Ensuring food safety for a rapidly growing world population is – or should be – one of the world’s most important discussion topics, as the negative impact of climate change on our agriculture-based food resources is increasing rapidly. In such an environment, it is vital for farmers, who work hard to produce both crops and livestock, to ensure efficiency in production to meet the nutritional needs of billions of people around the world.
In terms of animal production, productivity is primarily linked to animal nutrition. Because feed, which is the most important expense item in livestock farming, is also an important determinant of animal health and performance. With climate change, both the availability of agricultural raw materials used in feed production, as well as the safety and hygiene of these raw materials or finished feeds stand out as challenging factors for producers.
Among these challenging factors, the safety of feed and feed raw materials is our focus this month in Feed & Additive magazine. These are critical for both animal and human health. Pathogens, toxins and other harmful substances in feed can cause disease in animals, which can spread through the food chain and reach humans. This can also significantly reduce the production performance of animals.
The animal nutrition industry is working to find innovative solutions to overcome these challenges. In this issue, you can find details on some of the solutions that have been developed to ensure safety and hygiene in feed production.
It is important to recognise that these challenges offer the industry an opportunity to build a safer, more sustainable and resilient future.
Enjoy your reading,
Hope to see you in the next issue!
