RISE IN INDUSTRIAL LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION TO BOOST ITS DEMAND IN THE GLOBAL ANIMAL FEED MARKET
Animal feed is the food grown to nourish poultry and livestock. Animal feed is produced by selecting and blending feed ingredients to offer highly nutritious diets that promote the health of animals and improve the quality of end products such as milk, wool, eggs, and meat. Animal feeds can be broadly groped as concentrates or roughages. Concentrates include high in energy value food sources including fats, cereal grains, high-protein oil meals or cakes, by-products from processing of sugarcane, sugar beets, animals, fish, etc. While roughages include hays, straw, silage, root crops, pasture grasses, stover (cornstalks), etc. The rising demand for animal origin protein has led to the intensification of livestock production chiefly base on the uses of industrial compound feed. Animal feed costs vary widely from season to season and it is often possible for producers to realize substantial savings through wise selection of the feed ingredients used to formulate complete diets.
Industrial livestock production has undergone substantial transformation owing to technological advancements in animal vaccinations and antibiotics. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) more than half of the world’s pork and poultry, one-tenth of its beef and mutton and more than two-thirds of its egg supply have originated from industrial livestock production. The development of industrial livestock production across the globe has led to significant demand for highly nutritious animal feed products. The surge in the industrial production of mutton, beef, pork, and poultry over grazing and mixed farming has necessitated the demand for high grade animal feed products. Industrial livestock production has ensured high volume of meat production at low cost by taking advantage of economies of scales. The availability of dairy and meat products at low prices has led to an increase in the consumption and thereby contributed to the growth of the industrial livestock production industry. The robust growth witnessed by the industrial livestock production sector has spurred the demand for high quality animal feeds used in rearing a range of livestock including cattle, swine, goats, chicken, fish, shrimps, etc. The crucial role played by industrial livestock production in meeting the nutritional requirement of humans across the globe has led to the proliferation of industrial livestock farms across the world and augmented the sales of animal feeds.
The major players operating in the global animal feedmarket include Archer Daniels Midland Co., Cargill Inc., Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc., Evonik Industries AG,ForFarmers NV, Guangdong HAID Group Co., Ltd., Land O’Lakes, Inc., New Hope Group Co. Ltd., Nutreco NV and Perdue Farms Inc. among others. These key players in the market are focused on new and improved product offerings so that it could meet out the demand for specific end-use industries in the market, which is further expected to boost this market.For Instance, in October 2019, Nutreco NV announced that it had acquired the South African premix company Animal Nutrition and Health (ANH). This move will further underpin Nutreco NV’s activities in South Africa and ensure it can bring its leading products to even more farms in South Africa. In January 2018, Archer Daniels Midland Company and Qingdao Vland Biotech Group Co., Ltd. announced a joint development agreement for the development and commercialization of enzymes for animal feed applications.
