Friday, February 22, 2013

Nutritional value top influence on livestock feed choice


    When it comes to livestock feed choice, quality and nutritional value has the greatest influence over on-farm decisions according to the latest results from an independent survey of more than 500 farmers commissioned by Trident.
    Feed quality and nutritional value significantly influenced 81 percent of feed choices, and moderately influenced another 17 percent, making it a factor in 98 percent of decisions. Cost was a close second, with a significant influence over 67 percent of choices and a moderate influence over 30 percent.
    The weather and growing conditions influenced (either moderately or significantly) 90 percent of decisions, while availability and choice affected 80 percent, and storage facilities 77 percent. More surprising, perhaps, was the 93 percent of feed choices influenced by convenience and ease-of-use, the 69 percent by British provenance and the 60 percent by environmental impact and sustainability.
    “These latest results hint at a change of focus within the industry, as environmental factors become more important to both end consumers and producers, whilst staff managing ever greater numbers of livestock per person require feeding systems to be simplified,” said Trident national general manager Richard Cross.
    “The issue of British versus imported feeds, along with the future sustainability of feed supply, is also one that has become increasingly important in recent years. The fact that 69 percent of feed choices are affected by whether the feed is British demonstrates just how much farmers would rather buy locally-produced feeds than imports if given the choice.”

1 comment:

  1. Well, farmers care for their livestock and we all know that all too well. Not just that, they care what people eat that is why they feed their livestock with the best quality crops available.
    - <a href="http://www.modestomilling.com/</a>ModestoMilling.com</a>

    ReplyDelete