| Summary: | The bedding material report studied the use and availability of different bedding materials as comprehensively as possible and assessed their related future outlook and development needs in Finland. The report started from the current state of the use and availability of bedding materials. The future development outlook was assessed over a span of five years. Data collection was based on the literature, official statistics, expert assessments, and surveys conducted during the study, with one targeted at livestock producers and horse sector operators, and the other targeted at producers, sellers and/or distributors of bedding materials. To examine the regional production and use of bedding materials, Finland was divided into four major regions in accordance with the distribution of Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment areas: Southern, Western, Middle and Northern Finland. Peat is a bedding material used extensively in Finland. However, it is predicted that the sales volumes of bedding peat will halve during the next five years. If this prediction is realised, new materials will urgently be required to replace and supplement peat. What makes this situation even more critical is that there is also a shortage of wood shavings and sawdust used frequently as bedding materials, at least at present, as they are used in energy generation. In addition to ensuring the availability of bedding materials, it is important to address their cost impact. As bedding is a key part of animal welfare and health, and partly of food hygiene, sufficient and effective bedding cannot be compromised. It is therefore absolutely essential to address the costs arising from bedding as well in ensuring the supply of bedding materials. To secure bedding material supply in every situation, we need to primarily ensure the availability of current and effective bedding materials, at least until they have effective options with competitive prices and sufficient availability. Launching new materials in the markets takes ...
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