iranian agricultural news agency
China reshapes poultry feed formulations
Feed manufacturers in China have been switching to cheaper alternatives for poultry feed. Photo: Brett Jordan
China has issued guidelines recommending a reduction of corn and soymeal in poultry and pig feed.
A drop in output and state stockpiles has resulted in a surge in the price of corn in China, reports Reuters. To compensate for the domestic shortfall, China began importing corn. Meanwhile, feed manufacturers have been switching to cheaper alternatives, especially wheat, which has more protein than corn and has already cut demand for soymeal.
Guidelines will not temper soaring poultry feed costs
China’s new guidelines, however, may not do much in the near future to temper soaring feed costs. The country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs noted that the new guidelines are aimed at improving the usage of available raw materials and creating a formula that better suits China’s conditions.
China’s animal feed use expected to rise
China consumes about 175 mmt of corn each year in animal feed each year, and this figure is set to rise. The country also imports about 100 mmt of soybeans, also for animal feed.
Available alternatives for animal feed
The ministry said rice, cassava, rice bran, barley and sorghum were also suitable alternatives to corn, while rapeseed meal, cottonseed meal, peanut meal, sunflower meal, distillers dried grains, palm meal, flaxmeal, sesame meal and corn processing byproducts were good options to replace soymeal.
Reuters further reported that some analysts questioned if China’s huge appetite for imported feed grains would be reduced much by alternative feeds, which are produced in much smaller volumes than corn and soy.
Feed formulation suggestions
The ministry also provided some suggested feed formulations depending on the region of the country. In some regions, it recommended eliminating soymeal completely and replacing it with other meals.
Sources from within the industry have reportedly said that it would be difficult to give total estimates on exactly how much corn and soymeal will be cut following the guidelines because for some of the recommended diets the use of corn is cut, but more DDGs, corn protein power, and amino acids are suggested, which are made from corn.
Source: ALL ABOUT FEED
Natalie Berkhout
Freelance journalist
iranian agricultural news agency
Microplastics in fishmeal: A growing concern
Some of the microplastics present in the environment come from decomposition of larger pieces of plastic waste. Photo: ANP
Microplastics are ingested by marine biota including fish. This could lead to food safety concerns: they are potentially dangerous for consumers of fish. A study assessed the concentrations of microplastics in fishmeal and method for extracting them.
Recent studies show a shift in marine debris composition to predominantly plastic; about 60 – 80% of the debris consists of plastic. Plastic debris ≤ 5000 µm is generally termed microplastic. There are multiple sources of microplastics and these can all be traced back to human activities on land or at sea.
For a better understanding of the contaminant, researchers at the University of Southampton carried out a study to investigate microplastics in fishmeal. They also suggested a suitable method for extraction of microplastics from fishmeal and proposed a better approach for controlling microplastic contamination during the extraction process.
The study
The study had 3 main aims:
1.To establish a suitable method for extracting small microplastics from fishmeal – most studies focus on microplastics ≥149 µm. A wider size range gives better ¬estimates of microplastic contamination in fishmeal.
2.To test such a method on commercial fishmeal to quantify the microplastics. The results will improve our ¬understanding of the potential for microplastics to enter the food chain via fishmeal and inform future assessments of associated risks to health and food security.
3.To assess microplastics in fish in order to establish the potential influence of this substance on fishmeal.
The researchers successfully used the NaCl flotation method to extract microplastics from fishmeal. This method can extract small microplastics. Photo: Shutterstock
Extraction method for microplastics in fishmeal
The use of different extraction techniques is often a hindrance for comparison of microplastics in fishmeal. A more suitable extraction technique for microplastics in fishmeal is encouraged. The researchers found that the potassium hydroxide digestion method is commonly used for microplastic extraction from fish and fishmeal. However, recovering microplastics sized < 150 µm seems impossible for fishmeal with this method. This is a major drawback of the KOH method (potassium hydroxide preparation), since smaller particles may be prevalent as some studies have shown; in one such study, all microplastics in S. pilchardus were 39–857 µm.
Swine producer, Agrosuper, based in Chile. The company recently started to replace as much fishmeal as possible from post-weaning diets. Dr Peralta describes the solutions they found. Find out more…
Extracting smaller microplastics
In this study, the researchers successfully used the NaCl flotation method to extract microplastics from fishmeal. This method can extract smaller microplastics (from 55 µm) than the potassium hydroxide digestions; this was important since 35% of potential microplastics in the fishmeal samples were < 150 µm, highlighting the importance of recovering smaller microplastics and the suitability of the NaCl method. In this study, the overall recovery rate from dosing trials with whitefish fishmeal was about 71.3%, and about 49.3% for sardine/anchovy fishmeal, proving that NaCl is a good extraction method. Even polymers of greater density than the NaCl solution (e.g., polyester, rayon) were extracted with this technique. In addition, there were low standard deviations within the same type of fishmeal, suggesting high repeatability of recovery rates.
