Towards global feed LCA guidelines: FEFAC and AFIA join forces

The European Feed Manufacturer’s Federation (FEFAC) and the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) set up a consortium in 2011 with the view to collaborate on environmental footprinting. The FEFAC and AFIA consortium together with the International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF), has joined the UN FAO-led Partnership on benchmarking and monitoring the environmental performance of livestock supply chains. The consortium expects to reach a first milestone in 2013 with the publication of the first version of the Feed LCA Recommendations and guidance document.

“With the need to reduce the impact of livestock products on the environment, being able to measure the impacts associated with feed using a sound and harmonized methodology is a first step to initiate mitigations options” says Joel Newman, AFIA’s President and CEO.

“These recommendations are meant to respond to the need of feed operators and to the demand of feed customers such as the dairy and meat sectors” says Patrick Vanden Avenne, FEFAC’s President.
The interim version of the FEFAC and AFIA Feed LCA Recommendations will be presented at the occasion of the 4th Global Feed and Food Congress organised by IFIF in South Africa in April 2013. These recommendations are being developed in accordance with the main international standards and guidelines and take place in the framework of the FAO’s Partnership which aims at improving how the environmental impacts of livestock products are measured. They will be complemented by a database of the GHG emissions of the major processed feed ingredients.

“The sustainable development of global livestock production is one of the key priorities for IFIF” says Mario Cutait, IFIF’s Chairman. Mr Cutait adds “IFIF welcomes these Feed LCA Recommendations which represent an important first step towards a globally harmonized industry standard for Feed LCA”.

16/01/13: Intersystems buy out; Russian poultry drive increases soybean meal demand; FAO and IFIF launch Chinese manual

News from the milling world on a very chilling Wednesday in the in UK:

Material handling equipment manufacturer Intersystems has been bought by the Pritzker Group for an undisclosed price.

"We see great opportunities for Intersystems in the world grain and feed markets,” says Tom Schroeder, chief executive officer, Intersystems.  

"The resources of The Pritzker Group will ensure our continued growth by helping us add new products and services to better meet the needs of our customers." "Intersystems has grown significantly under Tom and his team’s stewardship, and we are proud to partner with them,” says Michael Barzyk, vice president, Pritzker Group.  “Intersystems serves as a great example of our strategy to invest in leading companies serving the global agricultural market" More information...

Russian government programmes designed to up poultry and livestock production are fueling  increased demand for soybean meal used in feed, according to Bloomberg. Soybean meal use in the country may rise by 4.5 percent in the 2012-13 season to a record 2.35 million metric tons. Read more... 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)  and The International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF) have launched a Chinese language version of the 'Feed Manual of Good Practices for the Feed Industry'.  The Feed Manual, the first of its kind, was published by IFIF and FAO to increase safety and feed quality at the production level, and was officially presented in Rome at FAO Headquarters to the Chinese Feed Manufacturers Association (CFIA).

Alexandra de Athayde, IFIF Executive Director, says, “the Feed Manual is designed to increase safety and feed quality at the production level both for industrial production and on farm mixing.” ms de Athayde added, “We are very pleased that we have launched the Chinese language version of the Feed Manual. China is the number one producer of animal feed today and only by working together can we continue to ensure feed and food safety, while meeting the demands of 60 percent more food for 9 billion people by 2050 and to do so sustainably.”
The English and Chinese versions of the Feed Manual are available for download here. An Arabic, French and Spanish language version of the Manual will be launched later in 2013. 

Soybean Sky (Photo credit: Clearly Ambiguous)