The Magic of Microbes

Firstly, happy Christmas to one and all.

This last year was where I discovered the magic of microbes.

I’ve got to work with Precision microbes, a Dublin-based company creating and blending innovative products using beneficial microbes.

Twenty years as a vet, and this is by far the most exciting work that I’ve been lucky enough to be involved in.

There is no shortage of people talking about agriculture and animal health challenges. It’s nice to be involved in cutting-edge science and solutions on the ground that makes a real difference.

Watch this space! I’ll be spending most of 2022 explaining what we are doing—digging into the science and the results.

Interestingly, we often think about bacteria in a negative light. However, I’ve discovered the power of beneficial microorganisms or good bacteria this year. The applications for this technology are vast, and already, it’s making a real difference.

Precision launched its unique probiotic and postbiotic liquids in the vet channel in February 2021. With vets all over Ireland now reaching for their pet, calf, and equine products.

The feedback and results in improved gut health have been like nothing I’ve seen before. In addition, probiotics and postbiotics can be used for acute dysbiosis (diarhoea) and some fantastic stories in pets and horses of sorting some long-term issues.

Already the word is spreading, and 2022 will see vets across Ireland, the UK, and Europe reaching for these gut health solutions.

On a personal note, when I walked away from private practice, I took a gamble—jumping into the unknown, knowing that it was a space full of opportunity and plenty of challenges. To get to work on a project like this has been a dream come true. Everything about this science fits with what I believe is the way forward around animal health solutions.

Organic products with cutting-edge science and harnessing the power of nature. The power of microbes, or as I like to say

the magic of microbes

Precision Microbes Animal health range above

Check out our vet and customer testimonials on http://www.precisionmicrobes.com.

Calf health

You will be hearing lots about the calf gut and microbiome for the next couple of months from me. These probiotics and postbiotoc liquids were the first ones I got my hands on. With the speed of action and farmers’ reactions, I knew I was working with something very different.

With calf diarrhoea such a challenge, it is excellent to be putting something into the vet’s and farmer’s hands to stabilize the gut quickly. It gets fascinating when you see the long-term usage on-farm and the benefits.

There will be plenty more from me in the new year on calf health and the gut microbiome.

Companion animals

I didn’t think twelve months ago; I would be back working across all species reading research papers and attending all types of animal health conferences.

The results of the pet probiotics have even taken me by surprise. The speed at which they stabilize the dog or cat with diarrhea. There are countless stories of pet owners and their pets with chronic issues, like IBS, responding so well and reversing chronic inflammation in the digestive tract.

Vets are now talking to each other with several inquiries from the Uk and Europe. They have heard about the speed of action and the excellent long-term results.

Equine

In May, it was a phone call from a well-known horse vet who was trialing the products that again got me excited. He was very skeptical at first, but like most people, once they tried the precision equine products, they were won over.

He used it on foals recovering from diarrhoea and some adult horses that weren’t thriving. But, hey, presto, it worked and worked well.

We now have equine users all over Europe starting to see the long-term benefits of these live beneficial bacterial blends.

Having worked on many product launches over my career im taken aback by how the word is spreading.

No extensive fancy marketing campaigns, just good science, and great products.

It will be fascinating to see where these equine products take us next.

So these three unique probiotics and postbiotics have kept us busy, and vets and their customers are pleased with the results.

The potential of Microbes

I’ve also got to work with blends of live beneficial microbes in intensive livestock systems. So, again, it is stretching me to learn more and understand these systems and the massive potential for better gut health.

We are still building trial data and perfecting the delivery of these precious live liquids.

The science

I’ve got to speak at length with the researchers behind the product development. I am learning how the live blends work and the importance of the postbiotics being in the liquids—the years of work to get this technology right and the correct blend symbiosis.

The results speak for themselves.

I’ve also seen the various blends of microbes work in different areas. With so many people talking about sustainability, at Precision Microbes, they are doing sustainable.

Slurry inoculants

We have several trials running with the unique blend of slurry microbes. Again focused on improving nutrient quality, and we are looking forward to seeing the results of the tests when we start looking at pasture and soil health in 2022.

The various blends have high volumes, and always unique liquid live beneficial microorganisms.

The farms use large volumes with up to 2 litres of inoculant per cow over the winter period.

Silage inoculant

With silage being such a key ingredient in successful winter feeding, anything we can do to help with quality is essential. Therefore, having a live homofermentative inoculant has been great.

You can see the difference in one of the trial pits below. Untreated on top, treated on the bottom. So good you could nearly eat it yourself. The cows love it, but the real magic of this inoculant is that it has live beneficial bacteria in the silage when it’s fed out. These are E Faecium NCIMB10415.

We have seen improved quality and preservation. Cows love the feed, and now it’s monitoring animal performance.

Again its liquid live blends are applied at cutting at 2 litres per tonne. Significant dosage rates of live bacterial blends

Environmental microbes

Watch the video below. I discuss the usage of environmental microbes. We are seeing less straw usage, better air quality, and the fact we are misting blends of live lactobacillus, I feel benefits for overall respiratory health in stock.

Plant microbes

This is technology precision has developed and worked with in fine turf all around the world. Next year sees them bring some of these products into the domestic and agriculture markets. Learning about the role of microbes in soil and at the root level for me was just fascinating.

It also shows that healthy soils can be linked all the way to healthy humans. One thing in common with plant animals and humans is healthy and diverse microbial populations. One thing that I discovered early was none of us would be here without them.

So it was another busy year for me, but I’ve begun to learn about the magic of microbes. You will hear lots from me on this topic this year so stay tuned.

Below are some of the other uses of beneficial Microbes.