Update: Antibiotic-Free Production & Uncertainty (Hint: Test Your Ingredients)
You’ve seen us write about changing feed industry trends, and what they may mean for you, over the last few years on the Insta-Pro Intl blog. In particular, antibiotic-free livestock production (or at least commitments to it) has seen enormous gains since I blogged about it a few years ago. I just saw this one today, in fact, to go along with commitments made by bigger players – Subway, McDonald’s, Chipotle, Panera, to name a few. There is definitely more concern about what’s in food, and for good reason.
As I wrote about two years ago, antibiotic use in poultry production spans at least 50 years, and has created levels of performance certainty within the industry. I showed that here by calculating the amount of variation in broiler body weight with or without antibiotics. When antibiotics are not used, there is more variation in body weight – more uncertainty. For a huge industry responsible for supplying inexpensive, quality animal protein, even extremely small changes in expectations don’t go unnoticed.
Probiotics are an excellent alternative to antibiotics in poultry diets, but a recent report highlighted high levels of variability in the efficacies of these products – more uncertainty.
What can you do if you’re producing ExPress® soy meal for poultry (or any livestock, for that matter)?
With increased uncertainty comes the need for more certainty elsewhere. This is where your high-quality meal comes in – are you tracking your levels of important nutrients (moisture, protein, oil, fiber)? Are they changing, or are they constant?
Your customers not only want, but now, need the best-quality meal you can make. This begins with consistency. That is why we’ve developed the Insta-Pro PIA NIR machine, specifically calibrated for our customers. Take as many predictions as you want to quickly develop trends in the processing plant – you can quickly answer very important questions, such as “how much oil am I extracting right now?”
Please contact me (dalbin@insta-pro.com or 515-419-2231) about how the Insta-Pro PIA NIR machine can help you during these times of uncertainty.
