Phibro Animal Health Corp. has expanded the production capacity of its Animate nutritional specialty product with the opening of a new manufacturing plant in Quincy, Ill.

Animate is a patented anionic mineral supplement that, when used as recommended, may lead to enhanced health and performance of transition dairy cows by helping reduce the incidence of clinical and subclinical hypocalcemia.

“The new high-efficiency plant enables Phibro to keep pace with growing demand in the U.S. and international dairy markets,” said Ken Zanzalari, Phibro Animate product manager. “Animate use continues to expand as dairy producers seek nutritional strategies to help maximize transition cow performance and prepare their herds for a profitable lactation. With our current Animate production facility already at full capacity, the addition of a second plant ensures our ability to meet anticipated growth.”

The 63,000 sq. ft. facility includes production, packaging, warehousing and space for a product development laboratory and pilot plant. This is the second new plant that Phibro has built for Animate production in the last three years.

Dean Warras, Phibro president of Animal Health & Nutrition, North America, noted that the new plant reflects Phibro’s partnership with the dairy industry through its commitment to invest wherever necessary to meet demand.

“Dairy producers have come to rely on Animate, as well as our dairy technical expertise and on-farm service model, in the critical area of transition cow performance. We are committed to providing some of the most advanced solutions in the industry to help make dairy cows healthier and more profitable,” he said.

Animate is recommended to be fed to prepartum dairy cows a minimum of 21 days before calving to help maintain normal serum calcium status during the critical days before, during and after calving to help reduce the risk of clinical and subclinical hypocalcemia -- conditions that can result in significant health issues and reduced milk production. Because of its high palatability, concentrated source of anions and complete formulation, Animate can be fed as part of a fully acidified negative-dietary cation/anion difference diet without reducing dry matter intake, leading to increased milk yield.