On 7th September we travelled to Kumhausen, Germany. At a farm of a local farmer, Mr. Bauer, we presented soybean extrusion with the extruder FE 100 Clever. Farmet was represented by the head of the test room and a sales partner of the OFT division.
How did the idea of demonstrating the extruder in practice come about?
This could happen thanks to the excellent relations between our company, the Danube Soya association, and a university in Bavaria where the farm owner’s son is studying. Mr. Bauer is an important local producer working on fields of an area of 150 ha. He mostly grows maize and soya. He also produces his own feed to feed over 500 pigs and 80 brood sows.
How did the demonstration go?
After plugging in the extruder and proper calibration of the supply conveyor we started the machine. In a short time it reached required parameters, temperature, and a performance output of about 100 kg/hr. After a tour of the farm there was a meeting with university professors, journalists, and photographs.
The interest in soya processing was considerable. We processed over 600 kg of material and the people really liked the quality of the final product, the extrudate. Afterwards there were many interesting technical questions about soya extrusion, soya toasting, differences in feed production, urease activity, and economical aspects. To sum up, extrusion is popular because it leads to a manifold decrease in urease activity values, which in turn increases the quality and digestibility of feed.