Every year in the U.S., tens of millions of calves, piglets, and chicks die from gut-related illnesses, costing producers more than $5 billion every year. With traditional antibiotics increasingly ineffective against these illnesses, Precision Health Technologies—a Worthington-based partnership of livestock producers and veterinarians—set out to develop an alternative treatment.

“We were caught in an increasingly difficult situation,” says Conrad Schmidt, Precision Health Technologies’ co-founder and chief technology and product officer. “E. coli resistance to tetracyclines was making these medications essentially ineffective in many operations. Meanwhile, consumers were demanding antibiotic-free meat.”

While non-antibiotic alternatives exist, they often fail to deliver timely, reliable results when animals are sick. “As livestock producers ourselves, we knew we needed something that could actually replace antibiotics during crisis situations,” Schmidt adds.

Enter: Precision Health Technologies’ patented Activated Phenolic Molecules (APM) technology—natural, plant-derived compounds that promote gut health and tissue repair, curb inflammation, and combat secondary infections, among other benefits. Precision Health Technologies’ current product lineup includes solutions that can be added to water for daily prevention, single-application concentrates and pastes for crisis response, and sprays for wound care. “While our product started as a ‘treatment’ for acute gut issues, we’ve learned it’s more cost-effective when used regularly to help avoid severe gut issues entirely,” says Schmidt.

With the products already available for purchase and generating revenue through national distributors, direct sales to large producers, and direct-to-consumer sales, the next six to 18 months will center on scaling the swine business and expanding into cattle and poultry markets. “The product works, it’s proven in the field, and producers are buying it,” says Schmidt, noting that the company’s manufacturing facility is operating at about 20% capacity, so they have immediate scaling potential without additional capital expenditure.

Precision Health Technologies’ biggest challenge to breaking into its $5.6 billion market—large operations with 1,000-plus animals across swine, cattle, and poultry—has been marketing and sales, specifically building product awareness and breaking traditional assumptions about managing animal health.

“Producers have relied on antibiotics for decades, and when those aren’t effective, they often assume natural alternatives won’t help during challenging situations,” says Schmidt. “We’re changing that perception by demonstrating our APMs can support animal health through a focus on field observations showing improved outcomes on the farm.”

Though the company got its start in South Dakota, Precision Health Technologies—which changed ownership and management in 2020—relocated to Worthington in 2023. “We’re shoulder-to-shoulder with our customers. Southwest Minnesota has one of the highest concentrations of livestock operations in the country—we’re literally surrounded by the swine, cattle, and poultry producers we serve,” says Schmidt, noting, “Minnesota producers tend to be early adopters of technology that works.”

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