Due to the corona crisis, the demand for biofuels has fallen sharply, causing the supply of rapeseed meal to fall by 7%. This has been partially offset by additional imports of soybean meal and meal, the European Commission reports.
Also, 6% more barley was used as feed barley, because beer consumption has fallen sharply due to the lockdown of the catering industry.
Self-sufficiency rate stable barely 80%
The European Commission published these figures with the annual report on the EU protein balance. In the 2019/2020 financial year, the European Union is expected to achieve a self-sufficiency rate of 78% in its need for vegetable protein for animal feed. That is an increase of 1% compared to last year. The need for vegetable protein for animal feed is estimated to increase by 2 million tons to 84 million tons annually. The degree of self-sufficiency for vegetable protein for animal feed has been fluctuating around or slightly below 80% for years.
Roughage, mainly silage maize and especially grass, remains the main source of feed protein and represents 45% of total feed use in the EU, an increase of 2% compared to 2018/19. The share of oil-based raw materials in animal feed (rapeseed, rapeseed meal and meal, sunflower seed, sunflower meal and meal and soybeans, soybean meal and meal) has decreased by 1%, representing 25% of the total feed consumption in the EU. Finally, grains remain widely available. They account for 20% of the total feed consumption.
High protein self-sufficiency 25%
The EU is completely self-sufficient in roughage. But for oilseeds (including soya), the EU produces only 24% of what it needs to feed its livestock.
Click here for a detailed overview of all animal feed raw materials in the 2019/2020 financial year, with figures on volumes and the share of EU produced versus imported from outside the EU.
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