In Sweden, Spendrups Bryggeri, Sweden's Beef Producers (Sveriges Nötköttsproducenter) and haulier Grenhab Åkeri are working to quickly extract draff – the malt residues after brewing that can be used as an animal feed supplement – to livestock farmers as a feed replacement in a bid to cope with the extreme drought in Sweden, thus avoiding emergency slaughter.
Though most holiday-makers are delighted with the hot dry weather that Sweden has had since the beginning of May chilling out with beer and ice-cream, for Swedish farmers it is the worst drought the farming community has experienced since 1955.
Spendrups has long been in close contact with Swedish farmers as we buy malt grains from them and supply different residues as feed for cows and pigs, as well as draff ash to the fields as fertilizer. Draff is used today primarily as an energy source in our circular sustainability work instead of oil used earlier, said Helena Nylén, Supply Director at Spendrups.
Draff is a high-quality and protein-rich feed supplement and, according to Sweden’s beef producers, all change of feed rations to animals should take place over a long period.
To help farmers over this period of drought, we have repurposed our energy supply by buying in wood pellets to replace the draff that we use as fuel. This makes draff available to farmers who need feed replacement. Through the cooperation with a local haulier we have the possibility to supply about 100 tonnes of draff per day, said Helena Nylén.
From its brewery in Grängesberg, Spendrups, Sweden’s Beef Producers and local haulier Grenhab are looking at how to coordinate draff deliveries to large and small farms in the region.
Together we have a dialogue with about 60 farmers within a radius of 250 km from Grängesberg. We hope this can help to alleviate the acute situation of the farmers. In an extreme situation like this summer’s drought, everyone has to help. Our staff in Grängesberg and the headquarters in Vårby are deeply committed to this. Everyone is working intensively to get started with deliveries as soon as possible, ended Helena Nylén.
