Grant Supports Production of Sustainable, Cost-Effective Feed Supplements
As consumer demand for animal protein increases, meat producers are under tremendous pressure to increase productivity, while maintaining profitability. As a result, many producers rely on feed supplements to encourage faster growth, reduce disease and improve feed efficiency. This Seeding Solutions grant awarded to Sasya, Inc. supports the development of sustainable, cost-effective, multi-species feed supplements that are safe for livestock, the environment and human consumption.
Responding to consumer demands for transparency in the supply chain, producers are looking for sustainability but are not willing to pay a green premium. We are keen to prove that sustainability doesn’t have to cost more. Our processes can meet the increasingly stringent sustainability metrics while allowing profitability across the supply chain.
Dr. Goutham Vemuri
Sasya, Inc Chief Executive Officer and Founder
Why this research is important
Metabolites, such as amino acids and their derivatives, naturally occur in human and animal bodies. When used as dietary supplements, evidence suggests they can enhance performance and health in both humans and animals. While metabolites are commercially available, many are produced from harmful chemicals that require extensive purification and energy-intensive processes. As a result, despite their documented benefit, metabolite supplements remain prohibitively expensive to the feed industry.
Sasya is developing a novel sustainable process to mass produce high-performance supplements at a cost that can break their price-barrier for the animal feed supplement industry. This research will primarily focus on swine. The use of many current feed supplements within the swine industry prohibits the export of U.S. pork to important global markets. Replacing these supplements with sustainably-produced, affordable metabolite ones will help U.S. swine producers overcome price and regulatory barriers and position them to compete favorably in a global market. Demonstrated success in the swine market will pave the way for easier adoption in other animal species such as poultry, beef and dairy cows.
We understand the need for sustainably-produced supplements as alternatives to antibiotics and other environmentally unsafe animal feed supplements. Now is the time to invest in pioneering research that will allow the development of high-performance supplements to be economically available to producers and foster antibiotic stewardship, animal welfare, environmental sustainability and farmer profitability.
Saharah Moon Chapotin, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Details About this Research
How This Research Contributes to Our Mission
Sasya’s research furthers FFAR’s Advanced Animal Systems Challenge Area. The work in this Challenge Area supports sustainable animal systems through innovative technologies, environmentally sound production practices and advancements in animal health and welfare.
array(1) {
["latest"]=>
array(3) {
["tax"]=>
string(0) ""
["research"]=>
array(3) {
["title"]=>
string(0) ""
["image"]=>
bool(false)
["promo_text"]=>
string(37) "Read the latest project breakthroughs"
}
["latest"]=>
array(3) {
["title"]=>
string(10) "The Latest"
["sections_show"]=>
array(4) {
[0]=>
string(8) "insights"
[1]=>
string(4) "news"
[2]=>
string(6) "events"
[3]=>
string(13) "breakthroughs"
}
["additional_past_events"]=>
string(0) ""
}
}
}
The Latest
Insights
Our Insights highlight unique perspectives from across the food and agriculture community.
See all Insights
Advancing Ecosystem Service Markets for Sustainable Farming
Feeding Bees Through Diversity
Riley Reed
FFAR Fellow, Washington State University
Precision Agriculture Tools for Livestock Production
Caleb J. Grohmann
FFAR Fellow, University of Missouri
The Next Frontier for Biotechnology & the Future of Forestry
Samantha Surber
FFAR Fellow, University of Georgia
A Place for Everyone in Agriculture
Dr. LaKisha Odom & Jocelyn Hittle
Transforming Agriculture with Data and Artificial Intelligence
Shiang-Wan Chin, FFAR Fellow
Cornell University
Closing the Loop
Madeline Desjardins, FFAR Fellow
Washington State University
Importance of Bacteria in Identifying Bovine Respiratory Disease
Ruth Eunice Centeno Martinez
FFAR Fellow, Purdue University
Let’s Raise a Glass on National Milk Day to the Power of Agriculture Research
Krysta Harden
President and CEO U.S. Dairy Export Council
The Innovation Dilemma: Why Adoption Rates for Agricultural Technologies Lag Behind
Enrique Pena Martinez, FFAR Fellow
Raleigh, North Carolina
Building Team Chemistry: The Bigger Picture Behind Cows & Climate
Conor McCabe
Animal Biology Graduate Student, UC Davis
Insight on Livestock Methane Mitigation
Dr. Rod Mackie, Professor, Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL
Finding a New Way to Control Weeds in Cotton.
Sarah Chu
FFAR Fellow, Texas A&M University
Indigenous Farmers are Leading a “New Green Revolution” Focused on Hemp
James DeDecker, Director, Michigan State University – Upper Peninsula Research and Extension Center Mary Donner, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians – Ziibimijwang Farm Executive Director and Tribal Citizen
Filling the Hemp Research Gap
The Algae-rithm of Sustainable Agriculture: Can Algae Replace Harmful Pesticides and Fertilizers?
