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This year DLG (Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft – German Agricultural Society), organizer of EuroTier, the world's largest exhibition for professional animal husbandry, can report a record number of stand bookings with 2,445 exhibitors from altogether 51 countries. These figures represent a growth of more than 25 percent over the last event in 2010. The exhibition area has also grown by six halls to now over 25 hectares, equivalent to a net increase in floor space of around 30 percent. The exhibitors are presenting modern, innovative and professional concepts for animal production. All the leading manufacturers in the industry are represented at EuroTier. In addition the advisors from many international associations and organizations, as well as research institutions, academia and DLG with their experts are offering comprehensive opportunities for gathering information. With this impressive exhibition programme, unique in this concentration, EuroTier is the world's largest exhibition of its kind and at the same time the indispensable forum for the future of professional animal husbandry.
World forum for the sector – EuroTier more international than ever
EuroTier 2012 is more international in character than ever before. Nearly half of the exhibitors (47 percent) come from outside Germany. International participation has thus grown by 40 percent compared with 2010. The largest contingents of the altogether 1,151 international exhibitors come from the Netherlands (197), France (135), China (97), Italy (94), Denmark (86), the United Kingdom (72), Spain (68), Belgium (57) and Austria (51). It is striking that nearly all the participating countries display distinct growth in numbers. DLG sees this as a clear signal for the increasing global orientation of the companies and of agri-business with its global interconnections. The companies want to use the EuroTier platform specifically in order to tap into new markets.
The world’s top event – EuroTier
The excellent stand booking results impressively underscore EuroTier’s leading position as the world’s top event for animal production. Moreover they also confirm the general assessment that good long-term prospects are forecast for agribusiness on the grounds of expected global increases in demand for foods, especially for meat, and for biomass made from agricultural raw materials. DLG also sees other reasons for the rising demand on the part of exhibitors. These include, for instance, the fact that EuroTier is the world’s showcase for innovations. Manufacturers and suppliers of machinery and equipment, systems and installations and farm inputs for professional animal husbandry are increasingly orienting their innovation cycles to EuroTier in Hanover and showing their innovations for the world market there. This is impressively corroborated by the new record level of over 300 innovations submitted to EuroTier this year. The programme concept of the exhibition also plays a role. At EuroTier the complete range of machinery and equipment, genetic resources, farm inputs and services for cattle, pig and poultry husbandry are presented under a single roof. That is unique throughout the world
Investment plans focus on stable and yard operations
Investment plans are prioritizing animal husbandry. Altogether 44 percent of investments planned in Germany will be channelled into this sector, 3 percent more than in spring. 42 percent of the investments will be devoted to outdoor operations and 14 percent to bioenergy. Accordingly farm managers in Germany are investing distinctly more in animal husbandry than their colleagues in the other countries. This underscores the pioneer role of German farmers in animal husbandry and strengthens their position in competition. Animal farmers are between two poles here. On the one hand they are confronted with sustained high feed costs, which in view of the liquidity situation could lead some animal producers to defer investments, while on the other hand it is becoming increasingly more difficult to obtain construction permits, especially for pig farmers. This favours carrying out investments which have already been approved now, under the currently favourable financing conditions. And with their forthcoming investments dairy farmers are preparing their way to the new market environment as of 2015, following the end of the quota system.
The high costs of farm inputs and land as well as the ever more difficult permit practice for animal housing buildings are directing attention to indoor developments on the farms and the optimizing of farm strategies. Improving efficient use of farm inputs is becoming increasingly important and farm managers are showing ever more interest in corresponding technical solutions.
Europe – More optimism in France, greater scepticism in the United Kingdom
Europe's farmers assess the situation very differently. In Poland and the United Kingdom, the generally high production costs are leading to less favourable assessments of the business situation. British farmers especially are suffering under the low producer prices for milk and meat, and due to the difficult harvest conditions they have had to accept drops in yields and quality. In this environment the expectations of business development have clouded over considerably in the United Kingdom. Consequently readiness to invest has declined from 52 percent in the spring survey to now only 42 percent. In Poland, assessment of business development remains stable at 2.9 points, while inclination to invest shows a slightly declining trend from 58 percent to now 55 percent.
Farm managers in France, on the other hand, assess both the present business situation and expectations of business development more positively than they did in spring 2012. Readiness to invest has increased further too, from 26 percent to 31 percent. The positive trend observed in France since autumn 2010 is thus continuing.
November 13, 2012 - DLG
