The Institute for Feed Education and Research, in collaboration with the American Feed Industry Association and North American Renderers Association’s research arm the Fats and Proteins Research Foundation, are announcing a new report that quantifies the amount of feed consumed by America’s major livestock, poultry and aquaculture species. In 2023, US livestock, poultry and farmed aquaculture consumed approximately 283.6 million tons of feed, according to the IFEEDER report.

“The new IFEEDER feed consumption data demonstrates the vital role that feed mills, ingredient suppliers, liquid feed manufacturers, renderers and row crop farmers play in keeping animals fed throughout their lives, which, in turn, provides Americans with nutritious meat, milk and eggs,” said Lara Moody, IFEEDER's executive director. “On behalf of our project partners AFIA and FPRF, IFEEDER is pleased to make this data readily available as part of its ongoing mission to advance understanding and trust in a sustainable animal feed supply chain.”

The project, conducted by researchers at Decision Innovation Solutions, which has conducted similar studies in the past for IFEEDER, used a ration cost-optimization model to quantify the consumption of feed ingredients for the major animal species. Excluding harvested forages and roughages, the study found that in 2023, beef cattle consumed the most feed at 76.7 million tons, followed by broilers at 61.5 million tons, hogs at 60.9 million tons, dairy cattle at 48.7 million tons, egg-laying hens at 17.7 million tons, turkeys at 10.9 million tons, horses at 5.3 million tons, sheep and goats at 1.2 million tons and aquaculture at 615,800 tons.

The report primarily examined nearly 70 unique feed ingredients used among the studied species, finding that by weight, corn tops the list at 159.4 million tons, followed by soybean meal at 35.4 million tons, corn distillers’ dried grains at 32.6 million tons, wheat middlings at 5.6 million tons and canola meal at 5.2 million tons. Recognizing that feed often complements harvested forages and roughages (e.g., corn silage, alfalfa hay, other hay, legume silage, corn stalks, sorghum silage and wheat straw) in ruminant diets, DIS calculated that dairy and beef cattle, sheep, goats and horses consumed 267.4 million tons of those ingredients. The report also found that 37% of total feed consumption (excluding harvested forages and roughages) came from “circular” ingredients, which are coproducts or byproducts from the human food industry or other industrial processes that might otherwise go to landfill.

“Many Americans may be surprised to learn that US feed mills and rendering facilities work closely with their local bakeries, food processors and ethanol facilities to capture nutritious ingredients, some of which might otherwise go to waste, and through a highly regulated process, safely feed them to animals,” said Moody. “With more than one-third of production animal diets’ consisting of circular ingredients, our industry is doing its part to reduce waste.”

Five states topped the list in the tonnage of feed ingredients fed to animals in 2023, including Iowa at 29.1 million tons (primarily to hogs, beef cattle and egg-layers), Texas at 24.4 million tons (primarily to beef cattle, dairy cattle and broilers), Nebraska at 17.3 million tons (primarily to beef cattle and hogs), North Carolina at 15.5 million tons (primarily to hogs, broilers and turkeys), and Kansas at 15.3 million tons (primarily to beef cattle, hogs and dairy cattle).

IFEEDER thanks ED&F Man Commodities, the National Corn Growers Association and Westway Feed Products for providing financial contributions to support this research project. One hundred percent of IFEEDER donations support funding for research, education and sustainability initiatives on behalf of the US animal food industry.

Source: Institute for Feed Education and Research