Ariovaldo Zani, Sindirações: “Nowadays Brazil is the fourth global feed producer as well as it is above half of overall feed produce in Latin America. In order to move on we have to remain committed to the triple bottom line of sustainability: planet, profit, people. The animal feed industry has added more technology to the production chain, in order to meet the current needs of humanity and preserve the ability for future generations to ensure their own needs.”

Feed Planet Magazine talked with Ariovaldo Zani, Executive Vice President of Brazilian Feed Industry Association (Sindirações ) this month. In Brazil where the number of companies operating in feed industry is nearly 2,500, the demand for feed is also 3,3 million tons. Stating that Brazil is above half of overall feed produce in Latin America, Zani also said the country is the fourth feed producer among global producers. We talked with Ariovaldo Zani about the feed and raw material production of Brazil, the place of the country in global market and its targets. We are taking the details from Zani…

Mr. Zani, First, could you please give us some information about Sindirações (National Union of Animal Feed Industry)? How many members do you have; what is your member profile and what are your activities as a union in the Brazilian feed industry? What is the ratio of your members in total feed industry? Through this year, “Sindirações” (Brazilian Feed Industry Association) shall complete 63 years old, since its foundation in 1953, as the Sao Paulo Estate Compound Feed Industry Association. The idea to stablish it during early 50s started thanks to a couple of entrepreneurs, such as, Celso Caiuby Novaes (first president), Americo Victor Padula, José Maria Sabater, Antonio Sanguini, José da Gama Salgado, Clovis Alante, Ferdinando Fiore and Cesar Augusto de Camargo Pinto. After that, it upgraded to a “National” abroad category, still in November 1953, in compliance with the whole wish of industry representatives. In response to the emergence of specific segments and business developments, this National Feed Industry Association applied in 1995 to the “Official Book of National Unions”, in order to replace the Compound Feed Industry Association. Since then, Sindirações has been speaking on behalf of more than 150 affiliated members, representing almost all feed produced in Brazil. Its current statute discloses: "to represent the feed industry located throughout the country (companies dedicated to the livestock feed and pet food manufacture, concentrates, supplements, additive premix, raw materials, and other activities related to animal feed, including importers of feedstuffs, and those which produces for own consumption).

How many companies producing feed are there, in Brazil? What can you say about the feed production capacity, their capacity usage and technologic structure? According to the estimates of the Animal Feed Office/Agriculture Ministry, nowadays there are almost 2,500 (25 hundred) premises working on feed sector (livestock feed/mineral supplements/premixtures and pet food manufacturers plants, besides feedstuffs/raw materials suppliers and renderers warehouses).

Supplying raw material for feed is one of the most significant issues of feed industry. Raw material is considered as a problem in many countries. Does Brazil have any difficulty in this sense? What can you say about the raw material production in Brazil? We have enough corn and soybean in order to supply the feed industry. However, the escalating price of corn, coupled with the rise in soybean meal (especially in the second quarter), demotivated to fat beef cattle, as well as, the usage of dairy cattle feed, although the producers of poultry and pork continued betting on the cost relief from these main inputs to the end of the first half. Added to other animal species, the demand for feed accounted 33.3 million MT (a 3.2% growth rate compared to the same period –January/June last year). Considering the weak domestic demand added to the continuous high cost of corn/soybean meal, it´s supposed the amount produced along second half will offset the growth mentioned above. Hence, I guess the overall feed to be produced during 2016 will account slightly above 66 million MT.

What do you think about your position when you compare Brazil to other regions in the world in terms of animal feed industry? What do you aim in order to strengthen the position of your industry throughout the world in the future? Nowadays Brazil is the fourth global feed producer as well as it is above half of overall feed produce in Latin America. In order to move on we have to remain committed to the triple bottom line of sustainability (planet, profit, people), the animal feed industry has added more technology to the production chain, in order to meet the current needs of humanity and preserve the ability for future generations to ensure their own needs. The mitigation of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions and phosphorus/ nitrogen discharge (environmental) has been possible due to the replacement of the traditionally added nutrients (cereals, oilseeds, organic and inorganic phosphate) by additives (amino acids and enzymes) supplemented in the productive system, and at the same time, capable of ensuring the same growth performance (economic) in support of food security (social).

Favorable results can be checked in the study recently published in the Journal of Animal Science and conducted by Sindirações and other global associations, and quite similar to the guidelines of the Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance Partnership/LEAP with methodology recommended by the British Standards Institute. The evaluation measured the impact of the amino acids lysine, methionine, threonine and tryptophan and the enzyme phytase in pig an broiler production systems in Brazil, Europe and North America, in accordance with international standards (ISO 14040/44) to determine the life cycle of the resources used through "the gate to the field”, or from the feed preparation to animal husbandry and management of resulting manure.

In the case of Brazil, the pigs and broilers supplemented (with amino acids and phytase/enzyme) when compared to "control" diet (without any supplementation), resulted in a reduction of approximately 23% and 30 %, respectively, in emissions of greenhouse gases (GWP/global warming potential), taking into account the conversion effect of land use for agriculture (dLUC/direct land use Change), because the less need for soybean meal (estimated warming potential for it is 6,2kg CO2-equivalent/kg. The potential for eutrophication/EP (undesirable excess of insoluble phosphates and mainly nitrogenous compounds/nitrates, which deteriorate the quality of water) caused by the "control" diet, decreased by more than 22% for pigs and almost 50% in the broiler compared to supplemented alternatives, mainly because of deposition of manure in the soil. In the case of acidification (AP), its potential reduced by 20% in swine production and more than 53% in broiler systems, particularly because the amino acid supplementation reduced the amount of nitrogen in feed and manure, which consequently decreased emission of ammonia. The additional effect was improved by the addition of phytase enzyme that allowed less use of inorganic phosphate, also considered a finite availability natural resource.

As a union, do you have any ongoing projects of your industry or what are your future plans? We will remain speaking on behalf of science instead of the precautionary measure.