Due to the increasing production of green energy from biomass, in the future fewer raw materials will be available for the animal feed sector. On behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV), Wageningen UR charted the expected shifts in the use of raw materials. It also studied how the government can steer the production of animal feed and bioenergy so that the availability of raw materials, sustainability and food safety can also be safeguarded in the future.
From a scenario analysis, it appears that the production of bioenergy will create shortages in raw materials for cattle feed, particularly seeds, coarse meal and grain. The biggest shortages will occur in the Global Economy (7.1% of the total turnover of the animal feed sector) and Continental Markets (7.3%) scenarios. In the Regional Communities (2.3%) and Global Cooperation (0.9%) scenarios, the expected shortages will be much less, despite more ambitious objectives for the production of biofuels. However, in these two scenarios the number of livestock will decline substantially, whereby fewer raw materials will be required for the production of animal feed.

Restricted steering possibilities
Government steering in these developments is difficult. This is because it concerns complex international markets, but also because legislation ends by the European or even the Dutch border. In a separate report, Wageningen UR gives an overview of numerous existing institutes in the animal feed and energy sector which each exercise some influence through different instruments. The government will best be able to steer developments by entering into an intensive partnership with many of the actors involved. It is also desirable to develop an integrated approach because the animal feed sector and the bioenergy sector are becoming increasingly interwoven. Indirect government steering whereby support is given to private autonomous control systems has most potential.

More about this subject 

Dossier Biobased Economy 
Report 2009-048 Biomass for animal feed and energy; Scenario analysis of shift in raw material use (summary)
Report 2009-037 Animal feed or energy; Steering issues in the use of biomass (summary)