ISSUE FOCUS 48 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE March 2025 driver of animal production costs, being responsible for around 60-70%. Limiting feed costs is therefore important to enhance the industry profitability and competitiveness. One of the solutions to reduce costs is the use of alternative raw materials, such as byproducts, allowing for lower prices and better availability. When talking about energy nutrition, alternative fats (e.g. meat and bone meal) and oils (e.g. oils from the food industry) are common, while grain byproducts (e.g. brewer’s yeast, corn gluten feed) can be a solution for protein supply. The main issues of these alternative feed ingredients are their nutritional composition and, more precisely, their nutrient digestibility profile. As an example, soybean oil has a typical fat digestibility of 90% in broilers and 95% in swine, while it is 79% in broilers and 89% in swine for tallow fat (CVB Feed Table, 2021). This can be explained by the different fatty acid characteristics such as the unsaturated/saturated ratio or the melting point. As a result, tallow fat will be less digested and absorbed in the small intestine than a qualitative oil like soybean oil, resulting in less energy available for performance of the animal. Orffa’s science-driven approach tackles key challenges in animal nutrition across three core areas: Gut Health & Immunity, Feed Efficiency, and Mineral Nutrition. Orffa’s feed efficiency solutions are specifically developed to be optimally active in the specific gastro-intestinal conditions (e.g. high-water level, pH, presence of pathogens), guaranteeing the most effective action for all animal species. As a result, nutrient utilization is enhanced even when using cheaper, less digestible ingredients, reducing waste and pressure on resources. The digestibility promoter Excential Energy Plus (Orffa Additives B.V.) is an effective additive, which is able to enhance the digestibility and absorption of fat, protein and fiber even in low digestibility raw materials. For the industry, it also means reduced feed costs for better profitability. Several meta-analyses prove the efficacy of Excential Energy Plus to promote feed efficiency (FCR: -4% in broilers (Figure 1), -5% in growing-finishing pigs and -6% in weaned piglets) and reduce diet costs (saving of >5 EUR/ton of feed, return on investment of 3.5), highlighting it as one of the most effective digestibility promoters, with more than 100 scientific and commercial studies across the globe. FEED EFFICIENCY, NOT A STANDALONE CONCEPT Feed efficiency, as the cost to produce 1kg of meat (or 1L of milk, or a dozen eggs), depends on a lot of different factors, that can be independent from feed millers’ and farmers’ control. One of such factors is the exposure to (chronic) stress, potentially impacting feed intake and digestive system of the animals. As such, the example of heat stress Figure 1. Example of meta-analysis in broilers with Excential Energy Plus.
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