She Must Destroy to Create

To convert tough forages and complex carbohydrates in a TMR into milk and meat, a dairy cow must first deconstruct them into smaller building blocks she can use.

However, she cannot do this alone. The destructive work is carried out by the vast microbial community in her rumen. Through fermentation, these microbes break down plant fibers into volatile fatty acids (VFAs) — the primary energy currency that fuels the cow and her calf.

But not all fermentation is equal.

The composition of the rumen microbiome determines which VFAs are produced and in what proportions. Some fermentation pathways generate energy-rich molecules like propionate. Others produce hydrogen and methane, which are lost through eructation (burps).

The real question becomes: how do we steer fermentation toward the most efficient building blocks?

The rumen is an ecosystem. Within it, certain species exert disproportionate influence over community function — keystone organisms. Using microbial network analysis, we identified native keystone organisms that shape fermentation outcomes, similar to how social networks identify individuals with outsized influence.

Four of these organisms were selected to form the industry’s first defined consortium of native rumen microbes for direct inclusion in the TMR of dairy cows (Galaxis Frontier).

Across eight independent academic trials, daily supplementation with Galaxis Frontier increased total VFA production and shifted fermentation towards increased propionate, acetate, and valerate (see figure). Because propionate is the primary precursor for gluconeogenesis, this shift supports greater glucose availability for maintenance, milk production, and metabolic health.

These VFA responses help explain why we consistently see greater feed efficiency across all academic trials with Galaxis Frontier (+0.05, p-value <0.01). On a 1.60 baseline FE, a +0.05 improvement represents roughly a 3% gain in feed efficiency.

By steering the rumen ecosystem, we improve the efficiency of the building blocks she uses to create.

Consistent shift toward propionate production across studies. Study-level effects (left) and pooled estimates (right) indicate Galaxis Frontier increased ruminal propionate (C3) across independent trials, with smaller or non-significant increases in acetate (C2), butyrate (C4), valerate (C5), and total VFA. This pattern suggests a repeatable change in fermentation end products rather than a one-off response in a single trial.

Explore the peer-reviewed studies published with Galaxis Frontier® here:

https://www.galaxisfrontier.com/research

References

Dickerson et al., 2022 (J. Dairy Sci.); Bulnes et al., 2025 (J. Dairy Sci.); Valldecabres et al., 2025 (J. Dairy Sci.); Marinho et al., 2024 (J. Dairy Sci.); Valldecabres et al., 2022 (J. Dairy Sci.); Goldsmith et al., 2023 (J. Dairy Sci.); Ferro et al., 2022 (ADSA Poster); Tabor et al., 2025 (J. Dairy Sci.).