2012 Corporate Sustainability Report Agrifirm

Pioneering in sustainability 2012 Corporate Sustainability Report

Link to Success

Facts and Figures

• Cooperative with approximately 18,000 members • Managed by an Executive Board (three members)

• Supervision by a Supervisory Board (ten members)

• Various subsidiaries operating worldwide. the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom and China

• Revenue: € 2.436 billion • Net profit: € 21.1 million

Sales Volume (x 1,000 tonnes) Compound feed

4,155

Wet feed

2,217

Premixes and concentrates

551

Cereals, potatoes, onions and carrots

617

Fertilisers

374

Organic fertilisers

505

Crop protection products (€ millions)

116.5

Composition of Personnel Complement The total number of FTEs in 2011 was 3,491.

Gender

Distribution of Total Number of Employees

24% Female 76% Male

Employment Contract

13% Definite 87% Indefinite

Age 25% <29 years 51% 30-50 years 24% 50< years

Job Families 3.4% Management 41% Commercial 11.9% Staff, Support and Services 2.7% Research and Innovation 38.2% Operations 2.7% Others

1.7% 7.8% 6.7% 21% 6.5% 1.1% 19.5% 1% 4.7% 1% 3.7% 2.6% 4.1% 18.9%

Agrifirm Group Agrifirm Plant Agrifirm Co-products Agrifirm Feed Abemec Agrifirm Belgium Nuscience Group Oldambt B.V. Agrifirm Deutschland Agrifirm Exlan Agrifirm Polska NutriControl Agrifirm Magyarország Zrt Agrifirm Winkel

Preface At Agrifirm we are convinced that sustainability and innovation are important pillars of support for the future success of our company and our members:

livestock farmers, crop farmers and horticulturalists who do their best every day to produce the highest quality foodstuff. Sustainability is subject to

more scrutiny in the market through the food manufacturer and supermarket programmes. And dealing meticulously with raw materials is one answer to the fluctuating prices due to scarcity.

Because of the strong competition in the markets in which our members

operate, a sharp eye for cost price is always crucial. Sustainability cannot be

at the expense of the profit and must provide prospects for better results in the long run. Agrifirm is deliberately sticking its neck out by pioneering and

seeking out new solutions: solutions which we search for by doing things even better yet, but also by sometimes tackling things in a radically different way.

In this annual report we will introduce you to a number of Agrifirm pioneers

in the field of sustainability. Pioneers who are already achieving outstanding results; pioneers who work on projects in the development phase; projects that open a new perspective on combining a smaller footprint with a

favourable cost price. Agrifirmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ambition is to be a step ahead of the future by continuing to pioneer in sustainability.

Ton Loman

Chairman, Agrifirm Executive Board

Agrifirm, A Link to Success Agrifirm is a cooperative in which more than 18,000 Dutch enterprising farmers and horticulturists have bundled their strength.

And successfully so: collaboration provides a score of sustainability advantages with regard to high-quality products such as animal feeds, sowing seeds, fertilisers and crop protection products.

Agrifirm was awarded the designation ‘Royal’ because the history of our company goes back more than 100 years.

Agrifirm acts as a ‘link to success’ for farmers and horticulturists and focuses on livestock farming, arable farming and horticulture throughout the

Netherlands. In addition, we have an international network of subsidiaries.

We supply products and services for feeding animals and cultivating crops.

Our distinctive quality is that we always think in terms of customer-oriented solutions and always pursue a better result.

2012 was a year of unusual milestones. We officially opened the new office in Apeldoorn in September, and were awarded the ‘Royal’ predicate. This honour does not simply fall from the sky. On the contrary, Agrifirm was

awarded the designation ‘Royal’ because the history of our company goes back more than 100 years.

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The up-andcoming cooperative Farmers and horticulturists have worked together in cooperatives for over 200 years. In difficult economic times the

cooperative also proves to be a strong foundation for associated parties.

The United Nations (UN) had already

declared 2012 the year of the cooperative for a good reason. The key role for the

economic development was the decisive factor. Agrifirm is proving that

cooperatives work excellently these

days. Our six divisions provide a broad

assortment of products and services to

the agricultural sector in the Netherlands and other European countries.

Six divisions

• Feed Division: production and sale of Mission

The interests of its members are key for Agrifirm. This is why Agrifirm’s

mission is as follows: to create sustainable value for members. We do this by collaborating with the right partners, using fair business practices and

delivering quality to our members and customers. We support farmers and horticulturists with sustainable, profitable concepts for achieving optimal

results. The increase in value of the collaboration is returned to our members through profit distribution.

Member meetings and Youth Day

Since the members of the cooperative are our most important stakeholders,

we organised many different meetings in 2012 during which members could have contact with Agrifirm. The most important ones were the Agrifirm Member Days. For ten days at various sites in the country we offered

members a varied programme to provide insight into the cooperative.

The result: more than two thousand visitors and many positive reactions to the arrangement. We are working on further development of the Member

Days in 2013. For the young entrepreneurs Agrifirm is organising Youth Day. The theme this time was: ‘The role of image and communication in the agricultural sector.’ More than six hundred young business people in agriculture and horticulture participated.

animal feeds; consultancy and research.

• Plant Division: sale of sowing seeds, fertilisers, crop protection products;

collection and sale of cereals, onions

and carrots; consultancy and research.

