Could you briefly introduce yourself and your farm?
My name is Karin Perdaems; we run a family business specialising in broiler chickens and arable farming. We have been rearing broiler chickens since 2011. We have two houses housing a total of 40,000 slower-growing broiler chickens, which are reared in accordance with the Beter Leven label. We operate a circular economy farm: our manure is spread on our own land, and the wheat and field beans are fed to our own broiler chickens. The vast majority of the meat from our chickens is sold in supermarkets, and we sell a very small proportion directly from the farm.

What challenge were you facing on your farm, and why was it important to address it?
We wanted to reduce our reliance on imported soya and were keen to have a feed programme that was more circular, using regional raw materials.

Which Good Practice did you use to tackle this challenge?
Since we started rearing broiler chickens, we have been supplementing their feed with home-grown wheat. To use more home-grown raw materials and become more circular, we looked into available options: Growing soya in our region is still too risky due to the risk of low yields; we couldn’t process peas ourselves, as that would have required an investment in machinery; but, field beans seemed like a good crop and had been grown here in the past. They are a good crop for arable farming, they fix nitrogen, require little manure and no artificial fertiliser.

However, our farm advisers had doubts about using field beans in the feed. The concern was that the chicks would not grow well due to the tannins. After much discussion, we launched a project with our feed supplier and government funding to investigate whether it was possible to feed the chicks field beans. In the trial houses, it turned out that, contrary to expectations, the chicks actually grew very well on the field beans.  However, we found out that you cannot feed whole beans to the chicks, it is important to crack them; to do this, we had to purchase a cracker. This breaks the beans into six pieces, allowing the chicks to digest them properly. This trial was also very informative and relevant for the feed manufacturer.

What has changed on your farm after applying this Good Practice? (e.g., results, improvements, practical benefits)
Since then, we have been sourcing more feed locally from our own land, and we have been adopting more circular production methods. Field beans are a wonderful crop; they are well-suited to be cultivated in our region, remain in the fields for a long time, have a long flowering period, attract many insects, fix nitrogen and are therefore important for improving biodiversity. You can sow grass beneath them, ensuring the land remains green after harvesting.

In addition, field beans are also suitable for human consumption. Using them in feed for chicks and for human consumption increases the market for the farmer and may reduce any risk of having leftovers. We have been feeding the beans to the chicks for 4–5 years now, and for the last 3 years, field beans have also been used for human food, though ours go solely into chicken feed.

Gradually, we are seeing more broiler farmers adopting this practice, although it does require an adjustment to farm management. Field beans are now also frequently included in the concentrate feed. There is certainly potential within Europe to replace soya with field beans. This means fewer raw materials need to be imported from outside Europe.

What advice would you give to other broiler farmers dealing with a similar issue?
See what suits your farm and give it a go. If you don’t own your own land, growing field beans is more difficult, but you might be able to work in partnership with a local arable farmer. Every farm has its own unique circumstances, so see which local crops are best suited to your situation.

What is the most important lesson you learned from this experience?
The most surprising thing was that all the advisers said it wasn’t possible to apply field beans instead of soya to the broiler diet, but it turned out it was. So don’t let the industry’s current knowledge and practices hold you back – take a fresh look at what is possible!