Industry experts provided recommendations at the USPOULTRY Feed Mill Management seminar about how to manage feed ingredient changes in the integrated poultry complex. This month’s WATT PoultryUSA provides a breakdown of eight ways to better manage poultry feed ingredient changes.
According to Amy Batal of Sanderson Farms, feed mill managers should be a key player in managing the cost, impact and performance impact of feed mill changes. Working with the nutritionist and the purchasing manager, they must collaboratively evaluate the impact of any changes.
However, proper feed formulation can be a complex process since there are many factors involved, including:
- Cost is often the primary driver– Dr. Batal indicated that cost is the biggest driver of feed ingredient changes in the poultry operation. Changes may be dictated by the nutritionist or the purchasing manager. It is absolutely critical that the feed mill manager be involved in this conversations, since he or she will be responsible for putting it into action.
- Purchasing department is frequently the key decision maker – The purchasing department may drive feed formulation changes, but a feasibility evaluation must be conducted prior to their implementation to measure true costs.
- Formulation changes to utilize cheaper ingredients – The substitution of bakery meal or dried distellers grains may look good on paper, but you must determine if other prices will increase when you utilize these ingredients.
- Balancing objectives in feed ingredient changes – It’s important to weight factors not related to direct costs, such as the impact on live production performance of poultry, potential changes in feed quality and whether less expensive ingredients will be available consistently over time.
- Visual inspections of feed ingredients necessary - Feed mill managers should perform a visual inspection of feed ingredients, such as soybean meal, corn and DDGS, before unloading and sampling to ensure optimal quality.
Read three more ways to better manage feed ingredients in this month’s issue of WATT PoultryUSA.