• Co-products Division: processing of dry residual products from the food industry into (raw materials for) animal feeds.

• Specialties Division: production of

premixes, mineral mixes, protein-rich

raw materials and nutritional concepts for animal feed.

• Service Division: sale of agricultural machines; technical and legal

agricultural advice, laboratory research for the foodstuffs production chains;

production and sale of artificially dried fodder legumes and straw products;

sale of agricultural consumer products.

• Participating Interests Division:

minority interests in several companies.

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Opting for Sustainability Sustainability and innovation are important pillars of Agrifirmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s organisational strategy. It is our ambition to be part of sustainable food chains with our business operations and to contribute in this way to a healthy world for future generations. In addition, we view investing in sustainability as an important precondition for continuity.

For our own enterprise, as well as that of farmers and horticulturists.

Our innovation strategy supports our sustainability strategy.

Our farmers and horticulturists operate in highly competitive markets.

Prices for dairy, meat, eggs, cereals and other products are set on international markets with strong competition. Sustainable solutions must therefore be

financially profitable as well. This basic premise does not represent an obstacle to our ambition; instead it sharpens our focus. Most certainly also because our innovation strategy supports our sustainability strategy: efficient production of foodstuff using healthy plants, striving toward healthy soil and healthy animals, and the optimal use of residual flows from the food industry.

Links in the Chain

Characteristic of Agrifirmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sustainability strategy is that we not only scrutinise our own operations, we also aim to take all links in the chain into account:

from the cultivation of raw materials right to the point at which the food is

served to the consumer. Within every link there are issues and opportunities for increasing the level of sustainability. For example in the area of energy

consumption, emissions and impact on biodiversity. Agrifirm is always on the lookout for themes on which we can exert a substantial positive influence.

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Agrifirm’s sustainability policy comprises four themes.

Working on Sustainable Raw Materials

Efficient Production and Logistics

Enabling Plant and Animal Performance

Contributing to a Sustainable Consumer Supply

Our Employees: the Foundation for Success

It is our belief that our contribution comes from the core competencies,

in which our own employees especially have a key role. Their safety, welfare, commitment and motivation form the core of sustainable enterprise.

Collaboration with stakeholders

Agrifirm operates in a large number of markets. The company activities vary from production and sales of animal feed to commerce in crop protection products. Collaborating with our stakeholders in these

markets and involving them in our policy is of key importance in order to be able to optimally fulfil our role. We do this in various ways, for example by participating in cooperatives, entering into (long-term)

agreements, organising our meetings and workshops and by participating in research projects. Our key stakeholders are the cooperative’s members and our customers. However, suppliers, research centres, development

Innovations are realised in collaboration with the Agrifirm Innovation Centre and other innovative departments within Agrifirm’s subsidiaries.

organisations and partners in the chain are also indispensable.

Anchoring policy

Our goal is to anchor our sustainability policy in the core activities of

our organisation. Agrifirm’s operating companies have been given the

responsibility to actually realise this. Innovations are realised in collaboration with the Agrifirm Innovation Centre and other innovation departments

within Agrifirm’s subsidiaries. The Corporate Affairs department operates

as the driver in this respect. Furthermore, this department is also responsible for carrying out the strategic processes at the corporate level.

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Working on sustainable raw materials Sustainable production starts at the front of the chain:

with the procurement of raw materials. Agrifirm actively

stimulates cultivation of sustainable or safe raw materials,

not only for animal feed but also for human food. In addition we process large quantities of residual products in the

food product and bio-based industry into high-quality

animal feed, and we consult with suppliers on for example sustainable use of raw materials and recycling plastic

waste of crop protection products. Key for the activities in the area of producing sustainable raw materials is that they produce verifiable environmental gains.

Working on sustainable raw materials

New factory for wet compound cattle feed Bonda, one of Agrifirm’s subsidiaries, recently became the only company in the world to produce wet, stackable compound feed for cattle. It started up a new factory in ’s-Hertogenbosch in the fall of last year, with a production capacity of two hundred thousand tonnes of wet compound feed per year.

The innovative feed combines the advantages of different liquid, dry and

The stackable wet compound feed allows us to make more products accessible to our customers.

stackable (dry residual) products, allowing Agrifirm to meet the demands of

our customers even better. Cattle farms are getting larger and larger and more

intensive and the number of cattle farmers using dry residual products in various types and forms is continuously increasing. The supply of these products is not

always stable and not every livestock farmer has the option of feeding liquid dry residual products. The stackable wet compound feed allows us to make more

products accessible to our customers. The stable composition and availability throughout the year are big advantages. The production method also has

advantages for suppliers, as we can offer them more guaranteed sales through this procedure. The options for processing dry residual products from the food industry in livestock feed have thus improved.

Sustainably grown barley

Agrifirm Plant has been working with chain parties on a three-year plan for the development and stimulation of brewing barley from sustainable cultivation.

The Stichting Veldleeuwerik criteria are used for this. This foundation is a unique collaboration between crop farmers, consultants, suppliers and processors

in sustainable food chains. They jointly translate sustainability into practical

measures that result in more sustainable operational management in the entire chain. A grower associated with Stichting Veldleeuwerik draws up a tested

‘One sees an increasing demand for compound products with regard to wet feed. The composition is determined by the raw materials available at that point in time, but the feed quality is consistent.’

sustainability plan for his entire company each year. This plan for continuously making products sustainable is based on ten indicators, including soil fertility,

energy consumption and biodiversity. Agrifirm Plant, Heineken and Holland Malt have set themselves the objective to put this sustainably grown brewing barley on the market jointly.

