Dairy farmers maintain feed volumes

The compound feed sales figures for 2016 show few surprises. There are significant differences between the sectors, but on balance the volume remained virtually the same. Total sales fell by 0,3 percent to 12,4 million tons. This is evident from figures from Nevedi.

Sales in pig farming fell by 5 percent last year to 4.7 million tons of compound feed. In poultry farming, the compound feed volume sold fell by 4,8 percent to 3 million tons. The contrast with the cattle sector is great. The volume sold there rose by 8,6 percent to 4.2 million tons. According to Nevedi director, Henk Flipsen, the volume of feed sold is in line with expectations.

The pig herd shrank by 2016 percent in 4,5 to 11,8 million animals. The shrinkage in the feed volume can therefore be explained as logical. The cattle sector shrank by 2016 percent in 0,5 to almost 4,3 million tons. The growth in the sales of compound feed volume therefore does not correspond to the size of the livestock.

An explanation for the strong growth may be the partly failed silage maize harvest in northwestern Europe. The price of cattle feed was also well below the five-year average. Perhaps this has fueled additional demand.

Forecast 2017
In view of the impact of the Phosphate Reduction Plan, dairy farming is going down considerably in animal numbers. That is why Nevedi is taking into account a shrinking feed volume for the cattle sector for 2017.   

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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