Blog: Feed Design Lab
28 September 2020
Technological developments
As the brand new chairman of the board of Feed Design Lab in Wanssum, I had a tour in the pilot factory at the end of 2019. Although I have been active in the fascinating world of Agri & Food for over 25 years now, I still couldn't believe my eyes. Unbelievable what a technical possibilities. Of course I realize that Feed Design Lab is a pilot factory and the scale of the technology is many times greater in the food and beverage industry as well as the animal feed industry. This does not alter the fact that such a tour gives you a good impression of what is possible in the processing of a variety of raw materials into food for humans and feeds for dogs, cats, horses, cows, pigs, chickens, fish and many more kinds of animals.
I spent part of my college years at a university in the United States (USA). Unlike at the -then- Agricultural College in Wageningen, I was expected to make the test feeds myself with a relatively simple mixing installation. In contrast to the Netherlands, only a limited number of raw materials are used in the US. An energy carrier corn or barley and soybeans or a variant derived from them as a protein-rich raw material. Weigh neatly, add a vitamin-mineral mix and mix that bite. Just like in most practical companies, pressing was not done, resulting in a fair amount of feed losses and a lot of dust, a lot of dust. Looking back, this was an instructive period for me, during which I became more aware of the technology that is used in different countries to prepare the raw materials and subsequently compound feed for animals in livestock farming.
Worldwide we are faced with the challenge of using technology to realize more and more nutritional value from commonly used, promising and yet to be discovered raw materials
I have come to appreciate the technology behind making feeds even more during my time as a PhD student, also in the US. The subject of my research was the availability of organic compounds of zinc, zinc chelates, in pig feed. My test pigs had to be fed a low-zinc diet for almost 4 weeks so that all body supplies would be used. Subsequently, the body stocks were replenished with the zinc chelate and as a control the inorganic zinc sulphate. From week to week, the zinc values were measured in the blood, liver, hypothalamus, intestines, etc. The underlying idea was that with better availability, the zinc chelate would replenish the body's stores faster than the zinc sulphate. It turned out to be not so easy to exhaust the body supplies of the test pigs. The reason was that normal raw materials had too high a zinc content. Ultimately, we took advantage of the then advanced technology of a food company that could supply the high-protein and low-zinc soy isolate. Unfortunately, we could not show any differences between the availability of both zinc products. For the first time in my life I have seen the consequences of a low-zinc diet in the form of hardening of the outer horny layer of the skin (parakeratosis). Until then I should have made do with pictures from a textbook.
More than 25 years later I have had many tours through animal feed and food companies in and outside the Netherlands. From time to time I get an impression of the latest advances in feed and food preparation technology. I also keep updated of the developments surrounding the transition to circular agriculture as part of a circular economy. Worldwide we are faced with the challenge of using technology to realize more and more nutritional value from commonly used, promising and yet to be discovered raw materials. Mind you, gentlemen (and ladies) technologists! Consumers with my background are the exception and not the rule. When enjoying a bowl of yogurt with multigrain muesli, the "average" consumer sees no connection with a stainless steel mixer. Be aware of this and inform a wider audience about the development of innovative technologies for the production of food and feed. In this way, you too can make a positive contribution to the social appreciation that is more than due to producers of feed and food as well as their suppliers.
