excessive flows of nitrogen and phosphorus to the environment). Alternatively, we could continue to increase the land mass


available for crop production, which then raises concerns over further biodiversity loss. Each option presents major dilemmas and is unpalatable to many observers. Although there are options to increase the productivity of some of our current crop land, there is nevertheless growing concern with respect to application rates of chemical fertilizers, disrupted nutrient cycles, nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, and impaired soil fertility and productivity. There is simply not enough land, and assigning more of it to agriculture would further exacerbate many of the current issues. To produce more animal protein, we will need to do this more efficiently within the scope of current land use and the resource boundaries of the planet. While land use will need to continue to evolve sustainably to


meet the demand for feed crops and human-edible grains, there are existing, innovative solutions for extracting more nutritional value from our existing feed resources along with the growing amounts of food and feed by-products that are fed to animals.


Extracting more value from finite resources DSM and Novozymes formed an alliance 20 years ago to pioneer feed enzyme technology for this very purpose – extracting more value from our precious natural resources – so as to get more out of less. We focus on improving the nutritional value of existing feed raw materials and enable the increased use of alternative crops and substrates. The technology lessens our reliance on soy, corn and wheat, but also enables the economic use of a greater assortment of local feed raw materials – further lessening the conflict associated with feeding human-edible grain to animals. The benefits are tremendous. Improving feed digestibility and reducing feed conversion ratio (meaning that less feed is needed to produce a unit of meat) is seen as one of the major levers of sustainable animal production. In addition to lessening the strain on land use, this approach leads to reductions in indirect GHG emissions associated with animal production. Equally important is the fact that, due to the improved digestibility of feed, gains are made in nitrogen retention in the form of protein accretion, which means less nitrogen flow to the environment via manure. This further helps to reduce GHG emissions in the form of the nitrous oxide which is often derived from urea and ammonia. Additionally, reducing nitrogen in manure helps limit the amount of reactive nitrogen forms potentially entering the water system – a major concern in respect of water quality – due to manure application to the land.


Unlocking the full potential of animal diets The devil is in the detail. Micronutrition holds the keys to improving the efficient use of animal feed – the single biggest input to animal production,


FEED COMPOUNDER SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 39


often accounting for 60% of the costs. Macro-ingredients like soy, corn (maize) and wheat can vary a great deal in their nutritional density and value, and their digestibility is limited and somewhat complicated by anti-nutritional factors (ANFs) found within the material. Corn is a major source of starch, important as an energy source to the animal, yet a significant proportion of this starch remains locked up due to the thick plant cell walls and is lost to the animal. Using specific feed enzymes to break open the complex fibrous structure of the corn grain releases valuable nutrients to the animal, enabling a significant improvement in feed utilization and a much more efficient use of resources. Other feed substrates such as protein can also be improved by using protease enzymes – a major breakthrough. The Alliance has led the charge in this respect, and was the first to develop a feed protease, known as Ronozyme®


ProAct, enabling more efficient use of


soy and other major feed crops as well as local, proteinaceous crops. Although feed processing helps improve the digestibility of feedstuffs, there still remain obstacles to overcome, especially in relation to the multitude of ANFs found in many feed substrates. Feed enzymes are an effective tool for destroying these ANFs and enable the feed manufacturer to have more flexibility in feed formulations through the greater use of varied feed ingredients. Not only are feed enzymes critical tools for the efficient utilization


of protein and carbohydrates in feed, they have also been pivotal in mineral nutrition and in particular in addressing phosphorus management in animal production. The world has finite known reserves of inorganic rock phosphorus – a precious resource that is fundamental to life and which threatens to run out soon unless new reserves are discovered. It is critical that such mineral reserves should be managed sustainably and that we keep within the appropriate boundaries in their use. With the demand for greater agricultural productivity, more rock phosphate is currently being used for phosphate fertilizers. Likewise, with growing demand for animal protein, more is being used in the growing volume of animal feed. All animal diets contain a proportion of rock phosphate in the form


of phosphate salts to ensure balanced mineral nutrition. However, with the advent of the phytase feed enzymes, animal production has been able to massively reduce its reliance on rock phosphate


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