Animal feed production has globally transformed during the 21st century as inventive technologies have combined organic and inorganic forms to create new-kind nutritional feeds. Pellet was originally known as a kind of fuel produced by compressing all forestry debris in mill machines. Giving out carbon monoxide only at a 4% level, this environment-friendly energy source has inspired researchers and industry developers in the sense that it may become a nutritional fortifier for poultry, fish, and cattle. Being an innovative outcome of the integration of agriculture and industry, animal feed pellet is preferable for several reasons. In the feed industry, feed mill profitability is a crucial point. Feed pelleting contributes to positive marks on economic issues as it increases feed production rate and decreases feed loss while lowering input costs. Feed pelleting also minimizes time and effort for shipping requires smaller funding and is easy-to-use at smaller enterprises. The question is how feed pelleting idea has transformed this innovative technology?
How Has Feed Pelleting Evolved?
Feed pellet has been innovative progress for feed manufacturing. The early forms of feed pellets were supposed to be used as horse feed by British horse farmers in the 19th century. The early compound feeds, the origins of recent feed pellets, were like baked biscuits which had been produced of oats, peas, rye, flax, wheat, and maize. The nourishing content of the 19th century’s animal feed was an inspiration for more compact and more palatable feeds. Technological advancements made it happen and introduced the pelleting process in the early 1900s. Thus, the first form of feed pelleting process started to be used in the 1920s and 1930s in Europe. Of course, the first feed pelletizers were quite different than the ring die forms of today. Those first pelletizers composed of two counter-rotating dimpled rollers which produced wafers of low density. This was not very helpful to transport huge amounts of pellets. The first forms did not have feed mash conditioning items either. Innovation was done by Schüler-type pellet press, which is also known as the flat die pellet press. This new form consisted of a stationary flat die on which two rollers were mounted. The flat die form was very like the grinding stones on a wind or water mill. By the end of the 1930s, the conditioning of feed mash was sustained by installing first conditioners to the feed pellet mills. These ripeners transported feed mash in the process while adding some steam to moisturize the pellet. Heat and moisture were the two components of pellet conditioning. After the 1960s, the main focus changed more onto the production of stronger pellets with more nutritional value. During the 1980s and the 1990s, this was performed by using high shear conditioners, such as expanders to get better physical quality in the feed pellet. The millennial changes introduced the new concept of food safety and the role of feed pellet has evolved into a trend to maintain the role of feed in the food chain for different kinds of species like poultry, cattle, and others.
How to Achieve Good Quality Feed Pellets?
For commercial feed mills and for feed producers, to know how to achieve good quality pellet press is a must. There are three significant factors to designate the best quality feed pellet:
The quality of animal feed upgraded by changes in its physical structure, chemical composition, and applied technologies. Feed pellet press maximizes the quality of animal feed by several steps in the process. When the pellet mill works, semi-manufactured feed undergoes the vaporization process and gets softer. While rolls and discs compress the material, the feed pellet takes the perfect dimension needed for the animal type. The diameter of the pellet press helps you get the required size for your poultry, cattle, or pets. Vaporization gelatinizes the starch in the material, which lubricates pellet feed and helps animal’s digestion. The technique also kills salmonella and some other harmful bacteria in the body.
Is Pellet Mill Functional for Feed Industry?
The widespread use of pellet press in the animal feed industry devotes its popularity to its functional use. Pellet press is commonly used in the food industry, animal feed, and composite feed industries as well as fertiliser production areas and composite feed plants. Pellet mill machines are even used in wood flour, forage, and clover pelleting plants.
What makes feed pelleting mills so functional is their ability to produce huge amounts of animal food in short periods. If you are planning to set a pellet mill for commercial use, it is better to invest in a plant-requiring pellet press. You can check the leading manufacturer Yemtar and its products to learn more about different pellet press options.
