New strategies for a more efficient animal production chain at Breed4Food workshop about resource efficiency

This workshop was organized in the context of the project Breed4Food around the theme Resource Efficiency. Aim of this day was to discuss about improvement of resource efficiency in the animal production chain with stakeholders from the entire chain. The day started with three talks about chain efficiency, residues, and consumer behavior. Each speaker shared his own vision on improving resource efficiency in the animal production chain, which led to a lively discussion immediately. In the afternoon the participants brainstormed in small groups about the extreme scenario: ‘Nothing may be wasted from the protein that enters the animal production chain’. Each group delivered at the end of the afternoon three strategies that can contribute to this. The solutions that received the most support are:

1. Better cooperation to optimize efficiency through the chain.
2. More effective utilization of ‘byproducts’ of breeding programs (young male goats, chicks and bulls).
3. Improved protein usage by (being able to) dealing with lower quality protein in the livestock sector.

The project team that organized the workshop will translate a number of the generated ideas to traits at animal level that are interesting for animal breeding. All participants agreed that sharing information between different chain partners is an important step to improve resource efficiency in the animal production chain. It was therefore highly appreciated that the workshop contributed to this by bringing chain partners together. The challenge is now to effectively collaborate in projects, to go ‘from thinking sustainable towards acting sustainable’.