You would think that an industry that is thirteen thousand years old would be easy to predict. With so much history shaping it, visions of the feed industry’s future should be straight-forward. Yet, the feed industry remains surprisingly unpredictable, and as the world becomes ever more complex, so predictions on the feed industry’s future also grow in complexity.
It is helpful therefore, to break down the industry’s key influencing factors to help picture its future. Here then are feed industry experts’ top predictions for the feed industry, starting with part 1 feed ingredients.
1. Microbial Proteins
One potential feedstock for animal feed is from microbial proteins grown from cultures of yeast, bacteria, or fungi. The growing process takes place in fully controlled, enclosed and automated bioreactors similar to those widely used in the fermentation processes by the food industry to produce, for example, beer and yoghurt. The difference here though, is that the microbes convert waste nitrogen from the Haber Bosch process, turning it into cellular protein. Amazingly, the efficiency rate for this process is close to 100%.
A recent study analysed the likelihood of microbial proteins becoming a mainstream feed additive. The results were surprisingly positive, as the feed industry journal WattAgNet reported, “… by 2050, microbial proteins produced with hydrogen and other gas feedstocks could replace between 175 million and 307 million tons of crop-based animal feed annually, or 10 to 19 percent of conventional crop-based animal feed protein demand.”
You can read more about that study in this AG CHEMI GROUP blog article.
2. Algae
The ability to grow a simple plant form, such as algae, and convert it into a feed additive has often been hailed as the future of the feed industry.
As a recent AllTech report published in the Journal of Applied Animal Nutrition, notes, “Algae is a source of protein, oils, pigments, vitamins and starch. Emerging technology positions algae to become a major, nutritionally-rich biomass and it is already known as a prime source of omega-3 fatty acids.”
Adding that, “Initial trials utilising algae produced results showing improvements in both reproductive performance and nutritional value of meat.”
You can read more about that study in this AG CHEMI GROUP blog article.
3. Insect Meal.
The use of insect larvae as a feed protein additive has been around for a few years now, and while some companies are claiming to make a breakthrough it still occupies only a fraction of market total.
This is in large part due to the massive investment required to set up production, the time needed for stocks to grow, and legislative concerns over adding insect meal to the human food chain.
However, if these challenges can be overcome, there are clear advantages to using insect meal as a feed additive, specifically the low value inputs that the insect larvae feed on. As the not-for-profit organization, Futures Centre, reports, “Research continues to show the efficacy of specialized insect species, like the Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL), as a tool for upcycling organic nutrients into high-quality livestock feed ingredients.”
Adding that, “BSFL can be raised on a variety of organic waste streams with little or no economic value. One stream is pre-consumer organic by-products, such as brewery waste, vegetable peelings and juice pulps; another is post-consumer wasted food from cafeterias and restaurants. While many other compostable products like soiled napkins and pizza boxes should be composted, organic food waste contains many valuable nutrients, such as fats and proteins, which are lost through composting.”
While the environmental impact of insect meal has been questioned, for example by a recent study by a collaboration of scientists from the National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture (IRSTEA) and the Joint Research Unit Soil, Argo- and Hydro-systems (UMR SAS), both based in France, which stated that “Feeding mealworm meal to poultry or fish would decrease the environmental efficiency of these production systems. Thus, using mealworm meal in animal feed does not currently decrease environmental impacts of livestock.”
You can read more about that study in this AG CHEMI GROUP blog article.
The economic advantages of turning food waste into a feed ingredient may outweigh any environmental drawbacks.
In a recent interview, Antoine Hubert, CEO of insect meal producer Ynsect, stated that, “Although available quantities [of insect meal] remain very limited today; these should increase exponentially over the next few months and years.” Citing a lack of money and the time it takes to breed enough numbers of insects before they can be farmed.
M. Antoine Hubeert, CEO of Ynsect
As the industry journal Feed Navigator predicts, “The insect meal market will mushroom as soon as players have raised funds and built capacity.”
4. Phosphate Feed Additives
While the use of rock phosphate as a feed additive is old technology, its use as a feed additive is on the increase.
As a recent report by the industry journal AllAboutFeed, states, “The feed phosphates market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.7% during the forecast period (2018–2024), to reach a value of US$ 2.80 billion by 2024.”
Adding that, “Monocalcium Phosphate (MCP) has the highest digestible phosphorus content of ~80%, which is the major reason why many feed manufacturers and producers are beginning to switch from Dicalcium Phosphate (DCP) to MCP. The high solubility and optimal phosphorus concentration of MCP offer increased flexibility in dietary formulations.”
Indeed, all the major feed additive players on the markets remain involved in the sale and distribution of phosphate feed additives. As the Global Feed Phosphate Market Research Report 2018-2023, notes, “The feed phosphate market contains Mosaic, Sichuan Lomon, EcoPhos, Rouiller Group, PhosAgro, Yara, Potash Corp, TIMAB, EuroChem, Simplot, OCP, Yunan Phosphate Chemical, Chanhen, Jinnuo Chemical, Sinofert, among others.”
AG CHEMI GROUP, who host this website, is another growing supplier of feed grade monocalcium phosphate.
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As well as predictions of the future feed industry becoming harder, the industry itself will also become more complex.
Growing public and government concern of the environmental impact of livestock and poultry farming and how much land is used for grazing and keeping farm animals has led an industry-wide search for more sustainable and economic animal feed ingredients.
Meanwhile, increasing pressures on raw material costs will force all feed manufacturers to rethink the way they source ingredients. As the AllTech report notes, “The cost of feed demonstrates a need for companies to re-evaluate and improve feed efficiency. Advancements in raw materials may result in novel feed stocks that change the entire approach to feed formulation.”
So, while the keeping of livestock and poultry may be a 13,000-year-old industry, feed producers, farmers, and feed additive suppliers must all still be ready for change. In fact, given the rapid pace of development across farming in the last few decades, they do well to expect it.
Click to read A Vision of The Feed Industry’s Future: Part 2 Technology, Trends, and the Law.
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