Reducing Phosphorous Levels is a Tricky Business
UK - Feed phosphate is in high demand around the globe. The current shortage is forcing many producers to cut back on the dietary levels that they supply to their birds. However, reducing phosphate can have serious repercussions that need careful attention to be handled successfully.
11 April 2008
2 minute read
According to Aviagen's Anthony Waller, suppliers of feed phosphates announced around Christmas 2007 that supplies of phosphates would be insufficient to meet orders from the animal feed industry. In some cases only 30% of ordered tonnage was supplied.
This had a serious impact upon poultry feed manufacturers and producers, in terms of ability to supply stock with required levels of phosphorus and the cost of phosphorus in the diet. Anthony Waller believes that while the initial crisis has subsided, concern over phosphate supply and cost going forward remains, says Farming Weekly Interactive.
The shortage is a result of exceptionally high demand for phosphorus-containing fertilisers. Feed phosphates and fertilisers are both produced from a common raw material - phosphoric acid - and extra fertiliser production has resulted in a shortage of it for feed phosphate production.
