1

The total Feed business

1

Dr.ir. Leon MarchalDirector Nutrition & InnovationLeon.Marchal@forfarmers.eu Leon.Marchal@wur.nl

How to ‘grow’ and feed insects safely for the animal food chainThey are what they eat

2

Content

• The animal feed market

• What is needed for safe production

• What is needed for cost effective production

• Main take home message

2

3

The European leader in Total Feed solutions

#1 European Total Feed solutions provider

Servicing over 25,000 farmers

Total Feed volume of 9.3mT1)

Completed 9 acquisitions since 2012

Approx. 2,273 employees2)

− 632 commercial functions3)

• c. 400 on site advisors

ForFarmers’ products, clients and speciesOverview

Sustainable growth on the back of acquisitions

46% 32% 22%

ForFarmers’ core markets

HeadquarterLocations (42)

114 119

401 390 394424 407

30 34

8169

86 90 94

0

50

100

150

0

150

300

450

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016Gross profit EBITDA (RHS)

Volume1):

EURm

Acquisitions

All farm sizes

Ruminant

Swine

Poultry

EURmIFRSDutch GAAP

1) Total Feed volume 2016 in million metric tonnes (mT)2) FTE, excludes dealers3) As at 31/12/2016

Source: ForFarmers

Total Feed solution

Compound feed

Specialties

Dry Moist Liquid (DML)

Crop

On-farm advisory

and support

NL UK GE BE

4

Livestock Feed EU 28 – 481 million tonnes in 2016

Forages233mt

Industrial Compound

Feed156mt

Purchased Straight

Feedingstuffs40mt

Home-grown cereals52mt

4Source: FEFAC / EU commission

55

Compound Feed Production per category 2016 (EU28)

Source: FEFAC

6

Average Dutch Pig feed composition

60.0%13.7%

18.0%

1.8% 1.5%

5.0%

Grains

Food Industry Byproducts

Veg Proteins

Veg Oils/Fats/Fluids

Fibers

Premix/Minerals

7

Grains

60.0%

Grains

Grains = Barley, Wheat, Corn, (Oats)Sourcing from EU and Black Sea (Ukrain/Russia)

8

Food Industry Byproducts

Food Industry Byproducts = Wheat bran from dry wheatmilling, Backery/Biscuitmeal, Sugarbeetpulp, WheySourcing from NW-EU

13.7%

Food IndustryByproducts

9

Vegetable Proteins

Veg Proteins = Soy/Sun/Rape meal from oilseed crushSoy on average 6% of diet

Sourcing from South America (Brazil), Black Sea (Ukrain) and EU

18.0%Veg Proteins

10

Summary Animal feed market

• The EU market is large ≈500 million tons of feed of which ≈150 million

tons of compound feed

• Worldwide compound feed market is 1 billion tons

• The current animal feed industry uses a large amount of by-products

• Sourcing issues (soy and palm) are being addressed with certification

schemes

10

11

Content

• The animal feed market

• What is needed for safe production

• What is needed for cost effective production

• Main take home message

11

12

Also feed insects are ultimately human food

EU

13

Starting point is always feed grade material

What is feed grade material?In essence everything allowed by (EU) law to feed to animals

law

However additional required: Quality schemes

14

Some examples of feed grade material

• Grains• Seeds• Meals from oil crushing, fats & oils• By products from food industry• Currently supermarket returns guaranteed without meat

15

Examples of not feed grade materials

Household waste Restaurant left overs

Manure

Supermarket residues containing animal protein?

16

What are important topics for feed safety?

• Uncontrolled substances

• Heavy metals

• Mycotoxins

• Pathogens

• Insecticides and herbicides

17

Heavy metals

What is accumulation?

+

Unwanted increase of heavy metal in the insect

Concentration xConcentration > x Concentration < x

18

Experimental set up

Mealworm larvae and Black Soldier Flye larvae

Cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and Arsenic (As) contaminated feed based on the maximum level (ML) in complete feed as defined in Directive 2002/32/EC (EC 2002).

