And thanks to the survey, BIOMIN is confident that the industry in every region of the world has identified clearly defined benefits to using phytogenics in their operations.
Feedinfo News Service spoke to Michael Noonan, Global Product Manager Phytogenics at BIOMIN, about the future of PFA use and his expectations for Biomin’s own Digestarom range of PFAs.
[Feedinfo News Service] Mr. Noonan, what are the main findings of the March 2017 BIOMIN Phytogenic Feed Additive survey?
[Michael Noonan] We were pleasantly surprised by the size of the response. Collecting the input of 1,140 agribusiness professionals located in over 100 countries makes this the first survey of its kind at this scale. A majority of the participants are early-adopters of PFAs—67% have experience with phytogenic feed additives and three-quarters of those currently apply PFAs. This level of experience makes their views on the benefits of PFAs even more valuable, and potentially instructive to the one-third who have not used them.
Overall, digestibility enhancement ranked as the number one reason that the livestock industry uses phytogenic feed additives, followed by their perceived antimicrobial effects, their use within an AGP replacement strategy and growth promotion. Geographically, we observed a split. Those in the Western Hemisphere selected the antimicrobial effects as their top motivation, while elsewhere digestibility was most often cited.
The survey also examined reasons that respondents do not use PFAs. What stood out is that awareness of phytogenic feed additives was not a major issue. Though some respondents did say that they are not familiar with PFA application in livestock, most respondents recognized the product category and raised more technical issues regarding scientific and commercial trial data, product selection and return on investment. This indicates more serious consideration of PFAs that reflects the growing interest we see throughout the world.
