Pressure is mounting on poultry farmers to prevent phosphate contamination of rivers and changes to layer diets is one way the poultry sector can reduce phosphate excretion from birds.
In Season 3, Episode 1 of the Wynnstay Agri-Hub Podcast, my colleague Julie Wright, Company Nutritionist at Wynnstay, and Eloise Lawlor, Commercial Poultry Nutritionist at Premier Nutrition, explain how they have reduced phosphorus levels in Wynnstay rations and why this is important for egg producers.
Read more: Our mission to reduce phosphorus levels in our layer feeds
What changes have been made to the ration to reduce potential contamination?
Birds have a requirement for phosphorous; this is included in diets in the form of rock phosphate, such as monocalcium phosphate (MCP), or dicalcium phosphate, which is a finite resource.
However, some phosphate within poultry diets is provided in the form of phytate phosphorous – this is indigestible to the birds and can act as an anti-nutritional factor which can affect the utilisation of all other raw materials.
To overcome this, Premier Nutrition and Wynnstay have used a higher dose of enzyme phytase in layer feeds to break down the bound phytate phosphate and make it more digestible to birds.
This reduces the need to add as much rock phosphate into the diet and therefore reduces phosphorus excretion.
What are the wider implications of this?
MCP is mined from geopolitical regions like Russia and over the past year supply has been disrupted and prices have been volatile because of the war with Ukraine. Reducing the UK’s reliance on sources of MCP will help reduce cost and supply volatility.
How do the diet changes impact bird performance?
Bird performance has not changed because the dose of phytase has been optimised for available phosphorous to get the most out of the ration. Diets have been formulated to available phosphorous rather than total phosphorous because it is the available phosphorous that birds can utilise.
The trial results can be summarised as follows:
- Since the change has been implemented on farms, no negative impact has been seen on bird performance
- The changes have been made on a cost-neutral basis
- Feed efficiency and utilisation are better with the higher dose of phytase, so overall it is a benefit to the bird as well as the environment
- The diets are now more precise in terms of what the birds need.
Are you aware of any changes being made at a processor level?
Although legislative requirements for a diet change have not yet been made at a processor or government level, being ahead of the curve is a good thing. Wynnstay is being proactive and making changes where it sees there is a benefit and it makes economic sense. If the industry is slow at adapting and making these changes to diets, then somebody further up the chain will enforce that change at some point.
Are there any further changes that can be made to help tackle environmental challenges in feeds?
Long-term, genetics will play a big role in reducing emissions, however, diets are where poultry producers can make the easiest wins short-term by formulating rations to meet exact requirements. Protein in diets is another area to consider because nitrogen excretion is another route of pollution. Poultry farmers must ensure they are not supplying excessive levels of nitrogen in very high crude protein diets when birds do not need it.
Instead, poultry rations can be formulated with digestible amino acids to reduce crude protein levels and match bird requirements as best as possible. To achieve the government’s net zero targets and meet environmental requirements, poultry farmers should start making these changes now. Going forward, monitoring and management are going to be key; farmers must know their carbon footprint baseline and what they can do to make improvements.
Listen to Season 2, Episode 8 of the Wynnstay Agri-Hub Podcast to hear more https://www.wynnstay.co.uk/wynnstay-agri-hub-podcast.