On 29 May 2025, FEFAC, the European Feed Manufacturers’ Federation, held its 69th Annual Public Meeting at the prestigious Villa Aurelia in Rome, attended by 150 participants. The main theme of this year’s Public Annual Meeting was “New EU vision for a more competitive and sustainable livestock economy & outlook on transatlantic green feed & grain trade opportunities and challenges”. The programme featured keynote contributions from Brigitte Misonne (DG AGRI Acting Director Markets) and Massimiliano Giansanti (COPA President) as well as two expert panel sessions focusing on the New EU vision & workstream on sustainable and competitive EU livestock production and the outlook on transatlantic Green Feed trade.

Brigitte Misonne highlighted the deep interconnection between the futures of livestock farming and the European feed sector. She called on FEFAC and other value chain partners to contribute to the current EU consultations on the new CAP “post 27” with constructive pragmatism, to ensure the success of the new workstream on the long-term strategy of the EU livestock as an integral part of the European Commission’s Vision on Agriculture & Food. Massimiliano Giansanti raised the key policy priority at EU and national level of assuring adequate financial support to the European farming sector, via a dedicated Common Agricultural Policy budget in the EU multi-annual financial framework. This is the key prerequisite to ensure farmers can provide food security to EU citizens and to maintain a functioning common market for food products.

In the first expert panel session, moderated by Andrea Bertaglio (Environmental Food Journalist), Roxane Feller (Chairwoman of the European Livestock Voice), Senior Policy Officer Alberto Babolin (European Dairy Association) and Marcello Veronesi (ASSALZOO & FEFAC Board member), exchanged views with Brigitte Misonne and Massimiliano Giansanti on the necessary conditions for a structured approach and implementation of the action plan for new long-term strategy of the EU livestock. They focused on key contributions of the EU feed sector, in close partnership with other value chain partners, to support the livestock sector in meeting the European Commission objectives on attractiveness, competitiveness & resilience and future-proofing.

The second panel session, moderated by Anton van den Brink (FEFAC Deputy Secretary General), saw contributions from Ted Swinkels (COCERAL President), Jim Sutter (USSEC CEO), Gustavo Idigoras (CIARA-CEC President) and Ricardo Arioli (President of the National Commission of the Grain, Fibre and Oilseed Commission in the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock). They addressed the impacts of current geo-political developments, escalating trade tensions and the implementation challenges linked to EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) on transatlantic feed and grain trade, with a specific focus on the sourcing of essential soy products to the EU in the coming marketing year. They pointed to remaining soy supply chain obstacles that can be expected on the entry into application date of the EUDR (30 December 2025), despite significant efforts by soy value chain partners and, as well as the lack of clarity in EUDR guidance provided by the European Commission. They noted that building an EU-dedicated supply chain infrastructure in soy exporting countries, exacerbated by substantial administrative burden, will require significant additional investment, which will undermine EU livestock sector competitiveness and potentially provoke supply chain shortages.

FEFAC President Pedro Cordero closed the FEFAC Public Annual Meeting highlighting that “The 69th FEFAC Public Annual Meeting demonstrated the reliance on sustainable feed solutions of our downstream partners in the livestock sector to meet the objectives of increased competitiveness, resilience and sustainability, as set out in the new EU workstream on the livestock sector. It also underscored the important role that the animal feed sector can play in developing sustainable and beneficial solutions for the entire sector, as well as the importance of collaboration between all the stakeholders across the food chain. At the same time, our partners in the upstream of the soy supply chain have outlined the current uncertainties and expected adverse substantial impacts on a competitive European compound feed production sector, linked to the current EU/US tariff escalation and the EUDR implementation process, which presents a significant and still unresolved challenge.”