Link between theory & practice

Missing link between

In two green containers in Barneveld, the Netherlands, millions of fly produce millions of larvae: sustainable and protein-rich chicken feed. The system is part of an ongoing transition in poultry farming, where farmers want to become more independent from protein from soy.

‘T he setup can help reduce feed dependency. It can potentially help lower our soy imports’, says Cor Duim, business manager at the Poultry Expertise Centre (PEC). The breeding unit is part of the De kippen zien ze vliegen project, a punny name that roughly translates as ‘The chickens see them flying’ (albeit with loss of pun). The project is a cooperation between PEC and Amusca B.V. that aims to develop the containers and to support knowledge sharing between students, poultry farmers and those otherwise involved in the poultry sector.

Independency is our strength

The larvae feeding unit is but one of many projects in which PEC is involved. Project manager Anne-Jo Smits says: ‘We basically facilitate knowledge development and sharing in the poultry industry. We’re facilitators, enablers. We’re the missing link between funding partners, research and practice.’ Duim adds: ‘We’re involved in the early stages of innovation. Inventors invent, companies bring those inventions to market, and we’re the missing link between those stages. We do this independently. That’s our strength.’ Additionally, the organisation plays a part in communicating recent poultry developments to farmers and other parties, with news articles and events.

Many topics, many partners

The innovations and inventions PEC is involved in span a broad range of topics and fields related to poultry. As Smits mentions, a majority of Dutch consumers enjoy chicken meat and eggs. ‘So it’s up to us and the poultry sector to satisfy that demand as sustainably as possible.’ Hence, PEC runs projects concerning fine dust pollution and nitrogen emissions (Livestock Emission Reduction Practice Centre), animal-friendly housing and transport (Cool Poultry Transport), poultry red mite, and more environmentally friendly chicken feed. With many of these projects, PEC serves as the missing link between businesses and governments or schools. The Amusca unit is set to be run by Aeres students, and Aeres researchers analyse testing results from a cooled truck from the Cool Poultry Transport project. On the Aeres campus in Barneveld, companies Avingstan BV and VDL Jansen run tests with producing protein-rich chicken feed from Black Soldier Fly larvae. Governments are also involved, such as in the Emission Reduction Centre. Some projects are just starting out, others are close to being finished. The Emission Reduction Centre has led to tangible and auspicious results. The programme has contributed to some new promising fine dust-reducing innovations now being on

We’re facilitators, enablers

PROJECT MANAGER ANNE-JO SMITS

Cor Duim, business manager at the Poultry Expertise Centre (PEC). the national fi ne dust list, the directory that shows by how much a specifi c poultry housing system can reduce fi ne dust emissions.’

Never done

Smits and Duim don’t foresee ever being done innovating. Not in the near future, not in the coming decades. They operate within a long tradition of innovation in the Dutch poultry sector, with internationally leading companies and renowned research and educational institutes such as Wageningen University & Research, Aeres University of Applied Sciences, and Aeres Training Centre International. And they aim to continue that tradition.

‘I foresee emission reduction remaining a principal topic for a long time’, Smits says. ‘Additionally, the link between poultry farmer and consumer will become increasingly important. There is an increasing gap between production and consumption, and people know less and less about the origin of eggs or chicken meat. That leads to misunderstandings. So we don’t just need to innovate, we also need to communicate about what we’re doing and why.’ Duim: ‘There is no fi nish line. We’ve made important progress in the last years, but we’re never done. That’s because societal views and demands are ever evolving.’