Background Congress Nevedic
Feed industry wants to further cooperate in the chain
In the coming years, the Dutch feed industry wants to place even more emphasis on cooperation in the chain. That conclusion was drawn at the conference of Nevedi, the trade association of feed producers, on Thursday 7 November in Kamerik.
At the congress, Nevedi presented its vision for the period 2020-2025: 'Food for new markets'. Naturally, the organization could not avoid the current precarious situation in the agricultural sector. Martin Grift, chairman of Nevedi, kicked off with the announcement that the animal feed industry is only too happy to participate in finding a solution to the nitrogen problem in the Netherlands.
And Henk Flipsen, director of Nevedi, couldn't help but give a small sneer to the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) just before the vision was presented. "In any case, it is of primary importance that we think along in the search for a solution, but this must be based on facts and not on assumptions. So if you are a calculation institute, you must be able to substantiate everything with facts."
Little innovation
According to Grift, the 2020-2025 vision determines the course for the compound feed companies. This new vision of Nevedi focuses on 2 topics. Firstly, all links in the chain must cooperate more intensively. Secondly, a policy must be drawn up together with the government for the next 10 years. At first sight, the new vision does not seem to be innovative.
Flipsen agrees. "Many action programs have already been set up within the various chains, such as Coalition Vitalization Pig Farming (CVV) and Sustainable Dairy Chain† That was one of the goals in the old vision, but now we want these chains to cooperate more with each other. That's the most important change in this view."
Ministry focuses on residual flows
Rob van Lint, member of the board of directors, was present from the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. Van Lint replaced Minister Carola Schouten, who is too busy with all matters surrounding the nitrogen problem. "It is clear that the agricultural sector in the Netherlands will have to deal with major changes in the next 10 years, which will result from the switch to circular agriculture. We have food in abundance in the Netherlands, but the way we produce it has to change."
Van Lint immediately adds that the ministry is not blind to all programs that have already been set up by the chains. "And we also realize that we can't introduce this overnight." According to Van Lint, Nevedi's vision fits in well with this, although the ministry still has a number of points for attention of its own. "The production of humane food products always leads to a lot of residual and by-products. The animal feed sector is already the largest buyer of this, but we believe that this share can be even larger."
The Ministry of Agriculture would also like to see the production of animal feed becomes more sustainable. "In that area, we mainly focus on transport distances within the ministry. Is it really necessary that certain raw materials are obtained from other countries? Can we no longer cooperate with our neighboring countries? We want to try to answer those questions," he said. Van Lint concludes his plea.
Advocates on 1 line
The fact that the sector organization Nevedi has drawn up the new vision in close consultation with the various parties in the chain is apparent from the response from the Producers Organization Pig Farming (POV), ZuivelNL and the Dutch Union of Poultry Farmers (NVP). Those parties are fairly unanimous. "Nevedi's vision fits in well with our own action program", says Linda Janssen, the chairman of the POV. The same remark is also made by NVP chairman Hennie de Haan and Janine Luten, director of ZuivelNL.
Kimberly Baker
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