Protein & amino acids

Single cell feed protein producer raises €8M in funding round

16-Mar-2021 By Jane Byrne

Deep Branch, a startup using microbes to convert CO2 from industrial emissions into high-value feed proteins, today announced it has completed an €8M (US$9.5m) Series A investment round.

Nutreco sets out bold new sustainability strategy

12-Mar-2021 By Jane Byrne

Nutreco looks to accelerate action to slash greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, address climate change and decouple the business from deforestation risk in its new sustainability strategy.

Devenish seeking investment for global expansion

12-Mar-2021 By Jane Byrne

This week saw the Northern Ireland located agri technology company, Devenish, set out international growth plans and announce a strategy to raise capital in order to realize those ambitions.

Aker BioMarine unveils ambitious sustainability goals towards 2030

11-Mar-2021 By Jane Byrne

As part of its sustainability strategy, Aker BioMarine has committed to reduce CO2 emissions per ton of krill produced by 50% by 2030 and the krill feed producer wants to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Bunge: We are committed to using our position and scale to lead the industry's progress on deforestation

09-Mar-2021 By Jane Byrne

Agribusiness giant, Bunge, last week announced it was launching a new monitoring program in the Cerrado, becoming the first global company to foster mass action in that region to track indirect purchases of soybeans.

Feed additive outlook: Rally in amino acid prices, high level of M&A activity

08-Mar-2021 By Jane Byrne

Feed additives markets are quite active as Chinese production has returned with a bang after Spring Festival and is now fully operational, according to the Swiss feed additive trading and data platform, Kemiex.

Unibio: SCP ingredient passes Danish Agro pig trial with flying colors

08-Mar-2021 By Jane Byrne

Unibio says Danish Agro’s testing of its single cell protein (SCP), branded as Uniprotein, shows it can partially replace high-quality products such as potato protein and prime fishmeal in starter piglet diets without zinc oxide.

Cargill ploughing millions into US soy processing plants to improve operational efficiencies, boost capacity

05-Mar-2021 By Jane Byrne

Cargill is investing US$475m in its US soy crushing operations to meet domestic demand.

UK feed exports to EU hit as not all countries applying the same controls

05-Mar-2021 By Jane Byrne

The AIC, the feed industry representatives in the UK, say challenges persist in terms of exporting feeds to the EU.

Winter storms: Novus methionine plant in Texas set to resume production, local livestock industry sees US$228m in losses

04-Mar-2021 By Jane Byrne

In an update regarding the status of its manufacturing facility in Chocolate Bayou, Texas, following the winter storms, Novus says production of methionine hydroxy analogue (HMTBa) is expected to get underway again in mid-March.

BioMar takes majority stake in Viet-Uc to develop the aquafeed business in Asia

04-Mar-2021 By Jane Byrne

In a move aimed at expanding its global footprint within shrimp feed, Danish group, BioMar, has acquired majority ownership of the Viet-Uc feed business.

Feed protein from grass: Do green biorefineries have a future in Ireland?

04-Mar-2021 By Jane Byrne

A grass biorefinery project run over two years in Ireland has just published its final results, with several co-products produced showing great promise for dairy and pig diets.

Asian insect protein player raises US$5m for next stage of growth, opens new plant

02-Mar-2021 By Jane Byrne

Insect protein producer, Nutrition Technologies, has opened its new industrial-scale factory in Malaysia and has just closed a US$5m fundraising round.

Boost for UK feed protein supply: Vivergo Fuels site to reopen

01-Mar-2021 By Jane Byrne

Vivergo Fuels site in Hull in the UK will be re-opening following an announcement by the UK’s Department for Transport that E10 petrol – a cleaner, greener fuel – will be introduced at UK filling stations from September 2021.

Early probe findings: Foreign methionine was illegally dumped in US

01-Mar-2021 By Jane Byrne

The US Department of Commerce has announced its preliminary determination that methionine imports from France, Spain and Japan have been illegally dumped in the US.

Demand for insect protein could hit 500,000 tons by 2030

24-Feb-2021 By Jane Byrne

The demand for insect protein, mainly as an ingredient in feed and pet food, could reach half a million metric tons by 2030, up from today’s market of around 10,000 metric tons, predict the authors of a new RaboResearch report.

ForFarmers attains UK wide coverage for organic layer feed range

18-Jan-2021 By Jane Byrne

Such national rollout has been accomplished by installing a specialist holding tank at the company’s Selby, Penrith and Portbury mill sites along with a dedicated delivery system to enable the incorporation of organic soy oil into the range, said ForFarmers...

