Environmental impacts of feeding crops to poultry and pigs

β-Mannanase Supplementation as an Eco-Friendly Feed Strategy to Reduce the Environmental Impacts of Pig and Poultry Feeding Programs

“…Pig and poultry production systems have been pointed out as large contributors to environmental impacts, such as climate change, eutrophication, and acidification (3,27). Feeding both pigs and poultry requires tremendous amounts of feed resources, especially rich in protein and/or energy, with several studies indicating it as the most important source of environmental impact (2,4). Novel feeding strategies are thus needed to tackle the challenges of these sectors.…”

“…A systematic review recently developed by Andretta et al (4) on the use of life cycle analysis confirmed the importance of feeding processes as the largest source of environmental impact associated with pig and poultry production. In their review, the relative participation of feed production in the overall greenhouse gas emissions varied from 31 to 76% or 28 to 82% for the pig and poultry databases, respectively (4). Regardless of the exact amount of impact attributed to feeding, practically all studies indicated feeding as the most important environmental impact source.…”

“…Pig and poultry feeding programs require a huge amount of feed resources, with several studies indicating feeding as a major source of environmental impact (1)(2)(3). A systematic review recently developed by Andretta et al (4) on the use of life cycle analysis confirmed the importance of feeding processes as the largest source of environmental impact associated with pig and poultry production. In their review, the relative participation of feed production in the overall greenhouse gas emissions varied from 31 to 76% or 28 to 82% for the pig and poultry databases, respectively (4).…”

“…The least-cost formulation method was used based on real price averages practiced in a local industry over 12 months. The production of 1 kg of β-mannanase was associated with the emission of 1,800 g of CO 2 -eq, 4.53 g of PO 4 -eq, and 7.89 g of SO 2 -eq. For pig feeds, β-mannanase supplementation mitigated both climate change and eutrophication impacts up to 8.5 and 1.4% (45 kcal of ME/kg of feed) or up to 16.2 and 2.7% (90 kcal of ME/kg of feed) compared to control diets formulated without the enzyme.…”

Feeding Strategies to Reduce Nutrient Losses and Improve the Sustainability of Growing Pigs

“…Because these losses are related to the way we are feeding and raising the animals, there is great potential for improvement. Indeed, the feeds are responsible for the largest part (70%) of the environmental impact caused by pig production (19,20). This is because in practical conditions most of the pigs within the herd receive more nutrients than they need (21)(22)(23), and all excess nutrients are excreted and contribute to the overall nutrient inefficiency.…”