In its 2018 Global Feed Survey, Alltech reported that global animal feed volumes reached 1.07 billion metric tons, up 2.57 percent from the previous year.
The survey highlighted the top seven animal feed-producing countries, which account for a significant percentage of the total global animal feed production.
The top seven feed-producing countries are China, U.S., Brazil, Russia, Mexico, India and Spain. While China’s production shrunk 0.4 percent from the previous year, it still produced more animal feed than any other country, at 186.9 million metric tons. All of the other top producers saw growth in the past year.
The U.S. produced 173.0 mmt, up 2 percent from the previous year; Brazil produced 69.9 mmt, up 1 percent; Russia produced 37.6 mmt, up 19 percent; Mexico produced 34.4 mmt, up 2 percent; India produced 34.2 mmt, up 7 percent; and Spain produced 33.0 mmt, up 2 percent.
With 19 percent growth in the past year, Russia jumped from the seventh largest feed-producing region a year ago to the fourth this year.
“Russia has been the story for us this year. … There is a desire, clearly, from President Putin to focus increasingly on self-sufficiency and he wants to see that in broilers, eggs, milk and pork, and to replace imports with more and more local production,” said Aidan Connolly, Alltech’s chief innovation officer and vice president, corporate accounts, who presented the survey findings.
Alltech said Russia has 569 feed mills that produced 37.6 million metric tons of animal feed in 2017. Russia’s feed production for all major animal species was up.
“Russian growth was from all species, but in particular we saw very large growth in the production of feed for pigs and for dairy,” Connolly said.
Put together, the top seven feed-producing countries produced a large percentage of the total global production across several species:
- Aqua, 53 percent
- Broilers, 58 percent
- Layers, 47 percent
- Beef, 51 percent
- Dairy, 45 percent
- Pigs, 61 percent