Lockdowns, freight and currency challenges fueling high feed additive prices

15-Jan-2021 By Jane Byrne

Kemiex sees rising ingredient prices for a set of reasons: freight related disruptions and charges, a new wave of COVID-19 lockdowns, elevated raw material prices for fermented feed additives and dollar weakness.

People on the Move: Hired and Retired January 2021

15-Jan-2021 By Jane Byrne

We track career ladder climbs in the feed industry and in the animal nutrition and health spheres over the past month.

Salmon soy suppliers make zero deforestation commitment

14-Jan-2021 By Jane Byrne

Brazil based soy suppliers to the salmon industry will implement a 100% deforestation and conversion free soybean value chain with August 2020 as their cut-off date. No soy grown on land deforested after this deadline will be traded.

UK feed imports faring better than exports following EU exit

12-Jan-2021 By Jane Byrne

No known feed additive or feed material import problems have been reported by UK companies following the EU exit, says UK feed sector representatives, the AIC.

Round-up: EFSA publishes feed additive authorization renewal guidance, RTRS seeks feedback on new soy standard and Azelis signs UK distribution deal with Perstorp

08-Jan-2021 By Jane Byrne

EFSA has published new guidance on the information applicants need to include in their dossiers for the renewal of the authorization of feed additives.

Calysta breaks ground on Chinese production site, String Bio tests novel protein with feed companies

07-Jan-2021 By Jane Byrne

Two methane to feed protein innovators have announced Asian market related developments this week.

Fermentalg and Suez led carbon capture JV to create food and feed focused products

05-Jan-2021 By Jane Byrne

French microalgae innovator, Fermentalg, has announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with domestic waste management company, Suez, to create an equally-owned joint venture (JV) for carbon capture through the development of algae photobioreactors.

Volatile markets for vitamins, amino acids and freight set to continue into 2021

23-Dec-2020 By Jane Byrne

Preliminary data from Swiss feed additive price watchers, Kemiex, for the current year suggests significant price volatility for the majority of products, with amino acids in particular posting higher price fluctuations than in 2019.

ADM to stop production of dry lysine in early 2021

18-Dec-2020 By Jane Byrne

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Company plans to end production of dry lysine in the first half of 2021 after the global supply increased faster than actual demand. The company is working with customers to ensure a smooth transition before ending production...

Innovation in Scotland and Finland: Feed raw materials sourced from whisky and vodka production

17-Dec-2020 By Jane Byrne

Scotland’s whisky industry and biotechnology innovators are continuing to up their game to try and find new sustainable solutions from whisky co-products such as animal feed, while a new barley based vodka from Finland sees benefits for pig farmers as...

Use of Europe Soya certified SPC source in feed could drastically boost the sustainability profile of Norwegian salmon production

11-Dec-2020 By Jane Byrne

Salmon feed production incorporating a Europe Soya certified soy protein concentrate (SPC) can cut 41% of CO2 emissions compared to Brazil sourced SPC, according to a new study carried out by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in Austria...

Will BASF and Adifo software tie-up see the end of ‘least cost' feed formulation model?

11-Dec-2020 By Jane Byrne

BASF and Adifo say their new software partnership will advance feed formulation and support more sustainable animal protein production as sustainability can now be a used as a parameter in feed formulations and rations.

Replacing soybean meal with faba bean, lupin or pea seeds has highly variable effects on dairy performance

08-Dec-2020 By Jane Byrne

The use of raw proteaginous seeds (PS) such as faba bean, lupin or pea in dairy cow rations increases ruminal nitrogen degradability compared to soybean meal (SBM), according to a new meta-analysis from a French team of researchers.

Evonik develops mobile NIR tool aimed at improved ingredient management and feed quality

03-Dec-2020 By Jane Byrne

Evonik has launched AMINONIR Portable, a mobile near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) service that includes amino acid calibrations.

Legislative developments ahead to extend use of insects in feed in Europe

27-Nov-2020 By Jane Byrne

The legislative work to authorize insect processed animal proteins (PAPs) for use in poultry and pig feed in Europe is intensifying.

African swine fever remains the biggest change driver in global animal protein, says Rabobank

26-Nov-2020 By Jane Byrne

The Dutch agribusiness bank's outlook for animal protein markets globally sees pork production returning to growth in 2021, but the analysts say it will be a gradual recovery process, as African swine fever (ASF) is still active.

La Niña and global stockpiling could cause agri-commodity prices to increase in 2021

24-Nov-2020 By Jane Byrne

Wheat, soybeans and corn are set to be the agri-commodities with the largest price hikes next year, finds Rabobank, in a new report.

