October 26, 2006

Australian farmers to import more alternative cattle feed

Dairy farmers in Australia would continue to use alternative feeds such as palm kernel meal as grain supplies tighten.

Grain prices jumped from US$215 to US$360 per tonne in recent weeks, said farmers in the state of Victoria. To counter that, dairy farmers might have to import more of the alternative feeds, said an analyst from grain price monitoring company AWF.

They could derive their requirements of energy protein and amino acids from products like palm kernel meal coming from Malaysia, he explained. Palm kernel meal was a good economic feed for cattle, both for fattening and supplementary feeding.

In the last couple of years, there has been an increasing use of palm kernel meal due to its low price availability from Malaysia.

Another source he pointed out could be corn gluten meal from the US.