TIMAB USA, a subsidiary of TIMAB Magnesium, works with dairy farmers to help them maximize their herd's performance while meeting the unique nutritional needs of each animal. With innovate adapted solutions to address this sector, TIMAB, as an innovative company, combined its expertise to screen and select the best sources of magnesium with the research capacity of Groupe Roullier to generate multiple tests in in vitro rumen fluid system. As a result, the company introduced pHix-up to the ruminant nutrition market. As a unique and innovative magnesium-based solution, pHix-up acts directly on the rumen pH to avoid the risk of acidity in the rumen by neutralizing excess acid.
The first pHix-up in vivo study was performed in 2017 by Dr Alex Bach at Blanca experimental farm in Spain with interesting results on rumen pH and milk performances (published in Journal of Dairy Science: 101:1-12). Since then, pHix-up was tested several times on farms across the world; the improvement of the rumen environment leads to better performances and welfare for the animals.
Recently, TIMAB worked on new studies in experimental farms. In 2020, Pr. Marcos Neves from Lavras University in Brazil looked closer at the milk fatty acid profile obtained with pHix-up. The innovative solution increased significantly the secretions of unsaturated and oleic fatty acids in milk relative to sodium bicarbonate (SB) and tended to increase milk fat concentration relative to SB. Pr. Neves suggested that lipid digestion was improved with pHix-up, leading to these results. The improvement in rumen environment implies a possible change in the microbiome. For this reason, in 2021, Alex Bach worked again with TIMAB on a new study to have a look at this parameter. Rumen relative abundance of bacteria reported to be sensitive to low pH was greater with pHix-up than with SB, emphasizing the higher rumen pH obtained with pHix-up. Also, the abundance of two genera heavily involved in fiber degradation was greater with pHix-up than SB, which led to better NDF digestibility for pHix-up.
At its core, the first goal of pHix-up is its impact and action on rumen pH. The efficacy of pHix-up is also the consequence of its high solubility in rumen juice. TIMAB tested the solubility of the magnesium contained in pHix-up 16 times in rumen juice conditions. After six hours of fermentation, 72% of the magnesium contained in pHix-up (48.5%) is solubilized, whereas other sources of magnesium oxide with the same particle size would have about 20% to 30% of their magnesium solubilized. This high solubility allows the cow to have more magnesium available for absorption into the bloodstream and subsequently more magnesium available for the various organs.
pHix-up can replace the standard buffer solutions used by dairy farmers; it can also replace the magnesium sources used. pHix-up is now used by 500,000 ruminants worldwide and is still growing. Thanks to its high solubility, pHix-up has a powerful and fast effect on the ruminal pH compared to other solutions on the market!
