The results of an EFSA’s survey on food safety in the European Union, revealed that personal preferences, concern for the environment and animal welfare are among the main drivers in the food-buying decisions of European consumers.
It also emerged that price is a determining factor for just over half of consumers interviewed, while 46% of Europeans consider food safety important, partly due to the social and environmental impact of a product’s entire life cycle. This indicates a growing awareness that quality food is a direct consequence of the production processes (cultivation, livestock breeding, transformation) that generates it.
Improved animal welfare is a growing priority in the livestock sector, and an integral part of quality guarantees for milk, meat, eggs and their derivatives, which consumers value and are willing to reward by paying prices up to 10% higher.
In this way, diet and sustainability become interdependent. This means that competitiveness in food products depends partly on agri-food and livestock businesses’ commitment to ensure appropriate levels of environmental, economic and social sustainability.
In this context, Gruppo Carli is a sustainable supplier in the livestock sector, offering farmers alfalfa, fodder and cereals that are grown in Italy with respect for nature.
Straw bedding
To guarantee animals’ comfort and physical/psychological wellbeing, Gruppo Carli offers farmers a wide range of straw-based products in different textures and packaging options.
Cereal straw is the ideal material for animal bedding, thanks to its naturalness, absorbency and biodegradability after use.
Gruppo Carli straw bedding products meet various animal welfare needs, ensuring comfort and insulation, protecting foot health and allowing animals to display typical behaviours for their species, such as climbing and jumping for sheep and goats, or scratching and sand-bathing for poultry.
Straw big bales
Cereal straw chopped, shredded and ventilated.
Thanks to its soft texture and insulating properties, baled straw is the perfect bedding for animals kept in barns (cattle, sheep and goats, horses, poultry).
Straw small bales
Cereal straw chopped, shredded and ventilated.
Soft, absorbent bedding, ideal for young animals.
The convenient packaging facilitates coverage in difficult-to-reach areas.
Straw pellets
Selected cereal straw in pellets of diameter 6-8 mm.
Absorbency, insulation and versatility and versatility make straw pellets the most popular bedding for dairy or meat cattle, poultry, pigs and horses.
Crushed straw
Pelleted and crushed cereal straw.
The flaked texture adds softness and increases absorption speed.
Ideal for short-cycle poultry rearing.
Animal welfare
Long-fibre cereal straw.
In poultry, sheep and goat farms, straw bales enrich the habitat and stimulate physical activity, preventing stereotypical behaviours.
In addition to meeting welfare needs, in particular for pigs, straw also improves the diet by providing extra fibre.
Long-fibre alfalfa.
Ideal for the welfare of egg-producing poultry. The nutrients in alfalfa boost the immune systems of egg layers and its betacarotene content intensifies the colour of yolks.
Welfare and nutrition in a single product.
Dried alfalfa.
Their size and texture make alfalfa cubes an enjoyable pastime, providing stimulation and reducing stress.
Ideal for horses, sheep, goats, rabbits and other rodents.
Gruppo Carli straw is:
🌾sanitised, thanks to heat treatment during the ventilation and pelleting process;
🌾sustainable: after use, it can be used in anaerobic digesters to produce energy;
🌾GMO-free, made from cereals grown in Italy from seeds free from genetic modification.
In addition to ensuring healthy conditions, straw is a sustainable solution for animal husbandry, contributing to the circular economy and the development of rural areas.