In the last 60 years, the agriculture industry has accomplished some amazing feats. Global agricultural productivity has nearly doubled since (USDA ERS, ). Animal production has nearly tripled in outputs while inputs for land and labor have only risen by about 30% globally.

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However, producers still grapple with many challenges. In the livestock industry, some of the biggest concerns center around feed: the rising costs, feed efficiency and the availability of common feed ingredients. With feed accounting for up to 70% of production expenses, many livestock producers are adding exogenous enzymes to their feeds to improve nutrient digestibility and lessen the financial impact of rising costs and poor feed efficiency.

Production expenses rising, grains production decreasing

Prices for corn, soybeans and other key feed ingredients have skyrocketed in the past year. Global production of cereal grains is expected to decline in for the first time in four years, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). While the FAO is focused on human food production, similar declines are being observed for key feed ingredients. And it’s not just commodity pricing. Soaring inflation has affected costs for transportation, energy, specialty ingredients and more.

Tight grain supplies and inflation reflect the impact of climate change as well as other geopolitical events on crop production. The International Grains Council reports that global inventories of all harvested grain will reach an eight-year low at the end of this crop year. Meanwhile, Dutch financial services company Rabobank predicts feed costs to rise 20% year-over-year      through . These issues are likely to drive increased use of byproducts and nonconventional feedstuffs.  

Feed efficiency on the decline

Feed efficiency has steadily declined over the past decades. Crop producers have developed varieties of production methods to increase the nutrient content of feeds. As a result, while grain volume used may stay steady or decline, metabolizable energy used for animal feed has risen comparably with animal outputs. A significant portion of the available nutrients in animal feeds are undigested. This is a problem not only for the producer, who loses money as a result, but for the environment as well. Digestion is often limited by antinutritional factors such as phytate and tannins that lock up nutrients (Figures 1 and 2). Combating these compounds is a focus of much nutrition research.

Figure 1: Non-soluble polysaccharides (NSPs) in feed ingredients

Figure 2: Nutrients lost in broiler manure

Amid these concerns, how can producers keep their animals performing at their best while simultaneously maintaining profitable operations? Using feed enzymes is one of the most promising answers to these questions. Feed enzymes not only help improve digestibility and decrease the environmental impact of agriculture; they also help producers save money.

What are feed enzymes?

Enzymes are protein-based molecules that convert undigestible components of feed into more accessible forms, allowing the animal to utilize feed and the nutrients it contains more successfully. Enzymes transform other molecules by attaching to them, releasing the nutrients and energy in those molecules, thereby making them available to be absorbed by the animal.

A wide range of enzymes are available on the market, differing in production method, activity and use case. Enzymes are complex molecules produced commercially through microbial fermentation (Figure 3). Most enzymes are produced by means of liquid fermentation using microbe strains selected or genetically modified to produce a single, specific enzyme. Because of the multiple substrates included in animal diets, resulting in a mix of antinutritional factors and inaccessible nutrients, it is critical to use a product with multiple enzyme activities. Liquid fermentation enzymes are often mixed to meet this need. However, the use of multiple single enzymes, or a blended enzyme product, can lead to inefficiencies and non-performance results in feed. Enzymes in a blend can compete for substrates and inhibit or inactivate each other.

Figure 3: Two methods for producing enzymes

Single-complex enzymes are more versatile

Alltech uses a unique solid-state fermentation process with microbial strains that produce several enzymes in a single complex. Enzymes produced in a single complex work in synergy with the animal’s digestive tract. This allows Alltech’s enzyme solutions to promote improved digestibility and enhanced nutrient use across a wide range of feed materials.

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Alltech has invested in numerous solid-state fermentation Ph.D. programs, with eight postdoctoral researchers who focused solely on the solid-state fermentation process. These programs focus on how to improve production efficiencies within the fermentation system and target the enzyme activities of the finished product to the nutritional concerns of livestock producers. Alltech’s research in this area has focused on the use of non-GMO organisms to bring more sustainable technology to the industry.

