Sustainable animal nutrition solutions

At the same time, the challenge of making the global production and consumption of food more sustainable is becoming increasingly urgent, considering the limited availability of resources and the need to reduce the pressure on the environment. The contribution of animal feed to the carbon footprint of animal products is significant, both because of the cultivation, transport and processing of the ingredients, and the effects at the livestock farm. Therefore, it is important to focus on feed ingredients. The concepts of sustainability and sustainable development are complex and there is not yet consensus on how to apply them in practice. As a result, there is no definition of sustainable feed ingredients and there is no standardization in this topic, but in general the criteria to determine its meaning are selected according to the economic, social, and ecological dimensions of sustainability.

At Bioiberica, we are committed to the concept of "sustainable animal nutrition", which upholds the importance of efficiently using natural resources and protecting the environment. To this end, we carry out research into the valorisation of natural raw materials based on a Circular Bioeconomy approach to obtain sustainable, safe, and innovative ingredients that support health and productivity and increase the sustainability of the livestock production chain.

Palbio products are designed, sourced, and manufactured according to the principles of the circular economy model and they have been applied successfully over the last 20 years either in livestock, aquaculture and petfood formulas. Recently we have conducted two interesting trials with Palbio 50 where we have obtained very significant results in terms of efficiency and performance parameters, but most importantly we proved that Palbio is a sustainable, high quality and trustworthy alternative to traditional and non-sustainable protein sources such as soybean meal or fish meal.

In a first trial in Perú, we evaluated the use of Palbio 50 in broilers as a high-quality sustainable protein for partial replacement to soybean meal. We proved that Palbio can significantly improve different performance parameters, especially during the first weeks of development, such as feed conversion and uniformity. The use of Palbio drove to a stronger start for the first 7 days, which is important to assure a healthy and strong production. At the end of the experiment, we obtained the same animal weight and a higher uniformity using less feed, which is a clear indicator of the high efficiency of Palbio. Furthermore, the use of Palbio allowed to reduce soybean meal in the formula, leading to a more sustainable feed. Palbio also obtained a higher return on investment compared to the control group. Overall, we demonstrated that it is possible to improve efficiency, feed conversion, sustainability and profitability when using Palbio in poultry.

In a second trial in Chile, we tested for the first time the use of Palbio 50 in salmon. Historically, fish meal has been the reference protein source for aquaculture, especially in the salmon feed industry. Since sustainability has become of higher importance in the industry, most feed producers have been looking for reliable protein sources that can be as convenient and efficient as fish meal is, but also sustainable. Palbio 50 is known to be a high-quality and sustainable protein source for animal nutrition, therefore it is a candidate to replace fish meal in salmon feed. In our trial, we successfully replaced different levels of fish meal by Palbio 50 in salmon feed. These replacements led to similar results (no significant differences) in animal performance, health or gene expression parameters compared to the control group. Moreover, the inclusion of Palbio 50 led to a 2% reduction of the feed costs, meaning that a more cost-efficient and sustainable way to produce salmon is possible*.

Palbio 50 is a safe, functional, sustainable, and innovative feed ingredient from natural origin. From the beginning, more than 20 years ago, the use of Palbio in animal feed has helped to create success stories in the Animal Nutrition industry worldwide. 

Learn more about our animal nutrition portfolio solutions here.

*References of the two trials are available under request.