Kategorie: News

The Denmark headquartered dairy cooperative Arla and the Denmark headquartered biotech company Novozymes have agreed a partnership to develop advanced protein ingredients using precision fermentation. The initial focus of the collaboration will be a solution for disease-specific medical nutrition with expansion into other segments anticipated in future.

Sweden had in 2022 a number of 296500 dairy cows. This was 15 percent less than in 2010. In the same period the number of dairy farms decreased half, from 5600 to 2800 and the number of cows per farms almost doubled from 62 to 106 which is 4 more than in 2021. One third of the cows was housed on a farm with more than 200 cows. In 2022 Sweden had 500 organic dairy farms. They produced 17 percent of the total Swedish milk production of 2.76 billion (10*9) kilogram milk.

In Sweden the northern dairy cooperative Norrmejerier will close its plant in Lulea, one of its three plants, and will move the activities to its plant in Umea. The reason for the closure is declining milk consumption, low capacity utilization, large investment needs in the coming years and generally weak profitability. The dismantling in Luleå and the move to Umeå will take place gradually over the coming years. Around 60 people work in Lulea. Possibly 30 of them can go to Umea.

Portugal has applied for a protected designation of origin (PDO) for Manteiga dos Açores. This is a butter produced on the Azores islands that is produced exclusively with pasteurized cream of raw cow milk with or without the addition of salt. The butter contains no lactic acid bacteria, colouring agents or preservatives and has a beta-carotene content of at least 5 milligram per gram. The use of reconstituted milk or cream is not allowed.

In Italy a cheesemaker died when thousands of round ripening cheeses fell off the shelves in the storehouse. The accident happened at the victim’s family business. About 15000 grana padano cheeses were stored.

The French headquartered private dairy Lactalis has been fined by a court in Australia for various breaches of the industry code. Among other things, it is about the inclusion of various no-fault termination clauses in milk supply contracts. The court is also convinced that the dairy failed to publish a standard for milk supply contracts within a prescribed period.

In France in 2022 nearly 30500 dairy farms with average nearly 65 cows participated in milk production control. This was about 6.5 percent fewer farms than in 2021. More than 90 percent of the number of cows belong to the Holstein, Montbéliarde and Normande breeds. In an average of 345 days (+1) the average milk production was 8878 (-9) kilograms with an average of 4.06 percent fat and 3.27 (-0.2) percent protein. Of the farms 57.9 percent had a somatic cell count of less than 300000 cells per millilitre of milk in all inspections and 10.3 percent had a somatic cell count of more than 800000 cells in two or more inspections. The average production of Holsteins was 9746 kilograms of milk, of Montbéliarde 7635 kilograms of milk and of Normande 7062 kilograms of milk.

In Germany the two biggest discounters Aldi and Lidl will from spring 2024 place drink milk completely on the two highest forms of animal husbandry level 3 and 4. According to ALDI, the share of sales of drink milk from higher levels of husbandry is already over 60 percent. Some of the minimum criteria for levels 3 and 4 are: freestall housing with an exercise yard that can be used all year round (at least 3 m2/animal in the exercise yard); or open front barn; or loose housing with grazing (at least 120 days of 6 hours); no tethering; only non-GMO feed may be used.

In Holland in 2022 of the 14.7 billion (10*9) kilogram milk 14.1 billion kilogram was available for processing; 13821 million kilogram was processed in industrial plants. There was produced 1030 million kilogram consumption milk; 949 million kilogram cheese; 220 million kilogram butter and butter oil; 126 million kilogram whole milk powder; 75 million kilogram skimmed milk powder. Source: Zuivelnl

In Holland in 2022 a number of 4763 (32%) farms had an automatic milking system, 4384 (30%) farms had an herringbone parlour, 3329 (23%) farms had a side-by-side parlour, 784 (5%) farms had a rotary parlour, 675 (4%) farms had a tied barn, 459 (3%) farms had a swing-over parlour, 306 (2%) farms had a tandem parlour.

