The International Feed Engineering Summit, organised by Kemin, held on 4 April 2016 in Herentals, Belgium focussed on the ways to ensure profitability of feed production
Reducing margins, measuring feed parameters and safe energy were some of the measures discussed to ensure profitability of feed production. The experts were of the opinion that the key is to focus on feed processing to further improve feed mill efficiency and profitability by minimising ingredient segregation, eliminating shrinkage, reducing production process variability, assuring product quality, improving nutrient and feed utilisation by the animals, savings in energy use and increased production rate.
At the event, Dr. Ing Janine Bohlmann from the Research Institute of Feed Technology, Germany, pointed out the need to start with good pellet quality because of the benefits of compaction, which reduces the volume of the feed and saves transport and storage capacity. Some of the other topics covered in the summit were pellet quality, pellet durability, mixture adherence, use of steam, effective cooling and air flow, energy use reduction, preconditioning and the use of online technology to process variability.
“There is a clear demand for this kind of session,” said Kemin marketing director Tom Verleyen. “Typically the attention is on animal nutrition and health. Very few symposia provide in depth discussions on the actual process of feed production. That’s why we brought together feed engineering experts to share their expertise and tools.”
Peter De Cneudt of Spirax Sarco from Belgium, Peter Sillen of Geelen Counterflow and Oriane Guerin of Zetadec both residing in the Netherlands were some of the experts who spoke at the conference.
