Producers who limit their nutritionist's role to delivering a feed formula may be leaving performance and profitability on the table, according to Stacey Roberts, Versova director of nutrition.
"At the very basic, it's a formula on a sheet of paper," Roberts said during the PEAK 2026 conference held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on April 14-16. "But we can probably do more to help the business."
Roberts said, the core responsibility of a nutritionist is the design and implementation of a nutrition program, and the effectiveness of that program depends heavily on the relationship between the nutritionist and the producer. This includes giving them the full operational context, letting them apply their expertise to troubleshooting problems and treating the relationship as a partnership in the business.
Setting expectations and sharing information
Roberts urged producers to be specific with their nutrition provider about what the commitment with them includes: whether it involves barn visits and hands-on bird handling, participation in ingredient procurement or a deeper integration with the production team.
She said one of the most common breakdowns in the relationship occurs when producers don't share operational details that affect nutrient delivery such as feed going to the wrong bin or feed spills from equipment left running too long.
"If you don't share those details, then your nutritionist is going to assume that that nutrition went in the chickens at the right time, the right flock, and that they actually took advantage of that," Roberts stated.
Without that information, she said, a nutritionist faced with a performance problem has limited options. "If the only lever they have is the feed formula, they're going to have to take something out, and is that going to cause decreased performance?"
Aligning nutrition programs with business philosophy
Roberts said producers generally fall into two groups: operations that are focused on maximizing flock performance and lower-cost operations focused on minimizing input costs. She said the nutrition program should reflect whichever approach a producer is taking, but only if the nutritionist understands that approach clearly.
When a nutritionist’s recommendation doesn't align with a producer’s expectations, she said, the answer is just a conversation.
"Maybe they don't understand your business philosophy," she stated. "Maybe they don't understand how you run your business and they're not applying the nutrition program according to what your business really needs."
She added that how much "insurance" a nutritionist builds into a program also depends on the producer’s goals. Cost-focused producers may formulate closer to minimum nutrient requirements, while performance-focused ones may set levels higher.
Identifying the real source of a performance problem
When production isn't meeting expectations, Roberts said the root cause may not be the feed formula itself. She encouraged producers to distinguish between a formulation problem and a nutrient intake problem, defining the latter as what birds actually consume on a daily basis, not just what's in the formulation.
"If it isn't nutrition, then focus on the root cause," she said, using the example of a feed truck delivering to the wrong bin. "Putting more nutrition in the formula up front is probably not the best solution."
