Last week, a total of 430 in-person and virtual attendees from 43 states and six countries participated in the Association of American Feed Control Officials’ (AAFCO) annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Two AFIA staff members, Leah Wilkinson and myself, were on hand to engage in discussions on some of the hottest topics of the day —as hot as the 104-degree temperature.  

Considering the ongoing highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks and the looming threat of an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak, biosecurity should be on everyone’s mind. Jason Galvis, Ph.D., a research scholar, and Gustavo Machado, Ph.D., an associate professor at North Carolina State University (NCSU), recently published a study about the role of vehicle movement in swine disease dissemination. I spoke with Machado to discuss their findings and, more importantly, if the feed industry contributes to disease transmission and what we can do to prevent it. 

Formaldehyde has recently been a hot topic for the American Feed Industry Association, as the Environmental Protection Agency is looking to ban all industrial uses of this chemical. As we have written about before on this blog, formaldehyde plays a critical role in controlling pathogens in animal feed, and we have been working tirelessly to ensure the EPA’s process is both transparent and rooted in science, given its future implications for other reviews of chemical products.  

The American Feed Industry Association continues to focus on the promotion of safe practices in the production and handling of livestock feed and pet food. The Safe Feed/Safe Food (SF/SF) certification program is aimed at ensuring the safety of animal food products. The program emphasizes best practices, regulations and standards to minimize the risk of contamination and ensures the safety and quality of animal feed. CPC Commodities’ Ivan Pedigo, Megan Jones and Michelle Estes recently shared their experiences on the continued value that the SF/SF certification has for their company.  

Since the outbreak of the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) in 2013, the feed and livestock industries have worked to gain a better understanding of pathogen transmission through feed and the supply chain. Multiple studies have documented the distribution of viral pathogens in mills after contamination, the stability of viruses in feed and ingredient matrices, and virus reduction using chemical mitigants or extended holding times.

This week, the American Feed Industry Association had another successful Feed 101 learning session at the U.S. Department of Agriculture with the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) staff.   

Have you ever thought about what your shrimp eat during their lifetimes? We had not either, until a recent member visit with an aquatic feed manufacturer piqued our interest. Feeding microscopic animals is no small feat, but as aquaculture has gained traction in recent years as an important component of our global food system providing people with another source of protein, it is a challenge that our member companies are tackling daily.  

Science is always evolving, and the science of equine nutrition is no exception. Thanks to research and developments in equine nutrition, we know that many byproducts contain nutrient levels or attributes that make them better feed ingredients for horses than the initial grain or primary end-product of the processing. The list of byproducts that provide advantages in horse diets is long – and some you may even be surprised to see on the list – but an important one is wheat middlings (or midds).