Sow Farm
Canada
Canadian sow farm with 600 sows. During gestation, sows are group housed with individual feeding stations.
Validating our nutritional solutions on commercial farms around the globe
Trouw Nutrition’s global network of validation farms bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and actual farm practices by demonstrating the efficacy and commercial viability of novel products, programmes and services in different climates and production environments. Our validation farms can be found all over the globe, with locations continuously being added. In 2021, additional validation farms in Latin America, Canada, Spain and the Netherlands will be established.
Providing real-world answers
Validation farms are well-controlled and data-driven commercial research facilities enabling us to demonstrate that our novel products, programmes and services achieve consistent, outstanding results in all parts of the world. They are chosen to best reflect our customers’ farms in terms of breed, weather conditions, housing, management and health status, so that we can provide practical answers and solutions.
Keeping our customers front and centre
We recognise that customers require real-world proof to be convinced of the efficacy of our offerings. Trouw Nutrition is committed to providing global evidence that supports the value of our products, programmes and services. We invested in a long-term partnership with regional representative commercial farms and made all needed renovations to transform them into practical research facilities. The success of our scientifically sound trials conducted at six validation farms around the world has resulted in further extension of our global network, and the opportunity to significantly deepen our database.
Implementing multi-location trials at swine validation farms in Canada
Trouw Nutrition Canada’s swine validation farm project, launched at the beginning of the 1990s, included partnerships with several locations encompassing breeding, nursery and grower-finisher units. A coast-to-coast farm network was set up for impactful multi-location studies, enabling large numbers of identical treatments to be compared against a variety of housing, feeds, health, and genetics.
Results were shared with other regions in Canada and the validation farm network was further strengthened by becoming part of our Research & Development division.
Proven solutions are the foundation of the way Trouw Nutrition does business and allows us to stay a step ahead of the competition while maintaining respectable margins.
Farm Data Integration offers data-driven solutions
Our digital platform, Farm Data Integration (FDI), ensures data is collected in a structured way, by region or customer segment, to provide meaningful validation results and solutions for animal feed, farm and health management. Plans to enhance the FDI platform in the future include connecting additional software systems and sensors across the main species - dairy, beef, swine, layers and broilers. Integrating these systems with validation packages will make the trials more accessible with easier tracking and tracing of animals or animal groups by treatments. In addition, new techniques such as machine learning will be applied to enable highly detailed prescriptions based on the abundance of knowledge gathered regarding timing and dosing in a variety of environments.
Validation farms forge a powerful way to connect science with real-world applications.
They exist in different parts of the world, and we are now excited to be launching a new project in Brazil. Discover more about the newest addition to our Validation Farms network with this video, courtesy of our Brazilian colleagues!
Our validation farms prove to customers that our products work seamlessly and effectively under the type of conditions they encounter every day. We’re proud to offer farmers these remarkable solutions - science-based, data-supported, and most importantly, field-tested.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the criteria for a good validation farm?
The keys to success are identifying a farm that best represents the market and is headed by a farmer fully dedicated to the mission of our research.
How are you able to execute properly designed studies on traditional farms?
We use state-of-the-art feeding systems and water lines that deliver accurate reporting on intake as well as the option to randomise different amounts of feed and water provided throughout the farm.
What is your baseline for testing solutions?
We always ensure that the results we obtain by applying our solutions at one validation farm will be the same if applied at a neighbouring farm.