World Grain - July 2011 - 10

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E.U. compound feed production increases in 2010
BRUGES, BELGIUM — In the wake of the 54th European Compound Feed Manufacturers’ Federation (FEFAC) Annual General Meeting on June 8 in Bruges, Belgium, FEFAC announced that the E.U.-27’s compound feed production numbers in 2010 increased 1.4% for the year to 150 million tonnes. This ﬁgure is still below the 2008 record level of 153.4 million tonnes. FEFAC said the slight recovery was mostly linked to poultry feed which increased 3% vs. 2009, whereas cattle feed recovered by 1% and pig feed remained stable (-0.1%). FEFAC noted that for the ﬁrst time ever in the E.U., poultry feed overtook pig feed to become the leading segment of compound feed. FEFAC, which represents 21 national associations in 20 E.U. Member States as well as associations in Turkey, Croatia, Serbia, Russia, Switzerland and Norway with observer/associate member status, said that two key factors have weighed on the E.U. feed demand in 2010: • A partial recovery regarding consumer’s demand for animal products after the ﬁnancial crisis of 2009: meat consumption in the E.U.-27 increased by 1 kg per capita in 2010 vs. 2009 but Vanden Avenne is still 3.5 kg per capita below the 2008 ﬁgure; • The dramatic market crisis affecting the pig sector, aggravated by the high feed materials costs, which led to a stalling demand for industrial pig feed, although pig meat output increased by 2%. FEFAC said production trends at the Member State level showed a highly contrasting picture. Germany, Belgium, U.K. and Poland saw an increase of the total feed production by 4% to 6% whereas Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain and Hungary suffered from a signiﬁcant drop of industrial compound feed output by -1% to -5%. These ﬁgures are mostly inﬂuenced by the demand for industrial pig feed. Germany recovered the position of the leading E.U. country in terms of total compound feed production, with a narrow lead over France and Spain (Greece, Malta and Luxembourg excluded). FEFAC noted that farm animals in the E.U.-27 consume an estimated 470 million tonnes of feed a year, of which approximately 30% is produced by the compound feed manufacturers. The turnover of the European compound feed industry was estimated at €45 billion for 2010. At FEFAC’s Annual General Meeting, FEFAC President Patrick Vanden Avenne said that “the European feed industry is fully committed to support the responsible development of livestock production in the E.U. and at the global level, thus contributing to global food security, while safeguarding animal health and welfare.”

CWB chairman tells farmers to face future with eyes open
REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA — The chairman of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) on June 16 urged Prairie farmers to focus on the realities that face their grain marketing organization as the federal government moves forward to dismantle its single-desk structure. “In my view, the CWB cannot survive without the single desk,” Allen Oberg told farmers attending a breakfast meeting at the Western Canadian Farm Progress Show in Regina. “Whether you think that is a good thing or a bad thing is up to you. But we must look ahead with our eyes wide open and the facts clearly in mind. For farmers, the stakes are too high for us to become mired in delusions.” The federal government has announced its intention to remove the CWB’s single desk for wheat and barley as of Aug. 1, 2012, with legislation to be introduced this fall. Minister Gerry Ritz has said that farmOberg ers will not be allowed a
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CWB Chairman Allen Oberg spoke to Canada’s farmers about the CWB’s response to the elimination of its single desk structure. Photos courtesy of CWB. vote on whether they wish to see the single desk removed. Oberg also reminded farmers that the CWB is not a grain company and is not permitted to own real assets. It has no grainhandling infrastructure and no capital base for borrowing money or ﬁnancing its operations. It exists by virtue of legislation and the existence of government ﬁnancial guarantees. If it were to function as a grain company in an open market, it would be reliant on competing grain companies in order to carry out its business. “You don’t need to be an agricultural economist to see how this would work out in the long term,” he said. The full text of Oberg’s speech has been posted at www.cwb.ca.
July 2011 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

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World Grain - July 2011

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