Protecting the Vidalia Onion
Irrigation’s Role in Ensuring Global Food Security
Luke Reynolds
Irrigation Association
A Biomass Carol: Bioenergy for The Future
Ekramul Ehite
FFAR Fellow, University of Tennessee-Knoxville
The “Good Soil Discount” — A Game Changer for U.S. Agriculture
Harley Cross
Land Core Co-founder & Director of Strategy
News
The latest news and updates from FFAR.
See all News
Swine Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Program Funds Additional Research
FFAR Names Sixth Cohort of Veterinary Fellows
Advancing Circular Bioeconomy with Biomass Feedstocks
U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef & FFAR Announce Focus Group Series to Develop Sustainable Beef Research Roadmap
Student Teams Combat Climate Change
FFAR & NWO Launch Greenhouses in Transition & Welcome Proposals
FFAR’s Rapid Response Program Welcomes Avian Flu Research Proposals
AgMission & PepsiCo Grants Bolster Climate-Resilient Farms & Value Chains
AgMission™ Funds Global Youth Consultation to Co-Create Agricultural Solutions with Young Farmers
FFAR Accepting Applications for Harvest for Health Breakthrough Crop Challenge
Secretary Vilsack Announces USDA and FFAR Innovation Challenge to Catalyze Agricultural Solutions
FFAR Grant Unites Urban Agriculture Operations to Increase Food Security
FFAR-Funded Research to Prevent African Swine Fever Virus
FFAR Announces New Innovator in Food & Agriculture Research Awardees
FFAR Awards Savanna Institute a Grant to Inform Agroforestry Adoption
FFAR & The Organic Center Invest $632,000 into the Future of Organic Farming
Greener Cattle Initiative Opens Call for Enteric Methane Emission Research
FFAR Grant Addresses Emerging Pine Needle Diseases
FFAR Accepting Pre-Proposals for 2024 Seeding Solutions
FFAR Grant Provides Data on Nitrogen Management Practices in the Great Plains
Breakthroughs
Tools, technologies and strategies from the research we fund.
See all Breakthroughs
Building Collaborations for Technology-Driven Solutions in Agriculture
Breakthrough for Open Technology Ecosystem for Agricultural Management (OpenTEAM)
Building Food System Interventions to Support Urban & Rural Communities
Breakthrough for Integrating Community and Modeling Efforts to Evaluate Impacts and Tradeoffs of Food System Interventions
Unlocking Genetic Heat Tolerance in Cattle
Breakthrough for Precision Bred Adaptation of Elite Taurine Breeds of Beef & Dairy Cattle
Increased Fiber, Same Great Taste
Breakthrough for Increasing Dietary Fiber in Wheat Crop
Diagnosing Coffee Leaf Rust & Slowing Its Spread
Breakthrough for Protecting Coffee from Leaf Rust Disease
Connecting Growers & Markets
Breakthrough for FFAR Grant Develops Tools to Predict Consumer Demand, Reduce Food Waste
Accelerating Crop Development with Improved Haploid Fertility
Breakthrough for Accelerated Development of Crops of the Future
Documenting Adaptive Multi-Paddock Grazing’s Benefits
Breakthrough for Quantifying the Advantages of Multi-Paddock (AMP) Grazing Compared to Conventional Continuous Grazing in the U.S. Southeast & Northern Great Plains
RIPE Researchers Prove Bioengineering Better Photosynthesis Increases Yields in Food Crops for the First Time
Breakthrough for Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) Reinvestment
Launch of Eco-Harvest, a program rewarding producers for regenerative agriculture practices
Breakthrough for Ecosystem Services Market Consortium
Radiography could transform poultry breeding
Breakthrough for FFAR Awards $1.4 Million to Purdue University, University of California, Davis and University of Edinburgh Researchers to Improve Health and Productivity of Egg-Laying Hens
Research Pinpoints Why Dairy Cows Produce Less Milk in Warm Weather and Develops Nutrition-Based Solution
Breakthrough for FFAR Grant Helps Heat-Stressed Dairy Cows Weather Increasing Temperatures
The Irrigation Innovation Consortium & Parallel 41 Network: Building a path to data-driven management
Groundwater Fluctuations Impact Grain Yields
Breakthrough for FFAR Awards $2.4 Million to Eight Early-Career Research Faculty Members for Innovative Research Projects
Getting to the Root of the Problem: Fastidious Pathogens
Report on Interventions to Reduce Consumer Food Waste
Breakthrough for Understanding & Reducing Consumer Food Waste
Feed Additives Stop Viral Disease Spread, Researchers Find
Breakthrough for FFAR-Funded Research Finds Feed Additives Stop the Spread of Viral Diseases
Initial Successes in Ending Surgical Castration of Swine
Breakthrough for FFAR Awards $500,000 Grant to Improve Swine Health and Well-Being
Emergency Food for Children & Families During the Pandemic
Breakthrough for Integrating Community and Modeling Efforts to Evaluate Impacts and Tradeoffs of Food System Interventions
Breakthroughs to Advance Food & Agricultural Research by 2030
Breakthrough for Breakthroughs 2030 Report Identifies New Scientific Strategy to Transform U.S. Agriculture