The meeting kicked off with a video message from four farmers who highlighted various contributions their livestock farms make to society.
Talking directly on their farms, the farmers said that people are often not aware of all the full value of their farms and their contributions, such as maintaining grasslands, protecting soil health, upcycling plant waste, and providing biomass for biofuels.
Chairing MEPs Cassart and Grapini opened the event, with MEP Grapini highlighting the essential role of livestock. She pointed out that everyone in Europe says they love animals, and no one more so than livestock farmers, while calling for adequate financing for the sector. MEP Cassart echoed the farmers from the opening video saying that livestock farming is so much more than food production, as it also contributes to the bioeconomy and environmental protection.
MEP Carlo Fidanza used the opportunity of the Sustainable Livestock Intergroup to launch the publication of the INI Report on how to secure a sustainable future for the EU livestock sector in light of the need to ensure food security, farmers’ resilience and the challenges posed by animal diseases.
He spoke of the need to recognise livestock farming not solely as an economic activity, as the sector also provides essential environmental services, and contributes to the social pillar of sustainability. With global demand for animal protein expected to rise significantly by 2050, he highlighted the need to reinforce the sector’s long-term relevance as many farmers are exiting the sector due to economic difficulties, a lack of generational renewal, and insufficient attractiveness. he also cited numerous other challenges such as high production costs, rising regulatory demands on emissions and animal welfare, and animal diseases such as African swine fever and avian influenza. Fidanza warned against one-size-fits-all livestock reduction strategies as they risk environmental degradation, land abandonment, and biodiversity loss, flagging that science-based policy-making is essential.
The Secretary General of the Animal Task Force, Ana Sofia Santos spoke of the longstanding work of the organisation working on the forefront of livestock related issues in Europe. She highlighted key contributions of the sector, such as:
David Kenny from Teagasc, also a member of the Animal Task Force and currently leading the STEP UP project, spoke of the contributions of livestock for European autonomy in terms of renewable energy, fertilisers, biomaterials for the bioeconomy. He said that it is time to reframe livestock farming not just as food production — but as infrastructure for resilience.
Now retired, but formerly teaching at the Munich Technical University, Wilhelm Windisch debunked the feed vs food debate, saying that sustainable food production with biomass from grassland and residues from arable land means no feed competition and no land-use change. He added that ruminants on grasslands are fundamental pillars of food security.
From DG AGRI, Brigitte Misonne and Andrea Porcelle Capkovicova shared some key data on livestock farming in Europe. Andrea informed participants that up to 5 main EU producing countries account for 60% of the production of milk and meats (except sheep and goat meat). The dairy sector is at a turning point characterised by slowdown of productivity growth and further reduction of dairy herd, but production is becoming more and more sustainable, and the EU remains the main outlet for domestically produced milk. Consumption of meat is going down slightly in the EU with citizens favouring poultry meat over pigmeat, and the outlook is a bit of mixed picture among meat types, particularly with lower profitability and stricter sustainability ruled negatively weighing on beef production.
Andrea also highlighted challenges facing the sector such as animal diseases, trade tensions, competitiveness of the EU production globally, and consumers’ price-driven decision-making versus consciousness of health and nutrition.
Several MEPs raised questions during the Q&A session, with MEP Cowen pointing to the “lazy argument” of the need to reduce livestock heard to meet climate goals and MEP Buda stressing the importance of keeping mixed farms alive, as abandoned pastures in Southern Italy for example have fueled wildfires. MEP Mullooly asked how it would be possible to reduce herd sizes and still meet the growing demand for animal-sourced food products, questioning the way livestock emissions are calculated currently.
Experts in animal science, food science, nutrition, global health and clinical research joined the Sustainable Livestock Intergroup to share their
The European Board on Agriculture and Food, a new expert group established by the European Commission, will play a central role on guiding the future for agriculture in Europe.
The future of livestock is not just an agricultural issue, so it deserves to be addressed in depth, considering all the sector’s externalities.