Stackable wet compound feed

Bonda, one of Agrifirm’s subsidiaries, recently became the only company in the world to produce wet, stackable

compound feed for cattle, and last year it put a new factory into operation for this purpose in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Gluco+ Proti+ Gluco+ Proti+ Bonda factory

Transport

Livestock farmer

Silage

Available throughout the year

Research on alternative protein strategies Alternative sources of protein

Agrifirm is involved in making protein import sustainable and in the research on alternative protein strategies. Raw materials rich in protein are becoming scarcer worldwide and therefore more expensive. We are striving to do something about this. Together with the Agrifirm Innovation Centre,

Agrifirm Plant has studied the possibilities of increasing the protein content in Dutch corn and wheat by means of better fertilisers. This is only one of the examples. Another initiative is research on increasing the rape share

in poultry feed. This should generate more alternative sources of protein.

Agrifirm has put soy cultivation on the map in Northwestern Europe in the recent past.

We pursue the same effect with different new raw materials. In 2012 at

the Agrifirm Innovation Centre New Raw Materials department we tested

whether raw materials such as seaweed and insects could be used in animal feed. Some sources have proved applicable, but are still not significant alternatives for use in livestock feed.

Sights on the regional soy cultivation

Agrifirm has put soy cultivation on the map in Northwestern Europe in the

recent past. Soy was grown and tested at various places in the Netherlands in 2012, for instance in Zuid-Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Flevoland and Groningen.

Soy tests were also carried out at two sites in Belgium in collaboration with a Belgian research institute. At the beginning of 2013 we further expanded

the soy growersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; network with a German party; in addition, we are striving

to strengthen ties with research institutes in Belgium and the Netherlands.

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Reuse of Residual Products from the Food Industry

47.9% 47.9% of all dry raw materials that Agrifirm processes into livestock feed consist of

residual products that originate from the

food industry and the bio-based economy.

These are left over as part of the

production of, for example, bio fuel, bread, cookies, margarine, beer and sugar. Aside from this, producers are faced with a

large number of residual batches. These

products, provided they are mixed to create an optimal composition, are extremely well suited as raw material for animal feeds.

Percentage Residual Product per Animal Type

Next year we will carry out a practical test with growers in the Netherlands, the intent of which is to bring possible barriers to soy cultivation into focus and clarify whether soy can compete with crops such as wheat and corn.

65.1% Dairy Cattle

Responsible soy in the entire chain

Soy is an important raw material for protein-rich animal feed. The demand for soy is increasing worldwide for applications in food, animal feed and

bio fuel. This is increasing the area cultivated with soy, especially in South

38.8% Pigs

America. It is important that this cultivation takes place sustainably with

respect to conservation of nature, local employees and communities as well as other social aspects. In the ‘chain transition to responsible soy’ project,

animal feed producers, livestock farmers, the dairy, meat and egg sectors, and foodstuffs producers are working on conversion to 100% responsible

soy in 2015. Agrifirm Feed is closely involved in this via sector organisation

31.5% Layer-hens

Nevedi. The companies, along with the Sustainable Trade Initiative, are

investing a total of several million euros in making the soy chain responsible.

In the framework of the 100% responsible soy in 2015 growing process,

Dutch companies and South American soy producers signed the contracts

40.9% Broilers

in November 2012 for delivery of 280,000 tonnes of responsible soy. This is equivalent to doubling the purchasing of responsible soy in comparison to 2011. Approximately 16% of all soy and soy products processed in the Netherlands are certified and cultivated sustainably.

There is a summary of the percentage of soy and palm kernel flakes in Agrifirm’s livestock feed in Agrifirm’s KPI report at www.agrifirm.com.

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Efficient production and logistics Efficient processing of raw materials and the product transport to the customer are key Agrifirm tasks.

Reduction of energy consumption, and thus effectively

organised logistics, is the spearhead of our sustainability policy. The development of renewable energy sources

acquired a major spot on the agenda in 2012. Agrifirm is no

expert in this field and therefore collaborated with experts from the market for alternative energy. The options for

using wind energy were investigated for all company sites.

We have concluded that generating energy from wind is

not feasible at our company sites due to permit obstacles.

Efficient production and logistics

Energy Efficiency Index results 2012 Introduction of the Energy Efficiency Index (EEI) in 2011 was a key step in the

ability to produce more efficiently. It is used to map out the energy consumption per product unit at key product sites. The index identifies the energy efficiency

of a certain year in comparison to the reference year. By repeating this survey on an annual basis the energy efficiency trend at each site becomes evident. The

following specific measures to reduce energy consumption were taken in 2012:

By repeating this survey on an annual basis the energy efficiency trend at each site becomes evident.

• The weather conditions and a good schedule made it possible for subsidiary B.V. Oldambt to let alfalfa lay on the ground longer, thereby pre-drying the alfalfa which saved energy at the factory

• The new Agrifirm headquarters has various new low-energy technology

and materials, for example outer siding that decomposes CO2 and has a high insulation value, triple glass and a smart climate installation that distributes heat and cold to other rooms

• Motors with better fuel efficiency have been installed for heavy machinery

such as presses and hammer mills. In addition, the company has invested in process optimisation whereby the start-up and stop procedures consume less energy

‘Improving the logistics process at a number of Agrifirm Feed branches allowed the cargo weight of bulk lorries to increase considerably, drastically lowering the transport costs.’

