“Sustainable poultry production needed”

The Dutch poultry sector needs to make its production even more sustainable in the future. This is also needed to quarantee its export position.

This was stated by Jeroen van den Hurk from Rabobank at a recently held poultry meeting in the Netherlands. The Dutch poultry sector, with its relatively small size, still has a leading role in the global poultry market. In Europe it is leading because of its relatively low cost price.

Van den Hurk: “But we have to be focused to remain this leading role, because the cost price is under pressure. This is a result of consumer awareness which put pressure on the poultry industry regarding the conditions of production and is becoming more volatile. In recent years , the focus was on welfare; later on antibiotic use and now consumers are addressing the alleged human health aspects of the poultry sector. For the poultry industry it is not always easy to meet the wishes of the consumer. In addition, requirements are also different per country and sometimes even per province”.

Van den Hurk expects that a ‘sustainable production’ will become a requirement in an increasing number of European countries. “The Dutch industry should do this as well and for some cases it can even lower production costs, as seen in farms that lowered their antibiotic use to nearly zero,” he said. He also addressed that it is important that the poultry sector has ‘one voice’ and that production should be transparent with a comprehensive tracking and tracing in place.