First steps in feeding machines for insects

The demand for new sources of protein as an alternative to existing proteins, such as meat and soya has increased, with insects being a good alternative because they are full of protein. Insects can be grown on residual streams from the food chain, thus also contributing to sustainable livestock farming.

The market interest in insects for food (human food) but especially for feed (animal feed) has increased. For animal feed, there is demand for live larvae for the poultry sector and for insect oil for piglet and turkey feed. In order to meet the increasing demand, it is necessary to increase production capacity.

Insect Breeding requires a lot of manual labor
Feeding insects is labor intensive, as in most cases this is now done manually. Mechanization and automation are necessary to achieve higher production volumes and to keep the cost price attractive. This is where VDL Agrotech can contribute, given its years of experience in feeding machines.

Development of a feeding machine
Tim van Heertum was the first to start as project engineer at VDL Agrotech. Tim’s main focus is the development of feeding machines for insects.

“Insect breeders have the main expertise of insect breeding in the insect industry. They often know exactly what they desire because of their many years of experience. Close cooperation with the various parties ensures the correct input for the development of the feeding machine. Each breeder uses his own feed curves, which creates variation in volumes, recipes and feeding times. This requires a customized customer solution. That is something we are specialized in at VDL Agrotech. We have many years of experience in feeding machines for pigs and poultry. We can use this knowledge for the insect market,” says Tim van Heertum of VDL Agrotech.
            
VDL Agrotech offers solutions to simplify the current production process and will supply complete feeding machines for the insect market in the near future.