In our previous blog, we briefly discussed how animal health strategies play a critical role in sustainability programs. In this blog, we will talk about animal nutrition/feeding as another significant criterion.
Feed cost is typically around 60%-70% of the total production cost in the animal industries, although this percentage can vary due to other factors. Feed manufacturing related processes are a major element when it comes to the environmental footprint generated by the animal production systems. Although least cost feed formulation has been a well-accepted approach in formulating diets for animals, the environmental impacts of the diets are also another piece in this complex picture. The challenge, however, is how to strike a reasonable balance between managing the feed formulas including costs, their environmental impacts and animal productivity at commercial farms.
A major limitation in using feed ingredients with smaller environmental footprint is their local/regional availability for feed production at commercial scale which can inevitably lead to increased costs. It is also important to note that these feed ingredients need to be analyzed for nutrient composition in order to mitigate any potential negative effects due to nutrient variability.
Improving the efficiency of converting animal diets into consumable products for humans is and will continue to be a critical foundation for any tangible sustainability programs in the animal industries. These improvements can directly affect resources’ usage, the environmental footprint and economic viability of the animal production systems. This approach is basically a reflection of “use less feed to produce more” principle.
Here are a few approaches/concepts, amongst many others, that can help to improve this efficiency to varying extent:
- Structural and functional integrity of the digestive tract is a key prerequisite to optimal digestibility and utilization of the diets/nutrients. Using feed additives with proven positive effects on the gut health can support this.
- Using supplemental (added) feed enzymes to improve nutrient utilization and animal performance.
- Reducing crude protein content of diets without compromising animal performance is another strategy. This concept has been heavily scrutinized for a long time. There are benefits associated with this from environmental, animal and overall production management perspectives. However, in order to achieve these benefits, it is critical that diet formulas are adjusted accordingly by using accessible and justifiably-priced synthetic amino acids.
- Feed mill operations. Improving efficiency in the usage of energy throughout feed manufacturing processes (at the feed mills and after that) is one specific area that should be looked at much more closely. American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) has published a guideline with the objective of how to make improvements in energy usage/preservation at the feed mill operations.
As collective efforts on implementing sustainability-related initiatives in the animal industries are steadily progressing, it is critical to understand how implementing sustainable procedures can help the animal industries to become more resource and environmentally conscientious. At the same time, it is also important to have a good understanding of potential economic advantages for operations that are implementing these procedures in the near or far future.