There has been notable progress in EEI at the Nuscience Group’s Drongen site.

To a great extent, that progress is due to higher production and deliberate

energy-efficient production. A reorganisation at the NutriControl laboratory in Veghel has resulted in a new situation as far as performing various types of analyses is concerned, with lower energy efficiency in 2012 as a result.

The efficiency is expected to recover in 2013.

Energy Efficiency Index

96.6

101.1 98.2 101.2

104.4

100.7 108.1 111.6

72 120

111

97 93

Agrifirm Polska Margonin Szamotuly Topola

Agrifirm Deutschland Neuss

Agrifirm Magyarország Zrt. Kaba Gyor Bocs

Nuscience Group Drongen Baasrode

NutriControl Veghel

Oldambt B.V. Oldambt Opeinde

140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

Agrifirm Belgium Grobbendonk

The index, by production site, identifies how the 2012 energy efficiency compares to the 2010 reference year.

In 2012 Agrifirm Feed Nederland, at the initiative of Nevedi, participated in a national energy scan

Smart energy savings

Sustainable processing of crop protection packaging

Agrifirm Plant has combined a waste processing company and a packaging company for the purpose of recycling waste material cost-efficiently. The waste processing company is well known in the waste collection and

processing sector and has a national network. The packaging company

specialises in processing empty chemical packaging. The waste flow is made suitable again as a raw material for new products.

Lower-energy transport

Production and transport are organised more flexibly and efficiently.

Transport of products accounts for a significant part of Agrifirmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s energy

consumption and thus its CO2 emissions. The intent is to organise transport efficiently and with low energy input. Investments were made at nearly all

product sites and all sites have been running four shifts since 2012. Production and transport are organised more flexibly and efficiently, and these measures made it possible to close the Utrecht and Maasbracht plants. Trips from the plants could be scheduled in such a way that return freight could be taken

back. In addition, there were Business Excellence projects at Agrifirm Feed in

2012 that contributed to more efficient scheduling, production and transport such as the IDEX project (in Oss, Veghel and Wanssum). The intent of the

Business Excellence project is to improve the efficiency of the logistics process.

As a result of the IDEX project, the loading density of the bulk lorries has

improved at these sites and the transport cost per kilometre has been reduced.

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Feed miles and land use Each year, Agrifirm calculates the

number of kilometres of transport (‘feed miles’) and the area of agricultural land (‘land use’) required for the production of a kilogram of milk, pig meat, poultry

meat and eggs. The calculation includes

all links in the chain, from the cultivation of raw materials for animal feeds up to

and including the products produced by livestock farmers. In general, the land use and number of transport miles

improved in comparison to 2011. Less

grain was imported from outside Europe in 2012. The drop in feed miles and land use for eggs was due to better feed

conversion. Additional information about the calculation of land use and feed

miles can be found in the sustainability

indicators report attached as appendix.

5 4 3 2

Agrifirm Magyarország Zrt. has installed a GPS system in all lorries.

Drivers find thus the shortest route even more easily and they can avoid

things. The transport efficiency for crop protection products has thereby

1.1 m2/kg

4.5 m2/kg

3.7 m2/kg

1.0 m2/kg

Milk

organisation so we work efficiently with less transport, among other

Broilers

Pigmeat

at the grower’s premises. Agrifirm Plant opts for a modern logistics

4.8m2/kg

grain storage facility and complete delivery of products, meaning delivery

Eggs

at Agrifirm Plant in 2012. Moreover we have presented plans for a central

3.9 m2/kg

3.9 m2/kg

‘efficient if possible, urgent if necessary’ have been further rounded out

3.6 m2/kg

1

unnecessary detours. The logistics principles of ‘order and deliver’ and

improved by 4.3% in comparison to 2011, which of course contributes to

reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Something else that helps in this regard is the increase in the number of lease contracts involving lowenergy cars. While these numbered only 34

in 2011, 145 employees had a car with energy label A at the end of 2012.

2012 Agrifirm energy consumption

2011 2012

Agrifirm Group companies used the following amounts of energy last

1,002 km/kg

2,021 km/kg

4,385 km/kg

5,700 km/kg

2,852 km/kg

6,780 km/kg

Petrol (l) 192,765. Renewable energy share: 2.56%.

4,593 km/kg

Coal (tonnes) 13,306, Fuel oil (l) 215,288, Diesel (l) 7,678,358 and

3,328 km/kg

year: Gas (m3) 13,730,062, Gas (l) 304,944, Electricity (kWh) 165,545,406,

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Enabling plant and animal to perform Striving for profit for the grower, innovations and

sustainability are important pillars at Agrifirm. By

facilitating farmers to enable plants and animals to perform optimally on the basis of our products and

services, we contribute to reducing the food productionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ecological footprint, which in many cases goes hand in hand with improving profit for the farmer. The most

important condition is good health of animal, plant and soil. The Agrifirm Innovation Centre, the Agrifirm Plant R&D department and the Nutrition & Innovation departments at Agrifirm Feed have a pivotal role in developing product innovation in this area.

