These are among the key findings of the 2018/19 EU feed protein balance sheet, published today by the European Commission.

Roughage, such as grass and silage maize, remains the main source of feed protein, representing 42% of the EU total feed use. As oilseed meals and crops, their share increased by 1% each and reached respectively 26% and 23%.

While the EU is fully self-sufficient in roughage, the EU produces only 26% of oilseed meals (mainly soya and rapeseed meals) consumed by the EU livestock sector.

Because of lower feed demand, the consumption of all feed protein sources dropped in absolute figures. Within the category of ‘crops', we can observe a shift towards more imported maize and within the category ‘oilseeds' a small shift towards more soya bean meals, at the expense of rapeseed and sunflower meals.

EU self-sufficiency

Shares of different protein sources in 2017/18 and 2018/19