The reduction of antibiotic growth promoters makes this balance particularly important. Maintaining animal health and production performance with lower dependence on antibiotics requires stronger nutritional programmes and a more comprehensive approach to intestinal health. Gut health, however, cannot be assessed only through the composition of the microbiota. Resilience depends on several connected factors, including ingredient quality, balanced nutrient profiles, villus development, the mucus layer, tight-junction integrity, inflammation, oxidative stress and feeding programmes appropriate to the animal’s age and genetics.

Feed-processing technologies and production management also influence intestinal function. When these elements are managed together, a healthy gut can support more effective digestion, stronger immunity and better performance while helping reduce the need for antibiotics.

The industry is consequently moving from a two-dimensional production model towards a three-dimensional one. Decisions that were traditionally evaluated largely through cost and quality must now incorporate environmental footprint as a third dimension.

This added consideration makes commercial decision-making more complex. The lowest-cost intervention may not create the greatest overall value if it compromises animal health, product quality or environmental performance. Sustainability initiatives must similarly be assessed in relation to their effects on productivity and the affordability of animal protein.

Managing these relationships requires better information. Data analytics and digital technologies can help producers understand how biological, environmental and operational factors interact and where intervention is likely to deliver the strongest result.

Digital platforms presented by dsm-firmenich—including Sustell, Verax, FarmTell and SciTell—are intended to support the measurement of environmental impacts, the identification of health and welfare risks, improved farm efficiency and more precise nutritional decisions. Their wider value lies in making previously invisible processes measurable. Information concerning the microbiome, intestinal barrier, cellular health and farm performance can be converted into insights that guide feeding, health and management strategies.

This allows digitalisation to serve as a practical connection between scientific knowledge and commercial production. Greater visibility can help businesses identify emerging risks, allocate resources more accurately and select interventions according to the conditions of a particular operation.

Science and product innovation remain essential, but their economic value increasingly depends on how effectively they are applied. Maximising the value obtained from feed requires nutritional solutions, biological knowledge, production data and digital tools to operate as parts of one system. Placing gut health at the centre of this system can support higher productivity, lower environmental impact and more sustainable use of resources. It can also contribute to the industry’s efforts to maintain performance while reducing antibiotic dependence.

The transformation of animal protein production will therefore not be driven by one technology or one area of science. Progress will depend on combining nutrition, animal health, sustainability, data and innovation while recognising their effects across the wider One Health environment. For producers and animal health businesses, the strategic objective is to generate greater economic, environmental and nutritional value from the same resources. Achieving that objective will require coordinated action across the value chain and a production model in which health, efficiency and sustainability are managed together