Green Pages Feed Trade Topics from the Island of Ireland


COMPOUND FEED TONNAGES HIT RECORD LEVELS IN NORTHERN IRELAND Animal feed companies in Northern Ireland are confirming a very satisfactory 12-month trading period According to Northern Ireland Grain Trade Association (NIGTA)


chief executive Robin Irvine, feed compounding tonnages may well have hit record levels in 2017. “Based on the confirmed figures available for the first three-


quarters of the year, the final level will probably come in at 2.4m tonnes. And this would be a record level of manufacturing output for the feed industry in Northern Ireland,” he said. “The growth has been driven by the ongoing expansion of the poultry sector and the fact that dairy has bounced back in 2017.” Irvine added: “The current weakness of Sterling has facilitated


the export of livestock products from Northern Ireland. Local food businesses are doing well in driving-up market share in the rest of the UK.


“We are also seeing a very welcome upturn in the fortunes of


the pig sector. It’s safe to conclude that the feed industry will end the current winter season on a very positive note.” Meanwhile, the 2018 Alltech Global Feed Survey is indicating that


beef feed production has declined by 1% over the past 12 months. This downturn was most evident in regions such as Latin America, Africa and Europe. According to Alltech, the downward trend has generally been felt by the industry for some time as more consumers turn to “white” meats, such as chicken, pork and fish. In overall terms, the survey estimates that international feed


tonnages exceeded 1 billion tonnes for the second consecutive year. The actual figure comes in at 1.07 billion tonnes of feed produced in 2017. This represents a 2.57 per cent increase over the previous year.


The international feed industry, now valued at US$430 billion,


has seen 13 per cent growth over the past five years, equating to an average of 2.49 per cent per annum. This substantial expansion in output is supported by the higher reported consumption of meat, milk and eggs. The seventh edition of the annual survey is the most comprehensive


ever, now covering 144 countries and more than 30,000 feed mills. In addition, the results confirm that China and the U.S. remain the top two countries, producing one-third of all animal feed, and that predominant growth came from the pig, broiler and dairy feed sectors as well as the European and Asia-Pacific regions. “Now in its seventh year of analysis, the Alltech Global Feed Survey continues to serve as a valuable report on the state of the


PAGE 24 MARCH/APRIL 2018 FEED COMPOUNDER


global feed industry,” said Aidan Connolly, chief innovation officer and vice-president of corporate accounts at Alltech. “In addition to its insights into the feed industry, it serves as a


barometer for agriculture, as a whole, and oftentimes demonstrates the economic strength of the countries included in the survey.” According to the survey, the top seven feed-producing countries


in 2017, in order of production output importance, were China, the U.S., Brazil, Russia, Mexico, India and Spain. These countries contain approximately 54 per cent of the world’s feed mills and account for 53 per cent of total production. Europe saw a 3 per cent feed tonnage growth, resulting from


increases in pig, boiler and aqua feed production. The region was led by Russia with 37.6m tonnes produced in 2017, moving up in the country rankings from number seven to number four. Russia increased its estimated pig feed, including more private


production. Russian broiler feed production also increased by 3 per cent, while Ukraine, Romania, the U.K. and Belgium also reported higher numbers. In the poultry industry, broiler feed production increased across


all regions, with the largest growth found in Africa with 10 per cent and Europe with 7 per cent. Romania, Russia and Ukraine all reported steady growth, contributing to Europe’s overall production, while Africa’s growth came primarily from Egypt, Uganda and Mozambique. Global leaders in pork production, China and Russia, led the way


in pig feed production in 2017. Many African countries, particularly Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda and Namibia, also showed increases.


Meanwhile, global dairy feed production saw growth across all


regions. Europe, a global leader in dairy production, grew on average by approximately 2 per cent. Africa as a region saw the largest growth in dairy feed production, increasing by 10 per cent, with countries such as South Africa, Morocco and Zimbabwe showing significant increases from their reported 2017 dairy feed production.


IFA HAS NEW GRAIN COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN Mark Browne from Wexford has been elected Chairman of the IFA Grain Committee, taking over from Liam Dunne following his four year term. Mark is a tillage farmer from Enniscorthy, farming over 300ha of


cereals, oilseeds and protein crops in conjunction with his brother. Prior to the closure of Irish Sugar, Mark was a significant sugar beet grower. He dries and stores much of his own grain but also produces significant quantities of premium crops such as malting barley, milling wheat and oats.


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