Author: c001os

At 21.7 million tonnes, feed production in Germany in the 2023 calendar year was around 360,000 tonnes or 1.6% less than in the previous 12 months. This is according to the latest figures from the German animal feed association, DVT.

However, the year-on-year contraction represents a partial easing in the long-term contraction in the German feed sector. Figures from the European Feed Manufacturers’ Association FEFAC put the volume of feed produced in Germany in 2022 at just under 22.2 million tonnes. This was 5.8% lower than the previous year.

The decline in total national feed output is attributed by DVT President Cord Schiplage mainly to reduced sales of pig feeds. For this segment, production was down approximately 500,000 tonnes or 5.8% to 8 million tonnes for 2023. Fattening pig numbers in the November census had fallen significantly year-on-year by as much as 11.6%, he said. Overall in 2023, the country’s swine population contracted by 1.4% to 9.6 million.

In contrast, feed production in Germany expanded in 2023 for the other main market segments. For cattle, output volume was up around 100,000 million tonnes for the year to 6.5 million tonnes, while there was an 80,000 million tonnes increase in poultry feed production to 6.3 million tonnes.

In terms of revenue, DVT figures also indicate a drop in the value of feed sales in 2023 to EUR 9.4 billion. This compares with EUR 10.5 billion for the previous year. According to Schiplage, the increased availability of feed ingredients on global markets last year drove the decline in sales value — along with price and competitive pressures. During the comparative period of 2022, he said, raw material and energy costs had been exceptionally high.

In 2023, there were 276 compound feed companies in Germany, according to DVT. This was five fewer than 12 months previously.

Provisional figures for 2023 from FEFAC points to a further reduction in compound feed production in the EU-27 by 2% to 144.3 million tonnes.

East African scientists have produced a global atlas of edible insects, providing analysis of diversity and commonality that can contribute to food systems and sustainability as the planet faces uncertainties caused by population growth and a surge in demand for nutritious food.

The scientists say that edible insects, with their low environmental footprint, high food conversion ratio, rapid growth and nutritional values, can play a vital role in the global food system.

Until now, substantial knowledge gaps persist regarding their diversity global distribution and shared characteristics across regions, potentially impending effective scaling and access to edible insects. This led the scientists from universities in Kenya, South Africa and Uganda to compile and analysis the fragmented database on edible insects. They also identified potential drivers that elucidate global insect consumption, focusing on promoting a sustainable food system.

Data was collected from a variety of sources, including lists of edible insect species from the literature and various research databases. Subsequently, they performed a series of analytics at country, regional and continent levels.

The study revealed some common and specific practices related to edible insect access and utilisation across countries and regions. Although insect consumption is often rooted in cultural practices, it exhibits correlations with land cover, the geographical presence of potentially edible insects, the size of a country’s population and income levels. People living in Africa, Asia and Latin America eat insects as it is part of their culture while increased consciousness and the need for food sustainability are the driving forces in Europe to evaluate eating insects.

The study concluded that edible insects are becoming an increasing significant part of the future of planetary food systems and that more proactive efforts are required to promote them for their effective contribution to achieving sustainable food production.

A surge in operation costs could drive many Russian grain farmers into bankruptcy in the current season, Arkady Zlochevsky, president of the Russian Grain Union has said during a press conference in Moscow. The key concerns are associated with seed prices, which have spiked as the government capped imports from Western countries.

The Russian government has imposed import quotas on seeds from countries deemed unfriendly at the end of January. Under the new rules, Russian farmers are allowed to import 33,100 tonnes of seeds through December 31, 2024. Import quota on corn seeds is set at 5,000 tonnes, barley at 600 tonnes, while quotas on wheat and soybean seeds at zero. In 2023, Russia imported 57,700 tonnes of seeds, a lion’s share of which was delivered from Western countries.

The existing quotas have been distributed among Russian grain farmers, though Zlochevsky described the division as “unfair.” He revealed that farmers with no experience dealing with government agencies failed to secure the necessary quotas to keep their operations running smoothly. As a result, large stocks of seeds have accumulated at the Russian customs warehouses, Zlochevsky said. The batches ordered before the government implemented the import quotas should be either returned to the sender or destroyed.

Import quotas triggered a price hike in the Russian market. Compared with the previous year, the average price of seeds nearly doubled, according to Zlochevsky. The cost of fuel and plant-protecting agents has recently subsided, but this only partly compensated for farmers’ losses due to the jump in seed prices.

Zlochevsky said that switching Russian production to domestic seeds in general is the right move. He, however, warned against using import restrictions as an impetus for the development of domestic seed production.