New rules for organic feedstuffs

The new amending Regulation 505/2012 was published on June 15, 2012, setting out new rules for organic feedstuffs. The new regulation is an amendment to the implementing Regulation 889/2008 for Organic Farming and it basically changes the following:

• regarding herbivores, pigs and poultry, higher percentages of feed that has to be produced by the farm unit itself have been set
• new substances are listed which can be used in organic feed
• the pending issue with protein supply in organic feed is regulated
• the derogation for using non-organic pullets is prolonged until the end of 2014 and
• new stricter rules apply for the use of indications in marketing organic feedstuffs.

According to the new regulation in case of herbivores, at least 60% of the feed shall come from the farm unit itself or in case this is not feasible, be produced in  cooperation with other organic farms in the same region. The old percentage was 50%.  Regarding pigs and poultry there existed no obligation for the farms to produce part of their feeding stuffs but from now on at least 20% year round has to come from the farm itself. The reason behind this is that feed produced on the own holding completes the organic on-farm production cycle. On-farm feed production and using feed resources from the region reduces transport and is beneficial to the environment and nature. Consequently, in order to better meet the organic objectives of Regulation 834/2007 and in the light of the experience gained so far, it deemed appropriate to set a minimum share of feed produced in the own holding for porcine and poultry species and to increase the minimum share for herbivores.

Regarding protein feeding stuffs, a small percentage of non-organically produced protein is now accepted because it was considered as a necessity. The production of organic protein crops lags behind demand for years in the European Union and it is still not sufficiently available in qualitative and quantitative terms to meet the nutritional requirements of porcine and poultry animals raised on organic farms. It was therefore appropriate to allow for a minor proportion of non-organic protein feed as an exceptional rule for a limited time period.

The new regulation can be downloaded at our “European Regulations” page.