La formulation bilinéaire permet de minimiser le coût alimentaire et les rejets en alimentation de précision

La formulation bilinéaire permet de minimiser le coût alimentaire et les rejets en alimentation de précision. 13èmes Journées de la Recherche Avicole et Palmipèdes à Foie Gra

Vers une alimentation de précision chez le poulet de chair : Modélisation des besoins en énergie, lysine et phosphore à partir des performances de croissance

National audienc

Autonomie protéique en aviculture : Un jeu de rôle pour comprendre les relations entre secteurs végétal et avicole

National audienc

Reducing environmental impacts of feed using multiobjective formulation: What benefits at the farm gate for pig and broiler production?

International audienceFeed production is the main contributor to several environmental impacts of livestock. To decrease environmental impacts of feed, those of feedstuffs should be considered during formulation. In particular, multiobjective feed formulation (MOF) can help reduce several environmental impacts simultaneously while keeping any increase in feed price moderate. The objective of this study was to assess environmental benefits of MOF at the farm gate for fattening pigs and broilers. For pigs, three feeding strategies were tested: classic 2-phase (2P), 2-phase with lower net energy content (2P −), and multiphase (MP). For broilers, two strategies were tested: classic 3-phase (3P) and 3-phase with higher digestible amino acid contents and lower metabolisable energy content (3P+). Diets were formulated using both least-cost formulation (LCF) and MOF, yielding six pig scenarios and four broiler scenarios. Environmental impacts at the farm gate were estimated using a modelling approach based on life cycle assessment. Indicators for six impact categories were then calculated: climate change (CC), cumulative non-renewable energy demand (CEDNR), acidification (AC), eutrophication (EU), land occupation (LO), and phosphorus demand (PD). As expected, MOF had lower farm-gate impacts than LCF (as much as −13%), but the degree of decrease varied by feeding strategy and impact. For pigs, MOF was equally effective in all strategies at reducing PD (− 6 to − 9%) and AC (− 2%). In contrast, MOF was more effective in 2P and 2P− at decreasing CC (−5% to −7%), LO (−9% to −13%) and EU (− 6% to − 8%) than in MP (CC: −2%; LO: − 4%; EU: − 3%). The benefit of MOF was found greater in 2P (− 7%) than in other pig strategies for CEDNR (− 3 to + 0%). For broilers, MOF was equally effective in both strategies tested at decreasing PD (− 12%), AC (−2%), and EU (−4%). For CC and CEDNR, MOF was more effective in 3P (CC: −9%; CEDNR: −11%) than 3P+ (−6% for both impacts), but not for LO (+3% in 3P vs −1% in 3P+). These differences were due mainly to differences in animal performance (especially feed conversion ratio) among the strategies tested. Finally, in all scenarios, gross margin at the farm gate decreased with MOF comparatively to LCF (pigs: −3% to −11%); broilers: −7% to −11%). These results demonstrate the importance of comprehensive economic and environmental optimisation of feeding strategies by simultaneously considering feed impacts, animal performance, and manure management. To do so, further research is therefore required to develop new modelling tools

From measuring average body weight of the flock to precision feeding in broilers: A modelling approach to adjust daily feed composition

International audienc

Validation expérimentale d’une stratégie d’alimentation de précision chez les poulets de chair pour réduire le coût alimentaire et l’excrétion des nutriments

