Dutch farmers are creating extra stocks of animal feed because they fear shortages due to the war in Ukraine. Livestock company De Heus speaks Dutch Financial Gazette From “mega-load peak” and the Nevedi trade organization is calling on farmers to simply order the usual amounts of feed.
For unusually large orders, the manufacturer of feed ForFarmers is trying to change the customer’s opinion. “We are cautious with farmers who want to build up additional stocks,” a newspaper spokesperson said. “Building stocks could lead to further disruptions in the chain.”
Some orders have already been scaled back, says Oplaat of the Dutch Poultry Farmers’ Association. “We are also receiving reports that farmers are receiving less fodder than required.” The Defense Department spoke of a farmer who received only a third of the required amount of animal feed.
The impossible situation of an organic farmer
According to the Bionext trade association, there is already an “acute shortage” of organic farmers, because Ukraine is the most important and sometimes the only supplier of many organic feeds.
Today, Bionext is sending an emergency request to Agriculture Minister Staghouwer to temporarily ease requirements for organic meat. For now, only organic chicken and cattle are allowed to eat organic feed, but the trade association wants to temporarily return to the standard that applied until last year to pigs and chickens. At the time, organic farmers were allowed to use 5 percent of their non-organic feed without losing the “organic” label.
The only alternatives are emergency slaughter or selling the meat as non-organic, says Thomas Chara, director of knowledge and innovation at Bionext. But no organic grower would want that.
The need for inorganic animal feed appears to be less important. Manufacturers tell FD that deliveries could be made in the coming months as per the agreement. According to the supplier Agrifirm, every effort should be made to achieve this. “This is working for now. We are concerned about continued availability and price increases.”
Schara cares: “In the worst case scenario, organic farmers have to use 20 percent of conventional feed for pigs and chickens. In addition, chickens need a certain amino acid found in sunflowers, otherwise they will be stressed and will peck each other. Imported from Ukraine There is just a general deficiency.”
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