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- Title
Challenges of sustainability transformation in German poultry production.
- Authors
Grabkowsky, B.
- Abstract
Intensive livestock husbandry systems are not sustainable. In the context of planetary boundaries, ecological, animal ethical and economic reasons require a fundamental change of the current system (ZKL, 2021). However, a sustainability transformation is not trivial to implement, as the structure and mechanisms of the animal proteinbased value system are subject to numerous complex interactions between endogenous and exogenous factors. The German poultry industry is currently producing at an internationally competitive level. With a production volume of 1.5 million tons, Germany ranked fourth in European poultry meat production (share of 11.4%), second in European egg production in 2022 with 985,000 tons of eggs and a share of 14.6% (EC, 2024). At the same time, the industry is under pressure to transform due to a variety of challenges. Examples of exogenous challenges include legal framework conditions, e.g. in the area of animal welfare (ban on killing male chicks, intact beaks, stocking density in turkey farming, etc.), agricultural policy developments (e.g. the Mercosur free trade agreement at international, the stricter interpretation of EU regulations at federal level), climate and environmental protection requirements, the geopolitical situation, and the associated limited availability of feed and energy and changes in consumer behaviour. Endogenous factors include economic aspects such as the level of production costs, the sustainability of the farm strategy, the qualification level of the farmer, the biosecurity status or access to broadband internet and digital technologies. The interplay between these factors and the dynamics of agricultural and environmental policy developments at EU and federal level generated numerous conflicts of interest in Germany. These are located between the redesign of animal husbandry, its financing, the unresolved situation between building and environmental law, a lack of demand for products from husbandry systems 3 and 4, external effects of outdoor systems, climate neutrality, the price policy of food retailers and food security. For sustainable poultry production in Germany, it is therefore essential that the political framework conditions are designed in such a way that they consider the complexity of the mechanisms outlined, allow flexibility for individual farm solutions and avoid leakage effects.
- Subjects
GERMANY; CONSUMER behavior; AGRICULTURAL policy; ANIMAL culture; SUSTAINABILITY; AGRICULTURE; POULTRY farms; MERCOSUR (Organization); RIESLING
- Publication
European Poultry Science / Archiv für Geflügelkunde, 2024, Issue 398, p6
- ISSN
0003-9098
- Publication type
Article