Celebrating 40 years in business, David Taylor Animal Nutrition Ltd is an independent business that produces high-quality vitamin and mineral supplements for the animal feed industry.
Founded in 1981 by David and Bridget Taylor, the company continues to go from strength to strength under the direction of their son Mark who assumed the role of Managing Director upon their retirement in 2016. From its purpose-built facility near Collinstown, Co. Westmeath, David Taylor Animal Nutrition produces a wide range of specifically formulated vitamin mineral supplements for beef cattle, calves, lactating and pre-calver dairy cows, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, greyhounds and camels.
Their products are designed to supplement the animal’s diet with the essential vitamins, trace minerals and macro minerals which are critical to its welfare and performance in order to meet the demanding standards of modern farming. They supply compound feed mills, agricultural merchants, feed lots, and farmers preparing their own TMR diets, in a variety of presentations, both powder and liquid, bags and bulk.
Fully licensed by the Department of Agriculture, and audited annually and certified under the UFAS system of quality accreditation, David Taylor Animal Nutrition attained BETA NOPS accreditation in April 2020. The BETA (British Equestrian Trade Association) NOPS scheme is designed to help reduce the risk of naturally occurring prohibited substances (NOPS) in equine feed and supplements. A NOPS is one that is either naturally present within certain ingredients or that occurs as a result of inadvertent cross-contamination during processing before arriving at the feed manufacturer’s facility.
“It’s vital to have BETA NOPs accreditation for our clients in the horse racing sector,” says Mark.
“Our main aim is to manufacture products designed to supplement animal diets and one of our key selling points is that we can manufacture feeds to our customers’ own requirements. We can come up with a solution to meet our customers’ exact needs.”
As a result of rigidly sticking to their policy of putting their customers first, David Taylor Animal Nutrition has experienced significant growth in recent years.
“We’ve grown our staff up to the current level of 11 employees as a result of increased sales both in Ireland and the export market,” Mark reveals.
“We added a dedicated Quality Control person to our team to ensure that we maintain the high standards that we’ve set in the past. That person is responsible for ensuring that all procedures are met and adhered to.”
With export markets in Dubai, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia as well as expanding markets in Europe, Chile, Australia and Mongolia, Mark added: “Production is up to approximately 3,900 tonnes per annum which represents a sizable increase on the 3,000 tonnes we were producing a couple of years ago. With the removal of antibiotics on the pig side, we’ve been able to grow that side of the business in the last year.
“Pig feed accounts for 20% of our total tonnage, with dairy and beef coming in at 64%. Sheep accounts for 10% with the remaining 6% divided between horse and camel feeds.”
Closer to home, David Taylor Animal Nutrition has also built up a long-standing relationship with Irish equine science company Plusvital. Both company’s core values align across a dedication to research and innovation, with the most recent highlight of this relationship being a collaboration on developing the world’s first nutrigenomic supplement for horses, EnerGene-Q10.
As a result of the increase in production, a new 1,300 sq. ft. store was constructed in January 2016. This allowed the company to move all of the stock items out of the congested production area and to serve customers more efficiently and safely.
In addition, a new 9,000 sq. ft. warehouse was completed nearby in May 2017 which David Taylor Animal Nutrition is renting. Primarily it is for storage of finished goods prior to export, packaging stock and some raw material stock. This again affords them more space in the production area and enables them to bring in larger volumes of raw materials. The main production facility was also repainted and refurbished in 2019.
The web site was also fully redesigned to be more accessible for customers and to give them the information they require.
Over the past 40 years, David Taylor Animal Nutrition Ltd has built up a loyal client base throughout north Leinster and beyond as well as a reputation for quality products which is second to none. Research and development have been a cornerstone of their successful business model.
In 2012, a detailed mineral analysis of forages throughout different counties was conducted by David Taylor Animal Nutrition Ltd in conjunction with Alltech® Ireland. The objective was to identify key mineral levels in the region which contribute to immunity, reproductive performance and animal health.
The results of the analysis found that levels of selenium, copper and zinc are well below their target level while antagonists such as iron and molybdenum were high. Potassium levels were also found to be high which can lead to issues such as milk fever. Based on these findings the Dairy Range of minerals was updated to ensure that your dairy herd gets the best chance of overcoming mineral deficiencies and achieving optimal performance.
In order to overcome some of the above mentioned mineral deficiencies, the more bioavailable forms of trace minerals, Bioplex® Zinc, Copper and Selenium from Sel-Plex® are used in the higher specification minerals of the Dairy Range.
Alltech’s Bioplex and Sel-plex are superior sources of organic minerals which promotes mineral reserves and contribute to better immunity, supports the reproductive function, supports post calving health and fertility, supports keratin production which is very important for hoof health and udder health.
Pre-calver minerals are designed to assist in the development of a viable calf, to reduce calving difficulties and to provide good quality colostrum. They aim to correct any deficiencies in the essential vitamins and trace elements which are necessary for a healthy immune system.
The modern dairy cow has a requirement for vitamins, minerals and trace elements which have been shown to be deficient in the vast majority of diets being fed today. This applies to both silage and concentrates. The Range of Dairy Minerals aims to help to correct these deficiencies with carefully formulated range of complementary mineral feeds.
The company has also worked closely with Alltech to produce a range of Intensive Beef supplements incorporating their active yeast product Yea-Sacc. When this is fed to beef cattle it can increase Dry matter intake and improve feed conversion rates while also lowering the risk of acidosis.
For dairy cows it can increase milk yield by up to three litres per day and improve milk solids. These products are designed to enable the farmer to maximise the return from the feed intake and get the best possible results.
Offering the highest standard of quality and customer service is at the core of the business according to Mark.
“We pride ourselves on the quality of our feeds and the ability to continue to serve local customers with high quality feeds which are tailored to their specific requirements as needed,” he continues.
While David Taylor Animal Nutrition has remained fully operational throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit has proven problematic as far as the supply of raw materials from the UK is concerned.
“Brexit has made it difficult to get certain products from the UK, but the fact that we’re able to get them elsewhere has made it manageable. Thankfully, lockdown didn’t impact us because animals still had to be fed,” the affable managing director concludes.
Here’s to the next 40 years of this exceptional animal feed business!
David Taylor Animal Nutrition Ltd.
Carrick Mill,
Lough Bawn,
Collinstown,
Co. Westmeath.
Telephone: 044 9666 458
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.dtan.ie
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 9 No 5, September/October 2021
