Responsible feed producers only use palm oil that is certified and sustainably produced. RSPO certified sustainable palm oil is grown without deforestation and with decent working conditions for the employees.
Palm oil is a controversial and often misunderstood product. What is its use in horse feed?
We use palm oil as a technical aid that helps the feed pellets pass through the pellet press without them being oxidized/degraded. It is one of the few oils that is suitable for this purpose, as it is naturally rich in antioxidants. Nutritionally, palm oil is very close to olive oil and it is a good, neutral oil, which is also a contributing reason why we use it.
Together with our suppliers, we do everything we can to ensure that the palm oil we use is RSPO certified and that the entire supply chain meets RSPO requirements.
You can read more about RSPO certification of palm oil on their website .
Eva experiences it up close
Eva Lydeking, our nutrition expert and co-responsible for the development of our products, lives in Ghana and she experiences the great importance of palm oil both in her local area and on a national level. Eva says:
"One of the larger producers, Serendipalm, where I live, is RSPO certified and receives a 10% premium for their oil. Half of the premium goes to the farmers, while the other half is used for community development, such as water wells, libraries, antenatal care, health clinics and paid university education for young people."
Overall, palm oil trees are an important part of the ecosystem and the problematic cultivation of them can easily be avoided. Palm oil trees grow well and sensibly on marginal/difficult soils and have a wide range of advantages, for example, that they:
- Tolerates both waterlogged soil and drought periods
- is a stable income for farmers, and can be harvested year-round
- creates local jobs as palm oil is processed locally and in a low-tech manner
- creates shade and a healthy microclimate for household water, insects and climbing plants
- does not require pesticides because the trees are very robust (that's how it is where Eva lives)
Eva says that the many by-products of the oil itself are also very beneficial for the local economy. These include products such as fuel briquettes that save on logging, other oil and wet products with nutritional content that are favorable for composting and organic cultivation of vegetables, for example. The branches of the palm tree are pruned annually and used for fuel or as a support for growing tomatoes and cucumbers.
When the tree is finished, sap is tapped from the trunk for palm wine and the remains can be used to feed the palm weevil larvae/palm weevils. Palm weevils are one of the high-fat-high-protein foods of the future to both help children's brain development = learning in school and to feed other livestock, e.g. chickens and fish. In other words, a sustainable process from start to finish.
Climate change is advancing at an alarming rate, and this means that approximately 30-40% of the world's arable land will be under alarming degradation within the next 30-40 years. It is necessary to grow the robust crops, thereby helping to rebuild the land and maintaining a reasonable economy for farmers. In this way, migration crises are prevented, of course, when the crops are grown sensibly and sustainably.
Eva Lydeking concludes, "It is easy to find RSPO certified palm oils and thus avoid the problematically cultivated palm oil. The sensibly and responsibly cultivated oil greatly helps countries that do not have the social, educational and climatic opportunities that we have in Denmark, for example."
Palm weevils
If you have questions about palm oil and its importance for your horse's health, please use the comments box below so that everyone can benefit from the answers.
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