Transforming agricultural by-products into animal feed.

In the context of rising animal feed prices, utilizing agricultural by-products to process feed for livestock and poultry is becoming an effective approach, helping people reduce production costs, limit environmental pollution, and enhance the value of circular agriculture.

Using agricultural by-products as animal feed helps Mr. Nguyen Duy Thanh's farm in Ban Nguyen commune save hundreds of millions of dong in annual costs.

With a livestock scale of approximately 300 buffaloes and beef cattle per batch, Mr. Nguyen Duy Thanh's farm in Ban Nguyen commune requires hundreds of tons of feed annually, corresponding to costs of several hundred million dong. Meanwhile, Ban Nguyen commune and neighboring communes were formerly key agricultural production areas of Phu Tho province.

This area specializes in rice, corn, and vegetable cultivation, supplying thousands of tons of agricultural products to the market each year. After harvesting, a large amount of agricultural by-products is generated, becoming an abundant source of raw materials for livestock feed, helping to reduce costs and aligning with the direction of organic farming. Taking advantage of this, Mr. Thanh's farm has purchased agricultural by-products from local people to feed his buffalo and cattle herd, while also contributing to reducing the burning of straw and stubble that causes environmental pollution.

Mr. Thanh shared: “When I first started livestock farming, I felt very sorry seeing the amount of agricultural by-products discarded after each harvest. If I raised livestock industrially, the feed alone would cost hundreds of millions of dong annually. Therefore, I came up with the idea of ​​purchasing these by-products to use as animal feed. I feed some directly to the animals, and mix the rest with probiotics to ferment into a reserve feed. Thanks to this, feed costs have decreased by up to 60%, and economic efficiency has increased significantly.”

To date, not only Mr. Thanh's farm but also many other pig and chicken farms in the area have proactively processed feed for their livestock from agricultural by-products.

After each harvest, large quantities of agricultural by-products such as straw, corn stalks, and spoiled vegetables are often burned or discarded, leading to waste and environmental pollution. Meanwhile, these are rich sources of nutrients that can be used to process animal feed. Many households have proactively collected these by-products, chopped them up, and mixed them with probiotics to make silage for livestock. This method not only helps preserve the feed for longer periods but also improves the digestibility and absorption of nutrients by livestock.

By-products such as straw, old vegetables and fruits, post-harvest corn stalks, corn biomass, or banana plants... are not only used as animal feed but are also processed to serve poultry and aquaculture farming.

Using agricultural by-products to make homemade animal feed is a solution that the family of Mr. Phan Kim Hung in Hung Viet commune has effectively applied.

Mr. Phan Kim Hung, owner of a large-scale broiler and egg-laying chicken farm with over 10,000 chickens per batch in Hung Viet commune, said: “The farm utilizes agricultural by-products such as banana stalks, vegetables, and fruits as feed for the chickens. After purchasing, the by-products are chopped, mixed with probiotics, and then fermented. The fermented feed increases nutritional value, raises crude protein content, and improves digestibility, thereby helping the chickens develop better and yield higher productivity. Besides, the fermentation method is quite simple and can utilize readily available resources at the farm such as built tanks, empty pens, or plastic containers, significantly saving costs compared to using only commercial feed.”

According to many livestock farmers, utilizing agricultural by-products significantly reduces feed costs – an expense that typically accounts for 60-70% of total production costs. By securing a local feed source, farmers reduce their dependence on commercial feed and mitigate risks from market price fluctuations.

Besides saving costs, feed made from agricultural by-products also helps livestock develop steadily, improves meat quality, and reduces the risk of gastrointestinal diseases thanks to the natural fermentation process. Some farms even apply a circular farming model, using crop by-products as animal feed, and then utilizing manure to compost into organic fertilizer for agricultural production.

Thien Duong Aquaculture and Agricultural Services Cooperative in Vinh Chan commune utilizes agricultural by-products as fish feed, saving costs and increasing economic efficiency.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thin, Head of the Technical and Professional Department of the Sub-Department of Livestock, Veterinary and Fisheries, said: To improve the efficiency of processing feed from agricultural by-products, in the coming time, the Sub-Department will coordinate with localities to organize technical training for people on methods of silage, feed ration mixing, use of probiotics and feed preservation.

In addition, the Department of Agriculture and Environment encourages livestock farmers to apply shredding and grinding machines, pelletizing machines, and fermentation systems. At the same time, it promotes the expansion of circular farming models to create a natural organic feed source for livestock, reduce costs, improve economic efficiency, and promote sustainable development.

Quan Lam

Source: https://baophutho.vn/bien-phu-pham-trong-trot-thanh-thuc-an-chan-nuoi-253983.htm