Alltech reports 2% rise in animal feed output

Animal feed production rose by 2% in 2014 to almost one billion tonnes, according to a global survey by animal feed and health group Alltech.

The company estimates 980 million metric tonnes of feed was produced globally last year.

Aidan Connolly, chief innovation officer and director of Alltech’s Global Feed Tonnage Survey, said there were many areas of ups and downs in global output.

He cited positive and negative influences such as slow markets, shifting raw feed material costs, fluctuating governance over import/export standards and animal diseases such as PEDv in pigs and bird flu in poultry. He estimates the feed industry’s net worth at €410bn, based on average materials prices in 2014.

“2015 marks the fourth consecutive year that Alltech has conducted a global feed survey analysing feed production,” Mr Connolly said. “This undertaking requires a significant amount of work each year, mainly because the feed industry is measured differently and in varying degrees of thoroughness from country to country.

“Yet, each year, better information is discovered and more is learned about how farmers around the world feed their livestock.”