This year, Bulgaria’s Feed Manufacturers Association (BFMA) conference, sponsored by USSEC, met on April 18 and 19 in the city of Varna. More than 90 delegates, representing over 75 percent of the industrial feed manufactured in Bulgaria, were in attendance at the country’s main industry meeting.

The agenda included high-level presentations related to the present and future of the global and local feed industry. Several U.S. suppliers of feed manufacturing, oilseed crushing technologies, and feed additives joined the event and were a large part of the conference agenda, with the goal to promote U.S. products.
As the keynote speaker, USSEC consultant Dr. Iani Chihaia updated industry delegates on the challenges and opportunities arising from the world’s feed and livestock industries’ search for protein ingredients.

The speaker dedicated special focus to U.S. Soy’s distinctive quality attributes: soundness of the beans, better processing, and higher amino acids digestibility and energy levels. The portion of the presentation dedicated to alternative and novel protein ingredients generated lively discussions, proving once again the importance of soy for profitable animal production and the importance of proper nutritional and economical evaluation of alternative and novel protein sources.

The key conclusion of the protein sources discussion panel at the BFMA conference was that soybean meal remains the preferred protein ingredient in poultry and swine diets, while careful evaluation is needed for alternative ingredients before making any purchasing decisions. As for novel protein sources, this requires special attention, especially in the areas where there is no experience in using such materials in animal feeding. The growing Bulgarian feed, poultry, and swine industries deserve attention from USSEC’s future activities because the use of U.S. Soy provides a real opportunity to increase the competitiveness of the local meat producing industries.