Some feed additives can play a role in reducing the environmental impact of poultry production with low-protein diets and the addition of phytase, according to a new report.

The Specialty Feed Ingredients Sustainability (SFIS) Project Consortium has announced the results of a year-long study confirming the role of Specialty Feed Ingredients (SFIs) in reducing the environmental impact of livestock production.

Launched by the International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF) and the EU Association of Specialty Feed Ingredients and their Mixtures (FEFANA) a year ago, the initial results of the study show that the use of SFIs in animal diets reduces the consumption of basic feed ingredients as well as cutting a range of environmental impact measures.

The analysis employed life cycle assessment to examine the use of low-protein diets and phytase in pigs and poultry.

The results also point towards future developments, such as improved feed conversion driven by advancing technologies in animal feeding through using SFIs. The full report will be published in the coming months.

In its latest short-term European Union agricultural market outlook, the European Commission expects good harvests as well as rising meat production.

In Peru, growing demand from the poultry industry is driving domestic cereal production, according to a USDA report.

The Food & Drug Administration in the United States has been involved in a new programme for State Animal Feed Regulators entitled 'Animal Feed Regulatory Programme Standards', which aims to integrate the regulatory activities of partner agencies into an efficient and effective process for improving feed safety.

The global market for organic trace minerals in animal feed is set to grow by 7.6 per cent annually for the period 2013 to 2018, according to a new market report.

One of the top agribusiness companies in Thailand, CP Foods, has reported strong growth last year and forecasts more of the same, helped by falling feed ingredients costs. The company's president attributed some of the improvement in sales to Japan lifting its ban of the import of fresh poultry meat from Thailand last year.

Poultry company, Transavia, of Romania has announced investments of €10 million to increase feed production and to modernise its poultry farms and meat processing capabilities this year.

For those with an interest in the more scientific aspects of poultry nutrition, we also covered news about a South African leaf meal that is more effective than antibiotic growth promoters for broilers, a feed additive tested in Italy that cuts fly numbers in poultry manure and a Belgian study into the transfer of omega-3 fatty acids into hatching eggs.

You can find out the latest news on bird flu around the world - including an outbreak of H5N1 low-pathogenic avian influenza in a Dutch poultry flock - by clicking here.