ISSUE FOCUS 24 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE May 2023 “Through processing, we alter the physical, chemical, and edible properties of used feed materials, making them usable for animals. Through proper processing, we improve the digestibility of feed materials by up to 20%, enabling a more effective – and thus more sustainable – use of feed resources. In practice, there is room for improvement to make feed processing even more of a sustainability champion.” Imagine you’re at a pub quiz dedicated to feed production, and this question pops up: name a process that returns up to 25 times what was invested in it. Do you know the answer? I’m pretty sure you are probably using it every day: pelleting. For every unit of used energy, pelleting generates up to 25 times more in terms of the nutritional value for animals (mostly metabolizable energy). The math is simple: while we gain 200 kcal/kg by pelleting broiler mash feed, only 10 Kilowatts are used to produce one ton of broiler feed. This is just one example of how sustainability is at the core of feed production – and has always been, long before it became a buzzword. So, to all those who operate feed mills, who take care of sourcing and quality, and to those behind numbers that represent nutritional values: You are pioneers of sustainability and should be proud of that. HOW FEED PROCESSING CAN DRIVE SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS Besides being proud, we must also be very responsible. Every nutritionist should focus on a) how processing of feed materials and feed influences the release of nutrients, nutrient density, and exclusion of antinutrients, and b) how processing can improve these dimensions, making feed more sustainable. Do we take processing sufficiently into consideration? Do we create formulations in a dynamic or more static way? Not least in an era of precision feeding, the shift from static to dynamic is inevitable. This is even clearer when we consider how processing can influence digestion, absorption, and the performance of animals. How so? Feed processing makes previously unusable materials suitable for nutrition or improves already usable materials. So, the feed processing itself is a key to sustainability. FEED PROCESSING CONVERTS ENERGY INTO MORE ENERGY (?!) Feed processing, in simple terms, means converting energy into more energy. This shouldn’t work, FEED PROCESSING IS THE SUSTAINABILITY CHAMPION NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT (YET!) Predrag Persak Regional Technical Manager Europe EW Nutrition
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