Feed Formulation - Ingredients for change

Feed Formulation Ingredients for change

FEED formulators now know that conventional tabulations for calculating nutrient requirements for livestock species are often too simplistic for modern husbandry operations. Differences in the age, sex and genetics of the animal; the environment, production methods, market requirements and economies in which they are raised; and the availability of local sources of feed ingredients often complicate the approach to feed formulation.

Many intensive livestock industries have since developed simulation models that can provide optimum nutrient levels based on individual production conditions. Affordable computing technology has also introduced concepts such as "least cost", "total amino acid" and even "profit maximisation". Other popular concepts include digestible formulation, precision feeding, ideal proteins and modelling, all of which have been adapted to some extent in livestock sectors worldwide.

But besides these new technologies and variables, feed formulation trends are increasingly affected by factors unrelated to nutrition and costs. These include world events which may have little direct relation with livestock or agriculture, the competition for essential feed grains, and increasingly, consumer perceptions and demands.

A big issue in the industry currently is the growing interest in alternative fuels. Diverting grains and oilseeds into ethanol and biodiesel production, for instance, is widely perceived as a key source of pressure on feed grain resources. Many pundits have argued that distillers' dried grains or DDGS could become widely accepted as an ingredient in livestock feed in the near future.

As the supply of DDGS increases along with biofuel output, nutritionists are faced with the challenge of formulating feed containing increasing amounts of DDGS, while finding solutions to problems related to digestibility issues and mycotoxin contamination.

Nutritionists are not the only ones affected. The ethanol boom has triggered jitters across a feed and livestock industry concerned over its competing use for corn. Glenn Grimes, an economist at the University of Missouri, warns that current corn prices at US$2 per bushel (equivalent to US$79 a tonne) may rise by at least US$0.50 and possibly even US$1 per bushel over the next 10 years, because of competition for the grain from industrial processors.

About 13 percent of the corn consumed in the United States goes into ethanol production, according to Bill Hale, chairman of the North American Export Grain Association. By 2012, or in six years, this figure could rise three-fold to 39 percent. This means that corn use in biofuel will jump from almost 37 million tonnes in 2005 to nearly 108 million tonnes a year by then.

The biofuel trend is also spreading in other regions. A hot region for biofuels, the European Union is pushing through policies to promote its use, either through mandates or tax incentives. Plans are for an increase in biofuel consumption from 2 percent for motor fuel in 2005, to 5.75 percent by 2010.

This is much the same situation in Brazil, a country that typifies how ethanol can be produced from many crops--from sugarcane and sugar beet to grains, rapeseed and potatoes. Brazilian law requires that gasoline should contain a minimum of 26 percent ethanol, where the latter is estimated to represent about a third of all vehicle fuel used nationally. This compares with 2.78 percent in the US today, which may rise to a projected 8.34 percent in 2012.

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