UK pig industry questions reliance on ‘blunt legislative tools’ like due diligence to ensure sustainable soy sourcing

24-Nov-2020 By Jane Byrne

The UK’s National Pig Association (NPA) has stressed the sector’s commitment to sustainable sourcing of soy, as the UK government looks to introduce new laws designed to halt agri-commodity related deforestation.

InnovaFeed opens biggest insect protein plant globally, secures €140m in funds, and partners with ADM to build US site

19-Nov-2020 By Jane Byrne

Insect protein producer, InnovaFeed, has announced the opening of its insect protein production site in the north of France, it has also closed a new €140M (US$166M) fundraising effort to accelerate its domestic and international expansion strategy, while...

Planet Tracker: Green bonds can help embed and scale effective sustainable practice in aquaculture

19-Nov-2020 By Jane Byrne

Novel feed ingredients to broaden the range of raw materials available to fish feed manufacturers like BioMar and Skretting exist– from BSF larvae to single cell proteins to algal oils and meals– but they are not currently available at scale or at a cost-effective...

Amino acid trading picks up, vitamin C prices moving upward

17-Nov-2020 By Jane Byrne

Amino acid trading has picked up across the board and prices are much firmer than several weeks ago for threonine but also for lysine and tryptophan, reports Kemiex.

Bunge flags tighter monitoring of high-risk areas of deforestation in the Cerrado

13-Nov-2020 By Jane Byrne

Agribusiness giant, Bunge, says its recently released 9th Non-Deforestation Progress Report highlights additional progress the group has made toward its goal of achieving deforestation-free value chains worldwide by 2025.

Cost-competitive microalgae-based tilapia feed improves growth metrics

13-Nov-2020 By Jane Byrne

A team of scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz say they have developed a cost-effective new aquaculture feed that eliminates conventional fish meal and fish oil ingredients while also providing better fish weight gain and higher nutritional...

Insect farming – Scottish not-for-profit wants to show you how

10-Nov-2020 By Jane Byrne

Zero Waste Scotland wants to educate the market about the potential of insect farming for feed and other sectors. It is running a series of online events around that objective this month.

Startup turning recycled carbon into animal feed edges closer to scale-up

28-Oct-2020 By Jane Byrne

Single cell protein (SCP) innovator, Deep Branch, has been awarded €2.5m (US$2.93m) from an accelerator fund to help shift it towards industrial scale production and get volumes of its protein feed, Proton, out for testing purposes.

Probiotic feed additive shows potential to dramatically lower methane emissions from cows

27-Oct-2020 By Jane Byrne

Preliminary data from a trial evaluating a Locus Fermentation Solutions’ microbe in cattle at UC Davis showed significant reduction in methane emissions in cows, without sacrificing animal health or performance.

Industry flags challenges for ‘generic’ feed additives linked to limits of EU regulation

27-Oct-2020 By Jane Byrne

The decreasing number of ‘generic’ feed additive products and supplier companies in the EU was identified as a growing concern by industry during a virtual conference today.

Is a second revolution in corporate accountability on environmental issues on its way?

26-Oct-2020 By Jane Byrne

Investors would seem to be finally taking deforestation and climate change seriously, say environmental campaigners, Mighty Earth.

IFFO expects big increase in use of fishmeal in pig feed in Asia

26-Oct-2020 By Jane Byrne

In 2019 there was little change to report in terms of biggest marine ingredient exporters and importers – Peru remained the main pelagic-based fishmeal and fish oil production and exporting country, while China stayed the biggest importer of fishmeal...

Industry group hails focus on feed as part of EU methane emissions reduction strategy

23-Oct-2020 By Jane Byrne

EU feed trade group, FEFAC, has welcomed the European Commission’s recognition of feed materials and additives as part of the solution to help reduce methane emissions from cattle farming.

What are the risks from PCNs in feed and food?

16-Oct-2020 By Jane Byrne

The EU Commission has asked EFSA for an opinion on the risks for animal and human health linked to the presence of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) in feed and food.

Export body looks to diversify market opportunities for US soy

16-Oct-2020 By Jane Byrne

Though the world economy has struggled under COVID-19, the trade of soy has remained strong, says the head the US Soybean Export Council (USSEC).

Alarm sounded over China’s dominant position in global meat trade

16-Oct-2020 By Jane Byrne

China has become the biggest player in animal protein trade globally, and there should be concern about the implications, politically and economically, of such strong market dominance, says an analyst.