Efficiency often goes hand in hand with sustainability, as it allows farms to produce more with fewer resources. By maximizing the use of valuable nutrients in animal feed and by using innovative on-farm tools, we can create the greatest value while minimizing waste.
As I’ve highlighted in a previous blog on advancing animal performance, improving animal health, wellbeing and performance is essential for achieving more sustainable animal production. Healthy animals are typically more efficient at converting nutrients into high-quality protein, which in turn lowers emissions per unit of product, also known as emission intensity (measured as CO₂ equivalent per kilogram of product). In addition to animal health, efficiency is also driven by advancements in genetics, improved breeding and optimized feeding practices.
Efficiency Gains in Beef, Swine and Poultry
Beef cattle: Over the decades, the average beef production per animal has increased significantly, rising from under 250 pounds in 1950 to over 660 pounds today. This improvement has been achieved with reduced feed, land and water per animal, ultimately lowering emissions per kilogram (pound) of beef.
Swine: Efficiency in pork production has also seen major advancements, driven by improvements at every stage. Increased litter sizes per sow, faster growth rates, enhanced feed efficiency in grower and finisher pigs, and better health monitoring and vaccination programs have all contributed. As a result, pigs now produce more meat per unit of feed, reducing emissions per kilogram (pound) of pork.
Poultry: Some of the most dramatic efficiency gains have been observed in poultry. Decades of selective breeding have led to broilers with faster growth rates, superior feed conversion and desirable meat traits such as larger breast muscles. Modern chickens now require less feed to reach market weight, increasing overall meat yield and productivity per bird while significantly lowering emissions per kilogram (pound) of poultry meat.
How Diet Changes Affect Animal Efficiency
Changes in an animal’s diet, such as switching to a more nutrient-dense feed, adjusting the balance of protein, fat, and carbohydrates or incorporating specific additives (to enhance digestibility or to help support (gut) health and immunity), can significantly impact their efficiency.
For example, a diet with the right protein level for the animal’s life stage maximizes protein synthesis and growth without unnecessary energy expenditure. Choosing high-quality feedstuffs with better digestibility can improve nutrient utilization and overall efficiency, and adding enzymes can further enhance nutrient breakdown and absorption, leading to better utilization of feed. These are just some of the examples of how diet changes affect animal efficiency.
Better Efficiency Through Trace Mineral Nutrition
Over the years, our understanding of how nutrition influences animal health, performance and efficiency has greatly improved, especially when it comes to trace minerals. These essential nutrients play a crucial role in metabolic functions such as growth, development, immunity and reproduction. Even minor deficiencies can negatively impact productivity and efficiency. Decades of pioneering research at Zinpro® have led to the identification of the most effective trace minerals for optimizing animal efficiency.
Efficiency also extends to farm operations and waste reduction. In hatcheries, it means maximizing the number of fertile and successfully hatched eggs. For broiler farms, efficiency is not only about bird growth but also minimizing waste in processing plants by reducing carcass rejections. In the swine and dairy industries, improved efficiency is also about lowering mortality rates in newborn animals among other things.
Data and Tools to Support the Sustainability Journey
Beyond making the right nutritional choices and selecting the optimal trace mineral source, achieving greater efficiency also requires the right management tools at every level. That’s why Zinpro offers species-specific tools to help farmers identify and address issues related to management or nutrition, while ensuring sustained animal health and performance.
- For broilers: The Zinpro® Perfect Carcass Tool® ocenia wady tusz u drobiu, pomagając hodowcom prześledzić problemy związane z żywieniem i praktykami zarządzania, zmniejszając ilość odpadów i poprawiając zdrowie.
- For layers: The Zinpro® BlueBox™ ocenia jakość skorupy jaj, aby poprawić wylęgowość, wspierając zdrowsze i silniejsze pisklęta oraz zmniejszając straty produkcyjne.
- For dairy cows: The Zinpro® FirstStep® Dairy Hoof Health & Management Program provides dairy producers with objective metrics to assess nutrition, health, and management changes over time.
- For beef cattle: The Zinpro® Step Up® Lameness Management Program for Beef Cattle zapewnia systematyczne podejście do identyfikacji i leczenia kulawizn bydła mięsnego.
- For swine: The Zinpro® Feet First® Program helps identify and prevent lameness in swine herds, allowing producers to focus on the wellness of the animals and improve the efficiency of pork production.
By leveraging these tools, farmers can improve feeding practices, enhance animal performance and achieve measurable gains in efficiency and hence sustainability.
Finding the Right Balance in Animal Efficiency
We have made significant strides in improving farm animal efficiency over the past decades, yet there is still room for further progress. By producing more with fewer resources, we can reduce emissions from animal agriculture. However, it is crucial to ensure that increased production efficiency does not come at the expense of animal health and welfare, such as leg or foot issues in poultry or lameness in cattle.
Efficiency also varies at regional and farm levels, highlighting the need for producers to evaluate their practices and outcomes in comparison to their peers, locally, regionally and globally. At the same time, global animal production is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Differences in climate, feed availability, genetics, social acceptance and consumer preferences will continue to shape production systems worldwide.
