Kategorie: News

In Ireland the dairy cooperative Dairygold has acquired a majority shareholding in Vita Actives Limited, an Irish nutritional solutions provider. Vita Actives Limited, based in Dublin, was founded in 2006 and supplies high value nutraceutical ingredients and nutrition solutions to more than 400 global customers, for the functional foods, human nutrition, sports nutrition, health, wellness and cosmetic industries.

In Ireland this year until June 23 a number of 1 471 856 calves were born from dairy cows. That is 22378 more than in the same period in 2022.
The maximum permitted fertilization must in certain areas be reduced from 250 kilograms N with livestock manure per hectare pasture to 220 kilograms per hectare in order to comply with the conditions set by the European Commission for obtaining and maintaining a nitrates derogation.

In Ireland a study of Teagasc shows that dairy farms that are more labour efficient and were the farmer works average 50 hours a week are more profitable than farms where the famer works average 60 or more hours a week.

In Ireland the government is considering plans to reduce dairy herds by 65000 cows annually over three years to meet environmental targets.

In Sweden in the past two months the original Denmark/Swedish dairy cooperative Arla has purchased fifteen new trucks that run on biogas from cow manure. Today Arla – own and hauliers – has a total of 41 biogas trucks in its Swedish fleet, and another eight are on the way before the end of the year. According to the latest figure from 2021, 89 Swedish Arla farms had biogas production, either by making biogas themselves or by delivering manure to a biogas plant. The goal is to increase the number of farms to 160 by 2030. Arla is now collaborating with the Finnish company Gasum to map out where it is possible to build large-scale plants for the production of liquefied biogas produced from farm manure. Last spring, ground was broken for a new biogas plant in Götene, which will receive about 350 000 tonnes of manure annually from around a hundred farmers in the local area.

In Sweden over the next year, the original Denmark/Swedish dairy cooperative Arla will get 15 newly started dairy farms as member. When someone takes over an existing farm that person automatically becomes a member of the cooperative. Arla states that it currently has limited opportunities to accept farmers who want to switch from other dairies. But on the other hand it is important to secure food supply in Sweden and to contribute to feeding the rapidly growing population in the world. In that case more Swedish milk is needed in the long term, according to Arla. Most of the 15 new farms today have meat production, some have had dairy cows before and a couple currently have no animals at all. Two of the farms will probably start production as early as this autumn, but the rest will start next year. When all are operational, Arla expects them to deliver approximately 11 million kilograms of conventional milk per year.

Finland had ultimo 2022 a number of 4,572 dairy farms of which 125 organic dairy farms. Together they supplied 2,151,043,372 kilogram milk of which 80,666,055 kilogram organic milk. This means that total milk production was 54,685,090 kilogram less than one year before and that organic milk production was 244,602 kilogram less than one year before. The total supplied milk contained 4.44 percent fat and 3.56 percent protein. (Source: Natural Resources Institute Finland)

In Europe for the first time in 2022 epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD) was diagnosed. That was in Spain, on Sicily and on Sardinia. 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).

In Switzerland research by Agroscope shows that Esparsette or Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) can reduce methane and ammonia emissions by cows. Freshly fed sainfoin had a methane-reducing effect in dairy cows compared to grass-clover, with no effect on milk yield. Relative to the intake, a larger part of the N excretion takes place in the faeces and not in the urine when sainfoin is fed, which can have a positive effect on the potential ammonia emission.

The EU Food Safety Authority (EFSA) states in an advice to the European Commission that there is scientific evidence that tied barns are bad for cow welfare, depending on the length of the tethering period and method of tethering, the size of the stall and the hardness of the bedding. The permanent housing of cows in tied barns should therefore be banned in the EU. According to EFSA welfare problems apply also to freestall barns, as does overcrowding and slippery floors. Freestall barns should have a minimum of nine square meters of floor space per cow and a cubicle for each cow as well as outdoor run or grazing areas with shaded areas for hot days. EFSA sees also problems with hygiene for deep litter barns and bedded pack barns.

The European Parliament (EP) has rejected a proposal to include plant-based milk substitutes in the school milk programme. The EP wants to offer lactose-free milk to children who cannot tolerate cow’s milk.

The EU exported in 2022 dairy products with a total value of 18.18 billion (10*9) euro. In value main export countries of EU dairy products were Great Britain (20%), China (10%), USA (8%), South Korea (4%) and Japan (4%).

In Spain there is since 2020 a ban on selling food below cost price. This applies to each link in the production chain to protect producers. The Spanish organization of dairy processors FENIL is now challenging this ban at the Spanish supreme court. FENIL argues that the ban is contrary to the common market organization, which stipulates that all contractual elements are freely negotiable when selling milk. In addition FENIL points to possible damage to dairy farmers as a result of price regulation. If it is no longer possible to sell milk at prices that only cover costs, overproduction could lead to sales problems, according to FENIL. The farmers organization UPA has asked the supreme court to uphold the current ban. Because despite the fact that Spain has to import milk to meet demand, dairy farmers are suffering losses, which has led to the closure of thousands of dairy farms in recent years. Spanish dairy farmers accuse dairies of paying farmers too little for their milk, causing them to work at a loss.

In France the Court of Auditors states that a reduction of the cattle herd is necessary to comply with international climate and environmental agreements. The advice is in line with the goals of the French government. It wants greenhouse gas emissions to be halved by 2030 compared to 1990. The reduction target for the agricultural sector for that period has been set at 20 percent. With 17.4 million cows, including young stock, French dairy farms account for about half of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, livestock farming uses a lot of water. French livestock farmers disagree with the Court of Auditors. They argue that innovation and sustainable agricultural methods can also reduce emissions and warn of the consequences for the economy and employment that a reduction in livestock would have.

In Romania the competition authority has fined the three dairies Albalact, Covalact and Dorna Lactate, which are owned by the French headquartered private dairy Lactalis, totalling 2.9 million euros for insufficient cooperation in an investigation into possible illegal price agreements.

An Austrian company claims that it can forecast mastitis up to four days before the somatic cell count of a cow’s milk increases. The forecast is based on rapidly changing several changes in the body temperature which is measured by a bolus in the stomach of the cow. The company developed and sells the boluses and the required software.

In Austria a sample shows that of 27 percent of the house brands of milk in supermarkets the country of origin is unclear.

In Germany in May compared to April 2023 the raw material or compound value of milk at farm increased 0.1 eurocent to 36.4 eurocent per kilogram milk with 4.0 percent fat and 3.4 percent protein (exclusive VAT). This is 30.2 eurocent less than in the same month one year before. The highest future price of milk for the next 18 months on the Kieler Börsenmilchwert European Energy Exchange is the price for June 2024 until December 2024 at 44.8 eurocent. The lowest future price is the price for June 2023 at 39.2 eurocent.

In Germany the private dairy Müller will close its plant in Cologne. Müller bought the plant from the Holland headquartered dairy cooperative Royal FrieslandCampina in one deal with the brand names Tuffi, Landliebe and other brand names. After the German cartel office required that Müller gave the Tuffi brand licenses for Landliebe to a competitor and sold them to the dairy cooperative Hochland, Müller no longer needs the Cologne plant and also Hochwald does not need it. On the site 220 people were processing 140 million litre milk on annual base.

In Germany the ministry for food and agriculture, in its new Nutri-Score scheme to support a healthier choice of food, no longer milk names as a food but only as a drink, which also includes plant-based drinks.