Enabling plant and animal to perform

Gearing availability of minerals to the needs of animals At the Agrifirm Innovation Centre we focus a great deal of attention on

making minerals like phosphorous and nitrogen optimally available. We gear the quantity of minerals to the needs of the animal during the various

growing stages and production phases. For example, we try to raise the

so-called P and N efficiency of animals to the maximum possible, as common We gear the quantity of minerals

to the needs of the animal

during the various growing

stages and production phases.

sense tells us that what does not go into the body will not come out as

manure. The Agrifirm Feed Nutrition & Innovation departments are closely

involved in this. Our specific mineral-efficient feed concepts such as Air Line 2.0 and Pmin feed for pig farming and nP feed for cattle farming are results of this research.

Sustainability scan

In order to make Agrifirm’s innovative efforts to increase sustainability more

tangible, Agrifirm performs a sustainability scan every year. The scan provides insight into the contributions in various areas: health of humans and animals (‘people’), biodiversity and greenhouse gas emission (‘planet’) and profit for

‘The dynamic N model helps us predict when the organic share of fertiliser is released in the soil, thus allowing the crop to utilise nitrogen better.’

the farmer (‘profit’). The 2012 scan shows that more projects in the Agrifirm Innovation Center focus on animal health and mineral efficiency. The scan

also shows that better internal collaboration allowed for more intense focus on performance on the farm premises. This dovetails with our pursuit of

‘one firm Agrifirm’. In 2012 Agrifirm Plant focused the use of new (organic) fertilisers and their effectiveness in the soil. At the same time its focus on

the optimum use of crop protection products has remained invariably high.

Contribution of Innovation Projects to Sustainability The graph below identifies the percentage of Agrifirm innovation projects that make a contribution to Agrifirm’s key sustainability issues.

People

Avoiding antibiotic resistance in humans Improving animal health and animal welfare Training of internal or external stakeholders Planet

Biodiversity: improve soil phosphate efficiency Agrifirm Innovation Center

Biodiversity: improve soil nitrogen efficiency

(at the service of Agrifirm Feed and Agrifirm Co-products)

Biodiversity: improve soil physics Biodiversity: reduce the use of Crop Protection Products

Agrifirm Plant

Agrifirm Business Excellence

Climate: reduce the emission of heavy greenhouse gases (methane and nitrous oxide) Climate: improve feed conversion Climate: reduce energy consumption Alternative protein sources Profit

Reduce the cost of Agrifirm/member operations directly Promote internal collaboration Promote collaboration within the chain 0

20

40

60

80

100

% of projects

Using organic fertilisers Closing cycles with organic fertiliser

Agrifirm is investing in proper use of new organic fertiliser flows, originating from for example manure processing and the bio-based economy. These improve soil fertility at the customers. 30% of the projects handled by

the Agrifirm Plant R&D department target using organic fertilisers more efficiently. In short: organic fertiliser is being re-used and thus cycles are

closed. This effect was marginal in 2012 due to external conditions. A lower volume of organic fertiliser was traded (565,358 tonnes in 2011 and 505,588

In order to make Agrifirmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s innovative efforts to increase sustainability more tangible, Agrifirm performs a sustainability scan every year.

tonnes in 2012). The reason for this was the lower demand from a number of processors and the poor weather during the period manure is allowed to be spread. The legally required reduction of the supply room and the

shorter spreading period also resulted in less demand. Therefore the supply outstripped demand. The fertiliser volume remained stable in comparison to other years (374,000 tonnes in 2012).

Predicting the availability of nitrogen in the soil

In a joint venture with the Louis Bolk Institute and Applied Plant Research (PPO), Agrifirm Plant has been developing a scheduling instrument for

optimum fertilisation of the soil for the past two years: the dynamic N model.

Growers and their specialists can use this prior to the season to gain a

great deal more insight into the availability of nitrogen during the season.

This instrument provides immediate insight into the situation if there is an N deficit and therefore additional fertiliser is required. With the N model we can use organic fertiliser flows even more efficiently.

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More than 1.6 million kg reduction of phosphate in livestock feed

2012

2011

2012

2011

953,631 kg

698,535 kg

Consultancy instruments for animals that perform well

Farm management is important for a good result from using Agrifirm

86,706 kg

227,254 kg

Number compared to 2008/2009 The numbers were calculated according to a new measuring method this year.

products. Agrifirm Feed provides computer programs that assist the

Every kilogram of phosphate an animal

pig farmers select the best feed schedule. The new ‘sow control’ sow

manure either. This contributes to a

farmer in taking management decisions. The consultancy program helps approach, targeting sow farmers, is also a handy tool. Dairy farmers can use the MelkNavigator evaluation and consultancy tool to calculate

exactly which feed cows need for the desired result. OPFOK 24 is a total

approach for young stock. This system provides the right feed, tools and recommendations for the calf’s development in every phase in the first two years of its life.

Crop farm specialists provide sustainable advice

In 2011 we already trained two crop farm specialists to become ‘sustainability specialists’. Another seven crop farm specialists

received this accreditation in 2012 via CAH Dronten and the Stichting Veldleeuwerik foundation. Agrifirm Plant is one of the partners in the Stichting Veldleeuwerik foundation. The specialists draw up a

sustainability plan together with growers. Agrifirm and a few partners

have developed a number of consultation modules for this: the soil scan, construction plan scan and a module to calculate the carbon footprint.

does not eat does not end up in the

healthy environment and biodiversity.

