The Principles of Feed Preservation

South Africa is known for seasons where abundant feed production takes place, and seasons where high-quality feed is scarce. It stands to reason then that feed should be collected and preserved during the seasons of plenty so that ample feed is available during times of scarcity.

In general, South African livestock farming, especially ruminant production, takes place under extensive conditions. It is in these farming systems that feed preservation is most often practised. In South Africa, the most common forms of feed preservation are the making of hay or silage.

In contrast, the production systems of pigs and poultry are intensive. In these systems, the feeds provided to mono-gastric animals are manufactured either by the farmer or commercial feed manufacturers. This has allowed the formulation of feeds for mono-gastric animals to the level of precision where particular amino acids are perfectly balanced to meet the requirements of mono-gastric animals at a particular level of production.