Measuring microplastics in fishmeal
Polymer identification is important, especially if you want to reduce overestimates of potential microplastic counts. For this reason, it is imperative to conduct spectroscopy or other polymer identification methods. In this study, approximately 90% of potential microplastics were assessed with Raman spectroscopy. A total of 11 particles were confirmed to be biomaterials, such as tricalcium phosphate, while 19 potential microplastics were confirmed to be plastic. Most of the microplastics found were polyethylene − a material used to make storage bags for fishmeal. Based on the correction for recovery rates of 71.3% and spectroscopy assessment rate of 89.1%, the mean concentration of non-fibrous microplastics per kg of fishmeal was calculated to be about 71.9 items. However, other studies reported even up to 4000 – 6000 microplastics per kg. of fishmeal. As the microplastics could be introduced at any point in fishmeal processing, the concentrations in fishmeal are generally higher than in the raw materials.
Microplastics in fish
In marine fish, the potential microplastic exposure is likely to arise from ingestion of particles in the water column or on the sea-floor that resemble prey, or by ingesting prey that previously ingested microplastics themselves. It was shown in this study that, based on the review of species destined to be included whole in fishmeal, approximately 36 microplastics per kilogram of fishmeal can be expected from the raw material.
For the types of fish assessed for microplastics, the order of mean microplastic concentrations per individual fish were as follows:
Sprattus sprattus > Trachurus trachurus > Engraulis spp. > Micromesistius poutassou > Ammodytes personatus > Euthynnus affinis.
Controlling microplastics contamination
The scientists found that even under strict control measures, atmospheric contamination may be unavoidable. Several studies show that most researchers conduct their work in laminar flow cabinets, but they lack implementation of airborne controls. For this reason, using airborne contamination monitoring such as dampened filter papers during the extraction process should be considered even in clean environments.
It was concluded that while microplastic extraction from whitefish fishmeal using a simple NaCl density separation method is suitable for microplastics > 55 µm, the NaCl method might not be suitable for all types of fishmeal, and the development of further methods is recommended to enable their applicability to different fishmeal types and to enable extraction of particles as small as 1 µm. On the other hand, understanding the relationship of microplastics between capture fish and fishmeal is important, as is their implications for direct and indirect consumers of fishmeal, given the importance of fishmeal for food security. In addition, to improve comparability, future studies should provide size-related information of the extracted microplastics.
Source: ALL ABOUT FEED
Matthew Wedzerai
Freelance journalist
iranian agricultural news agency
US: More efficient approval of new feed ingredients
28/04/2021
New staff are being trained at the US Food & Drug Administration to deal with a backlog of applications. A framework is also being created for allowing novel claims related to the environment, animal performance and more.
The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) and the US government have agreed that in order for the US feed industry to grow and expand its research into animal nutrition, a clear and efficient process is needed to approve new ingredients.
“We need a reliable regulatory system for the safety reviews and approvals, and unfortunately this process has not always been the most efficient,” explains Leah Wilkinson, AFIA vice president of public policy and education. “It’s a priority for our members to have an appropriate response and timeframe for applications for review of new ingredients. The US falls behind other countries in this area, and therefore our member-companies are not bringing products forward in the US as they are elsewhere. We are very pleased the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has responded to our concerns and we are excited about the current and future progress.”
Backlog in feed ingredient applications
Simply put, there has not been enough capacity to review ingredients at the Division of Animal Feeds at the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM). “There is a huge backlog in applications,” says Wilkinson. “We estimate that this backlog has already resulted in $ 1.75 million in lost revenue for every year of delay to feed ingredient manufacturers, and while we have no way to estimate the losses that livestock producers have experienced because they have not had the benefits of using new products, it is surely significant.”
Sustainable feed ingredients
Wilkinson explains that the types of ingredients to be approved run the full range, but many focus on sustainability. Examples include enzymes that boost feed efficiency in various livestock species and insect meal from insects that consume food waste (a so-called ‘circular economy’ feed).
Approval process takes 3-5 years
According to Wilkinson, the approval process for a non-drug feed ingredient in the US is typically 3 to 5 years and the only claims currently allowable relate to taste, nutrition or aroma. “However, these ingredients have other benefits and right now, manufacturers aren’t able to make claims related to those benefits, although they have the science to prove them,” she explains. “We are very pleased the FDA is reviewing this interpretation of the regulatory policy so that substances that improve production or reduce environmental impact can have associated claims and be regulated as feeds when appropriate. As I’ve said, other countries are already ahead of the US on this.”
Increase staff numbers
In 2020, the FDA agreed to allocate US$ 5 million for 12 new staff for the review and approval of new livestock feed ingredients. (The CVM Division of Animal Feeds also handles many areas beyond pre-market ingredient reviews, namely regulation of medicated feeds and issues related to feed contaminants.) “The resources for the new hires are welcome, as the innovative products that various companies are coming up with certainly keeps us busy,” explains Dr David Edwards, who has served as the CVM director of animal feeds for the past 6 years. “We’ve ended up onboarding 12 new reviewers who started in September 2020 and are being trained now. They are a diverse group, including toxicologists, microbiologists, animal scientists, chemists and veterinarians and they are learning everything to do with regulatory processes and legal review. They’ve also been integrated with our existing pre-market review team that they learn from other reviewers.”