Over the past three years, Alltech’s research in enzyme technology has been directed toward product development with a focus on greater nutrient release. Several trials studying next-generation enzyme complexes in poultry feeds have been conducted recently, and more are in progress globally. The results have confirmed that including enzymes in animal diets can help producers save money on feed ingredients without compromising performance.

Alltech’s Allzyme Spectrum* is the next-generation multi-enzyme complex that maximizes nutrient utilization by breaking down the problematic substrates typically found in a poultry diet, such as non-starch polysaccharides (NSPs) and phytic acid. Allzyme Spectrum has proven efficacy in laboratory research, university trials and commercial settings. This extensive work has shown that Allzyme Spectrum can save 90 calories per kilogram of feed in non-organic poultry diets. This efficiency gain provides flexibility in reformulation through the use of alternative raw materials, helping producers save money.

Efficiency and cost savings are not the only benefits of enzymes. Perhaps even more importantly, enzymes contribute to sustainable animal production, as they work to help the animal better digest their feed and, in turn, keep nutrients from being excreted back into the environment. When animals can better digest and absorb the nutrients in their food, the likelihood decreases significantly that those nutrients will return to the environment instead of being utilized. 

Better performance, lower costs, reduced environmental impact

The application of enzyme products in animal feed is an essential nutritional strategy to tackle key issues facing animal production. Alltech’s range of enzyme technologies maximize feed efficiency by increasing nutrient absorption and digestibility of feed, which results in lower production costs and improved animal performance. As a result, fewer nutrients are released into the environment, saving producers money while providing sustainable benefits for the animal and the planet.

How to Save Money on Chicken Feed

When you love raising chickens, you might not even notice that you’re spending more money on feed than you’re saving on eggs. Feed is expensive, and you may be asking yourself how you can feed chickens for cheap. Using money-savvy methods, you can stretch your feed and give your chickens a nutritional boost at the same time. Try the steps below the next time you want to save on chicken feed.

1. Have a Free Range Area

In the wild, chickens can fulfill all their dietary needs by grazing. When it comes to chicken coops, letting them frequently roam in a free-range area can provide them with enough nutrients to meet about 15 to 20% of their dietary needs. Grazing will make your chickens’ diets more well-rounded and can save you 10 to 20% on feed if you’re lucky, but your flock still needs a well-balanced daily feed, too.

2. Experiment With Fermented Feed

If you have enough room to set up a small station, creating fermented food will give your hens more probiotics, vitamins and enzymes than feed alone can provide. To ferment your feed, place it in a container with an airtight lid. Cover the feed with water until it is fully submerged with one inch of water on top.

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Check your fermenting feed every day and ensure that the one inch of water continues to sit on top. Keeping the feed submerged and not letting it touch the air will prevent the feed from becoming moldy. After five days, you’ll have an easily digestible, nutrient-rich treat to feed your flock. Check our blog for more tips on how to ferment chicken feed.

3. Supplement Feed With Kitchen Scraps and Compost

If you compost your leftover fruits and vegetables, throwing them to your hens is a perfect way to get the compost turned and give your flock extra nutrition at the same time. Chickens can eat most foods, and they are generally smart enough not to eat what’s dangerous to them. However, you should always research whether a food is safe for chickens before giving it to them. To see the whole list of food chickens shouldn’t eat, check our guide on what fruits and vegetables chickens can have.

4. Sprout Seeds Into Fodder

Grain and seeds are expensive — but by sprouting them, you can turn them into two to four times the amount of feed they would have provided if left unsprouted. To sprout your seeds and grains, place them in a shallow container and spread them in a thin, even layer. After your seeds have started sprouting and are about an inch tall, you can give them to your chickens as a treat. Sprouting seeds into fodder is a great way to save money to feed chickens.

Start With Nature’s Best Organic Feeds

Before you start enriching your flock’s diet with grazing, fermented food and sprouted seeds, give them a well-balanced feed designed by nutritionists. With almost 75 years of experience to back us up, our selection of chicken feeds will keep your flock happy and healthy. Save money on chicken feed by switching to the top organic feed in the country and feeding your flock the quality it deserves.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of Feed Enzymes. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.