There are different types of animal feed: compound feed, roughage, dry feed, moist feed and premixes.
compound feed
Compound feed is dry feed that is made in a factory. Various raw materials are ground, mixed and pressed into a piece, also called a pellet. Sometimes the compound feed is also fed as flour or crumb.
The compound feed consists of various types of basic raw materials, of which corn, wheat and barley are the most important. Co-products such as soybean meal and palm kernel flakes are also used in the compound feed. Examples of moisture-rich co-products in cattle feed are brewer's grains and beet pulp. In addition to the basic raw materials (51,9%) and co-products (42,7%), compound feed consists of minerals and additives (3,9%), fats and oils (1,5%).
Worldwide, 1,26 billion tons of compound feed are produced (figures from the Alltech Global Feed Survey 2022In the Netherlands, the production of compound feed is 12,4 million tonnes, in Belgium it is 6,83 million tonnes.
Forage
Roughage (such as grass, silage, hay, alfalfa, silage maize, grass seed hay and straw) is usually grown on dairy farms and possibly ensiled.
Dry feed
Dry loose raw materials are products that can also be used in compound feed, such as soybean meal, rapeseed meal, grains and beet pulp. Sometimes animals are fed these raw materials loose.
Moist food
Moist feed is, for example, mash feed. This is usually mixed feed, with a high moisture percentage. The feed is not pressed into a pellet. The feed consists largely of moist residual flows from the food industry, such as brewers' grains, wheat starch, potato chips, beet pulp, wheat yeast concentrate and citrus pulp.
Premixes
Premixes are mixtures of vitamins, minerals, trace elements, enzymes and amino acids. They are often added to compound feed. Pigs and poultry mainly eat compound feed. Cattle, sheep and goats mainly eat roughage, supplemented with compound feed.
Who determines the composition or recipe of animal feed?
Composing compound feed is not easy. There are hundreds of raw materials that can be processed into animal feed. A nutritionist is specialized in this. He or she determines the exact composition of the recipe. In doing so, the nutritionist must take into account various factors:
- The animal's needs. The feed must contain sufficient proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fibres, minerals and vitamins to keep the animal healthy and to ensure optimum production. The need depends on the animal species, the life stage and the season.
- The availability and price of the raw materials
- The properties of the raw materials: can the mixture (if necessary) be pressed into a good pellet?
- The wishes of the livestock farmer (for example: organic, VLOG, high-protein)
- Wishes from society (animal welfare, emissions, pollution, sustainability)
The nutritionist can use software that helps to make the right recipe. For each farm animal, a nutritionist composes the optimal feed.
How is animal feed produced?
The raw materials for the feed come to the animal feed factory by water or by road. If the raw material is approved, it is unloaded into the factory silo. The raw materials are ground, mixed and pressed in the animal feed factory. After the final inspection, the compound feed goes from the finished product silos into the bulk truck. Smaller quantities are packed in bags and transported in a truck to the agricultural companies.
What kind of animal feed is there for the different animal species?
In the Netherlands and Belgium, compound feed is made for various animal species. The composition of the feed is different for each animal species: it must meet the nutritional needs of the animal species in question.
Cattle feed
Cattle feed consists of four components: roughage, compound feed, loose raw materials and moist co-products. The loose raw materials can be the same as in compound feed and are added to the ration by the farmer.
Pig feed
Animal feed for pigs consists of three components: compound feed, loose raw materials and moist co-products. For compound feed, the basic raw materials maize, wheat, triticale, rye and barley are mainly used. This applies to both sows and fattening pigs. Various co-products are added to this, such as soy meal and rapeseed meal. The loose raw materials can be the same as in compound feed and are added to the ration by the livestock farmer.
Examples of moisture-rich co-products in pig feed are wheat yeast concentrate, wheat starch and potato steam peels.
