The fodder balances of the member countries differ considerably. These differences are elucidated in the publications of the SOEC. According to a computation in terms of feed units, 44 % of the feeding stuffs consumed in the EEC in 1 978-79 come from grassland and meadows; in Ireland however, this percentage is twice as high whereas in Denmark it is only half as high. The «animal feedingstuffs, marketable» (such as cereals, manioc, oilcakes and by-products from processing industries) have a very different share in the average feed ration composition of the individual countries. Compared to a EEC average of 44 %, Ireland and the Netherlands make up the extremes with respectively 1 6 and 64 %. The use of oilcakes is particularity important in certain countries. According to a computation in terms of crude protein, oilcakes have an important share of total protein supply in Denmark (34 %), in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany (24-27%). In France, oilcakes represent only 12% of the protein consumption. Globally, the feed ressources of the EEC have increased with 14% between 1970/71 and 1977/78, the relatively heavy increase of imported feeding stuffs is greatly responsible for this situation. During the nine-year-period under consideration, the feed ressources and the livestock have had almost identical increases on an overall basis. The average feed ration per livestock unit was only slightly higher in 1977/78 than in 1 970/71. The yield per livestock unit however has been considerably increased which indicates that the livestock feeding efficiency has been further improved.