High Dosing of OptiPhos® Plus Remains Beneficial Even with Decreasing Prices of Inorganic P

Phosphorus (P) included in a feed formulation comes from one of three sources: 

• P which is present in the feed materials and not bound to phytate ("free P")
• P from phytate which has been made available through use of a phytase
• P from inorganic P sources where the P requirement in the feed is not met by free P and P released by phytase

Using OptiPhos® Plus is a very efficient strategy for replacing inorganic P in a diet because it liberates P from the phytate present in the plant-based feed ingredients. As the price of inorganic P sources, like monocalcium phosphate (MCP), skyrocketed in the past year, including OptiPhos® Plus at levels above the single dose (500 FTU/kg) has resulted in feed cost savings. 

Recently, MCP prices have dropped from around €1500/T to approximately €1250/T in the EU. An obvious question results: is it still profitable to dose OptiPhos® Plus at levels up to 2000 FTU/kg? 

Tables 1 and 2 show the calculation of extra cost savings by adding OptiPhos® Plus at 1000, 1500 and 2000 FTU/kg versus the single dose (500 FTU/kg) in broiler grower feed and piglet feed, respectively. The calculations are based on two prices for MCP: €1500/kg and €1000/kg. The tables show that lowering the price of MCP reduces the cost savings vs the single dose. However, the cost savings are still substantial at increasing doses of OptiPhos® Plus. 

It should also be taken into consideration that increasing the dose of OptiPhos® Plus will lead to faster degradation of the phytate. Phytate is an antinutritional factor because it reduces the digestibility of nutrients such as protein. Therefore, a positive effect on animal performance is to be expected when OptiPhos® Plus is included at levels higher than 500 FTU/kg, adding an economic benefit on top of the cost savings indicated in Table 1 (broilers) and Table 2 (pigs). 

Table 1. Effect of the price of MCP on profit vs the 500 FTU/kg dose in broilers

Table 2. Effect of the price of MCP on profit vs the 500 FTU/kg dose in pigs

Conclusion

Increasing the dose of OptiPhos® Plus reduces the need for the inclusion of inorganic P sources, resulting in cost savings. A lower price of MCP reduces the financial benefit. However, the cost savings are still substantial and continue to support the high dose inclusion of OptiPhos® Plus. In addition, the increased doses will also lead to a faster degradation of phytate, yielding further performance improvements.