The sixth annual Alltech Global Feed Survey shows globally, more than one billion tonnes of feed was produced in 2016.
This is the first time production has reached eight figures. It’s about a 3.7 per cent increase over 2015.
“As the population continues to climb, this is a positive indication that the feed industry is ready to meet the food production challenge”
The sector reached the plateau with significantly fewer feed mills – seven per cent less than the previous year. Some mills closed; others modernized and boosted their capacity.
Meanwhile, the world’s protein consumption marched ahead by two per cent more than 2015.
“That means we’re getting more food from farms, but using less feed to do it,” says Alltech’s chief innovation officer Aidan Connolly, the survey’s architect. “Efficiency is moving forward.”
He notes that globally, feed prices in general were five to seven per cent lower than the previous year… and as a result, so was the cost of raising animals. “Cheaper feed means cheaper food for consumers,” he says.
The survey has recorded nearly a 20 per cent growth overall in global feed production since it first released survey results in January 2012.
“As the population continues to climb, this is a positive indication that the feed industry is ready to meet the food production challenge,” Connolly says.
In 2016, Alltech gleaned its data from more than 30,000 feed mills in 141 countries, making this year’s analysis the company’s most robust to date.
Overall, Canada ranked eleventh in the world in feed production at 21.47 million tonnes. It’s the eighth largest producer of pig feed, and the fourth largest producer of feed for horses. Canada held the same place in production levels in 2015, weighing in with 20.35 million tonnes of production.
China, with an emphasis on poultry and pork, and the USA, a powerhouse in beef and dairy, together produce about one-third of the world’s feed.
The fastest production growth occurred in Africa, at 13 per cent. In 2016, North America feed production remained relatively flat.
Alltech values the global feed industry at around US$460 billion.
Source: Meatbusiness