Editor Cemalettin KANAS

Dear Feed Planet readers,

The mass grain stocking triggered by the pandemic and the increase in prices were added on the two chronic problems of the future of animal production: population growth and changing consumption habits. Wheat, barley and corn, main feed ingredients, have recently experienced the highest price levels of the last decade. So much so that China, the world's largest buyer, has revised its poultry and pig feed recipes in an attempt to shrink soy and corn trade. In Turkey, on the other hand, we witnessed that the feed and flour industrialists got into a fight for bread wheat after corn and barley prices exceeded that of bread wheat.

In addition to the supply and price increase problems added on the chronic problems, ecological concerns should not be overlooked. Although I think that the share of animal husbandry in gas emissions, which is one of the most important factors of global warming, when all sectors are taken into account altogether, is exaggerated, the negative impact of compound feed production and industrial animal production on nature is still undeniable.

Considering both the insufficiency of current and planned production to fulfill the protein deficit, and the effect of waste from production on the balance of nature, alternative protein sources come to the fore.

Although it seems unlikely that insect feed will become a mainstream item in the near term, I have no doubt that it will increase its market share over time. Under the title of alternative protein sources, which is the cover of this issue, Kees Aarts, the founder and CEO of Protix, which we can see as the leading company in the sector, drew attention to this issue in our significant interview with him. Aarts, one of the founders of International Platform for Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF), points out that insects, which he describes as 'nature's most powerful up-cyclers', are the missing link in our food system.

See you in the next issue.

I wish you a pleasant reading…