Almond shell (almond skin) is deeply loved by California pastures because of its high cost performance and rich nutrition, and has always been a source of high-quality raw materials for feeding dairy cows in local pastures. California Almond Association, other related institutions and California Agricultural Group (CVAG) have been pushing for this access for several years, and finally they were granted access on May 13.
The General Administration of Customs of China issued Announcement No.66 (2020) on the inspection requirements for alfalfa hay blocks and granules, almond shell granules and stepped forage hay plants imported from the United States. According to the announcement, it is confirmed that China traders can import American almond shell particles.
According to reports, this product will provide more nutritional choices for China Ranch, greatly reduce the dependence on imported beet pulp, and directly reduce the cost of raw materials.
The name of almond is transliterated from Persian Badam, and its scientific name is almond. Almond fruit belongs to drupe, and its pulp looks like peach or apricot, and consists of peel, shell and nut from outside to inside.
With its unique Mediterranean climate, fertile soil and abundant sunshine, California has become the largest almond producing area in the world, accounting for 80% of the world's total output and exported to more than 90 countries. The annual output of almonds in California exceeds 6,543,800 tons.
Use of almonds
= = Stone (accounting for 20% of the total weight) can be eaten directly as nuts or processed into other foods;
= = core-shell (15% of the total weight), which can be used for feed processing after crushing;
Pericarp (accounting for 65% of the total weight) has a large yield and rich nutritional value, and has always been an important feed material.
As a mature forage grass feed, almond skin has been widely used in the United States for decades, because of its low cost, stable price and superior cost performance to other homogeneous feeds.
Rich in nutrition, it can be directly fed to cows and beef cattle after drying, and can also be used as pig feed and poultry feed. These indicators are as follows:
In addition to the above indicators, almond skin also contains trace elements such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and sodium.
High fiber content, easy to digest, can also be used as a substitute for high-cost feed;
Feed raw materials with good palatability and easy to be accepted by ruminants;
For ruminants, it has very high energy value and high quality natural sugar source (about 30% dry basis);
Very high source of non-fiber carbohydrates (about 55% dry basis);
Low cost, stable price and better cost performance than other homogeneous raw materials;
The finished product has long shelf life, low storage cost and easy storage and transportation;
Non-genetically modified products, which also adds extra weight to the safety of feed raw materials.
According to American experimental data, the skins of commercial hybrids (dry basis content is about 29% of acid-washed fiber and 30% of soluble sugar) are equivalent to 80-85% of the energy of alfalfa or barley grass with average quality on the basis of energy, and can be added to dairy cows' diet at a ratio of 25% (in the above production) without affecting their production performance.
Compared with beet pulp and alfalfa, almond skin has its unique nutritional value advantages, and its price is low, which is more favored by pasture and has a wide range of applications.