Interview Feed group South
'Insight into CO2 footprint is an opportunity for livestock farming'
The Dutch livestock industry is slowly but surely seeing more and more opportunities to distinguish itself on the basis of quality and sustainability. Consumers in their own country also demand more insight into the origin and environmental impact of certain products. The feed industry also participates in this, such as Voergroep Zuid.
The cooperative feed group recently announced a new step in making the pig supply chain transparent. The company has recently made a number of sustainability achievements transparent for the pig feeds supplied to farms. The cattle and poultry feeds follow, Mathee Kamp, marketing manager of the company, tells Boerenbusiness.
Voergroep Zuid thus claims to be the first feed company to provide insight into the CO2 footprint of its pig feeds. Kamp indicates that Dutch pig farming is performing well and that distinguishing on sustainability is an opportunity. "We can use this to show that the pig sector with a low CO2 footprint produces high-quality food. Sustainability is therefore an opportunity and an argument against a decline in livestock."
How did the idea come about?
"What matters is that the European climate agreement states that the CO2025 footprint of all foodstuffs must be clear by 2. This provides consumers with insight into the environmental impact of the product. As a result, meat processors and retailers are looking for more transparency. As part of the pork chain, we are working on this. There the 3 criteria have been rolled out that can catch the eye further down the chain: the CO2 footprint, the share of raw materials that are circular (residual flows) and the share of raw materials grown on the European continent."
How are the reactions from customers. Isn't it seen as an unnecessary expense?
"It is certainly seen as added value. Customers like the fact that we make it clear that pork is more sustainable than many people think. It also helps companies to tell their own story even better and to make it more transparent. Moreover, the costs are low, certainly now that we have the calculation system in place. In addition, it is in the offing that providing insight into certain sustainability indicators for a number of chain concepts will be mandatory. If we want to maintain feed sales, we must be able to supply what these parties demand."
What is the environmental impact of feed production in the total pork production process?
"The major part of the environmental impact is in the cultivation of the crops. The feed production itself also has an impact, although it is modest. The last step of the feed is transport to the livestock farms. As far as feed is concerned, the tax as follows: 96% of the CO2 footprint arises from the cultivation of crops, which is cultivation in itself, but also the emissions released when making land suitable for cultivation, also known as land-use change. Then production (3,4%) and transport (0,6%) make the last contribution to the CO2 footprint of feed."
Is the sustainability label a unique selling point of Voergroep Zuid or would you rather see competitors adopt this idea?
"We hope that everyone is working on this now and I am sure that will happen. The entire pork chain will become more transparent and this is something that the retail sector will demand from meat suppliers in the future. feed companies rightly so. When consumers need insight into sustainability characteristics and it will also become a legal requirement, we must take these steps proactively. We show that the Dutch pig sector with a relatively low CO2 footprint and a large proportion of circular raw materials , produces high-quality food. It is therefore also an argument against shrinkage in livestock farming. If production moves from the Netherlands to countries with a higher footprint, we gain nothing on balance."
Does clarifying the current criteria also stimulate you to take further steps in the field of sustainability?
"In principle, we produce what the market and our customers ask for, but we are more aware of it. I do think that this is an incentive for certain pork concepts to take further steps. It is now possible to better distinguish your product, for example on based on environmental impact or the origin and circularity of raw materials. Suppose a concept wants to respond to the demand for meat that is produced with X% circular or X% European raw materials. We now have insight into this and can think along to take further steps in this direction. to make."
What about the calculation of soy meal as 0% circular? It is sometimes thought in the sector that soybean meal is a residual flow from the human food industry…
"Soy cultivation can actually be divided into 2 flows. First of all, there is soy cultivation for human consumption. The scrap of this is often used in animal feed, making this flow circular. The second flow of soy is specially grown for the animal feed industry. All from here resulting production is therefore not circular. In order to avoid discussion about soy meal, we have decided for now to classify soy meal as non-circular, but part of the soy meal used is indeed. In many regions, wheat is grown that is not suitable for human consumption in advance, so it is specifically intended for use in animal feed and grown for that reason."
Are there already parties further down the chain that are specifically interested in using the information from the sustainability label?
"The Van Loon Group is already asking for these sustainability key figures in their 'Pig at its Best' chain concept. And Vion is also working on mapping the CO2 footprint of meat. They would like to have insight into this for the buyers (retailers) who ask for that. Ultimately, the footprint of feed is of course part of that."
Will there be more sustainability criteria for pig feeds in the future?
"We have now started with the aforementioned 3 criteria, because we expect that these will be the first to be asked by parties in the chain. If other questions arise, we will respond to them. After all, we have to deliver what is asked of us. I expect that the emphasis will first be on fine-tuning the current criteria. There is still work to be done here. Take the transport load, for example. We now calculate with averages. It is of course logical that a company that is further from the factory has a has a greater environmental impact (transport) than a company nearby. In the future we want to be able to calculate this at company level."
Will the label be extended to other sectors in the future?
We are definitely looking into that. Pig farming is leading the way in this regard, but I expect laying poultry farming, for example, to follow soon. Things are a bit more complicated for milk, because dairy farmers often use their own roughage. Then standardizing standards is a bit more difficult. However, the Netherlands also belongs to the top in terms of production technology in these sectors and distinguishing yourself on sustainability criteria is interesting. That is an opportunity and if it is there, it will also be seized in other sectors in the future."
Steve Wissink
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