Reduction of phosphate is an important spearhead for Agrifirm. Agrifirm Feed

has developed special feed concepts for this in all sectors. Examples are: AirLine

[2.0] and Pmin feed for pigs, and the nP

feed for cattle. Agrifirm has lowered the maximum quantity of phosphate in feed in all cattle feed lines and our specialists have stimulated cattle

farmers to participate in BEX (Dutch abbreviation for farm-specific

excretion). In total, Agrifirm Feed

reduced phosphate via feed by nearly

one million kilograms in comparison to 2008/2009, thereby making a

substantial contribution to achieving

the sector objectives as described in the Nevedi and LTO feed track covenant.

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Contributing to a sustainable consumer assortment More and more attention is being focused on the impact of food production on the earth and on the welfare

of animals and humans. The demand for healthy and

sustainably produced consumer products is growing.

It is important to us that our customers are able to

provide consumers with an ample and safe selection,

which is why Agrifirm has a broad assortment and works actively with chain partners to develop and implement new concepts. An example of this is the cooperation between Agrifirm, ZLTO, Vion and Topigs in the area of reducing the use of antibiotics on farms.

Contributing to a sustainable consumer assortment

Continued improvement in animal health Healthy animals are important to every livestock farmer’s profit. These

animals require fewer antibiotics. and limiting the use of antibiotics reduces the risk of pathogens developing resistance. The reduction of 50% for 2013

stipulated by the government appears to have been achieved already in 2012.

The official 2012 numbers from the Animal Medicines Authority (sDA) will be published in the spring of 2013.

Good feed plays a key role in animal health and reduces the use of antibiotics.

The Agrifirm Feed feed concepts, such as Air Line® for pigs and WellCome for broilers, contribute to this. Agrifirm developed the VIGOR feed concept for layer-hens. VIGOR stimulates the intestinal health, digestion and feed

utilisation in layer-hens. Studies by the Animal Health Service also show that

Good feed plays a key role in animal health.

VIGOR has a verifiably beneficial effect on chronic intestinal inflammation in chickens. In addition, the proper use of the feed schedule, the stall

arrangement and operational management have a major effect on animal

health. Agrifirm does not incorporate any antibiotics in its livestock feed (this is so agreed upon at Nevedi) and strives to reduce the use of antibiotics by

livestock farmers via so-called farm visit sessions by ZLTO, Vion, Topigs and veterinarians, among others.

WeideKompas (Grazing Compass)

A livestock farmer makes his own choice on whether to have his animals

‘Pasture feeding is economically attractive and also good for the sector’s image.’

graze. To help the farmer gain higher profit from grazing, Agrifirm Feed developed WeideKompas, which answers all of the livestock farmer’s questions involving grazing by providing three choices, various tools and practical advice.

The carbon footprint of milk, meat and eggs The graphs below illustrate the CO2-eq number of kilograms of emissions released during the production of a kilogram of milk, meat or eggs produced using Agrifirm Feed’s feeds.

0

1

2

CO2-eq/kg product

3

4

5

Pig Meat Dry

Pig Meat Wet

Milk

Broilers

Eggs

Organic eggs

2011 2012 *Results are partly based on assumptions. *LULUC based on 2012, was not part of calculation 2010 and 2011.

Feed concepts contribute to sustainability Agrifirm subsidiary Nuscience is also developing special ingredients to

contribute more to good health. Aromabiotic is an example of this. These

ingredients, based on medium-length fatty acid chains, contribute to better performance and improve animal health and animal welfare. It therefore contributes directly to reducing the use of antibiotics. The results at our

Agrifirm Laverdonk research farm show that the livestock farmer can also

make a good contribution himself by taking measures in management such

Agrifirm subsidiary Nuscience is also developing special ingredients to contribute more to good health.

as setting up a quarantine stable, working with a multi-week system, and

discipline in the daily routine. For example, the test farm itself is now using

between two and six daily doses per animal year (DDD) instead of the target value of ten DDD.

Continuation of the Den Bosch Pack

Agrifirm signed the Den Bosch Pact together with 28 parties in retail, the

processing industry and the livestock feed industry in September 2011. This is an acceleration agenda that gives a concrete report on how the sector will

need to develop in the next few years in order to have only sustainable meat on the Dutch supermarket shelves in 2020. Based in part on the agreements made in the Pact, in 2012 Agrifirm took stock of its position on the manure problems in the Netherlands. We are currently looking at how our feed

concepts contribute to more sustainability on the farm premises and how

we can communicate about this. We will announce follow-up steps in 2013.

20

Agrifirm

Carbon footprinting

Carbon footprinting refers to

calculating the total greenhouse

emissions of a product during its

entire lifespan. This topic is becoming an ever more prominent item on the agenda of agricultural sector

committees in the Netherlands,

Europe and in fact the entire world.

For example, Agrifirm Feed employees participated in launching the

FeedPrint tool in 2012. The project

was implemented by Wageningen University and Blonk Consultants.

In addition, work is being done on Stimulating collaboration between organic livestock farmers and crop farmers

Organic livestock farmers and crop farmers can be of assistance to one

another by exchanging products, for example manure and the supply of

roughage and concentrate. Agrifirm visits crop farms as well as livestock farms. We evaluate the quality of their products and put the farmers

in touch with one another. Hereafter, the organic crop farmer and the livestock farmer make agreements between themselves on how they will deliver the products to each other.