Update of the feed ingredient policy
Edwards and his colleagues also recognise the need to update the policy interpretations for feed ingredient approval, whether the claims relate to reduced environmental impact, improved food safety or improvements to animal well-being or production.
“We’ve heard from the stakeholders about their concerns and we understand the environment has changed in terms of needs and wants,” he says. “We’re looking at changes that can accommodate these claims, and we must also make sure any changes are done in a strategic long-term way.”
He explains that for each type of claim, a determination will be made for what is allowable under the law relating to existing definitions of ingredients that go into animal feed. “We are looking into how much flexibility exists in those definitions in terms of how they are worded,” Edwards says. “We have to look at where claims might fall and that’s based on intended use. One example is greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Another example is the impact on production’ claims and/or human food safety claims where you might be able to create a safer human food by feeding a certain substance to an animal.”
The aim, Edwards says, is to have truthful claims that do not mislead producers in any way, and to roll out an updated framework in a fair way, so that claims for existing products and products that are new are accommodated in a fair and integrated manner. “We anticipate that claims will be desired on both these group of products,” he says. “We’re not sure yet, however, if we would roll out the framework for all claims at the same time or in groups. We would need, as well, to make sure our framework is able to adapt to new types of claims, and that we have conversations with industry to make sure the changes, when released, will be well-understood.”
Additives to prevent ASF
A quick and smooth review process is “doubly important for anyone interested in pursuing an animal food additive intended to mitigate African swine fever (ASF),” noted Edwards in a 2020 AFIA guest blog entry. “FDA is committed to working with sponsors to facilitate the development and approval of products intended to prevent ASF infection and spread. Because there are several pathways to consider, we encourage sponsors interested in bringing such products to the marketplace to consult with our experts early in your development process. While FDA is committed to ushering all food additive petitions through the review process as expeditiously as possible, we are prepared to prioritize reviews for food additives that are meant to mitigate ASF.”
For the entire framework, there is no estimated timeline for completion that Edwards can supply, but with the new hires – and also with CVM staff taking a hard look at what other countries have done with new types of claims for feed ingredients – completion will occur as soon as possible.
Source: ALL ABOUT FEED
Treena Hein
Correspondent
iranian agricultural news agency
Wheat and corn prices under pressure
28/04/2021
Wheat exports from France and the US are slowing down. When it comes to corn, the coming weeks will show just how much China’s appetite for purchasing eases as a result of the resurgence of African swine fever.
The future markets in both Paris and Chicago last week saw the price of wheat fall a few percent.
Exports under pressure
Exports are more difficult for both Western Europe (France) and the United States, partly due to the influence of the exchange rate. Romania is currently more competitive than France, Russia and Ukraine and has secured a supply of 360,000 tonnes to Egypt. That is surprising, according to market agency Agritel, since Romania had a considerably smaller harvest in 2020, namely 6.2 million tons compared to 10 million tons on average over the previous 3 years. The price influence mainly applies to the US. The dollar is currently strong, but that is unfavourable for exports.
Argentina: Drought impacts corn quality
The state of the corn in Argentina is very poor. Only 17% is rated as good to excellent. Last year that rating was more than double. It is due to the persistent drought, which, incidentally, is also counteracting the growth of soy.
Feed market prices
Market PricesAll About Feed offers readers access to the futures market for a clear overview of the latest developments for wheat, corn and soy beans. We have also partnered with Glowlit to bring our readers access to real-time pricing of feed additives. Stay up-to-date…
Brazil: Excessive rain delay corn planting
In Brazil, excessive rain remains an important factor in the prospects for corn production. This is because corn planting is planned for after the current soy harvest, which will start late.
ASF recurrence in China
All in all, the pressure on corn prices on the futures market is largely due to concerns about the recurrence of African swine fever in China. This reduces the need for extra feed grains for the pig herd that is under reconstruction.
Winter crops
Winter wheat is doing well in France. 88% is good to excellent, compared to 64% around this time last year. The same goes for winter barley. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency reports that the winter conditions in Russia and Ukraine have caused less damage to the wheat than initially expected. According to the agricultural-economic site Agrimoney, another cold period is expected for Russia. The situation therefore remains uncertain.
Source: ALL ABOUT FEED
Jack Kwakman
Freelance journalist
iranian agricultural news agency
Happy New Year!
The year had spent was very difficult but it passed!
Time does not wait for anything, what remains in the breadth of time; Kindness is love and thought, so let’s be kind and hope for the future is coming.
Production is the source of construction, creativity and the existence of life. The future of world agriculture (KAJ press), congratulations the coming year, which is the beginning of another century, to all its audiences, especially agricultural producers and farmers, senior managers, experts and all those compassionately and out of love try for the exaltation and pride of this land, and we wishing everyone better days so far away from the global predicament of Corona virus.
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