As the demand for phosphate fertilizers continues to rise to meet increases in global crop production to feed developing nations and produce ethanol, feed producers face the challenge of sourcing sufficient quantities of feed phosphates to meet animal requirements.

Feed phosphate prices have rocketed in recent months, reflecting the imbalance between global supply and demand. The UK's Agricultural Industries Confederation has recently reported that over the coming months supplies of feed phosphate will continue to be limited, which means that the price of feed phosphate will continue to rise.

New generation bacterial phytases have been shown to be more effective at releasing plant-bound phytate phosphorus than traditional fungal phytases. At a standard inclusion rate of 500 FTUs/kg feed, Danisco’s bacterial phytase (Phyzyme XP) can replace an additional 1.3 kg dicalcium phosphate (DCP) in pig and broiler feed formulations, compared to traditional fungal phytases.

“With the current phenomenal rise in the price of feed phosphates, producers should consider increasing the inclusion of phytase in their feed”, explains Dr Peter Plumstead, Danisco’s Technical Services Manager.

“We have a wealth of data to show that doubling the dose of phytase in pig and poultry feed allows at least an additional 1.9 kg dicalcium phosphate to be removed from the feed, without negatively affecting animal performance,” Peter continues.

500 FTUs /kg feed tends to be the standard phytase inclusion rate in broiler and pig feeds and 300 FTUs/kg feed for layer feeds. With current DCP prices at around €550/tonne, the economic optimum phytase inclusion rate is currently around 1000 FTUs/kg feed for broiler and young pig feeds and 600 FTUs/kg feed for layer diets.

“1000 FTUs/kg feed will currently reduce broiler feed costs by around €4.60/tonne. This allows a further 17% reduction in dicalcium phosphate, resulting in an additional feed cost saving of €0.60/tonne compared to the standard inclusion rate of 500 FTUs/kg feed. Increasing the phytase dose to 600 FTUs/kg feed will allow layer producers to further reduce their feed formulations costs by around €0.53/tonne, reducing dicalcium phosphate inclusion by around 30%” Peter concludes.