Eco friendly and cost efficient

Eco-friendly and cost-efficient

In nature nothing should be wasted! This motto was taken to heart by Dary Natury, a company from the Podlasie region, which is famous for the production of herbs, as well as herbal and fruit teas. Herbal by-products derived from the production process are used for manufacturing aromatic herbal mixtures for farm animals.

The village of Koryciny, which is where the company is based, is a popular destination for holidays and weekend trips. Travellers are attracted by the Herbal Corner, where they can spend their free time savouring the traditional scenery of the Podlasie countryside. Here, the company’s owner, Mirosław Angielczyk, established the Podlaski Herbal Garden covering 15 ha, which is an ark for around 1,500 plant species.

Dary Natury  benefited from EU funds and created a new department devoted to the production of livestock feed additives. The company has developed several recipes for mixtures containing eco-friendly ingredients only. They are mainly herbs, fruit, vegetables and products derived from processing them. ‘This has enabled us to make use of balanced herbal and vegetable by-products created in the process of tea production, as well as juice and oil pressing,’ said Beata Malec, Ph.D. Eng., the Manager of the Livestock Feed Department at Dary Natury.

In industrial breeding, animals suffer from a number of diseases caused by inappropriate nutrition. They are often in bad condition and have weak immune systems. Cows are fed mainly with silage (up to 50 kg per one cow a day). This causes body acidification and deteriorates milk flavour. ‘Our environmentally friendly mixtures are to improve the animals’ condition and health. Thanks to the high content of herbs and dietary fibre, they control digestion and metabolism. Tests have been conducted to demonstrate the positive influence of herbal mixtures on horses – they reduce problems with the respiratory system caused by allergies. They also prevent udder inflammation in cows,’ added Beata Malec, Ph.D. Eng.

Ecological mix
The supplementary mixture with a herbal addition for dairy cows M-ZB2 contains: great burnet, chamomile, yarrow, rowanberry, hairy lady's mantle, purple coneflower, St John's wort, oregano, wood avens, nettle soaked with sauerkraut juice, as well as tomato, rape, soybean and flax pomace, and dried carrots.

The mixtures are intended for poultry, cattle, pigs, horses, goats and sheep. They differ in ingredients and effect. All of them have been tested to ensure that using herbs in animal nutrition is a good choice.

Project: Development of research and development facilities and R&D works including the first production phase in applying herbal raw materials, including industrial herbal waste, for the manufacture of eco-friendly products
Project cost: approx. PLN 3.97 million,, including PLN 2.29 million from the European Regional Development Fund, Podlaskie Regional Programme