Economies determine optimal protein levels in broiler nutrition

摘要

Prices of protein-rich raw materials (like soya), and those of poultry meat fluctuate. Companies aiming for maximum profit should respond by adapting the protein levels in broiler diets. Nutreco has developed a flexible tool to calculate protein levels that maximise bottom-line profitability. The protein level in broiler diets strongly affects broiler performance and feed costs, and thereby, profitability of a broiler production enterprise. The classic approach among broiler nutritionists is to formulate diets for maximum broiler performance, for example according to NRC-recommendations. However, optimising feed conversion and other performance traits requires diets that are quite high in protein, which may be too expensive to obtain the best financial results. Research by Nutreco demonstrated that feeding for the best broiler performance instead of the best profit, can reduce the gross margin of a typical broiler operation (1 million broilers/week) by more than 30.000 EUR per week.