The Latin American feed industry is alive and kicking. With steady and resounding growth, progression happens every year, including the pandemic period. Moreover, the industry in the region is working to improve quality and processes within the different countries and Latin America as a whole.
Feedlatina, the Latin American feed industry association, is hosting this week the first post-pandemic live workshop on regional feed standardization in Mexico City. With the support of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF), as well as the local Mexican Feed Manufacturers Council (Conafab), the workshop takes place exactly 15 years after the establishment of the association, showing the world a great deal of courage and determination.
During the keynote presentations, Pablo Azpiroz, Feedlatina president, gave a panorama of the regional industry. It is estimated that Latin America produced 178.5 million MT of feed in 2021, with Brazil and Mexico as the third and fifth largest feed producers in the world, accounting for 67% of that regional total.
Among the several other speakers, Roberto Betancourt, member of the IFIF board, gave a very positive presentation and a message of unity on behalf of IFIF. He was very clear in saying that the world feed industry has been one of the first industries to have a unified voice to facilitate communication. He was also emphatic about the need to incorporate sustainability in feed manufacturing, although the whole animal ag industry has been one of the most sustainable when we consider improvements in efficiency and resource utilization.
Finally, Betancourt said that Feedlatina is very important for IFIF because the future of the feed industry lies in Latin America. He foresees that the region will be the largest feed producer in the world in 10 years, surpassing the U.S., the EU or China.
It doesn't sound crazy. Latin America has two of the major corn and soybean producers in the world – Brazil and Argentina. In the case of Mexico, although with a shortfall of grains, it is next to the U.S. So, the basics are there.
All of this represents a large social responsibility in the food production chain, both for the local population and the rest of the world as well. Hopefully, this can be achieved with a good standardization practice, by having sustainability incorporated into the process and by considering quality and traceability.
What do you think?
