Production of Antibiotic Free Diet On The Rise

With an ever-increasing pressure to produce an antibiotic free (ABF) diet, the stakeholders of the industry are looking for alternative solutions to mitigate the potential loss in animal production without the use of antibiotic growth promotants (AGPs). As pointed out in the survey, antibiotic restriction is the single greatest challenge in animal feed production. Although 43% of the respondents are already producing ABF diet between 50 to 99%, 70% of them are also still actively exploring, testing or using feed additives as replacements to AGPs.

Phytogenic feed additives and prebiotic are among the AGP alternatives mentioned in the survey and effective combinations with either organic acids or probiotics are being considered. And with concerns on the additional cost these feed additives will have, the need for more research and education is warranted.

You could read the full article on pages 6 to 11 of April/May 2017 issue of Feed International (http://www.fi-digital.com/201704/)