It's like vacuuming, but different. Shortly after the turbo blowers have been switched on and created enough vacuum, the corn is sucked out of the vessel. Although this is not the only way to empty a ship of cargo, Vigan in Belgium is devoted to pneumatic ship unloading of bulky materials. Feed Tech asked commercial director Alain de Visscher to explain why.

One cannot do much about the moisture content of grains in the field, but it is possible to influence the cost of drying these grains after harvest. Clever engineering can perfect the drying process for optimum results.

Since its introduction the use of big-bags or Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBC) has soared. Flexibility, tailor made design, speed, hygiene and ergonomic operation are the latest trends in modern big bag filling systems.

In many countries feed is transported in bulk. However, in areas where logistics are a bottleneck or farms are relatively small much feed is still transported in bags. 'Small' products or single feed ingredients are also often transported in bags. So there is quite an industry involved in this sector, and this industry in evolving quickly.

When bagging products one has to be sure that the bags are securely closed. At Dutch young animal feed specialist Nutrifeed an acoustic sensor immediately warns the operator if a bag is leaking.

Packaging animal feed has always been a challenge. Jörg Rosegger of Austrian packaging specialist Binder+Co describes in a case study for high-speed bagging of animal feed why the main challenges lie in handling different products and bag sizes, and packaging sticky products.

In the rush to improve zootechnical performance, good feed design doesn't end with formulation. Advances in feed technology are somewhat overlooked. Previous Feed Mix editor Sarah Mellor went back to school, where Nutreco's Marleen Vrij demonstrated how small changes make big differences.

In this regular contribution to Feed Tech, Dr Joachim Hertrampf comments on issues that affect shrimp farming and feeding. Dr Hertrampf writes on this issue regularly as a consultant for the monthly newsletter 'Shrimp Matters', of The Waterbase in Chennai, India. This column focuses on the importance of proper feed storage.

The final stage of feed pellets at the manufacturing plant is eventually the load-out. In logistics this is a crucial point in the feed-to-farm tract. Fast load-out and accurate planning avoids build-up of stocks. Cooperative feedmiller ForFarmers in The Netherlands invested €8 million in a new load-out and logistic system and the electrical and automation system of the mill in Lochem, The Netherlands.