INTERVIEW
“More pigs on fermented feed”
Fermenting pig feed is a promising process, but a challenge to make it a success on a pig farm. With further optimisation of the processes to deliver a consistent product, Dutch feed company ForFarmers expects that more pig farmers will move to fermented liquid feed.
By Emmy Koeleman, editor All About Feed F
Bram van den Oever, pig nutritionist at ForFarmers: “The fer- mentation concept helps our customers to increase their feed effi- ciency and to lower their feed costs.”
ermentation is a process by which lactic acid is formed. Lactic acid is good for the intestinal health of pigs. Although this is nothing new, it has taken a number of years to optimise the process. Bram van den Oever, pig nutritionist at ForFarmers and spe-
cialist of liquid feed and fermentation, explains in greater detail what the benefits are of this type of feeding. The Dutch feed company has been investing in fermented feed for many years and has developed its own complete concept.
What has been learnt about fermented pig feed so far? “After the initial experiences with fermentation, it appeared to be a promising feed concept. Yet the process was too laborious. Feed batches also failed and the feed was too variable in
quality. Therefore, a lot of time and money have been invested since 2010 to study fermented pig feed in greater detail. Since then, much has changed, such as the bacterial culture we use, the temperature used and the raw materials which are used for fermentation. Pig farmers simply want a stable product, which can be produced quickly and easily and actually improve the health of animals. This can be the incentive for pig farmers to change the feeding system.”
Why is your company so keen to invest in this type of feeding? “Our ambition is to deliver concepts to our customers so that they can achieve their farm goals as efficiently as possible. The fermentation concept helps our customers to increase their feed efficiency and to lower the feed costs. At the same time, it enables them to produce in a more sustainable way with less use of nitrogen and phosphate and less use of antibiotics. This can only be achieved with an overall concept, focusing on a successful fermentation.”
Can you explain what your concept entails? “We use a higher temperature (38° Celsius) for the fermenta- tion, which enables us to reach the desired pH of 4.0 within ten hours. We also use a liquid bacterial culture. This works
12 PIG PROGRESS VOLUME 32, No. 6, 2016
EMMY KOELEMAN
HENK RISWICK
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