As pet food production increases in the United States, the dog, cat, and other pet food industries’ demand for animal protein may exceed the supply from the United States agricultural system. Researchers at Kansas State University will present a paper on this, “Animal Protein-Based Ingredients in Animal Food: An Analysis of Supply Chain and Market Drivers,” at the 2022 Agricultural and Applied Economics Association annual meeting in Anaheim, California, from July 31 to August. 2. According to the researchers in their examination of the interplay between human and pet food ingredients demands, animal protein production constraints were one of the supply chain issues facing the pet food industry now and in the near future.
“The growth rate of US pet food production and a comparison of US cattle slaughter to human consumption can be used to determine whether animal protein is growing fast enough to sustain growth in pet food,” researchers involved. pet food industry ingredient issues Columnist Greg Aldrich, PhD, professor and pet food program coordinator Kansas State Universitywrote, “…the units of pet food produced in the US are growing faster than animals killed for human consumption … This is important because if these growth rates continue there will be a point where there will no longer be enough animal protein. Will not-based ingredients to meet the needs of pet food production.”
In their study, the researchers learned that, of the 8.9 million tons of protein food produced annually in the US, pet food production accounts for 1.5 million tons (16.85%). 1.83 million tons of meat, poultry and organ byproducts are used directly from slaughter in dog, cat and other pet food. A 2011 study found that 31% of the ingredients produced in the US and Canada went into pet food. Pet food is the largest user of poultry by-product meal and non-ruminant mammalian meat by-product meal.
Pet Food Industry Supply Chain Challenges
The pet food industry’s reliance on animal protein sources similar to people’s can result in competition and supply issues. Other pet food items also face logistics difficulties.
“Supply chain challenges involving materials, labor and transportation are major issues affecting the pet food industry,” the researchers wrote. “These issues will likely be exacerbated by government mandates in 2022 and tax incentives associated with renewable diesel production. Speaking with industry stakeholders at the Petfood Forum 2022, provided more insight into the supply chain issues in the pet food industry. Some of these issues include labor shortages to meet demand, the opportunity cost of raw materials consuming pet food, and long waiting times to obtain materials from imports. Some rendering companies are having problems with upstream supply chain issues at the meat processing level.”
