Summary of Mildew Prevention Experience
As the temperature rises and the rainy season arrives, the air humidity increases and the temperature difference between day and night is large. Feed can easily absorb moisture from the air, increasing the water activity in the feed. Mold can easily reproduce and grow rapidly under the appropriate water activity and temperature, and the feed is prone to mildew.
1. Strictly control the feed raw material standards.
The raw materials that meet the company’s raw material standards are the raw materials we need. Avoid using moldy raw materials and over-watered raw materials.
2. Use high-moisture raw materials with caution.
Such as: wet fermentation raw materials, water-permeable feed raw materials, water-absorbing feed raw materials, high-moisture bran, molasses, etc. If there is no way to avoid these raw materials, when using mold inhibitors, you need to choose special mold inhibitors for wet materials or increase the mold inhibitor by 2-3 times or more on the basis of the normal addition amount. The mold inhibitor is better when it is premixed with the wet raw materials.
3. Choose a mildew inhibitor product that suits your process.
For example: choose pure propionic acid or “propionic acid + sodium/ammonium propionate” products for powder; choose “propionic acid + sodium/ammonium propionate” products for granular materials; extruded feed requires high temperature resistant “calcium propionate, sorbic acid, etc.” products; feed with a particularly long shelf life needs to choose “calcium propionate, propionic acid + sodium propionate, sorbic acid, etc.” products with poor volatility; use special mildew inhibitors or significantly increase the amount of addition when using raw materials with high moisture content.
4. Pay attention to the stability of the mould inhibitor product itself.
Will the effective ingredients of the mould inhibitor product decrease with the increase of the shelf life; whether the effective ingredients between batches or within the same batch are consistent.
5. Be sure to add and use mold inhibitor products correctly.
Anti-mildew products are generally volatile and permeable, and most of their ingredients are acids. It is not recommended to premix anti-mildew products with other small raw materials to make core materials. Otherwise, it will easily reduce the effect of the anti-mildew (acid-base reaction) and be accompanied by phenomena such as heating of the core material (except for pure calcium propionate type anti-mildew agents). It is recommended to add the anti-mildew directly to the small material outlet of the full-price material.
6. The amount of anti-mold products added must be reasonable.
The amount of anti-mold products added should be based on the highest amount of moisture in the batch feed, not the average amount of moisture.
7. The amount of anti-mold products added must be accurate.
When adding anti-mold products, it cannot be an approximate amount, and the batching personnel must weigh and add.
8. The anti-mold should be used up as soon as possible after opening the package.
The unused anti-mold after opening the package cannot be stored for a long time, otherwise the anti-mold effect will decrease.
9. The steam pressure needs to be stable.
When starting the machine every day, the water vapor in the early stage should be exhausted as much as possible, and the steam pressure supply should be stable to avoid high moisture in local feed.
10. The head and tail materials must not enter the finished product directly.
It needs to be returned to the same batch or the next batch of products through the system or manually.
11. Avoid equipment residues and clean the residues in the equipment regularly.
In spring and summer, it is recommended to clean the equipment that is easy to aggregate once a day, and the entire production line should be thoroughly cleaned once a week.
12. Pay attention to the packaging temperature of the feed.
The temperature of feed packaging must be close to room temperature (no more than 3°C), and there should be no hot feed or high-temperature feed.
13. Feed storage and transportation need to avoid rain and exposure.
During storage, pay attention to ventilation and padding. Exposure during transportation is often overlooked.
Feed mold is not inevitable. The key is that we must select the right feed raw materials, choose the right antifungal products, and manage all aspects of production, transportation, storage, etc.
