Environmental Benefits of Dietary

Enhancing Feed Additives

Briefing Document No. 7

Introduction

Dietary enhancing feed additives (or growth promoters) are products which are incorporated into animal feed to create favourable conditions in the animal's intestine for the digestion of food. They are mainly used to improve feed conversion capability and hence growth rates of the animal without laying down excessive amounts of fat.

Although they are often criticised in the popular press, they actually have positive benefits for the environment. Many consumers not only seem unaware of their benefits, but believe that they can be harmful.

So, what are the facts, how can these feed additives benefit not only the producer and consumer of animal products, but the environment as well?

The action of dietary enhancers

The efficiency of an animal’s digestion is very dependent on the micro-organisms which live naturally in its digestive tract - some improve digestion, others make it less effective. Added to the feed of pigs, poultry and cattle, dietary enhancers neutralise adverse micro-organisms which live in the animal’s gut. They help the intestine absorb more nutrients and water, and so the animal grows well, making the best use of its food. The animal benefits by being less likely to suffer intestinal upset and can cope with changes to its diet without problem. Consumers benefit from the availability of good, wholesome food, tailored to their demands, at a reasonable price.

The practical benefits to the environment and the world we live in

It is important to remember that very small changes in individual animals can add up to huge changes when taken globally. Dietary enhancers benefit the world we live in and the environment in several ways:-

1. The use of dietary enhancers means that less food is needed by animals, requiring less farmland.

For example, 8 million pigs fed with a dietary enhancer would require 70,000 tonnes less feed during fattening. (There are approximately 115 million pigs in Europe).

2. The healthier intestine of animals fed with dietary enhancers, absorbs more nutrients. Therefore, fewer unused nutrients are lost into the environment, resulting in a cleaner world.

Nitrogen and phosphorus in particular can be a problem, especially when they enter waterways where they can cause eutrophication (the uncontrolled growth of algae, which depletes oxygen supplies harming fish and micro flora).

It has been estimated that in France, Germany and the UK, the removal of dietary enhancers from the diets of pigs, beef cattle and poultry, would result in an increase of 78,000 tonnes of nitrogen and over 15,000 tonnes of phosphorus being released into the environment each year.

3. The animal's healthier intestine produces less waste gases into the air.

Animals given dietary enhancers excrete up to 15% less of the ‘greenhouse gas’ methane and up to 33% less ammonia. As an example, in the same three countries as mentioned above, animals given dietary enhancers are thought to excrete 1,246 million cubic metres less methane per day into the air.

4. Animals given dietary enhancers consume less water and excrete less manure with a lower water content. Getting rid of manure can be a major problem and there are strict rules where it may be spread in relation to water courses, human population, etc.

As an example it has been estimated that the use of dietary enhancers in the EU pig herd means a reduction of 7 million cubic metres of waste manure per year (the equivalent of 3,500 Olympic size swimming pools).

Conclusion

The use of digestive enhancers has more benefits than just the production of quality meat and milk. They also have positive benefits to the world we live in. Their use leads to:-

1. Less feed required for animal production.

2. Reduced levels of nitrogen and phosphorus, methane and ammonia entering the environment.

3. Less water consumption.

4. Dramatic reductions in manure production.

5. Reduced requirement for fossil fuels for the transportation of feed and manure.

6. Less land needed.

Further Reading:

Environmental Impact of Using Feed Additives. Verbeke and Viane 1996 , University of Ghent, Belgium

The impact on animal husbandry in the European Community of the use of growth promoters in animal feeds. Division of Research in Agriculture of DGVI of the EC Commission.

Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastic: the Environment Triumph of High-Yield Farming. Dennis Avery (available from CEESA Telephone No: Brussels +32 2 543 7560)