soybean field

USSEC Works Closely with U.S. Soy End Users in Romania to Improve Profitability, Safety in Feed Manufacturing

As part of its technical support activities, USSEC worked closely during the month of April with U.S. Soy end users from Romania to provide professionals from the feed manufacturing industry and related industries with practical oriented knowledge for safe and profitable feed production.

USSEC consultants Dr. Juan Acedo Rico and Dr. Pedro Medel discuss during field visits how to efficiently run a feed mill in today's increasingly competitive business environment
USSEC consultants Dr. Juan Acedo Rico and Dr. Pedro Medel discuss during field visits how to efficiently run a feed mill in today's increasingly competitive business environment

USSEC organized the “Feed Safe and Profitable Feed Production” seminar on April 14 in Bucharest, Romania. Over 27 Romanian feed mill managers, lab managers, nutritionists, supervisors and animal production managers who are actively engaged in feed mill operations all over the country attended the event with high interest.
The two speakers, USSEC consultants Juan Acedo Rico (feed technology expert) and Pedro Medel (feed safety and GMP+ expert), provided an overview of the key principles in efficient feed processing and technology. The information presented by Dr. Acedo Rico summarized animal feed production and provided an understanding of the current challenges in maintaining efficiency in the feed industry, including feed mill design, equipment maintenance, and feed processing. Safety protocols were covered by Dr. Medel, who also shared best practices from the Spanish sector by involving ISO, HACCP and GPM.
Quality control and assurance are critical issues in the EU and indeed, for the Romanian feed industry, which has been a European state since 2007. The quality control systems at the feed mills visited in Romania clearly involve properly trained personnel able to organize, document and comply with policies of various procedures and certifications processes necessary to guarantee the quality of feed ingredients and feed. However, continuous updates are needed due to changes and standard upgrades of the European industry.
 “Our first mission to Romania was very pleasant and extremely interesting since we had the opportunity of sharing experiences and ideas about feed efficiency with our colleagues,” said Dr. Medel. “Besides design of feed plants and profitable feed production, we had the chance during field visits to discuss safety concepts and quality programs. Definitely, the most interesting visit was at Banvit FNC, which is going to be the first feed mill in the country certified under the GMP+ Feed Safety Scheme. This proves the high interest of the key players in the market to comply with EU regulations and increasing competitive advantages of the Eastern European countries in the EU 28 context.”
“The seminar in Bucharest was also a success and all the participants showed high interest on the information presented. All this work was extremely well conducted by USSEC and interaction with participants continued for a couple of days after the event,” stated Dr. Acedo. “We are pleased to continue to assist the U.S. Soy customers from Romania through future instructive and extensive training programs that will enable them to understand state of-the-art process technologies and to apply them with benefit in the field. We trust that we have thus not only acted for the benefit of U.S. Soy, but also to have aroused the interest of the soy customers in efficiently producing feeds in today’s highly competitive business environment.”
He continued, “After our first visit to Romania, we believe that the country is among the best endowed European countries in terms of land, water and skilled people. In this regard, and increase in meat production and indeed, soy consumption, are imminent for the coming years due to the potential of agriculture and ongoing investments in the feed and livestock industries we just saw during our mission.”

During seminar presentations, the USSEC consultants introduced U.S. Soy logistics flows, multiple markets and routes, and exposed young Romanian professionals to the latest knowledge and concepts of safe and efficient feed production
During seminar presentations, the USSEC consultants introduced U.S. Soy logistics flows, multiple markets and routes, and exposed young Romanian professionals to the latest knowledge and concepts of safe and efficient feed production
Field visits provided Dr. Acedo Rico and Dr. Medel with ample opportunities to interact with U.S. Soy end users to talk about soy storage, processing, and optimum quality and understand current developments in the Romanian feed industry
Field visits provided Dr. Acedo Rico and Dr. Medel with ample opportunities to interact with U.S. Soy end users to talk about soy storage, processing, and optimum quality and understand current developments in the Romanian feed industry