Once considered a breadbasket for Europe, Romania’s agriculture industry continues to play an important role in the EU due to large grains and record production.  Taking advantage of readily available grains, Romania has made considerable progress in the past few years, modernizing and developing the feed industry in order to add value to locally produced corn.

In just the past two years, 12 feed mills were built or completely remodeled in Romania.  Meanwhile, feed production has followed a growth trend, answering the demands of the local swine and poultry industries.  Swine farming has grown by 8 to 9 percent over the past three years with the trend likely to continue because of important Danish and Dutch ongoing investments and partnerships in the Romanian swine industry.
During his August visit to Romania, European Feed Manufacturers’ Federation (FEFAC) president Ruud Tijssens met with Iosif Pazuric, president of the Romanian Feed Manufactures Association (ANFNC).  Discussion centered on sustainability in general, particularly sustainable soy.  According to USSEC Animal Utilization Consultant – Romania Iani Chihaia, Mr. Tijssens stressed that the EU has to take USSEC’s initiative, the U.S. Soy Sustainability Assurance Protocol into account as a benchmark, adding that the European market will remain focused on the importance of sustainability.
“Our Southeast European feed industry members should carefully build the foundation for sustainable growth of their production today for the next decade.  In this regard, soy is getting more and more important since over 70 percent of soy is imported in Romania and today this valuable feedstuff is sharing over 50 percent of broiler feed costs.  Therefore, there is no doubt about how vital soy supply is for the feed industry in this area,” said FEFAC’s Alex Doring.
“However, while demand for soy is riding high, its reputation is arguably at risk because soy is involved in some of the origination countries in land degradation and in poor labor practices.  Facilitating relationships between Romanian feed companies and sustainable soy farmers from the U.S. should be one of the answers to the future of sustainability in Southeast Europe,” added Mr. Pazuric.