Nearly all of Europe’s high-protein animal feed originates from overseas, leaving farmers exposed to price swings and broken supply chains. A newly funded initiative aims to change that with homegrown alternatives.
The PROFEED project secured close to €5.5 million through the EU’s Horizon Europe programme. Its mission: build sustainable, locally sourced plant protein options while shaping regional strategies and EU policy guidance, according to a European Commission statement.
The University of Leeds coordinates the effort, bringing together 15 partners across eight countries. Researchers will connect crop science, on-farm practices, feed technology, animal nutrition and policy development along the full value chain.
Christine Bosch, associate professor at Leeds and PROFEED coordinator, framed the project as a chance to turn protein diversification into a strength. She pointed to greater resilience, competitiveness and sustainability for Europe’s feed sector.
The scale of the problem looms large. Imported material supplies roughly 96% of the high-protein feed used across the continent. That dependency leaves domestic agriculture vulnerable to fluctuating prices, environmental strain and supply disruptions.
Boosting local production could stabilise rural economies while encouraging more sustainable farming methods, the statement noted.
The project spans varied farming systems and climate zones. Participants include 40 farmers, 10 lighthouse sites and four communities of practice focused on knowledge exchange and cross-organisational collaboration.
Researchers will first screen more than 130 soybean, lupin and alfalfa accessions under controlled conditions. These tests include current and future climate scenarios to pinpoint resilient varieties.
Promising candidates then move into real-world field trials across multiple European regions. Animal studies will evaluate their suitability in feed formulations for pigs, poultry and aquaculture species.
Life-cycle and techno-economic analyses will measure environmental and socio-economic impacts.
An open-access digital platform will centralise data, tools, training materials and best practices related to sustainable protein crop production for feed.
The end goal: a harmonised European database, concrete policy recommendations and a multilingual Massive Open Online Course supporting farmers, advisors, industry players and policymakers alike.
The initiative runs from October 2026 through September 2030.
Ireland’s feed picture differs somewhat. Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon previously told Agriland that grazed grass and preserved forage account for 80% of animal feed there. Domestic compound feed production reached about 6.5 million tonnes in 2025.
Meanwhile, Ireland produced roughly 2.2 million tonnes of home-grown cereals including barley, wheat and oats. Imports topped 5.1 million tonnes the same year.
Pigs and poultry depend almost entirely on compound feeds. Key imports include maize and its by-products, soybean meal, rapeseed meal, vegetable oils, minerals and vitamins.
EU member states supply about a quarter of Ireland’s imported feed. The remaining 75% arrives from Argentina, the United States, Canada and Brazil.
