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The tasks for which feed additives are used are changing and increasing. It is long ago since additives were only meant to improve livestock yield and performance. Safeguarding animal health is the basis and additional benefit here. But further tasks can and should be covered too. It is possible to influence animal behaviour so that cannibalism can be restricted. Reducing boar taint is another extended application.

What will it bring for the industry? Not only climate change and declining livestock numbers give us food for thought. Nutrient reduction and other measures to reduce emissions show ways of maintaining animal stocks. The threat of an outbreak of African Swine Fever continues and is even higher than it was before. This will probably bring the export markets for pork to a standstill.

The tasks to be performed by feed are becoming ever more extensive. They have long since involved more than simply satisfying the animal needs for supplies of the basic nutrients – carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Instead, aspects such as nutrient reduction without forfeiting any performance or health capacities and, animal welfare effects (tail-biting, feather-pecking) are expected and satisfied.

The tasks of feed have changed in the course of time. Starting with satiation of the livestock, coupled with support for the animal’s growth or performance, this was soon joined by a further essential task – use of substances that cannot be used for human diets. More recent tasks added to the agenda are health maintenance, reduction of excretions and support for animal-friendly husbandry systems – using raw materials from sustainable sources.

From the 12th to the 14th of June the Victam in Cologne shows innovations in the technology for compound feed production. Not only is the composition of feeds subject to considerable innovation pressure, but also the technical processing of raw materials and additives requires constant adaptation.

This year, the European compound feed industry association, Fefac, celebrates its 60th anniversary. Over the past 60 years, the compound feed industry has had to endure many crises, always supported by its strong representation in Brussels. And Fefac is able to withstand the trials of the time, recognizable by the Fefac Vision 2030 at the latest, in which problem areas to be identified are named at an early stage and solutions are pointed out and demanded.

The feed industry is an extremely innovative sector. Its innovative capacity grows with the challenges it faces. The current challenges are to promote the health status of high-performing animals and to reduce the nutrient elimination from intensive animal husbandry. Special solutions are also being developed for animal welfare. The industry may not rest on its laurels if animal production in Europe is to have a lasting future.

Issue 11-12/2018

Expert Round Table, Review and Outlook

In November, the German Agricultural Society (DLG) again organized a successful trade fair with international weight, the EuroTier in Hanover, which was able to provide orientation for investment decisions not only to animal owners but also to upstream and downstream sectors. While livestock owners are keen to invest in the future, consumers are increasingly unsettled.

And the direction is right – as EuroTier will demonstrate in November. Animal welfare, sustainability and efficiency are the current buzzwords that keep on flaring up in animal housing construction and feeding. This not only responds to demands made by society, but also secures the future of the farms as well as upstream and downstream sectors.

Just as it is no longer possible to think of agriculture and food production without the feed industry, it takes a great deal of imagination to think of a feed industry without a strong association to represent it. The demands made by policy-makers, public authorities, quality control, the food retail trade, agricultural trade and consumers that all have to be taken into account in feed production are too complex. This is where 100 years of experience in the Feed Association are a strong asset.

Statutory requirements in the feed sector create on the one hand a fixed framework within which producers and developers can move. However, on the other hand they also restrict innovation when the limits are set too tightly. Especially in the case of feedstuffs for particular nutritional purposes (PNPs), balanced and sensitive regulation is important.

The feed industry is facing great expectations when it comes to keeping livestock healthy, farming in a way that conserves resources and preserves the environment, and makes possible efficient production of food of animal origin. These are issues which have preoccupied the compound feed industry for some time. Even so, the sector is more likely to be associated with problems in public perception than – more accurately – recognised as a problem solver.

Ever more products for specialised applications are appearing on the additives market. It has long since been clear that there is no miracle cure that can achieve performance enhancement, improve feed intake and utilisation and boost intestinal health all at the same time an

This issue brings the jubilee year to a close for FeedMagazine/Kraftfutter. However, the new layout and the innovative sector will continue to ensure that this magazine can carry on satisfying the information needs of the feed industry with fresh wind in its sails in future

It is now 100 years since the magazine “Die Futtermittelindustrie” was founded as a trade journal for the producers of feedstuffs. We are celebrating this anniversary with an extended issue of “FeedMagazine”. Some of the articles show that the importa

The research and development departments of the feed industry are focusing on improving health status and economical use of scarce resources. This has led to an expansion of the original feeding concept which was based on satisfying needs for maintenance and performance. Thi

Although the EU’s compound feed industry with stable compound feed sales is not riding the same wave of success as the industry worldwide, it is making a substantial contribution to animal husbandry being worthwhile in Europe. The ever higher degree of specialisation r

New compound feed plant buildings have become rare in Europe. Technical innovations are more likely to be introduced through replacement investments or by implementing innovative product lines. However, it is also possible to break new ground with operating materials in orde

Healthy animals need a healthy gut. This understanding is consolidating ever more clearly among additive suppliers and feed producers. The scientific foundation on which the mechanism of action can be described and its influence on the intestinal flora explained is becoming