Insects as animal feed READINGTIME 7 MINUTES SAVE AS PDF Can maggots help to save the climate? A growing number of pioneering thinkers around the world are convinced that they can – and are working to develop sustainable products based on insects PUBLICATION DATE26TH NOVEMBER 2021 TEXTTOM RADEMACHER Tom Rademacher is a freelance journalist based in Cologne. He writes about scientific and industrial topics, among others F our million creatures, densely packed together in dark metal boxes. “Yes, we carry out factory farming,” says Heinrich Katz with pride. In fact, the conditions inside the box are heavenly for the larvae of the black soldier fly that grow here. “They only feel well if they swarm around each other. They need warmth, darkness, and plenty of food,” says Katz. His company, Hermetia Baruth, is based in Baruth south of Berlin. The firm is Germany’s largest breeder of black soldier flies. These fingernail-size insects have elongated, slim-waisted bodies that make them look more like wasps than house flies. The creatures have become a beacon of hope for protecting the climate and the environment. From nutrition and cosmetics to mobility, the flies and the substances that are made from them are potential sources of benefits in innumerable areas. Another person who is enthusiastic about the black soldier fly is Thomas Häußner. “It turns residues that would otherwise be hardly usable into valuable protein that is ideal for use as animal feed,” he says. Häußner works at Evonik, where, among other things, he is responsible for strategic research and development projects related to animal feed. Since the summer of 2020, Evonik has been working together with the Bioresources division of the Fraunhofer IME in the INFeed research project, which receives funding from the German government and the state of Hesse. Experts think that there is a bright future for animal feed made from insects fed on leftover food. “The black soldier fly larvae are very quickly growing omnivores,” says Dr. Martin Rühl at the Fraunhofer Institute’s branch facility in Gießen. This makes them interesting as feed for pigs and chickens – and for fish, where they could substitute for fish meal and soybeans. Short and nutritious: The male flies are around 14 millimeters long, while the female ones measure 17 millimeters. BSFs are a non-invasive species and do not transmit any diseases The use of insects for economic purposes is by no means a new idea. “The silkworm has been cultivated for the past 5,000 years,” says Professor Andreas Vilcinskas, Head of the LOEWE Center for Insect Biotechnology & Bioresources, to which Rühl’s Fraunhofer team belongs. Completely new possibilities are opening up as genomes become more and more decoded. Vilcinskas sees himself as an ambassador for “yellow” biotechnology, which employs insects. He coined the term himself. “There is red biotechnology in medicine, green in agriculture, and white in industry. ‘Yellow’ was still up for grabs.” Insects have far more species than any other class within the animal kingdom. In fact, around 90 percent of all species on earth are insects. “They have an evolutionary head start of hundreds of millions of years and provide us with an unparalleled library of materials that we are now beginning to access,” says Vilcinskas. Among other things, he is investigating whether insect cells might be used to produce improved antibiotics. One of his studies is titled “Drugs from Bugs.” Another big topic he is addressing is nutrition. The black soldier fly, or BSF for short, is an inconspicuous critter, which inhabits subtropical regions. It doesn’t sting, bite, pester, or transmit diseases. Moreover, it doesn’t even eat. The adult fly only exists to procreate; it doesn’t even have mandibles. Before the larvae pupate, they therefore store up enough energy for the fly’s two-week existence. That makes them real eating machines – packed with calories. Leftover food, biowaste, excrement, cadavers – they aren’t choosy in their tastes. The larvae can consume almost any organic material except for wood. INSECT FARMING IS BOOMING Maggots get fat especially quickly if their feed has an optimal composition. This is where the researchers from Evonik can contribute their expertise because the company has, for almost 70 years now, been producing amino acids for offsetting nutrient fluctuations in animal feed. These amino acids enable chickens, pigs, salmon, and prawns to optimally utilize their feed. “Within the INFeed project, we are responsible for analyzing and optimizing the feed,” says Häußner. These measures are improving not only the feed for the larvae, but also the feed that is produced from the larvae for the feeding of other animals. Next Part PART1/2/3/READ ON ONE PAGE Foresight Cheese without cows In the future, dairy products could be manufactured without any components of animal origin through fermentation by microorganisms. Animal nutrition A Close Look How the use of big data and biotech in poultry farming improves animal welfare—and reduces the use of resources. Omega-3 fatty acids Small Algae, Big Effect Many people do not consume enough omega-3 fatty acids. What can help? Microalgae from the ocean. Nutrition How to succeed at sustainable agriculture Felix Prinz zu Löwenstein explains the steps to make organic farming possible. 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