The right feed composition is one of the steps towards a more sustainable food production

Farmers in northern Europe are already among the most resource-efficient farmers in the world. For example, the climate footprint of a litre of milk produced in Denmark is about half that of the global average, which is 2.5 kg CO2e per litre of milk.
One of the steps towards more sustainable food production is through optimisation of animal feed. The DLG Group and Vilofoss have for many years been working to create the best compositions of the feed. The feed must facilitate that the animals perform as best as possible and deliver 'most for least'. This means that we constantly optimize and develop on the basis that the animals must utilize everything in the feed to the highest possible degree and with the greatest possible output as a result.
“The right formula of proteins, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients is essential for the production of animal-based foods today, and there will be an even greater focus on this in the future. By optimising our feed formulations, we can produce more with less and thus reduce the imprint of our production,” says Niels Søren Rasmussen, COO at DLG.

Feed experts working on tomorrow’s solutions

Optimising feeds is very much about the right raw materials. It therefore starts with the feed formulation.

In the DLG Group, a number of highly specialised employees work to develop and optimise DLG’s feed mixes to suit the specific needs, requirements and ambitions of individual herds. This helps to ensure optimum growth for chickens or pigs, the best possible milk yields from cows, and the lowest possible carbon footprint for the eggs laid by chickens.

One of DLG’s feed experts is Ida Steensen, who is Senior Manager in DLG Denmark’s Animal Nutrition department, and who helps to develop and deliver globally leading and, not least, sustainable feed solutions.

“The composition of the feed is of huge importance, especially when it comes to sustainability. Some raw materials leave a higher climate footprint than others, but at the same time it is important that we always keep in mind how the composition of the feed affects the growth or performance of the animal. The interesting thing is not necessarily to talk CO2 load per. kg of feed, but rather per. kg of meat or litres of milk. The animals' utilization of the feed is thus a decisive factor for the end product's climate impact. A feed mixture with a relatively high climate footprint per kg can with good feed utilization easily give a low climate footprint on the end product, because it is designed so that the animal makes full use of it to make an efficient output,” says Ida Steensen.

The optimisation of feed formulations can also be a way of delivering on some of the wishes and expectations from consumers when it comes to the food products they buy. The Danæg Group, which is co-owned by the DLG Group, has specific experience with this. It involves, for example, looking at the composition of feed when new products are developed.

In addition to optimising the composition of raw materials in the feed, DLG is also constantly looking at how new sustainable raw materials and crops can be developed that can help make feed solutions for livestock even more sustainable in the future.