Economic analysis of the use of wet brewery residue in sheep diets

The objective of this study was to evaluate the production costs involved in sheep confinement fed diets containing different inclusion levels of wet brewery residue (WBR). The diets were constituted by different WBR proportions in the concentrate (0, 10, 20 and 30%). A total of 20 sheep were used, with an average body weight of 17.5 ± 1.5 kg, at 8 months of age. The experimental period lasted 77 days. The prices of feed ingredients, purchase and sale values of kg of body weight (BW) of the animals practiced in the local market and the interest rate were considered in the economic analysis, using the year 2015 as a reference. In addition, production performance, zootechnical and economic data, and investment and costing expenses were considered to determine the economic indicators. A linear response was observed in terms of average daily gain (P=0.0035) and feed efficiency (P=0.0042) in diets consisting of 20 and 30% WBR, with 0.196 kg of BW/day and 0.291 kg of BW/intake, respectively. The diet containing 20% WBR resulted in greater total production (7,503.07 kg of BW/year), greater daily production (9.78 kg of BW), and lower total expenditure on investments (R$ 0.371/kg of BW). The lowest total expenses (R$ 64,368.99) and the highest profit (R$ 1.32/kg of BW) were observed in the diet with 30% of WBR. The economic analysis showed the financial feasibility of including 20% and 30% WBR in diets for confined sheep.