½ ML 1 ML 2 ML

Arsenic (mg/kg) 1 2 4

Cadmium (mg/kg) 0.25 0.50 1

Lead (mg/kg) 2.5 5 10

Ine van der Fels-Klerx, et al 2017

19

0.5 ML

1.0 ML

2.0 ML

2.0 ML*

2.0 ML

(clean)

10

C CA

0.5 ML

1.0 ML

2.0 ML

2.0 ML*

2.0 ML

(clean)

Lea

dm

g k

g-1 d

w

0

10

20

30

40

50

60 bLarvaeResidual MaterialEU limit feed material

. . . . EU limit complete feed

Results – Lead (Pb)

0.5 ML

1.0 ML

2.0 ML

2.0 ML*

(clean)

2.5

C CA

0.5 ML

1.0 ML

2.0 ML

2.0 ML*

2.0 ML

(clean)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30e

[Pb] larvae< [Pb] residual material

EC limit for feed materials not exceeded for feed contaminated at ML

[Pb] larvae< [Pb] residual material

Bulk of Pb present in residual material

EC limit for feed materials not exceeded for feed contaminated at ML

Lea

d

mg k

g-1 d

w

Yellow meal wormBlack soldier fly

20

C CA

0.5 ML

1.0 ML

2.0 ML

2.0 ML*

2.0 ML

(clean

)

Ars

enic

mg k

g-1

dw

0

2

4

6

8

10

10

12

60 30

a

b

C CA

0.5 ML

1.0 ML

2.0 ML

2.0 ML*

2.0 ML

(clean

)0

2

4

6

8

10

12

LarvaeResidual MaterialEU limit feed material

30

Yellow mealwormd

e

. . . . EU limit complete feed

LarvaeResidual MaterialEU limit feed material

. . . . EU limit complete feed

Results – Arsenic (As)

[As] larvae< [As] residual material

EC limit for feed materials not exceeded for feed contaminated at ML

[As] larvae > [As] residual material

EC limit for feed materials exceededfor feed contaminated at ML

Ars

enic

mg k

g-1

dw

Yellow meal wormBlack soldier fly

21

C CA

0.5 ML

1.0 ML

2.0 ML

2.0 ML*

2.0 ML

(clean

)0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.50.5 ML

1.0 ML

2.0 ML

2.0 ML*

(clean

)

f

C CA

0.5 ML

1.0 ML

2.0 ML

2.0 ML*

2.0 ML

(clean

)

Cad

miu

m

mg

kg-1

dw

0

2

4

6

8

100.5 ML

1.0 ML

2.0 ML

2.0 ML*

(clean

)

c LarvaeResidual MaterialEU limit feed material

. . . . EU limit complete feed

Results – Cadmium (Cd)

[Cd] larvae > [Cd] residual material

EC limit for feed materials exceeded for feed contaminated at ½ML

[Cd] larvae < [Cd] residual material

EC limit for feed materials not exceededfor feed contaminated at ML

Yellow meal wormBlack soldier fly

22

So what are the implications of this?

• Depending on the insect specie used starting material has to have lower level of certain heavy metals as maximum allowed level in feed

• Strict quality control needed on heavy metal concentration of feed material and insect produced

And the opportunity:

For example yellow meal worm on high lead (Pb) feedstocks

23

What are mycotoxins?

Mycotoxins are poisonous chemical compounds produced by certain fungi

Source FAO

Mycotoxin Commodity

deoxynivalenol/nivalenol wheat, maize, barleyzearalenone maize, wheat

ochratoxin A barley, wheat, and other commodities

fumonisin B1 maize

aflatoxin B1, B2 maize, peanuts, and other commodities

aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, G2 maize, peanuts

24

Mycotoxins

• Are harmful to animals and humans• Some are transmitted via the animal to humans• Legal limits on amount in feed stocks• Lower limits for younger animals and humans• Industry uses even lower levels for optimal performance• Will be present in feedstock for insects

How are the insects reacting to mycotoxins?