National audienc

The net contribution of livestock production to protein supply for humans

Livestock may be perceived as less efficient and in competition with crops for the human food supply because they partly consume human-edible feedstuffs to produce milk, eggs or meat. The aim of this study is to estimate the net production of protein for human consumption of ruminant, pig and poultry livestock systems in France. The total protein Conversion Ratio (pCR = kg feed protein consumed/kg protein produced by milk, eggs or meat) does not differentiate human-edible from human non-edible feedstuffs (e.g. grass, byproduct of food and biofuels industries). Thus, we used also the human-edible protein Conversion Ratio (hepCR) that needs to estimate the human-edible protein fraction (hepF) of feedstuffs used in livestock diets. First, we built a table of hepF values for feedstuffs consumed by livestock, applied to the current market and technologies used in the food industries in France (e.g. hepF of wheat grain = 66%, hepF of rapeseed meal = 0%). Then, we estimated the pCR and hepCR values for contrasted feeding systems in ruminants, pigs and poultry. As expected, the pCR values are lower than 1, between 0.05 and 0.25 for ruminant systems, about 0.4 for pigs, 0.3 for laying hens and up to 0.5 for broiler chickens. In contrast, the values of hepCR show that all livestock systems can contribute positively to the human protein supply (hepCR~or>1). Grass-based dairy cow systems can produce up to twice the amount of edible protein they consume (hepCR~2). Pig or poultry systems can respectively produce up to 1.5 (for pig) and 1.3 (for broilers) time more human edible protein that the amount they consume, depending on the proportion of corn, rapeseed/sunflower/soybean meals and other byproducts in the diet. The utilization of grass in ruminant systems and of byproducts in all livestock systems are the key factors to improve the net contribution of livestock production to human food supply, in particular if we consider that advances in food industry technology and modifications of human eating habits can reinforce the feed/food competition in the future

OVALI, Sustainability for Poultry®: A Method Co-Designed by Stakeholders to Assess the Sustainability of Chicken Supply Chains in Their Territories

International audienceSustainability is a challenging issue for livestock production, with many expectations from citizens and consumers. Thus, in order to improve existing production systems or design new ones, there is a need for sustainability assessment tools. We propose here a method based on a participatory approach to assess the sustainability of chicken supply chains. A participating group composed of various French stakeholders (poultry industry operators, research and development scientists, non-governmental organizations, etc.) was consulted to gather the various existing visions of sustainability. Each decision was validated by this group, and this resulted in the creation of a consensual assessment grid, based on economic, social, and environmental pillars, summarized in 9 goals, 28 criteria, and 45 indicators. Each item was weighted by the participating group according to their relative importance. The grid was then tested on two different French supply chains, producing either free-range or conventional standard chickens. The strengths, weaknesses, and improvement margins of each supply chain were identified. For conventional standard production, an improvement scenario was proposed, based on changes in chicken feed and the renovation of chicken houses. This new supply chain improved many criteria in the three pillars; such as economic competitiveness, European protein autonomy, social acceptance, and lower greenhouse gas emission. In conclusion, this method provides a robust and powerful tool to help stakeholders to start their own autonomous improvement process, and thus progress towards a more sustainable chicken production

Multicriteria assessment of different rearing systems for intermediary growing broilers

National audienc

Multiobjective formulation, a method to formulate eco-friendly and economic feed for monogastrics

Feed production represents more than 70% of several environmental impacts estimated by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in pig (P) and broiler (B) productions. Yet, least cost feed formulation (LCF) is not relevant to reduce the environmental impacts of P and B feeds. Optimising feed composition while taking into account environmental impacts of feedstuffs (FS) is a way to do so. This study describes a new method, multiobjective formulation (MOF), based on the simultaneous use of an economic index (based on feed cost) and an environmental index (using LCA impacts) in a single objective function to minimize. A weighting coefficient (α) allows giving more or less influence to these indexes. The best trade-off was considered to be reached for an optimal weighting coefficient (αopt) set to be the coefficient beyond which the marginal increase of the economic index exceeds the marginal decrease of the environmental index. In the actual French context of FS availability, important reductions in impacts of P and B feeds were achieved with MOF in comparison with LCF. In B, at αopt, reductions by 12, 18, 7, 4, and 12% were achieved for ‘climate change’ (CC), ‘non-renewable energy use’, ‘eutrophication’, ‘acidification’ and ‘phosphorus consumption’ impacts, respectively, for an extra cost of 3%. In P, similar reductions of these impacts were achieved at αopt: -14, -13, -11, -7, and -6%, respectively, for an extra cost of 1%. For ‘land occupation’ impact, MOF had little effect in B (+4%) whereas in P, it decreased by 13%. LCA impacts at farm gate of one kg of live weight of B and P fed with these eco-feeds were also assessed. They confirmed that MOF reduces the environmental impacts of P and B productions (e.g. for CC, -7 and -10%, respectively) without pollution swapping and with moderate extra costs (e.g. +1% and +2% in P and B, respectively). Greater reductions of impacts are even possible when FS availabilityis less limiting (e.g. -19% for CC in B), questioning the actual availability of low-impact FS such as pea or sorghum