Poultry feed
Poultry feed has two components: compound feed and loose raw materials. The compound feed consists of basic raw materials such as corn, wheat and peas; this applies to both laying hens and broilers. The co-products that are added to this are, for example, rapeseed meal, soybean meal and sunflower seed meal. The loose raw materials can be the same as in the compound feed and are added to the ration by the livestock farmer.
In the Netherlands and Belgium, pig feed is the most commonly produced type of feed, although the quantity has decreased in recent years.
Fish food
In the Netherlands and Belgium, not much fish food is produced. Only Alltech Coppens is a large fish food producer. Animal feed is often pressed, while fish food is usually extruded. The proportions are also different. Fish food contains between 40 and 50% protein and between 15 and 25% fat, with peaks of up to 33% fat. In terms of ingredients, compound feed and fish food do not differ much. Although the proportions are different, the same basic raw materials are used in broad terms. Fish food also often contains fishmeal and fish oil, especially for carnivorous fish, such as eel, salmon and trout. However, there is increasing interest in how fishmeal can be replaced with fish oil by vegetable fat and protein sources.
In 2022, the distribution between the different animal species looked like this:
Source: Alltech Global Feed Survey
Dog food and cat food
A distinction is often made between animal feed and pet food. Pet food is food for pets, such as dog food, cat food or rabbit food.
Animal nutrition based on science
Compound feed production is based on scientific knowledge. Some parties in the Netherlands and Belgium that do research on animal feed:
Wageningen University & Research (WUR)
WUR has a department of Animal Sciences, which also includes the Animal Nutrition chair group. Together with the Animal Nutrition department of Wageningen Livestock Research and the Nutrition department of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University, they form the Centre for Animal NutritionThe research focuses on the topics:
- efficient use of raw materials
- animal health, longevity and vitality
- technology & quality
- animal welfare
- nutrigenomics (relationship between genes, nutrition and health)
- environmental problems related to animal feed
- nutrition
Schothorst Feed Research (SFR)
Schothorst Feed Research is an independent research institute located in Lelystad that specializes in animal feed. For example, they conduct research into feed formulation and feed evaluation for various animal species.
university of Ghent
De Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Ghent University conducts research into various aspects of animal feed.
Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Research (ILVO)
ILVO is an independent scientific research centre of the Flemish government. It is commissioned by that government to contribute to the sustainability of agriculture, fisheries and agri-food sector.
Center Wallon de Recherches Agronomiques (CRA-W)
The research center Center Wallon de Recherches Agronomiques in Wallonia combines scientific research with service provision.
How do you ensure that animal feed is safe and hygienic?
Animal feed forms the basis for many products that people ultimately eat, such as meat, dairy and eggs. Quality and safety are therefore important. Traders and producers of animal feed must check themselves whether the animal feed complies with the legal standards. Producers must also keep track of which raw materials have been used. This is important for traceability. In addition, they must take and store sufficient samples.
De NVWA (Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority) checks whether animal feed companies comply with hygiene regulations. A company can draw up a food safety plan itself, or use an approved hygiene code, such as the GMP+ Feed Certification scheme or the Feed Chain Alliance Standard. This includes, for example, 'Good Manufacturing Practices' (quality control), HACCP (risk assessment) and ISO 22000 standards (food safety).
Is animal feed sustainable?
In addition to food safety, sustainability is important for the animal feed industry. Companies throughout the chain work to keep the ecological footprint of the feed and the end product (meat, dairy, eggs) as small as possible. For example, by using:
- co-products from the food industry
- regional raw materials
- raw materials that are certified as 'sustainable', such as RTRS soy
- amino acids or other additives that ensure that the feed is less rich in protein or that reduce methane, nitrogen and phosphate emissions
Nowadays, the carbon footprint of all raw materials is known and recorded in an internationally accepted database. The nutritionist can take this into account when composing the feed.
There are also other ways to try to reduce the footprint of feed and the end product. For example, by reducing energy consumption during the production process, using renewable energy and making transport more sustainable.
Thanks to: Nevedic, BFA, CBS, Alltech Global Feed Survey, Knowledge Center InfoMill, WUR