Animal feed

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Compound feed
)
A feedlot in Texas, USA, where cattle are "finished" (fattened on grains) prior to slaughter.

Animal feed is

spent grain from beer brewing
.

Animal wellbeing is highly dependent on feed that reflects a well balanced nutrition. Some modern agricultural practices, such as fattening cows on grains or in feed lots, have detrimental effects on the environment and animals. For example, increased corn or other grain in feed for cows, makes their

greenhouse gases from meat production.[2]

When an environmental crisis strikes farmers or herders, such as a drought or

soil degradation and climate change.[4]

Fodder

Equine nutritionists recommend that 50% or more of a horse's diet by weight should be forages, such as hay[5]

"

oats, barley, and rice
, among many others.

Traditional sources of animal feed include

slop, and those fed to chicken are called chicken scratch. Brewer's spent grain
is a byproduct of beer making that is widely used as animal feed.

A pelleted ration designed for horses

Compound feed is fodder that is blended from various raw materials and additives. These blends are formulated according to the specific requirements of the target animal. They are manufactured by feed compounders as meal type, pellets or crumbles. The main ingredients used in commercially prepared feed are the feed grains, which include

oats, and barley
.

Compound feed may also include premixes, which may also be sold separately. Premixes are composed of microingredients such as vitamins, minerals, chemical preservatives, antibiotics, fermentation products, and other ingredients that are purchased from premix companies, usually in sacked form, for blending into commercial rations. Because of the availability of these products, farmers who use their own grain can formulate their own rations and be assured that their animals are getting the recommended levels of minerals and vitamins,[9] although they are still subject to the Veterinary Feed Directive.

According to the American Feed Industry Association, as much as $20 billion worth of feed ingredients are purchased each year. These products range from grain mixes to orange rinds and beet pulps. The feed industry is one of the most competitive businesses in the agricultural sector and is by far the largest purchaser of U.S. corn, feed grains, and soybean meal. Tens of thousands of farmers with feed mills on their own farms are able to compete with huge conglomerates with national distribution. Feed crops generated $23.2 billion in cash receipts on U.S. farms in 2001. At the same time, farmers spent a total of $24.5 billion on feed that year.

With progressing climate change and reoccuring droughts, extensive rangeland agriculture increasingly suffers of forage shortage. Innovative approaches to substitute forage include the harvesting and processing of shrubs into animal feed. This has been extensively researched and applied in Namibia, using waste biomass resulting from woody encroachment.[10]

In 2011, around 734.5 million tons of feed were produced annually around the world.[11]

History

Cattle eating a total mixed ration

The US Animal Drug Availability Act 1996, passed during the Clinton era, was the first attempt in that country to regulate the use of medicated feed.[citation needed]

In 1997, in response to outbreaks of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease, the United States and Canada banned a range of animal tissues from cattle feed. Feed bans in United States (2009) Canada (2007) expanded on this, prohibiting the use of potentially infectious tissue in all animal and pet food and fertilizers.[12]

Forage

Ngorongoro crater, Tanzania.
]

Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock.[13] Historically, the term forage has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used more loosely to include similar plants cut for fodder and carried to the animals, especially as hay or silage.[14]

While the term forage has a broad definition, the term forage crop is used to define crops, annual or biennial, which are grown to be utilized by grazing or harvesting as a whole crop.[15]

Manufacture

Feed manufacturing refers to the process of producing animal feed from raw agricultural products. Fodder produced by manufacturing is formulated to meet specific animal nutrition requirements for different species of animals at different life stages. According to the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA),[16] there are four basic steps:

  1. Receive raw ingredients: Feed mills receive raw ingredients from suppliers. Upon arrival, the ingredients are weighed, tested and analyzed for various nutrients and to ensure their quality and safety.
  2. Create a formula: Nutritionists work side by side with scientists to formulate nutritionally sound and balanced diets for livestock, poultry, aquaculture and pets. This is a complex process, as every species has different nutritional requirements.
  3. Mix ingredients: Once the formula is determined, the mill mixes the ingredients to create a finished product.
  4. Package and label: Manufacturers determine the best way to ship the product. If it is prepared for retail, it will be "bagged and tagged," or placed into a bag with a label that includes the product's purpose, ingredients and instructions. If the product is prepared for commercial use, it will be shipped in bulk.

