Removal of water is essential for stabilization, and for the reduction of transportation and storage costs. However, dehydration can be an extremely costly process, and wet feeding, if feasible, should be considered first. A study in Israel on the economics of waste as feed indicated that the most profitable way to dispose of citrus processing waste is to feed it as such to dairy cattle. Fortunately for Israel, citrus plants and dairy farms are not too far apart. This is not the case for many citrus-producing areas in the world.
Ensilage is a process of great value in the production of feed from waste.
It may be regarded as an in-storage stabilization process, resulting, if properly done, in considerable improvement of the microbiological and nutritional quality of the feed. Thermal processes or treatment with chemicals such as acids or formaldehyde may be necessary for the destruction of pathogenic organisms. For these and other reasons, the value of wastes as feed is often considerably less than the value that would be assigned to them by a computer programmed for least-cost feed formulation. We designate these factors as primary toxicology, primary parasitology, primary microbiology, etc. These factors are the subject matter of secondary toxicology, parasitology, microbiology, etc.