7. The animal feed industry and livestock performance

Thailand has a surplus in energy feeds but a deficit in protein feeds. As is the case for cattle, which have been promoted by the government in restructuring of agricultural production systems, a shortage of hay and pasture for feeding dairy cattle in the dry season is a problem that is expected to be exacerbated as the number of dairy cattle expands (Sectoral Economics Program 1995). Rice straw, the main roughage used during the dry season, is of low quality resulting in a loss in condition by animals receiving rice straw as the sole nutrient. In the early 1980s, about 23 million tonnes of rice straw was available for animal feed (Srisunt 1991). Agro-industrial by-products are an important source of feed for ruminants. Pineapple waste silage and leaves from baby-corn canning factories have been used for cattle fattening and on dairy farms. Water scarcity is a problem for the livestock sector. Farmers do not pay for surface water hence there is no incentive for farmer to use it efficiently. The livestock industries have experienced problems obtaining water for animals to drink, for the cleaning of animals and their pens and for cooling pigs in the summer when it is hot and dry.

The Thai government reduced the import duty on soybean meal from 10 percent to 5 percent in May 1997 in a bid to help lower production costs for meat producers. It was hoped that through the lowering of these costs, that the competitiveness of Thailand's meat exporters in international markets would be improved. The government has other regulations designed to assist Thailand's soybean producers. One of these required that feedmilling companies, meat producers and vegetable oil refineries buy soybeans in the late 1990s at Bt 8.50 per kg at the factory, or at Bt 8 per kg at the farm.

Table 7.1 Wholesale price of animal feed at the Bangkok market, in Baht per kg

Notes: ^(a) 58 percent to 62.9 percent protein; ^(b) 55 percent to 57.9 percent protein.

Source: Department of Economics and Trade. Data from 1966 to 1998 are from Livestock Situation 1998 and Trend of 1999. Data for 1999 are from Livestock Situation 1999 and Trend of 2000

In the dairy industry, most farmers use mixed feed as a concentrate. This feed is produced in Thailand by large private companies and then distributed by the dairy cooperatives. With regard to the amount of concentrate used, a general rule of thumb seems to be that farmers gives each cow an amount equal to half the quantity of milk produced per milking cow. The quality of the feed is sometimes uncertain as it is low in energy and protein. This makes it difficult for animals to recover condition after calving. With regard to roughage, systematic data are not available. However, the feeding of 30 kg to 40 kg of fresh roughage (stems and leaves) during the rainy season and unlimited amounts of rice straw during the dry season seems to be a common practice. Other roughage fed to the animals includes sugar cane tops, and the dried stems and leaves of peanuts and soybean. It is likely that roughage requirements of many farms with dairy cattle are inadequate during the dry season. The important role played by rice as a source of feed means that farmers with ruminants are likely to select rice varieties for the foliage material that is produced by the plant, not just the quantity of grain that the plant yields.

As noted earlier in this paper, producers in the pig industry follow modern western-style practices. While the commercial feedmills produce pellet sized broiler feeds and protein supplements, there is a wide range of on-farm feed produced. Kanto (1991) reports that “more than 70 percent of pig farmers in the country have adopted on-farm feed production ...” (p.343). This seems to have been successful as supervision by premix companies ensures that the feeds used by these farmers are competitive with those used by farmers in the feedmill integrated system. Piglets are weaned at 28 days and require another 140 to 150 days to reach the market weight of approximately 100 to 105 kg. Average performance for the industry is shown in Table 7.2.

Table 7.2 Performance of the pig industry

Source: Kanto (1991), p.343

In the broiler industry, birds reach an average weight of 1.8 to 2.0 kg within seven weeks with a feed conversion ratio of 2 to 2.2, depending on the feed mixture. The birds are fed commercially produced pelleted rations. In the early 1990s, this form of feed represented about 90 percent of the total feed used in the broiler industry (Kanto 1991). Different diets have to be used during hot weather as high-energy rations have led to high mortality rates.

Broken rice (a by-product of the rice milling process) and corn are the most popular base ingredients for the poultry industry and the pig industry. Rice bran makes up no more than 30 percent of pig finishing rations because of its bulk. Corn produced in tropical countries such as Thailand is susceptible to bacterial contamination when there is moisture in the atmosphere. Hence, corn has to be dried to approximately 13 percent moisture as soon as possible following harvest (Kanto 1991). Sorghum and cassava are being progressively accepted as substitutes for pig and poultry rations. The main protein supplements used in the pig and poultry industries are soybean meal and fishmeal. Peanut meal, sunflower meal and sesame seed are generally used as substitutes.