UK feed millers benefit from milling and safety technologies

Feedco’s decision to treat most of the feed produced at its Piercebridge Mill with Anitox Termin-8, a highly-effective biocide, provides customers with the reassurance of greater safety by ensuring that feed is pathogen free when it reaches them, while the use of Anitox Maxi-Mil enhances the efficiency of the company’s milling operations.

 

A joint venture company between Lloyd’s Animal Feeds of Oswestry and Shropshire and farmer-controlled cooperative Farmway, Feedco manufactures over 80,000 tonnes of poultry, ruminant and pig feeds annually at its Piercebridge Mill.

 

Ensuring that only the safest, highest-quality feed is supplied to customers was the key driver underlying Feedco’s decision to evaluate Termin-8, which was developed by Anitox, a specialist in products which enhance food and feed safety.

 

Ray Asquith, Operations Director for Feedco, states: “Increasingly-stringent legislation concerning Salmonella meant that it was prudent for us to investigate how we could adopt a preventative approach to this potentially significant problem, particularly in respect of poultry feeds. We also felt that the Maxi-Mil milling efficiency programme had the potential to increase enhance the milling process.”

 

Feedco subsequently decided to trial the Anitox milling efficiency programme, which gives manufacturers of pelleted feeds the opportunity to reduce shrink/process loss, lower press energy use, optimise their carbon footprint, increase durability, reduce fines, enhance digestibility and reduce die and roll wear.

 

Closely-monitored trials conducted in 2008 proved very successful, reducing the mill’s electricity consumption and increasing press throughput by up to 5%. More importantly, the use of Maxi-Mil considerably reduced the incidences of press blockages, especially when producing 3mm pellets, which significantly reduced downtime.

 

The results made Asquith and his colleagues to incorporate both products into their manufacturing systems and the company has been using them commercially since August 2008.

 

“Current legislation in respect of Salmonella means that if a feed manufacturer delivers feed that is found to be Salmonella-positive it would be extremely damaging and is a risk that we, or any other responsible feed manufacturer, simply cannot afford to take.

 

“We endeavour to ensure that the feed we deliver to our customers is free of Salmonella, which is why the majority of the poultry feed we manufacture, 50% of our total production, is treated with Termin-8,” Asquith said.