Holland housed in 2022 a number of 1.57 million dairy cows, the same number as in the previous year. Average they produced 8930 kilogram milk which was 90 kilogram more than in 2021. Total milk production was 14 billion (10*9) kilogram which was one percent more than in the previous year. The number of dairy farms decreased 3.4 percent to 14730 farms. Of the dairy farms 45 percent has more than 100 cows and eight percent has more than 200 cows. Average the dairy farms housed 107 cows that produced 952700 kilogram milk. Source: Zuivelnl

In Holland research by Wageningen Livestock Research and the Louis Bolk Institute shows that dairy cows that have a lot of sorghum in their ration have a higher feed intake but produce less milk than cows with a lot of silage maize in their ration. In the trial the cows with sorghum in the ration ate 0.8 kilograms more feed but produced one kilogram less milk. The cows with sorghum in the ration had a higher urea content in the milk.

In Holland the Central Bureau of Food Trade, which mainly represents supermarkets, wants the minimum standard for outdoor grazing to be allowed to carry the predicate meadow milk to be increased from 120 to 180 days a year.

In the United Kingdom the Denmark headquartered dairy cooperative Arla which daughter Arla UK is the UK’s largest dairy cooperative has signed a new, four-year contract with ASDA, one of the leading supermarkets. The new contract which runs for four years until 2027, will see Arla continue to be ASDA’s strategic dairy partner supplying their private label milk, cream, cheese, and butter. During this period Arla farmer owners will supply over three billion (10*9) litres of milk utilised across the product range – a deal which is the UK’s largest private label dairy contract.

In Ireland 69 percent of the dairy farms has less than 100 cows, 93 percent has less than 200 cows and 3.5 percent has more than 250 cows.

In Ireland most cows calve in the spring. By early July more than 200000 calves had been exported from Ireland this year. That is 22 percent more than last year. Almost all exported calves are born from dairy cows. Of the exported calves 56 percent had a dairy bull as a sire and 44 percent had a beef bull as a sire.

In Denmark the technical university DTU has developed a new cheese culture that can be used to produce an aged cheese in half the time. A cheese culture has the task of producing lactic acid and ripening enzymes. The ripening enzymes are found inside the lactic acid bacteria and are normally released slowly during the cheese ripening period. The problem with existing solutions is that this process takes place slowly and only partially. The DTU Food Institute has developed a culture which releases all ripening enzymes at once, which results in faster ripening. The culture can be used like any other cheese culture, and requires no other equipment than what is already in the dairies. The method, which is 100 percent natural, represents a new way of thinking about dairy production, according to DTU.

The Denmark headquartered dairy cooperative Arla rewards starting August farmers who are taking action to reduce their carbon footprint through a new sustainability incentive model. This point-based system rewards past and future climate and environmental sustainability activities. For every activity the farmer can collect points if they meet specific criteria. Each point that the farmer achieves will bring 0.03 eurocent per kilogram of milk they deliver to Arla. Activities with the biggest improvement potential trigger the most points. Farmers can currently score a maximum of 80 points. The model is designed to reward farmers with up to three eurocents per kilo milk from the model plus one eurocent per kilogram milk for taking part in the annual climate check as part of their monthly milk payment.

In Sweden over the past 30 years eight of ten dairy farmers have stopped farming, the remaining farms have and are becoming larger. Milk production per cow has increased but the national milk production has decreased by 20 percent. Researchers from several disciplines will investigate which indicators have contributed to the structural change in the Swedish dairy sector to learn from the past and create opportunities for a sustainable future for the Swedish dairy industry.

In Sweden it is now allowed again for food businesses to store cheese according to traditional methods in, for example, underground cellars and caves. In Sweden, underground cellars, caves and similar spaces have traditionally been used for storing cheese. In this type of maturation storage, the cheeses acquire a special character that cannot be achieved in other storage conditions. Since 2004 this was hardly possible because of governmental regulations. New regulations have made it easier.