data sharing across the whole sector; it is, says Steven, something they are keen to promote. In summary, the company is investing in infrastructure and


equipment, investing in people to build a world-class team, and investing in data productivity benchmarking. This overlays all the other things they do, from the basics like getting the formulations right, and purchasing correctly through the research and development undertaken by their team based at the Nutrition Innovation Centre in the Netherlands. But it is the investment in infrastructure, people and data which is the way of the future. I couldn’t let Steven go without raising the subject of Brexit. As


someone who has many years of experience, works for a Netherlands based multi-national and has relatively recently returned from a four and a half year stint at head office, I was interested to hear his view. Although he keeps his personal opinion on the subject to himself,


Steven tells me that the company’s view on the effects is that it will be neutral for ruminant farming and moderately positive for the monogastric sectors. Against the background of African Swine Fever in China providing upward pressure on prices anyway, and given that little more than half of the pigmeat consumed in the UK is produced


So there you have it, from someone who should know. This is the


last issue before the latest Brexit deadline – and based on what has happened previously, only a fool would predict with any confidence what will or will not have come to pass in the meantime. But, whatever transpires, it looks like the world will still be turning come November.


domestically, there is scope for increases in the UK pig sector, with higher pig numbers and increased demand for feed, the extent of which will depend on many things including exchange rates. In poultry, while self-sufficiency is a little higher, there is still headroom and the consumption of broiler meat continues to take a larger share of the overall market. Milk is pretty much in supply-demand balance with little flow between countries other than what is processed into cheese and other dairy products. The company doesn’t have mills in Northern Ireland although it does sell some organic feed into the Republic. Other than the normal imports of bulk raw materials such as soya there are no huge flows of imports or exports, and it would appear to be the container traffic which could be adversely affected in a ‘no deal’ scenario, rather than bulk commodities, most of which is tariff free anyway under WTO rules. ForFarmers’ partner for vitamins and minerals is Nutreco, which is Trouw Nutrition in the UK, and together they will build up a bit of a buffer of stocks in micro-ingredients, especially anything originating outside of the EU. Indeed, Trouw has been granted a ‘fast lane procedure’ with respect to importing the micro ingredients. The company will also make sure it has a bit of additional cover on essential spare parts for the mills. But overall, says Steven, we don’t see Brexit as a huge drama.


FEED COMPOUNDER JULY/AUGUST 2019 PAGE 33 suppliers of


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