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possibility, but the economic factor plays an important role: “From a plant breeding perspective we are moving in the right direction, increasing yields per hectare. But in Europe, soy has to compete for land usage with high value crops. On average a farmer in a European climate can earn twice as much with corn or wheat production, so there is quite a gap. That said, soy is a trade weapon. Brazil is sold out at the mo- ment, and even with US soy being cheap, there is the GMO issue there.”
Emily Burton sees potential in using co-prod- ucts from the bioethanol pro- duction as an environmentally sustainable feed ingredient.
the holy grail, it is a business model for the soy suppliers. For the producers, certified soy is only feasible if the consumer wants to pay for it and we know that soy is still a very price sensitive commodity. On top of that, we all know that soy can become a weapon, when it is not interchangeable. All certifi- cation can lead to impossible supply nightmares by a simple action of one VIP making a bold statement on Twitter.”
Safer option European feed manufactures often choose for the safer op- tion and source their soy close to home. It is a fact that the US, Brazil and Argentina are by far the largest soybean pro- ducers with respectively 124, 117 and 55 million tonnes of production. However, the soy production of the so called Danube soy in Europe is growing rapidly. In 2018 the total acreage of soybean in Europe was 4.3 million hectare, double the number compared to 2011. According to Donau Soja’s forecast production will expand to 15 million tonnes by 2025. Soybean specialist Volker Hahn at the ESPN: “In real numbers the EU doesn’t play a role compared to the large producers. And on top of that, 45% of European production comes from the Ukraine, not a member of the EU 28.” He continues: “To become fully self sufficient the EU would need 32 million tonnes extra, on top of today’s EU production of soy. With av- erage crop yields that would mean 15 million hectares extra planted with soy.” The plant breeding expert sees this as a real
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Feeding strategies With part of the soy equation boiling down to sustainability and environmental issues, lowering protein in poultry diets can be part of the solution. Bertrand Méda of the French INRA institute sees lots of potential in the use of crystalline amino acids for optimal use of crude protein. “Inclusion rates can go lower without compromising animal performance and with great improvements on the environmental impact. A reduc- tion of crude protein with 1% for instance, will reduce nitro- gen excretion by 10%. Also, precision feeding can reduce feed costs as well.” Mr Méda promotes a new view on feed produc- tion, not only focusing on nutritional characteristics and price, but also on the impact on the environment. Speaker Anna Rogiewicz from the Canadian university of Manitoba and Emily Burton of the Nottingham Trent Universi- ty in the UK focused on other protein sources as a soy alterna- tive. Ms Rogiewicz worked on the viability of low glucosi- nolate rapeseed meal as a valuable protein source. “Canola meal is commonly used in poultry nutrition as an economi- cally viable alternative to soybean meal, but it still can’t fully replace it due to the presence of antinutritive factors, low me- tabolisable energy value and less consistent AA digestibility. However, I see improved processing conditions and the de- velopment of high-protein canola and the application of feed enzymes, which can mitigate such limitations.” Ms Rogiewicz’ research has shown that the nutritive potential of canola meal for poultry can be fully realised when diets are formulat- ed based on the digestible AA and available energy contents. Emily Burton sees potential in using co-products from the bioethanol production as an environmentally sustainable feed ingredient. “Traditional bioethanol co-products provide a major route for converting excess fibre into food via animal feed. However, technological innovations now allow addi- tional streams to utilise other portions of the co-products, optimising value of the process and improving the sustaina- bility of production.” She sees the potential for yeast to be separated from the co-product stream and to be marketed as feed protein and as a feed supplement. “It’s all about balanc- ing the 4F’s, feed, fuel, food and fibre. A holistic view on cur- rent bio-refinery can limit it as a competitor for protein and produce a range of products, including protein to bridge the period until later versions of bioethanol production such as cellulose based refinery, become available.”
PHOTO: FABIAN BROCKÖTTER
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