Preparing for the next crisis is more important than ever, especially for the agrifood sector, which is already facing multiple challenges. Alongside climate-related uncertainty (including more extreme weather patterns), a growing range of geopolitical, economic and sanitary risks, e.g., African swine fever and year-round risk of avian influenza, has exposed the vulnerability of global supply chains.
At the same time, there are regulatory uncertainties, such as the EU deforestation regulation (EUDR), weighing in on forecasting of market developments. These challenges weigh on the resilience, competitiveness and attractiveness of the feed and livestock sectors in the European Union (EU), as clearly voiced by several speakers at the 31st edition of the European Feed Manufacturers’ Federation's (FEFAC) annual congress.
At the May meeting, held in Bucharest, Romania, it was clear that, while the EU livestock sector is a cornerstone of European food security, rural economic vitality and the circular bioeconomy, it is also vulnerable and too much dependent on others.
“To strengthen EU’s economic security, we need to address strategic dependencies as we face in the proteins and feed additives supply chains,” according to Nicolas Coudry-Mesny, newly elected president of FEFAC (2026-29).
Better crisis and strategic planning
While FEFAC forecasts that the EU compound feed production remains broadly stable in 2026 at 152 million tons, despite growing uncertainty across agricultural markets, the industry must ensure it has enough inputs and access to keep production in line with the demand.
Numerous strategic plans and crisis plans are being developed or updated to be better equipped to handle crisis in the EU and to secure food supplies. As a response to the COVID-19 crisis, the European Commission launched the European Food Security Crisis Preparedness and Response Mechanism (EFSCM) in 2021 to strengthen the agrifood sector’s ability to respond to future disruptions. And it has proven effective.
When the war in Ukraine began in 2022, the EFSCM enabled the European Commission (EC) to identify priorities and take action several weeks faster than would otherwise have been possible. And there are other strategic plans in force, such as the EU Livestock Strategy and the EU Protein Plan, designed to ensure that livestock and feed production in the EU remain viable and secure. On top of that, negotiations between the EU and other trade partners are ongoing.
Pierre Bascou, deputy director general DG AGRI with the EC, mentioned at the meeting that potential new partners, as part of the free trade agreement, could include India and Thailand.
Elli Tsiforou, secretary general at COPA/COGECA added: “We have to completely redefine our way of working in the EU. And the EU’s response has to be quicker. Because today we have a fertilizer problem for farmers, tomorrow we have a food security problem for our EU consumers.”
Protein: EU’s longstanding issue
Especially, EU protein self-sufficiency has been a longstanding issue and has been on the union’s agenda for several decades. According to the report, "The Development of Plant Proteins in the EU," depending on the protein source, the EU’s self-sufficiency rate varies substantially — rapeseed 79%, sunflower 42%, soy 5%.
As a consequence, the EU imports annually approximately 17 million tons of crude proteins — of which 13 million tons are soy based and equal to 30 million tons of soybean equivalent, mainly from Brazil, Argentina and the U.S. The EU Protein Plan aims to reduce dependence on feed protein imports.
“The European compound feed industry is the largest user of proteins of vegetable origin. We produce a lot of forages, but the real dependency lies with feed materials with a high protein content, such as soybean meal or amino acids. Here, the self-sufficiency rate is low," said Anton van den Brink, FEFAC deputy secretary general (Figure 1).
Soybean meal and other high-protein feed materials, ranging from 30% to 50%, offer an optimal amino acid profile, which is crucial for feed formulation.
Figure 1: EU protein source self sufficiency
Source: FEFAC
Supply resilience of feed additives
But it is not only about being less dependent on high-protein crops. Feed additives form a crucial part of livestock and aqua diets for health, well-being and performance. Nearly 80% of vitamins are produced in China, compared with just 8% in the EU (Figure 2).
In line with building up EU food security, how can we secure that we have enough critical micro-feed ingredients such as vitamins and minerals and other specialty feed additives, not only for animal feed, but also human food? This means attention in crisis plans is no longer focused solely on energy, defense and human medicines, but also on safeguarding sufficient supplies and strategic stocks of food and feed, and potentially even critical feed additives.
According to Silvia Sonneveld, DSM-Firmenich head of the vitamins unit - animal nutrition and health, “there is a tsunami of vitamins from the East, often produced under different circumstances. Vitamins should be treated as strategic ingredients for human health, animal health and welfare and food security, which means we have to improve our supply resilience of these important feed (and food) ingredients.”
In March, FEFAC provided its recommendations on measures and tools to mitigate the impact of dependency on feed additive imports. Among other things, FEFAC calls on reshoring of the production of these essential substances in Europe, which requires strong incentives to EU operators to make full use of the existing production capacity, ensure continued operation and/or invest in new capacities.
However, the main problem is not only the lack of production capacity, but the low competitiveness compared with third countries, particularly China, which benefits from much lower energy and raw material costs. To bridge this gap, measures would be necessary to allow European companies to compete on equal terms, according to FEFAC.
Figure 2: Country share (%) in global vitamin production, 2023
Source: FEFAC
High growth potential in Eastern Europe
One of the key elements of the EU Livestock Strategy is removing economic and regulatory barriers to stimulate investment in livestock farming and support large-scale modernization of the sector. Eastern Europe has long demonstrated strong potential for growth in livestock and feed production.
Holding the FEFAC meeting alongside the meeting of Romania’s National Association of Combined Feed Manufacturers (ANFNC) provided an ideal opportunity to highlight the agrifood strengths of Romania and neighboring countries.
“The Romanian compound feed sector has undergone significant transformation since the early 1990s," said Iani Chihaia, president of ANFNC. "In 2007, we joined the EU, and this acceleration of growth and investment and recovery."
ANFNC joined FEFAC in 2014. In 2025, Romania produced 4 million tons of compound feed per year. Before 1990, this was 12 million to 14 million tons.
Chihaia expects that growth continues in the coming years.
“Romania and direct neighboring countries are very well located, produce a lot of grains and are close to the Black Sea for logistics," he said. "We therefore see a lot of investment in Eastern Europe. Farms are getting bigger (more consolidation) and feed production capacity is increasing and modernized.”
What does growth in this region, in combination with all the strategy plans for livestock and feed, mean for EU’s resilience and food security in the coming years?
FEFAC president Coudry-Mesny concludes: “The long-term competitiveness of the livestock and feed sector in the EU depends on many things, among which (are) investments, resilience and modernization. As FEFAC, we are happy that security of feed ingredients and feed additives are a growing part of the crisis preparedness plans, such as the EU stockpiling strategies. On top of that, FEFAC continues to promote circular feeding practices, precision feeding and low-footprint feed solutions, supporting economic and environmental performance of EU farmers.”
Editor's note: The 31st edition the annual FEFAC Congress was held May 19-20 in Bucharest, Romania. The conference was co-hosted by the Romanian National Association of Compound Feed Manufacturers (ANFNC).