Nutrition

In agriculture today, the nutritional needs of farm animals are well understood and may be satisfied through natural forage and fodder alone, or augmented by direct supplementation of nutrients in concentrated, controlled form. The nutritional quality of feed is influenced not only by the nutrient content, but also by many other factors such as feed presentation, hygiene, digestibility, and effect on intestinal health.[17]

Feed additives provide a mechanism through which these nutrient deficiencies can be resolved, improving animal rate of growth, health, and well-being. Many farm animals have a diet largely consisting of grain-based ingredients because of the higher costs of quality feed.[17][18]

Major ingredients

Chelates

Structure of typical metal ion in the absence of chelate.

disease prevention, notably mastitis and lameness.

Animals are thought to better absorb, digest, and use mineral chelates than inorganic minerals or simple salts.[19] In theory lower concentrations of these minerals can be used in animal feeds. In addition, animals fed chelated sources of essential trace minerals excrete lower amounts in their faeces, and so there is less environmental contamination.

Insects

Black soldier fly
larvae produced as animal feed

as pet food
.

As livestock feed production uses ~33% of the world's agricultural cropland use, large-scale use of insects could be important in the development of a sustainable food system. They can transform low-value organic wastes, are nutritious and have low environmental impacts.[20]

Soy

Soybean meal
trypsin inhibitors of soybeans, which would otherwise interfere with protein digestion.[23][24]

By animal

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Bio-Hazard of Corn Fed Beef". Mother Earth News. 2006-12-01. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  2. ^ "Seaweed-fed cows could solve livestock industry's methane problems". www.abc.net.au. 2017-04-21. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  3. ^ "How climate change is plunging Senegal's herders into poverty". The New Humanitarian. 2018-10-10. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  4. ISSN 2212-0963
    .
  5. ^ "Horse Nutrition - Feeding factors". Bulletin 762-00, Ohio State University. Accessed February 9, 2007.
  6. ^ a b c d e Mottet, A.; de Haan, C.; Falcucci, A.; Tempio, G.; Opio, C.; Gerber, P. (2022). More fuel for the food/feed debate. Rome: FAO.
  7. ^
    ISSN 2211-9124
    .
  8. ^ J. P. (2 August 2012). "Is soya next?". The Economist. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  9. ^ R. A. Zinn, A Guide to Feed Mixing, University of California, Davis.
  10. , retrieved 2023-10-13
  11. ^ Peter Best, "World Feed Panorama: Once again, industry increases its volume", Feed Strategy, 31-01-2012.
  12. ^ "Feed Bans BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) | Prion Diseases | CDC". www.cdc.gov. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  13. ^ Fageria, N.K. (1997). Growth and Mineral Nutrition of Field Crops. NY, NY: Marcel Dekker. p. 595.
  14. ^ Fageria, N.K. (1997). Growth and Mineral Nutrition of Field Crops. NY, NY: Marcel Dekker. p. 583.
  15. .
  16. ^ "How Feed is Made – AFIA". www.afia.org. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  17. ^ a b Merck Manual October 2014, Nutritional Requirements of Beef Cattle, Accessed March 18, 2015.
  18. ^ Merck Manual March 2012, Requirements of Beef Cattle, Accessed March 18, 2015.
  19. . Retrieved 2019-12-20.
  20. .
  21. ^ Purcell, Larry C.; Salmeron, Montserrat; Ashlock, Lanny (2000). "Chapter 19: Soybean Facts" (PDF). Arkansas Soybean Production Handbook - MP197. Little Rock, AR: University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. p. 1. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  22. ISSN 2077-0472
    .
  23. ^ Stein, H. H., L. L. Berger, J. K. Drackley, G. C. Fahey Jr, D. C. Hernot and C. M. Parsons. 2008. Nutritional properties and feeding values of soybeans and their coproducts. Soybeans chemistry, production, processing, and utilization. AOCS Press, Urbana, IL. pp. 613-660.
  24. ^ Soybean Feed Industry Guide. 2010. 1st Ed. https://cigi.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/2010-Soybean-Feed-Industry-Guide.pdf

External links