Flemish Institute builds high-tech feed pilot
The Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO) is going to build a new Feed Pilot, a high-tech facility where precise test feeds can be made according to scientific requirements, for nutritional research on the most important farm animals. The new facility, construction of which will start this year, replaces 2 existing feed production lines which do not meet the latest standards either energetically, ergonomically or technologically, the institute explains.
ILVO has for a long time had a unique line of research in testing the efficiency, sustainability (impact on climate and environment) and health of newly formulated feeds for cattle, pigs and small animals. The demand for that expertise is still growing, in part because of the advent of side streams from new fermentation productions (read: learning to process high-value molecules from fermenters, such as microbial protein). Those by-product streams, as potential feed ingredients, require a lot of research.
What will the new Feed Pilot have?
The new ILVO Feed Pilot in Melle near Ghent includes both a large and a small production unit and a warehouse for storage. The plants will be equipped with techniques that can measure out various parameters and enable sustainability analyses. Sensors monitor on a continuous basis and direct the most energy-efficient production possible. The Feed Pilot will make it easier to make smaller batches for more experimental cases, for example only 100 kg for a specific digestion study in poultry. Initially, the Feed Pilot will work for internal ILVO research only, but the institute will apply for legal permission to produce (experimental) feed for third parties. For other research institutions and for private firms in Flanders, this would create more opportunities toward innovation and economic valorisation.
The ILVO Feed Pilot will:
Firstly, allow for technical experiments that focus on the production process itself.
3 examples of research questions are:
- How can innovative additives (e.g., methane inhibitors in the context of climate research) or new co-products (e.g., residual streams from human food or microbial protein production, algae, and others) be incorporated into feeds?
- How can feed be modified through technical pretreatments to increase nutrient utilization (nitrogen, phosphorus) and stability of specific components in the feed or improve animal welfare?
- How can the production process through adjustment of production parameters lead to a reduction in energy consumption?
Secondly, with the Feed Pilot, ILVO explicitly aims to provide the agro-food and animal feed sector knowledge on novel proteins and residue streams. ILVO assumes a research role regarding the valorisation of microbial fermentation products in animal feed and high-quality ingredients in food products. This is done in close cooperation with different actors from the feed and agro-food sector
The project is funded by Flanders, Europe, Province of East Flanders and the Victam Foundation.
Furthermore, good contacts have already been established with the Belgian Feed Association (BFA), with various actors from the feed sector and with other research institutes.
The broad support for this project from Flemish, European and international channels is undoubtedly related to the growing need for research into the useful use of new protein and residue streams. In this research area, the focus is logically on increased circularity and positive impact on the environment, climate and animal welfare.
Sam Millet, ILVO feed research expert
ILVO itself must be able to continue to produce the precision test feeds in an effective and controlled way if it wants to present reliable test results from its feed trials.
Bart Sonck, head of ILVO Animal Sciences Unit, adds
This Feed Pilot is also complementary to the Feed Design Lab in Wanssum, the Netherlands. The goal is to reinforce each other as much as possible. In Wanssum they focus more on process technology.
Sam De Campeneere, Scientific Director ILVO Livestock further explains
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