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DUTCH INSECT DEVELOPMENT Speaking of demand for protein, Bergen op Zoom, located in the south west corner of The Netherlands, was at the centre of a major advance for insect protein production in June when the country’s King Willem-Alexander visited the town to officially open the world’s largest insect farm. Established by the global insect protein company, Protix, the


Bergen op Zoom facility is an impressive €70 million egg-to-end-product development. All insect cultivation at the plant takes place in a controlled environment and is highly automated with sensor and data systems, robots and climate control. “This is an important milestone for Protix,” said the company’s


founder and CEO, Kees Aarts. “The new facility signifies a real transformation, not only for us, but for the entire sector and markets. It is the transition from prototype to a mature and commercial sector.” In also welcoming Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food


Quality, Carola Schouten, to the opening, Protix clearly achieved a significant political hit with its commitment to the potential of insect protein as a valuable feed source for farmed species, especially fish and chickens. The new facility they’ve created is equipped to produce enough


protein to feed more than five million salmon a year and sufficient laying hens to sustain an annual output of 250 million eggs. “We are proud to have been able to bring our innovation to maturity


in The Netherlands,” said Mr Aarts, adding that the Bergen op Zoom opening represents his company’s ‘springboard’ to move insect-based products and technology across borders and building Protix’s leadership in the sector globally.


ORGANIC FEED PILOT In Scotland, meanwhile, five North East farmers are taking part in an organic oilseed rape pilot project with the aim of producing locally sourced organic animal feed. This will allow the country’s livestock producers to replace their current supplies of imported materials, some of which come from as far away as China, with domestic feed. The home-grown programme, which involves Scottish feed


manufacturer, Norvite, is supported by Soil Association Scotland’s Rural Innovation Support Service (RISS), with all parties having high hopes for the success of the venture. As preparation for the pilot, the five farmers, and their specialist


advisers, visited Sweden earlier in the year to see how growers there are successfully producing 10,000 hectares of organic oilseed rape out of a national oilseed crop of 110,000 ha. “It was impressive to see the Swedish crop, especially as it’s being


grown on the same latitude as Scotland with a very similar climate,” said Murray Cooper, who already has 300 acres of organic crops in production at Mains of Thornton, near Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, and has now added organic oilseed rape into the mix. “Before I went to Sweden, I was very sceptical if the crop could


be grown successfully and cleanly on its own under our conditions but after seeing what farmers are doing there, I have no doubt that it is possible. We just have to manage weeds properly and adhere to specific crop timings.


PAGE 10 JULY/AUGUST 2019 FEED COMPOUNDER


After planting spring organic oilseed rape earlier this year, Mr


Cooper is planning to follow on with an autumn organic sowing. This will probably combine oilseed rape with clover or beans to provide the crop with some nitrogen over the growing season. “I’ll be looking to get the autumn crop planted in either the first or


second week of August with about 30 acres in total being given over to organic oilseed rape this year,” he said. “A lot of farmers will be watching to see how we deal with the


crop. It will be difficult to get others to adopt it until we can show we can control volunteers and that it’s not going to take two to three years to get a significant area in the ground. “While the crop is notoriously difficult to grow, however, producing


it ourselves here in Scotland would give us control of our own feed resources, reduce our reliance on imported soya and reduce our fuel footprint. In addition, we already have Norvite to do the processing.” An interesting development and certainly worth watching as the pilot progresses. I’ll keep you posted.


LIVESTOCK NUMBERS CRISIS Staying in Scotland, this year’s Royal Highland Show included a sharp reminder that falling livestock numbers are continuing to put the longer- term future of prime Scotch beef and lamb production at risk. The Highland, which has become the major all-purpose farm


event in the whole UK since the demise of the Stoneleigh-based Royal Show, is always a tremendous celebration of quality livestock. Sadly, the old line about ‘never mind the quality, feel the width’ does have some relevance in relation to modern Scottish meat and livestock production. While producers, meat traders and retailers would never wish to


sacrifice volume for quality, there does need to be a balance between the two and, to be blunt, Scotland is seriously in danger of losing critical mass in terms of its beef and lamb output. “The Highland each year is always a reminder of the quality of


our livestock and the tremendous stockmanship skills available across Scotland,” said Andy McGowan, President of the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers. “Unfortunately, what we command in quality we sadly lack in quantity, and we can’t go on merely celebrating the dying embers of our industry as each year passes. “The latest figures show calf registrations down by another 2% and,


if we wait until Brexit and transition is finished, we’ll have lost another 15% of our national livestock output.” These comments came alongside the Association’s unveiling of


a four-point strategy, designed to reboot the country’s falling livestock numbers, which was duly sent to the Scottish Government for urgent attention. The four-point strategy, by the way, called for an uplift in funding for


beef calf producers, a revamping of the upland sheep support scheme, an extension of Producer Organisations to all livestock sectors and the simplification of the Beef Efficiency Scheme. It’s clearly vital for all producers, and those who provide them


with compound feed, that some, if not all, of these points are taken on board by government and listed for priority attention, sooner rather than later.


Comment section is sponsored by Compound Feed Engineering Ltd www.cfegroup.com


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