Agrifirm Sustainability Wiki

As Agrifirm we want to communicate on relevant sustainability themes on our Internet site. Our target group is extensive: from students and policy makers to interested citizens. We developed a so-called Sustainability

Wiki in 2012, in which we describe the social themes in the agricultural

sector in which Agrifirm is involved. Some examples are: climate change, sustainable raw materials and transparency. Our standpoints are listed below these themes along with a chronological overview of projects,

initiatives and plans. The Wiki can be found at: http://www.agrifirm.com/ agrifirm-group/duurzaamheid

international standardisation through a partnership of the European Feed Manufacturersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Federation (FEFAC) with Food and Agriculture

Organisations of the United Nations

(FAO), of which Agrifirm is a member.

At the initiative of Agrifirm Plant,

work was done in collaboration with

several chain parties on concluding a footprint tool suitable for Dutch

arable farming. Now that there are various tools available for use in

the sector, we note that there are

differences generated between tools.

For this reason we stimulate making

the methodology for these tools more uniform via these committees, for

example the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) and FAO. In the end,

this process should result in practical, useable tools which are easily

interchangeable and supported by the entire sector.

AgriFirm

21

The basis for success Expert, motivated employees are indispensable for a company’s success, which is why we invest in our people. We offer them good terms of employment and

training and career advancement opportunities. Furthermore, we are devoting increased attention to performance management, which now has a central

role in our HR policy. And this is bearing fruit. For example, nearly 67% of our managers were promoted from another position within the company.

Employee opinion survey

Based on the results of our 2011 employee opinion survey all Agrifirm companies have chosen focus areas, such as personal development, leadership,

communication or employee involvement. The Agrifirm companies will draw up

Agrifirm Exlan focuses on its employees’ personal development.

an improvement plan based on the results. Our subsidiary Nuscience Group has, for example, based on the results, decided it wants to be more transparent and therefore wants to give employees better insight into the management’s

strategic choices. Agrifirm Exlan focuses on its employees’ personal development and strategy. Agrifirm Deutschland invests more in training for its employees.

New headquarters

In September we officially opened our new headquarters in Apeldoorn. The building serves as headquarters for Agrifirm Feed, Agrifirm Group, Agrifirm

Innovation Centre and Agrifirm Plant. Agrifirm’s identity received a great deal of consideration in the design of the building. Much attention was focused on

agricultural details in the interior as well as the exterior, and old and new come together here. Many natural materials such as wood, concrete and glass were

used in the construction, giving the building a strong, modern, sturdy character.

22

Agrifirm

Employee Training Budget Average amount spent on training per

employee by company in 2011 and 2012.

Companies

2012

Agrifirm Group

1523

Agrifirm Feed

651

Nuscience Group

147

Agrifirm Deutschland

515

Agrifirm Polska

463

Agrifirm Magyarország Zrt.

136

Agrifirm Co-products

514

Agrifirm Belgium

982

Agrifirm Plant

814

Abemec

Codes and Regulations

Agrifirm voluntarily abides by the Netherlands Corporate Governance Code.

This code is mandatory for companies listed on the stock exchange and

contains principles and provisions that regulate the relationship between the executive board, the board of directors and the (Annual General

1950

B.V. Oldambt

106

Agrifirm Exlan

590

NutriControl

474

Agrifirm Winkel

220

Agrifirm Average

526

Meeting of) Shareholders. In the case of Agrifirm the code has been

adapted so as to provide a proper fit with Agrifirm’s cooperative character.

Furthermore, the company has a Fair Business Practices code of conduct.

This is a guideline designed to promote conscious and ethical actions under all circumstances, for example in situations involving a conflict of interest

or competitive methods. Employees who report abuse are protected by the Whistle-blower Scheme. No reports on corruption or discrimination were

Flemish Pride

Reorganisations

Flemish pig farming is an important

second half of 2012. This decision was taken because the livestock feed

To emphasise this point, Agrifirm

received under this scheme in 2012.

The Maasbracht and Utrecht Agrifirm Feed plants were closed in the

market is shrinking steadily and because we want to be more efficient in production and transport from a strategic standpoint. It was recently

announced that we will close a large number of Agrifirm Plant branches in the beginning of 2013 and that we will contract out the transport of

Agrifirm feed beginning in 2014. These choices are natural consequences

of drastic reorganisations. Agrifirm is making a maximum effort to prevent any dismissals. As part of the social plan we have drawn up, we are striving for the maximum number of reappointments, internally or externally.

economic sector in Flanders.

Belgium has joined forces with a number of other companies.

Together they created the film

‘Flemish Pride’ which shows pig farming in a positive light.

The final result can be viewed at: www.vlaanderenstrots.com.

AgriFirm

Accidents and absence due to illness Any accident is one too many.

Unfortunately, 54 incidents involving

bodily injury took place at the various

companies in 2012. To bring the number down, the Agrifirm Group has decided

Corporate Social Responsibility

purpose is that over time we will view

to local or national charitable causes. The Groot Zonnehoeve district is located

to start up the Safety First project. The safety more uniformly throughout the

entire organisation. First it is a matter of orientation and setting up policy. By the middle of 2013 and 2014 we anticipate we will have more concrete steps in

place to reduce the number of incidents.

