How MJ Fits Into the Animal Feed Market

In recent years, drought and water shortages have devastated South African farmers and the animal feed base. Could cannabis-based animal feed be the solution to increasing and improving feed resources for farmers in South Africa?

Untapped Market in South Africa

MJ can be processed into silage; studies have shown that the relative feed value of cannabis silage is similar to alfalfa. MJ leaves are used as absorbent bedding for animals. The byproduct — cannabis meal, which remains after oil is extracted from the seeds — can be used in animal feed.

After extracting oil from MJ seeds, a residual cake remains. The relatively high crude protein content in cannabis cake could make MJ meal a protein substitute in the diets of pets and livestock. Cannabis meal contains protein, iron, magnesium, manganese, as well as a high amount of dietary fiber and essential amino acids.

MJ seeds are widely used as bird feed and in seed mixes. Given all this, cannabis-based animal feed is certainly an untapped market that South Africa should explore further.

Retail Feed Production

Retail feed production is another potential sector for MJ, ranging from small animal feeders to neighbors occasionally selling fresh farm eggs. Overall, this industry operates similarly to the wholesale market, except on a much smaller scale. Additionally, any benefits beyond price are more in demand here; for example, marketing the nutritional or anti-inflammatory properties of MJ as a competitive advantage for show livestock feed.

Ultimately, MJ will have relatively greater success here due to its nutritional properties and competitiveness, but it should follow the same trends as wholesale markets.

Pet Food

The next potential market for MJ-based feed is pet food, including for large animals like horses. In this sector, price remains an important factor when purchasing ingredients, but competitiveness is just as important — think premium pet foods versus regular dog food.

MJ will gain traction through wellness marketing. Meat-based pet food ingredients are more expensive than plant-based ones, which may make it easier for nutritionists to include MJ due to its affordability compared to its nutritional profile.

Finally, let’s consider the supplement market, which consists mainly of highly concentrated ingredients used to address deficiencies in nutritional micronutrients. The supplement market spans the entire animal feed industry, and many livestock and pet food producers use it to some extent.

While more research and nutritional data are needed to determine MJ’s role in the supplement market, MJ has great potential to become a cost-effective replacement for expensive supplements.

Projected Market Share

What would it look like if cannabis meal were fully approved for animal feed today? Would every feeder near the mill be lining up to stock up on cannabis meal or cake? This depends entirely on price and, in large-scale cases, on guaranteed supply.

Any large-scale feeder balances the health of their herd and growth rates with the cost of their rations, and any significant change in the diet affects herd performance.

Therefore, the price of a new feed ingredient must be low enough to offset any expected loss in productivity. Additionally, there must be enough supply for the ingredient to remain in the diet for an extended period — about 120-180 days, based on livestock feeding experience.

Soybean meal, dried distillers grains, and similar raw materials will be the main competitors to MJ cake. The table below compares the protein content and average prices of these feeds.

It is clear that cannabis meal is still far from being able to compete with major feeds as a primary protein source. Soybeans and corn, the main resources, are mostly grown and developed for grain production, with corn yielding over 14,000 pounds of grain per acre. Significant economic and genetic development would be required for MJ to compete as a primary protein source.

Advantages of MJ as Feed

Nevertheless, the main advantage of MJ is its versatility, which will provide the industry with several avenues to expand its feed footprint.

The first opportunity is that other segments of the industrial MJ market will grow, leading to lower overall break-even prices for other byproducts. If fiber, MJ husks, and/or other grain products (such as food for human consumption) develop on a large, profitable scale, feed-grade cannabis meal will be seen as a byproduct, making sellers much more willing to accept competitive prices. But for this to happen, the scale of these other applications must increase dramatically.

The second scenario highlights the versatility of MJ seeds. Protein may be the biggest factor for feed meal, but ration formulations require nutrients beyond protein, including fatty acids. Many of these resources are much more expensive than primary or macro feed elements. Cannabis meal, MJ oil, and other byproducts have an advantage when considering the full nutritional profile, which may justify including MJ to provide fatty acids and other benefits without sacrificing protein. A great comparison is fish meal (about 65% protein), which, as I saw in my experience at JBS, can cost up to $1,500 per ton due to its nutritional value beyond protein.

Finally, other possible MJ products that could be used as feed should be considered. For example, spent (post-extraction) biomass or lower-quality materials can be repurposed as roughage or silage — fibrous ingredients like hay that some animals require in their diet. However, additional processing would likely be needed to turn these products into viable ingredients.

Overall, MJ will need a combination of all the above factors to realize its potential. While MJ is not a competitive primary protein source for the feed industry in the near future, its ability to provide certain nutrients without sacrificing protein could secure a long-term market share.

Future Outlook

Once MJ is approved for animal feed, its potential as a feed ingredient will go beyond cannabis meal. MJ plant oil also shouldn’t be ignored, given its qualities. Spent material and other organic byproducts could also be a cheap source of raw materials for agricultural and industrial needs.

Without large-scale developments in MJ genetics and market, the success of cannabis meal will be limited in the short term as a secondary ingredient. However, a supplementary role is all MJ needs, given current production prospects.