That annual publication includes data from 142 countries and more than 28,000 feed mills.
The latest report noted only a very slight decrease in global feed output from 2021’s estimates, in a year where the industry faced significant disease challenges and severe weather, along with the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia overtakes Spain in the rankings
Although it experienced a narrow reduction in feed production, China remains the largest feed-producing country in the world. “Together, the top 10 countries produced 64% of the world’s feed production, and half of the world’s global feed consumption is concentrated in four countries: China, the US, Brazil, and India.”
Vietnam experienced a great recovery in terms of its feed tonnage in 2022, entering the top 10 ahead of Argentina and Germany and crowding out Turkey, which reported reduced feed tonnage. Russia overtook Spain, where there was a significant reduction in feed production.
The survey shows the tonnage data for the top 10 feed-producing countries over the past year:
- China (260.739 million metric tons [MMT])
- US (240.403 MMT)
- Brazil (81.948 MMT)
- India (43.360 MMT)
- Mexico (40.138 MMT)
- Russia (34.147 MMT)
- Spain (31.234 MMT)
- Vietnam (26.720 MMT)
- Argentina (25.736 MMT)
- Germany (24.396 MMT)
North America reported an increase of 0.88% (2.272 MMT), with growth reported in the broiler, beef, and pet food sectors. Latin America experienced growth of 1.6% (3.066 MMT). Most of the growth was reported by Mexico, Brazil. and Chile.
Europe saw the largest decrease in feed production of 4.67% (-12.882 MMT) due to issues that include the invasion in Ukraine and the spread of animal diseases, such as ASF and AI, found the Alltech review.
Asia-Pacific remained flat as decreases reported in China, Pakistan, Thailand, and Malaysia were offset by increases in Vietnam, the Philippines, Mongolia, and South Korea. Oceania was flat, with a small reduction reported by Australia that was offset by a slight increase reported by New Zealand.
Africa experienced a decrease of 3.86% in feed tonnage (-1.718 MMT), mainly because of reductions reported in Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, and Nigeria. South Africa, on the other hand, saw an increase of more than 2%, and Namibia also reported higher feed tonnage in 2022, as per the report.
The Middle East region is up significantly at 24.7% (6.301 MMT), as a result of more accurate reporting and efforts by the Saudi Arabian government to increase broiler production as part of its Vision 2030 plan.
Broiler feed production up in Middle East and the Americas
Feed production increased in several regions, including Latin America (1.6%), North America (0.88%) and Oceania (0.32%), while Europe decreased by 4.67%, Africa by 3.86% and the Asia-Pacific region also dropped 0.51%.
“Globally, increases in feed tonnage were reported in the aquaculture, broiler, layer, and pet food sectors, while decreases were reported in the beef, dairy, and pig sectors.”
The poultry sector experienced increases in both layer and broiler feed production, found the Alltech review.
“Avian influenza, other diseases and the high costs of raw materials affected the layer sector in many markets, especially in Asia, Europe, and Africa. On the other hand, growth in the sector was boosted due to bigger challenges in other sectors that led to increased demand for eggs. Overall, layer-sector feed production increased by 0.31%.”
While the overall tonnage in the broiler sector increased by 1.27%, there were significant differences from country to country. Feed production growth in the broiler sector was reported mainly from the Middle East, North America, and Latin America.
Pig feed down globally
Pig feed production was down globally in 2022 by almost 3%. ASF and high feed prices depressed pig production in many countries. “However, in Vietnam, China, South Africa, Brazil and Mexico, better pork prices and other market conditions led to growth in the sector.”
Dairy feed tonnage decreased by 1.32%, mainly due to the high cost of feed combined with low milk prices, which caused farmers to reduce their numbers of cows and/or rely more on non-commercial feed sources. “Some exceptions included Ireland, where drought caused farmers to rely more on commercial feeds, and New Zealand, where milk prices were higher.”
Beef feed production decreased slightly by 0.34% globally. “The downward trend continued in Europe, but increases were seen in almost all other regions. In Australia, the reduction in feed tonnage was a result of plentiful grass and not a reflection of any changes in the demand for beef.”
Aqua feed up
The aquaculture sector experienced a total global feed production growth of 2.7%. The Top 5 aquaculture feed countries are China, Vietnam, India, Norway, and Indonesia. Significant increases were reported in China, Brazil, Ecuador, the Philippines, and the US.
“Aquaculture feed production was one of a few sectors that saw growth in Europe.”
Pet feed sector buoyant
Pet feed production had the highest increase among the sectors, with a global average 7.25% rise in production.
“This significant increase is largely due to the rise in pet ownership amid the COVID-19 pandemic. North America and Europe continue to be the top pet feed-producing regions.”
