Developments in 2024
2024 was a dynamic year in more ways than one. There was, and still is, a great deal of unrest in the world. This has also affected food-producing companies directly and indirectly. Examples of this include rising prices and an increasing shortage of suitable staff. Partly because of this, food prices have risen sharply. A lot has also happened in politics and policy in the past year.
Sustainability and climate ambitions and discussions on animal welfare are issues that have a major impact on our companies. With regard to the Netherlands specifically, long-term issues concerning agriculture remain unresolved. For example, the new Schoof Cabinet has not yet been able, unfortunately, to get the Netherlands off the nitrogen lock. A long-term perspective for livestock farming is lacking. At the same time, the government is making funding available to buy out businesses. In 2024, many veal farmers applied for a buyout. Precisely which impact this will have on dairy production chains in general, and veal farming in particular, is not yet known. However, it is clear that contraction is taking place. Unfortunately, schemes for innovation of the sector and relocation of companies have not yet been given concrete form.
Geopolitical relations and market developments also offer opportunities. It is no longer a given that Europe can source raw materials and food globally. Climate change is also affecting the availability of food. The regions where food can be grown structurally are decreasing. The fertile delta in Northwest Europe is a unique region that can continue to play an important role in this production. Food security and sovereignty have become key issues in 2024. Our own food strategy is therefore essential to be able to provide the European population with high-quality, sustainably-produced food even in troubled times. At European level, some distance has been taken from the Green Deal: ambitions to combat climate change remain as important as ever, but are viewed more in relation to competitiveness and security.
Politics
In 2024, the National exit scheme for certain livestock production locations (Lbv), set up in 2023 and the Lbv-plus scheme, for livestock sites with peak loads, were continued. After the closure of both schemes, the last of which closed on 20 December 2024, more than 100 veal farms have applied for the relevant scheme. It is not yet known how many farms will eventually participate definitively. However, it is clear that despite the many applications for these schemes, the has still not been released from the nitrogen lock.
New Cabinet
In 2024, a new Cabinet took office. For the agriculture posts, Femke Wiersma (BBB) and Jean Rummenie (BBB) were appointed as minister and state secretary respectively. These new appointments at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature are being viewed with cautious optimism. At the same time, debates in the Dutch House of Representative show that sentiment towards livestock farming is persistently negative. Getting any movement in long-running discussions related to emissions is also challenging at European level. The removal of the derogation in 2024 has led to major problems with manure disposal, with noticeable effects on farms. The chance of the Netherlands obtaining an exceptional position again is very low. However, a great deal of effort is being put in to developing alternative processing methods for manure. It seems that the new Cabinet is listening to the voice of our sector better.
Veal Forward
On 4 June 2024, the Dutch Veal Industry Association (Stichting Brancheorganisatie Kalversector, SBK), presented the Veal Forward sector plan to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture. The vision that envisages a sustainable future for veal calf farming identifies four pillars: working together in the chain, good care for the calf, humane husbandry and in balance with nature and the environment. For each pillar, the specific agreements made and the topics on which additional research is needed are indicated. To give further substance to the research agenda, a Kalf-IDee (Calf Idea) day was organised in autumn 2024, at which researchers, veal farmers and people from industry could present their calf ideas to help achieve the objectives. The number of entries was overwhelming and with the winners we are looking at how to implement the ideas In the discussions surrounding the implementation of the General Administrative Measures and the Covenant on Humane Husbandry, this shared vision has proven its added value. However, it is highly questionable whether politicians and policymakers are committed to a healthy calf sector in the Netherlands as a fully-fledged part of the dairy production chain. The sector collective has sent a clear and ambitious signal with Veal Forward.
Economics
The buyout schemes are also open to dairy farmers. Even though participation among dairy farmers is much less in demand relatively speaking, there is a clear contraction of dairy farming and thus the number of cows in the Netherlands. In other north-western European countries, too, we are seeing dairy farming shrinking. This is resulting in fewer animals and a direct impact on the price of our products. The decline in production and, at the same time, high demand are leading to strong prices for veal and beef. In many cases, this is resulting in being able to pay out a profit share to affiliated veal farmers.
Various changes in shareholdings and partnership agreements took place in our organisation:
Production Veau Ouest
In 2024, Production Veau Ouest signed an agreement with the VanDrie Group. This has allowed the VanDrie Group to increase its share of calf sites in France. This agreement strengthens its position in French veal farming.
Approval of cooperation F&F Group
In March 2024, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets and the European Commission approved the announced cooperation between F&F Group and the VanDrie Group. Under this agreement, the VanDrie Group acquired a stake in F&F Group, while F&F Group in turn acquired Schils Food's business from the VanDrie Group. F&F Group and VanDrie Group see great potential to expand the position of both companies in the dairy raw materials market through this collaboration.
Social
Social aspects received extra attention within our sector in 2024. The Netherlands employs nearly 1 million migrant workers, of whom just under 10,000 (<1%) work in the meat sector. There has been concern within the government about the position of migrant workers for many years. The Labour Inspectorate investigated one temporary employment agency operating in the meat sector in 2024, concluding that there were structural abuses. Unfortunately, there seems to be little room in this discussion for a joint plan of action that can address the companies where abuses occur structurally.
Within the meat processing companies in the Netherlands, we work according to the Fair Employment Code of the Central Organisation for the Meat Industry (COV). This code, which guarantees fair working conditions and transparency in labour relations, serves as a guideline for our human resources policy.
Following the labour inspection report, the COV drew up a roadmap supplementary to the Fair Employment Code, in which several measures are proposed to demonstrably ensure a good position of migrant workers in our companies.
In December 2024, the Minister of Affairs and Employment Eddy van Hijum visited Ameco, part of the VanDrie Group. Key issues discussed during this visit included working conditions, compliance with the Fair Employment Code and challenges around labour migration. The visit provided an opportunity to show the minister how we as a company provide a healthy and safe working environment for all our employees.
Technology
We feel the intrinsic motivation to keep innovating with respect to themes that are of importance to our organisation. We notice that various stakeholders in different countries also expect this of us. In 2023, a steering group was formed in our organisation with the aim of meeting mandatory reporting requirements by 2026. We are also eager to collaborate on research and projects that enable us to further improve on key issues, such as animal welfare, health, food safety and sustainability.
In 2024, the 'Kijk op het kalf' (View of the calf) project was continued by the Dutch Veal Industry Association (SBK) with the help of government funding, and the first and preliminary results have become known. This subsidy is part of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency scheme 'Pilots gezonde kalverketen' (Pilots promoting a healthy calf chain) and aims to stimulate system innovation in dairy and veal farming and to research the extent to which a (system) change can contribute to the integral improvement of animal health and welfare opportunities. As part of this, the SBK is collaborating with dairy farmers, veal farmers and Vereniging core cattle practices (vets). Within the Kijk op het Kalf project, calves in veal farming are only set up from dairy farms that are BVD and IBR free and have a favourable status for salmonella. Additional criteria used to assess whether the calf itself was healthy included clinical assessment and navel inspection. The nearly 1,000 calves were also vaccinated and the feed on the dairy farm was similar to the feed on the veal farm. Initial analyses show that targeting health at farm and animal level resulted in fewer diseases occurring on veal farms, and therefore less antibiotics needed to be used. These preliminary results are promising and provide perspective for the industry's ambitions regarding the pillar ‘Goed zorg voor het kalf’ (Good care for the calf) from Veal Forward.
You can read more about how we implement these influencing elements in the chapters Our Strategy and Progress on CSR Goals.
