Pelletized vitamin-grass meal: past, present and future

     The pelletized vitamin-grass meal is a natural protein-vitamin meal (additive in feed) for the livestock animals, which is produced from grass being harvested in early phase of vegetation, fast dried under high temperature, milled into flour and then pressed into pellets.

It is generally known, that the basic ration of many agricultural livestock consists of grass. As far as fresh grass is available only during summer time, so it is harvested for future use in that period. Previously the grass had been harvested for farmyard period mainly by way of drying into hay. The methods of better grass conservation with useful components had appeared during the development of technology. One of it is the production of vitamin-grass meal and pellets. Notwithstanding, that the grass meal and grass pellets depend to rough feed, as per the energy value they come near to concentrates. Accurately prepared meal (or pellets) less defers on general nutrition to grain feeds, and contains in one kilogram 100-140 gof digestible protein, 200-300 gof carotene, almost all the essential amino acids. The use of pelletized vitamin-grass meal in feeding of animals and poultry significantly increases the indicators of efficiency (weight gain, milk yield, egg-laying qualities), while this, the unit costs of pelletized vitamin-grass meal in part of vitamin content is noticeably less than for synthetic vitamins. For these reasons, the pelletized vitamin-grass meal is the most demanding product.

As far as the prime cost of grass pellets production made up near 3400 rubles/ton in the summer of 2012, and the selling price started from 11 000 rubles/ton, so the production of pelletized vitamin-grass meal becomes a highly profitable and could be considered as a self-sufficient business.

The freshly cut grass of legumes, cereals and motley green mass make the production of grass meal and grass pellets. Also the significant success has been achieved in the production of pelletized vitamin-grass meal from the top of tuber crops, and particularly from topinambour for the last period of time.

The industrial technology of grass meal has a great value. It is familiar that vitamins collapse rapidly (in a matter of seconds) under vigorous heating. That is why, for the manufacture of pelletized vitamin-grass meal the cut grass should be dried to 9-12 % of moisture for the several seconds. The form and condition of storage essentially influence on the content of nutritional agent and vitamins in the grass meal: in a pelletized shape the preservation of nutritive substances is higher, so for the long-term storage (and also for the cheaper transportation) the grass meal should be pelletized.

     The production of pelletized vitamin-grass meal:

1. Past.

In the USSR (in Lithuania) approximately 800 sets for the production of pelletized vitamin-grass meal had been manufactured and installed in the collective farms during 60-80-es of last century, which consisted from the so-called aggregates of vitamin flour (AVM- 1,5 and AVM-0,65) and equipment of pelletizing meal (OGM-1,5 and OGM-0,65). Several hundreds similar sets had been delivered more fromPoland.  In theUSSRthe production volume of grass meal amounted in 1965 – 82 thousand tons, in 1970 – 820 thousand tons, in 1975 – more then 4 million tons.

2. Present.

While searching in Internet the required “production of vitamin grass meal” or “sale of grass meal”, you can find the information of not more than ten operating enterprises inRussia, several companies fromHungaryoffer the pelletized vitamin-grass meal. Thus, practically all the demands in pelletized vitamin-grass meal are covered by import.

3. Future.

According to various estimations the need in pelletized vitamin-grass meal inRussiacompiles from 800 000 to 1 300 000 tons (do not forget about 4 millions tons in 1975).

Reasons and backgrounds of extensive growth of pelletized vitamin-grass meal in the nearest future:

1. The production growth of meat, milk and eggs in the RF as an objective market factor and as an implementation of the governmental course for food security purposes.

2. The high economic benefits on use of feeding of live-stock animals.

3. The huge opportunities of consumption under practically deficiency of offer.

4. The market appearance of new, power efficiency and cheap production technologies of pelletized vitamin-grass meal.

5.  The successful solution for the substantial cost-cutting of fuel factor in the structure of cost production of pelletized vitamin-grass meal by way of heat generators creation, operating on agricultural residues and other cheap types of fuel.

6. The countrywide refusal from import of synthetic vitamins due to its expensiveness and ecological hazard, as a result of state course on import substitution.

Details – on web site www.sp-co.ru

Slipchenko P.P.