A strategic roadmap to secure the domestic animal bedding and growing media production
MMM-tiekartta
The Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) will prepare a roadmap in the coming months on the measures needed to secure the availability of domestic animal bedding and growing media. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has selected Luke for the position based on a competitive tender. Luke's work will start immediately and must be completed by 31 January 2026 at the latest.
The roadmap is part of the government programme's security of supply package. The roadmap includes, among other things, a summary of the current situation of domestic litter and growing medium production, as well as proposals for measures and the allocation of investment and RDI project funding included in the security of supply package. The results obtained in the roadmap and the recommendations given will be taken into account when preparing policy measures for the sector.The roadmap work will examine both peat and its substitute materials. Security of supply aspects, competitiveness and market conditions are important in them. The roadmap will be prepared using existing studies. Stakeholders and experts will be invited to participate in the preparation of the roadmap.
The preparatory work at Luke is led by Senior Researcher Niko Silvan. MMM and Luke provide information on the progress of the work and the opportunities to participate and influence the roadmap work on their websites.The preparation of the roadmap is related to the growth package promoting economic growth, which the government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo decided on in spring 2024. With the growth package, the government will invest in the growth, competitiveness and profitability of the bioeconomy sector. The aim is in particular to strengthen security of supply and promote food exports and the value chains of the forest sector. A total of 10 million euros have been allocated for the above-mentioned measures in the 2025 budget.
Securing the availability of domestic litter and growing media is an important part of the package agreed by the government. In 2025, 2.4 million euros will be allocated to this. The theme has become particularly important due to the threats related to the availability and price of litter and growing peat.
The package also allocates funding to RDI and investment projects in the development and production chains of domestic litter and growing media. The funding for these will focus on new innovations and production-scale investments related to their implementation, and funds will also be allocated to guidance and information activities related to these. The recommendations given in the roadmap will be taken into account in the allocation criteria.
