3.9 Future trends
Feed cost represents the major item in the cost of animal production. Without doubt, efforts will continue to refine feed manufacturing techniques to reduce cost of feed and to increase its value to the target animal. Some of the following future trends will play a role for improving the quality of feeds.
Odour control
Given current trend in dust emission control, the next step may be odour control for CFPs. Technology is presently available to reduce odour emission to near zero. However, it is costly and adds no value to the product.
In-line pellet moisture monitor
Rising costs of raw materials increase the demand for product optimization and yields. Now, the means of accurately controlling the moisture content within a batch flow process has been finally breached within the industry (Fig. 3.21). Several prototype and production models of in-line pellet moisture monitors are available. For successful adoption, these monitors must be given feedback control capabilities to be able to control residence time and air flow in coolers. Both temperature and moisture content are important to shelf-life and must be controlled. In addition to controlling coolers and dryers, in-line moisture monitoring and control is being adopted in the pre-pellet area. The concept is to refine management of feed moisture to improve pellet quality and production rate while controlling moisture shrink in the final product.
