1. The U.S. pet food market plans to introduce a new type of commercial pet food protein.
In the future, friends may eat American commercial pet food that uses elk meat or bison as the main source of protein.
Over the past few decades, with the combined efforts of environmentalists and farmers, elk and bison in North America have gone from being endangered in the 1880s to becoming commonplace everywhere.
With the development of sustainable agriculture in the United States in recent years, people have begun to look for alternative meats for wild animals, so the demand for bison and elk meat has increased.
2. Bison and elk meat are uncommon in commercial pet food in the United States
Dave Carter of the American Bison Association said: "Many people now find that the bison they raise not only have a delicious taste, but also have rich nutrients, and many owners want their pets to eat them as well." ”
In order to meet market demand, U.S. commercial pet food manufacturers began to introduce a new type of American commercial pet food with elk meat and bison as the main protein sources.
But they are still uncommon in U.S. commercial pet food products.
In the pet food database for the pet food industry, only 36 U.S. commercial pet food products, snacks, and nutritional supplements contain Bison of the Americas.
Elk is used even less, with only 7 products using elk, most of which are "dog bite glue" made from elk antlers.
Now more and more commercial pet food manufacturers in the United States have planned to add them as a new type of protein to pet food to help brands stand out.
The advantage of bison and elk meat is that in addition to their delicious taste, their meats are more protein-rich and lower in fat and cholesterol.
3, people are gradually accepting the existence of by-products
Although the internal organs are not pretty, they are really nutritious.
Dave Carter of the American Bison Association said:
"20 years ago, bison ranchers mainly sold meats such as tenderloin, rib eye meat and steak in bison, while other nutritionally valuable offal of bison had little marketability, and with the improvement of people's awareness of environmental protection and sustainable development, the by-products of bison have also entered the pet food market.
Now, the demand for bison hearts and livers in U.S. commercial pet food companies is also increasing year by year, which is conducive to further increasing the use of animal meat. ”
Brenda Hartkopf of the Elk Breeders Association in 2017 also said:
"In addition to the traditional hard antler velvet being made into dog bite glue, each elk can provide hundreds of pounds of meat, as well as a variety of offal that is rich in nutritional value. Elk is becoming one of the sources of new proteins for commercial pet food in the United States. ”
4. Ecological advantages of elk and bison pastures
North American elk and bison ranches have far less negative impacts on the environment than "cattle ranches" do.
Although many ranches raise bison, with less human intervention, bison and elk have retained much of their wild habits, and these animals can harmoniously integrate into the North American ecosystem.
In contrast, the pastures where beef cattle are raised are more ecologically damaging because beef cattle are more dependent on humans, unable to survive alone, and the cost of raising beef cattle is higher.
For example, free-range bison have less damage to the environment around waterways than beef cattle, which may be due to the higher vigilance of free-range bison.
In the wild, many predators wander around streams, ponds and other water sources, so bison tend to drink water and leave immediately, even free-range bison on pastures retain this habit.
Beef cattle, on the other hand, are not aware of this and prefer to stay on the banks of rivers and are more likely to cause erosion and other damage to the riparian ecosystem.
5, bison, elk pasture, how to reverse the promotion of population protection?
At present, the bison and elk meat sold in the US market are farmed, and the law stipulates that it is illegal to hunt wild bison and elk on the ranch without permission, or to release the bison and elk on the pasture without permission!
The Elk and Bison Association spends millions of dollars a year to support a team of livestock professors to study various chronic diseases in these two animals.
This data, in turn, can inform the health management of elk and bison in the wild.
At the same time, pasture-raised elk and bison provide a stable supply of elk meat and elk products, reducing people's dependence on herds of elk and bison that naturally grow in the wild, which reduces poaching and poaching, thereby helping to conserve populations in the wild.
American Business Pet Food (PFI) Friendly Tips
If you see the words "nature" and "original" in the American commercial pet food you buy, you can buy it with confidence.
Only pet food that meets the requirements of commercial pet food raw materials in the United States can be marked with the words "nature" and "original" on the packaging bag.
If your pet is obese, try U.S. commercial pet food containing bison or elk meat, which is higher in protein but lower in fat and cholesterol, which can help your pet lose weight slowly and healthily.
Reference Articles:
https://www.petfoodindustry.com/articles/6880-elk-bison-could-reduce-environmental-impact-of-pet-food