The average absence due to illness

at Agrifirm was 3.1% in 2012. This is a respectable decrease in comparison to the 4.1% of the previous year.

Average absence due to illness 2012

%

Agrifirm Group

1.6

Agrifirm Feed

4.5

Nuscience Group

1.8

Agrifirm Deutschland

4.1

Agrifirm Polska

3.8

Agrifirm Magyarország Zrt.

3.2

Agrifirm Co-products

3.0

Agrifirm Belgium

2.8

Agrifirm Plant

2.8

Abemec

2.7

B.V. Oldambt

5.3

Agrifirm Exlan

5.5

NutriControl

4.4

Agrifirm Winkel

2.3

Agrifirm Average

3.1

• Accident frequency: 8.6 incidents per 1,000,000 work hours

• Average term of absence from

work due to accident 21 work days

• Absence percentage as a result of accident 0.7%

24

AgriFirm

At the initiative of the employees themselves, Agrifirm regularly contributes next to our Apeldoorn office building. Care group ‘s Heeren Loo will receive

a large number of housing units where persons with psychological problems will reside on assisted living facilities. Further developments to the district include a playing field, community garden, orchard and sheep meadow.

Agrifirm is making financial contributions to build up this district. In future we also wish to contribute our knowledge, for example in the area of greenery or feed supply. Agrifirm Magyarország Zrt. has donated money to various

local projects, such as the organisation of a summer theatre, the volunteer

fire brigade and a fund for primary schools. Nuscience donates to Vlaamse Kinderliga, Doctors without Borders and Kika. Agrifirm Poland sponsors

the boys’ football team in Szamotuly and the girls’ volleyball team in Topola.

Agrifirm Plant and Bonda combine their aid to Burundi

Agrifirm Plant has entered into an agreement with ZOA, an organisation providing aid in Africa and Asia, for a potato project in Burundi. A crop

farm specialist visited the country four times between September 2012

and February 2013 to transfer his knowledge in the field of seed-potatoes.

After every visit he reported in personnel magazine ‘Plant-aardig’.

Bonda has sponsored a potato drying facility in this same project.

Young Employees activity

The ‘Agrifirm Young Employees’ are ambitious employees up to the age of 35 who meet regularly to take training and expand their network.

Two conferences were held in 2012. The employees went to Belgium from 6 to 8 June for the ‘Connecting People, Sharing knowledge’ conference.

The programme also included a visit to the Nuscience headquarters in Drongen, and in December ‘Growing successfully’ was the theme in

Apeldoorn, where the work included making a promotion film of these

enthusiastic youngsters. The film is available at www.agrifirm.com/yea.

Performance management

In 2012, effort was expended on implementing Performance Management within all companies that are part of the Agrifirm Group. We are applying

performance management in employee evaluation at ten companies in the Agrifirm Group. The objective is to conduct scheduling, functioning and

career interviews in a structural manner. Performance management focuses

on sustainable deployment of our employees. This means that our employees make optimum use of their talents, are always at the right place or moving towards it, and are thus contributing to the organisation to the maximum extent. 42% of all employees participated in the entire cycle.

2012 Stakeholder Consultations Theme

Stakeholders

Use of antibiotics in animal feed

• Pig farming chain partners • Pig and broiler farmers • Internal collaboration in the field of calf farming • Research institutes

Phosphate reduction animal feed

• Nevedi and LTO feed track covenant • Pig and cattle farmers • ZLTO • International internal focus via AIC

Reducing the carbon footprint

• Nevedi • Product Board Animal Feed (PDV) • FAO/FEFAC • Research institutes • Bemefa • SAI (Sustainable Agriculture Initiative) • Long-term Nevedi agreements • GDF Suez

Creating sustainable supermarket products

• Veldleeuwerik Foundation • Flanders Food

Sustainable raw materials

• Partners from the chain transition for responsible soy • RTRS • Dutch growers • Wageningen University • ILVO Flanders • Nevedi • Bemefa

Biodiversity

• Grauwe Kiekendief Foundation • Agricultural Nature Associations • Growers • (Local) governments and provinces • District water boards • ZLTO, LTO North • WUR (Wageningen University & Research centre) • Organic fertilisers and crop protection products suppliers

In this Corporate Sustainability Report, Agrifirm reports on its sustainability policy and the performance delivered in this domain in 2012. The report is published yearly and concerns all companies within the Agrifirm Group. The previous report was published in April 2012.

The guideline used in preparing the report is the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the international guideline for sustainability reporting. This report was prepared at the GRI B Level. The GRI table with references to all reported information is available on our website www.agrifirm.com under the header â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Sustainabilityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

The foundations for social reporting at Agrifirm can also be found at this site.

For further information on the sustainability policy at Agrifirm, please contact Ruud Tijssens, Corporate Affairs, CSR and Strategic R&D Director r.tijssens@agrifirm.com, telephone +31 (0)88 488 29 00.

Colophon Editors: CSR department, Agrifirm Group BV Communication department Concept and realisation Hin & van Kimmenade, Schuttelaar & Partners Photography Marcel Bekken April 2013 Royal Agrifirm Group Landgoedlaan 20 7302 HA Apeldoorn PO Box 2000 7302 HA Apeldoorn t +31 (0)88 488 10 00 info@agrifirm.com