Despite facing supply chain issues, increased materials expenses, and other economic difficulties, the worldwide production of animal feed remained fairly stable in 2022, while the production of pet food significantly increased to keep up with the growing number of pet owners. Alltech has published its 2023 Global Feed Survey and Agri-Food Outlook report, which outlines global animal feed and pet food production for 2022 and provides projections for 2023. The report, which draws on data from over 28,000 feed mills in 142 countries, is released annually.

According to Alltech’s 2022 Global Feed Survey and Agri-Food Outlook report, the worldwide production of animal feed was relatively stable, with a slight decrease of 0.42% to 1.27 billion tonnes (BT). This decline is attributed to various factors such as animal diseases, extreme weather, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which disrupted feed production in over 80% of the reporting countries.

The Asia-Pacific region continues to lead in feed production, but there was a slight decline of 0.51% to 465.54 MT. Europe follows closely behind, with an estimated production of 263.23 MT, a decrease of 4.67% from the previous year. North America saw a small increase of 0.88% to 261.39 MT, while Latin America’s total feed production rose by 1.6% to 190.91 MT.

The Middle East experienced the largest growth in total feed production, with an increase of 24.73% to 31.79 MT, while Africa witnessed the largest decrease of 3.86%, bringing its total feed production to 42.79 MT. Oceania remains the lowest producer of animal feed, although there was a slight increase of 0.32% to 10.45 MT.

The Top 10 feed-producing countries, which consume more than half (64%) of the world’s total feed, are:

1. China (260.74 MT)
2. United States (240.40 MT)
3. Brazil (81.95 MT)
4. India (43.360 MT)
5. Mexico (40.138 MT)
6. Russia (34.15 MT)
7. Spain (31.23 MT)
8. Vietnam (26.72 MT)
9. Argentina (25.74 MT)
10. Germany (24.34 MT)

With the exception of Vietnam, most of the top 10 countries in animal feed production experienced only small increases or decreases in production. Vietnam witnessed a significant increase of 27.72% compared to 2021, enabling it to surpass Argentina and Germany. Meanwhile, in 2022, Russia overtook Spain, which experienced a 12.85% reduction.

All of the top three countries, including China, the United States, and Brazil, reported supply chain disruptions that are impacting their production. In China, high ingredient prices, low producer returns, animal diseases, and geopolitical events are affecting production. The United States is grappling with high material costs and low producer returns, while Brazil is facing severe weather problems and geopolitical events. To counter these challenges, these countries are implementing various technological solutions, such as artificial intelligence, biosecurity measures, and data collection and analysis.