CFS grain storage facilities near the port of Tianjin. (Dec. 12, 2019)
The Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau of China’s Ministry of Agriculture and rural Affairs issued a notice and document this week calling for a reduction in the amount of corn and soybean meal used in animal feed to promote “stable market supply” of feed grains.
The Chinese media published the Ministry of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine issued a “work plan to reduce the amount of corn and soybean meal substitution in feed”, which mentions that the goal of the work is “to fully exploit existing feed resources, establish accurate nutritional value parameters to optimize the structure of feed formulations, build a diversified feed formulation system with Chinese characteristics, reduce the proportion of corn and soybean meal in feed, in order to protect the feed grain Supply and demand balance, stabilize the overall situation of Food security to provide strong technical support”.
The “program” mentioned the need to establish a new feed grain configuration technology system, respectively, the use of “rice, wheat, mixed grains, potatoes, miscellaneous meal and other agricultural by-products and other raw materials” instead of corn, soybean meal feed formula adjustment program.
The “program” also said that the need to complete the “technical system integration and demonstration and promotion work program” by the end of April, to determine the demonstration enterprises, and in the year the organization to carry out demonstration and promotion.
Bloomberg reported that China’s purchases of corn and soybean meal, two commodities, have reached record levels because demand for animal feed, cooking oil and industrial products exceeds China’s own production capacity.
China is addressing the problem by increasing support for farmers, improving productivity and reducing waste, the report added.
According to Chinese data, China’s cumulative grain imports from January to December 2020 surpassed 140 million tons, an increase of more than 31 million tons and a year-over-year increase of about 28 percent in grain imports.
Just a month ago, China released its 19th Central Document No. 1 guiding the work of the three rural areas, a document that also highlighted the issue of food security, sparking some concerns about food supply and security.
Some experts expect that China’s total grain demand may peak by 2030, with demand for corn perhaps exceeding 300 million tons and total demand for soybeans approaching 120 million tons.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Tuesday that China signed the largest U.S. corn purchase order since January, Reuters reported.
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