Oil Palm Kernel As Feed For Livestock

Oil palm can be used for many things such as cooking oil, cosmetics, biodiesel and so on. However, there is value in oil palm waste which many are not aware of.

One of the by-product of oil palm is palm kernel meal.
It is the pulpy mass left over after oil has been extracted from palm kernel seeds.
Over 7 million tonnes of palm kernel meal is dried and processed and are used for feed stock for cattle mainly in New Zealand or Europe.
Dairy cows have 4 chambered stomachs, which makes it suitable to the oil palm kernel meal as they have the ability to digest its high starch, sugar and cellulose content.
Palm kernel meal is also useful for monogastric animals as it can be used to make up to about 20% - 30% of the animal's diet.
Palm kernel meal can also be an important source of supplementary stock feed to grass and hay for dairy cows especially during drought period.
New Zealand, which is one of the largest milk producer imports over 1.5 million tonnes of palm kernel meal in 2013.