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Abu Dhabi agribusiness links up with Estonian forage firm

By Andy Sambidge
A Golden Fields site. It has farms and processing facilities across the Baltic region Al Dahra Group
A Golden Fields site. It has farms and processing facilities across the Baltic region
  • Al Dahra Group and Golden Fields agree exclusive supply deal
  • Farms in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland will provide silage
  • Partnership includes construction of processing facilities for feed

An Abu Dhabi agribusiness has signed a supply agreement that will drive construction of forage processing facilities in the Baltic.

Al Dahra Group has made the deal with Golden Fields, an Estonian animal feed company.

Under the partnership, Al Dahra has an exclusive offtake agreement for forage – such as corn silage, grasses, alfalfa and grass silage – from Golden Fields’ contract farms in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland. 

The deal also covers the construction of a processing facility for dry milling peas and beans, which will supply Al Dahra with livestock pellets, high protein feed pellets, plant-based protein products and fibre products.

Arnoud van den Berg, group CEO of Al Dahra, said the agreement would enable the company to buy forage from farms across the Baltic region, process them locally and then export them to meet demand in Northern Europe, Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.

Van den Berg added: “Farmers in the Baltic region will be able to use land that was unsuitable for growing cereals and grains.

“Our partnership will make it simpler for farmers to reclaim land, vary their crop cycles, enhance soil structure and promote sustainable farming.”

Al Dahra Group CEO Golden Fields CEOAl Dahra Group
Arnoud van den Berg, group CEO of Al Dahra, and Mahmoud Ahmed, CEO of Golden Fields

More than 349 million people are affected by acute food insecurity in 2023, according to the World Food Programme. The figure has more than doubled since 2019.

The world’s ‘hunger hotspots’ are Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen, the programme said.

Golden Fields has previously invested millions of euros in roughage facilities in Joniskis, Lithuania, and Laane County, Estonia. Up to 150,000 metric tonnes of feed for commercial use can be produced and processed at these facilities every year.

Mahmoud Ahmed, CEO of Golden Fields, said the Al Dahra deal would accelerate its expansion plans, which include production lines in Finland, western Estonia and Latvia that will add 250,000 metric tonness to its annual feed production over the next five years.

A plant-based protein facility with an output of more than 100,000 metric tonnes of feed pellets will be built in Estonia, Ahmed added.

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