milk yield of cows in the early postpartum period.
Effects of rumen-protected choline in the inflammatory and metabolic status and health of dairy cows during the transition period.
Effects of timing of palmitic acid supplementation on production responses of early-lactation dairy cows
Effect of anionic supplement source in prepartum negative dietary cation-anion difference diets on serum calcium, feed intake, and lactational performance of multiparous dairy cows.
Saturated fat supplementation interacts with dietary forage neutral detergent fiber content during the immediate postpartum and carryover periods in Holstein cows: Production responses and digestibility of nutrients.
Diet starch concentration and starch fermentability affect energy intake and energy balance of cows in the early postpartum period.
Supplementing Zn, Cu and Mn from amino acid complexes and Co from cobalt glucoheptonate during the peripartal period benefits postpartal performance and blood neutrophil function.
Effect of anionic supplement source in prepartum negative dietary cation-anion difference diets on serum calcium, feed intake, and lactational performance in multiparous dairy cows.
Effect of subclinical and clinical hypocalcemia and dietary cation-anion difference on rumination activity in periparturient dairy cows.
Comparison of 0.46% calcium diets with and without anions with a 0.7% calcium anionic diet as a means to reduce periparturient hypocalcemia.
Comparison of 0.46% calcium diets with and without anions with a 0.7% calcium anionic diet as a means to reduce periparturient hypocalcemia.
Effect of subclinical and clinical hypocalcemia and dietary cation-anion difference on rumination activity in periparturient dairy cows.
ISO 9001
The SoyChlor® manufacturing process is ISO 9001 certified. ISO 9001 is an internationally recognized quality management standard. With its ISO 9001 certification, Landus has proven that it follows and meets the requirements of the standard.
HACCP
The SoyChlor manufacturing process is also HACCP certified. HACCP certification ensures that the process is evaluated for biological, chemical, and physical hazards. This evaluation includes procurement, raw material receiving, production, storage, and shipment of product. If there are areas in the process where biological, chemical, or physical hazards could enter or exist, actions are taken to reduce or eliminate these risks. This provides greater confidence that our feed is safe.
QS
SoyChlor holds a QS compound feed production certificate. As part of this certification, SoyChlor participates in the QS feed monitoring program. Ingredients and finished product are tested for various items including salmonella, mycotoxins, dioxins, pesticides, heavy metals and more. QS is a German standard in which the concepts of ISO 9001 and HACCP are woven together. This QS certification ensures that safe, quality feed is delivered to the animals which make up part of the food supply chain.
GMP+
SoyChlor's QS certification is mutually recognized by GMP+. GMP+ has determined that the QS requirements are comparable to GMP+ requirements so they recognize our QS certification.