25

Mycotoxins experiment

• Black soldier fly and lesser meal worm

• Aflatoxin B1, deoxynivalenol (DON), ochratoxin A or zearalenone

and as a mixture of 4 mycotoxins

• 1, 10 and 25 x the legal limit in the feed

Toxins 2018,10, in press

26

Mycotoxins experiment

• No effect on growth or survival of BSF and LMW

• No difference between single or mixture of the 4 mycotoxins

• None of the mycotoxins accumulate in the larvae

• Both BSF and LMW metabolize (break down) the mycotoxins

• Very low level of metabolites are present with the exception of ZEA

metabolites in BSF.

Toxins 2018,10, in press

27

So what are the implications of this?

• Using lightly contaminated feedstocks with levels upto the legal limit in feed for mycotoxins are safe.

• ZEA and BSF needs to be investigated further

And the opportunity:Higher legal limits for mycotoxins in feedstuffs for insects

(needs additional research)

28

What are important topics for feed safety?

• Uncontrolled substances

• Heavy metals

• Mycotoxins

• Pathogens

• Insecticides and herbicides

29

Pathogens

• Harm full bacteria as Salmonella, E. Coli, Campylobacter

• Important to control in every step of the food chain

• how sensitive are insects to these pathogens?

Research question:do these pathogens grow well in these insects or not?

Still be answered

30

Insecticides and herbicides

• Can be present in low amounts in feed (i.e. grains)

• How sensitive is the production insect to these insecticides?

– Does it grow slower or not?

• Do these insecticides accumulate in the production insect?

Research questions:

Still be answered

31

Summary Feed Safety

• Starting point is always feed grade material – no waste!

• Heavy metals need attention

• Mycotoxins are an opportunity

• Pathogens and insecticides still to be investigated

31

32

Content

• The animal feed market

• What is needed for safe production

• What is needed for cost effective production

• Main take home message

32

33

What is needed for cost effective production

The same elements as in other animal production

Optimal feed

Optimal housing and management

Optimal genetic

3434

Parameters 1940 1965 1985 2005

Body weight [kg] 1.4 1.6 1.9 2.4

Age at slaughter [days] 84 63 49 42

Feed conversion rate [-] 4.0 2.4 2.0 1.7

(Source: IFIF 2013)

Example efficiency increase in broiler chicken

35

A look at other animals

NL protein consumption 42% 50% 3% 0%

Feed conversion[ds feed / kg carcass] 0,8 4,5-8 2,3 1,6 2,1

Medium*

Protein conversion[CP carcass, milk, egg/ CP feed]

25-33%9%-24% 19% 37%

35%Medium*

Human consumable / non consumable

+++ +++ +/++ + +/++ +/++/+++

still a lot of room for feed improvements

36

Digestibility of raw material Calculation rules

Nutrient requirements Raw material bounds

Composition raw materials

Rapeseed

Wheat by product

Current animal feeding system

36

Sophisticated system and well balanced optimal diets

37

Digestibility of raw material Calculation rules

Nutrient requirements Raw material bounds

Composition raw materials

Nutrient system for insects?

37

??

?

???

??

All still open questions

Plus for exampleOptima particle size of the feed?Do the insects eat selectively?……

38

Housing

• Most still very small scale

• In house pioneering (trial and error) within startups / insect breeders

• In traditional animal production we saw specialization in different

companies. Besides the farmer: housing, breeding, and feed

companies

• How will the insect market develop? similar or more as all in one?

38

39

Genetic improvements

39

The first steps are being made

+

And also

Own in house selection by various producers

40

Main take home messages

• Animal feed market is 1 billion tons

• Starting point is always feed grade material

• Heavy metals are an attention point

• Mycotoxins an opportunity

• Feed, Housing, and Genetics key for economy

• A lot of research questions still open

• Will specialization occur also with insects production?

40

41