Autor: Birgit Buddendiek

In Ireland the Switzerland headquartered dairy processor Nestlé will cease operations in its Irish infant formula factory by 2026. The co-located R&D centre will close by 2025. The factory currently employs 491 people and the R&D facility employs 51 people which probably all will lose their jobs. Operating as Wyeth Nutritionals Ireland Ltd (WNIL), the factory manufactures infant formula products exclusively for export to markets in Greater China and Asia. According to Nestle external trends have significantly impacted demand for infant nutrition products in the Greater China region. The number of new-born babies in China has declined sharply from some 18 million per year in 2016 to fewer than 9 million projected in 2023. The market, which had previously been reliant on imported infant formula products, is also seeing rapid growth in locally-produced products. To adapt to those changes Nestlé will transfer the production to two existing factories in China and Switzerland.

In Ireland and Northern Ireland the dairy cooperative Lakeland Dairies offers a new voluntary fixed milk price scheme for all its 3200 farm family suppliers in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The voluntary scheme will allow Lakeland Dairies suppliers lock in either 5 percent or 10 percent of their milk volumes based on 2022 volumes. In the Republic of Ireland, a price of 39.5 eurocent per litre (including VAT) is available for the months of April to September 2024 with a price of 40.5 cent per litre (including VAT) available for October to March 2024. This is at 3.6 percent butterfat and 3.3 percent protein. In Northern Ireland, a price of 32.5 pence (37.3 eurocent) per litre is available for the period April to September 2024 with a price of to 33.5 pence (38.4 eurocent) per litre available for October to March 2024.

Of Danish baby milk powder, according to Danish media, were until last month, small quantities via a private trader still exported from to Russia, despite a boycott.

In Sweden the dairy cooperative Skånemejerier has become the main partner of Mustaschkampen, the Prostate Cancer Society’s campaign to contribute to research, development and better care, while at the same time spreading knowledge about prostate cancer. During the month of November, Skånemejerier will donate SEK 1 (0.086 euro) to Mustaschkampen for every package of fresh milk sold, with a limit of 200,000 packages sold.

In Sweden calculated in milk equivalents, the self-sufficiency rate of milk in 2022 was in 72 percent. The self-sufficiency rate is decreasing since 1995 already. After a rather quick drop in milk production measured as milk delivered to dairies during the first decade of the new millennium the drop has ceded from an average reduction over ten years of 1.4 percent per annum to 0,3 per cent. With the reduction in consumption over that time the self-sufficiency rate has stabilised. For 2022 a number of 2800 dairy farmers with 297000 cows and an average milk production per cow of 9324 kilogram ECM (ECM: energy-corrected milk, taking into account the fat and protein content) delivered 2765 million kilogram milk. That was sufficient to cover a little over 100 percent of the milk consumption, 100 percent of the cream consumption, (high fat and reduced), 80 percent of the consumption of fermented milk products, 70 percent of the consumption of butter but hardly 40 percent of the consumption of cheese. There is great volatility between various products, not only due to changing production and consumption but among other things also because of storable bulk goods are traded on the world market. Other reasons are that the products are produced at varying rates from year to year depending on whether there is a surplus or shortage of milk raw materials, and that the dairy cooperative Arla, which is the main dairy in Sweden, has a so-called carousel trade within the company’s facilities in various countries.

In Finland the private food producing company Fazer that in August stopped producing cow milk based products and further focussed on plant based products is now considering moving its oat drink production from Finland to Sweden and in Finland continuing the production of gurt which is an oat based substitute for yogurt. The reorganization of the production will probably lead to the termination of 93 employments in Finland. According to Fazer the reorganization is necessary because of the slowdown in consumption growth of plant based drinks, in combination with increased production capacity in Europe, a more competitive market situation in plant-based drinks.

Switzerland had in June a number of 514500 dairy cows which was 11500 head or 2.2 percent less than one year before.

In France and Portugal more than 60 cattle farms have already been infected with epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD) this year. EHD is caused by an orbivirus, which attacks the lining of small blood vessels, causing edema, bleeding and wounds. The virus is transmitted by biting insects of the type Culicoides (midges). Previously, more than 100 farms had already been infected in Spain and there were also infections in Sicily and Sardinia. In accordance with European regulations, protection zones of 150 kilometres are set up around infected farms from which no live cattle, sheep or goats may be exported.

In Germany the discounter Lidl wants to reduce the price of vegan products, including plant-based alternatives to dairy products, to the same level as the price of products of animal origin. The discounter wants to make vegan products more attractive to flexitarians. According to Lidl, the share of plant-based milk alternatives in sales currently amounts to six percent, compared to 94 percent of real dairy products.

In Germany 69 percent of the consumers buys more than one time per month cheese

In Germany a research project has been started to extract methane from stable air from cattle stables to use as fuel for agricultural machinery. Cattle emit methane through the regurgitation of gases from the digestive tract.

In Germany a genome test has now been carried out on 1.4 million cattle, mainly female. Germany started carrying out genome testing in 2016.

In Holland the new CEO of dairy cooperative Royal FrieslandCampina has announced that RFC annually will save 400 to 500 million euros in costs from 2026. The savings will not concern closure of production locations. RFC also wants to change the corporate structure. After the previous restructure that started in 2021 under de previous CEO the structure was simplified to four business units, which now will become seven again.

In Holland the second chamber of the parliament, comparable with a House of Representatives has accepted a motion to end the import of calves. The motion was initiated by the Party for Animals and got support of 82 of the 150 members.

In Holland hundreds of dairy farmers have applied for a permit and made preparations to invest in a mono-manure digester to produce green gas. This gas would be supplied to households and other users in villages and cities. The farmers are encouraged to do this by the government through a multi-year subsidy. It now appears that the government has made a calculation error and the subsidy is approximately 25 percent less than proposed. This makes the investment no longer profitable for many livestock farmers.

In Holland GEA and Unilever are joining forces to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in dairy farming by installing GEA’s manure enricher on four dairy farms that supply milk to Unilever. With the enricher through plasma technology, nitrogen from the air is added into the manure. At the same time, the manure enricher technology utilizes all available nutrients on the farm by reducing ammonia losses, that typically occur during storage and field application, by up to 95 percent. Over a one-year period, the data of these systems will be analysed to measure their impact on Unilever’s carbon footprint. Unilever and GEA will assess and scale up the potential of the system to significantly reduce GHG emissions throughout the milk production process, improving Unilever’s sustainability along its value chain.

In Holland this year more than last year cattle are infected with listeriosis. A possible cause of the increase is less well preserved grass silage and corn silage with a higher pH, which means that the listeriosis bacteria are less broken down.