Balchem Corp., a leader in choline chloride and precision release nutrient technologies, announced Aug. 24 the second-year offering of the grant-based research program the "Real Science Initiative."

The program will offer funding to university and related research institutes to support new research projects in animal nutrition, performance and health. Grant pre-proposals must be submitted by Oct. 1. Complete details about the program are available at anh.balchem.com/researchinitiative.

Balchem said the principle of "Real Science" is fundamental, as Balchem concentrates on the areas of feed efficiency and animal health to improve overall animal performance, productivity and health.

"This is the second time Balchem has offered the Real Science Initiative, designed to foster innovative research by developing partnerships throughout the global research community," noted Dr. Barbara Barton, research and product development manager with Balchem Animal Nutrition & Health. "In 2013, Balchem awarded nearly $150,000 in research grants for important animal nutrition research that had an impact in the industry. We believe this year's program will have even more impact."

Potential areas of research may include:

* New applications of existing products, new product concepts or new delivery technologies that will result in improved efficacy of nutrient utilization in livestock production;

* Increasing the understanding of the linkage between nutrition and the immune system to facilitate the design of dietary regimes that will reduce disease susceptibility in livestock and optimize the production of safe and nutritious food products;

* Increasing the understanding of ruminal nitrogen metabolism and metabolizable amino acid requirements to improve protein efficiency in ruminants, or

* Increasing the understanding of choline metabolism, including interactions between choline and other nutrients involved in one-carbon metabolism in transition and lactating cows.

Pre-proposals must be submitted electronically to [email protected] by 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on Oct. 1, 2016. For full program details visit, anh.balchem.com/researchinitiative.