Damian Moore, Director of Feed Safety for Meriden, met with Paul McNealy, Nutritionist for Farmgate Stockfeeds in Victoria, Australia. 

Paul has been using Fusion for over 2 years; Damian sat down with him to find out more about the challenges he faces and why he believes Fusion is the answer.

Q: What are the major challenges you face with dairy farming in Australia?

A: Dairy farming in Victoria faces many different challenges in terms of feed and feeding. The majority of farming is pasture or silage based which can bring numerous issues with mycotoxins in forages, silages and grains. The quality in pasture can change on a daily basis, as with silage quality depending on conditions when it is cut. Quite often we are either faced with excessive rain, or over the summer a complete lack of rain.

Q: What is the biggest challenge you face?

A: One of our biggest challenges with the pasture based systems is Perennial Rye Grass Toxicosis, (PRGT) particularly over the hotter spring and summer months. This can also create problems when the pasture is cut for silage, as the cutting time is when the pasture goes to seed and is when the toxins are present. This can create problems later when the silage is fed out during winter.

Q: How are you dealing with these challenges?

A: We have been using the Fusion products in our feed for over 2 years and have found them to be very effective at managing the issues associated with mycotoxins in the forages. Fusion has also been very effective when we are using grain that has been stored for a season.

Q: What are the specific issues created by perennial ryegrass toxicosis?

A: The effects of PRGT are very noticeable and quite specific. The first symptoms we tend to see are 'cranky cows' around October, when the cows do not want to walk, are restless in the dairy, kicking cups off and generally just difficult. The most prominent effect is that of heat stress. Cows show heat stress around temperatures of 23 degrees, where as if treated do not show heat stress until over 40 degrees. A long term effect we see with PRGT is lowered fertility.

Q: How does the use of Fusion help with these issues?

A: When symptoms of PRGT are present, the use of Fusion is able to overcome these issues very easily and quickly. Once Fusion is added to the cow's diet, we see responses within 24 hours and the cow behaviour and heat stress are overcome. I have also found that continuous use of Fusion has seen an overall improvement in herd health, performance and milking.

Q: Would you recommend Fusion to other farmers?

A: Yes, Fusion is our product of choice for the control of mycotoxins in dairy, and in our feed mill. It is very effective in controlling PRGT and a range of other mycotoxins we encounter in our dairy systems. I would have no hesitation in recommending Fusion to other feed mills.

Q: Do you have any other comments on Fusion or Meriden?

A: Meriden has a range of expertise in many areas of health and nutrition, and we regularly use them for information and advice on Dairy nutrition, and in particular advice on mycotoxins and potential mycotoxin problems. They are always on hand with advice and are helpful and friendly to deal with.

Meriden is able to offer us a very effective product with a high level of support and they offer our business significant advantages. They treat us as a valuable customer.  We will be using both Fusion and Meriden for quite a long time yet.

Meriden offers the following products within the Fusion range: Fusion + OS, Fusion Dyad and Fusion MBX. Please visit www.meriden-fusion.com for further information about the products and how they can improve the health of your animals.

If you are interested in our Fusion range or any other products offered by Meriden, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .