Kategorie: News

The German federal government proposes to ban the housing of cattle in tied barns on farms with more than 50 head of cattle in five years. On smaller farms tied barns will only be allowed when the cattle has two times a week entrance to a free area outside and during summer season to pasture. The government of de southern state Bavaria has already apposed against the federal propose. Only in Bavaria 11000 farms keep cattle in tied barns.

In Belgium veterinarians of the university of Gent state that cows with a somatic cell count of less than 40000 cells per millilitre milk have more risk on mastitis than cows with a somatic cell count of between 40000 and 100000. Cows with a somatic cell count of less than 40000 had 2.5 time more risk on mastitis than cows with a somatic cell count of between 40000 and 100000 and for cows with a somatic cell count higher than 150000 the risk was 1.6 times higher.

In Belgium in the northern part Flanders, which is the main dairy region, in 2022 farmers paid an average of 354 euros in rent per hectare per year for pasture. The average lease price for arable land was 424 euros per hectare. In Wallonia the southern part with less dairy and more arable farms lease prices were 234 euros for pasture and 252 euros for arable land, according to StatBel.

In Holland plans to cut nitrogen emissions by 30 percent will result in national milk production decreasing by about four million tons, according to Gira, an international food chain consultancy and market research company. Dairy processors will try to compensate for this with milk from abroad, in particular Belgium and Germany, and to raise the farmer’s milk price. This will lead to a milk war in which milk processors will also die, according to Gira.

In Holland organic dairy farming emits the same amount of greenhouse gases per kilogram of milk as conventional dairy farming. This is the conclusion of Wageningen Livestock Research commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture. Per hectare, the greenhouse gas emissions of organic dairy farming are about a third lower than those of conventional dairy farming, but the emissions in CO2 equivalents per kilogram of milk produced are the same. Organic dairy cows produce more rumen methane per kilogram of milk because their rations contain more grass silage and less concentrates and maize silage. Milk production is also lower, so that the total emissions can be spread over less milk. Because of more outdoor grazing, organic cows produce less methane from manure, but this is offset by higher nitrous oxide emissions from manure and urine in the meadow.

-Holland had in 2022 a number of 550 organic dairy farms which is 5.6 percent more than in 2021.
-In Holland one percent of dairy farms suffer from long-term salmonella contamination.
-In Holland, research of Wageningen University and Research shows that rinsing a slatted floor in a freestall barn can limit the emission of ammonia up to 40 percent.
-In Holland average current production costs of milk on farms are 50 eurocent per kilogram, in 2022 this was 37 eurocent.

In Holland unions and dairy processors have agreed on a new collective labour agreement after strikes. Wages will increase by a total of 11.65 percent in the period from January 1, 2023 to April 1, 2024. In addition, the compensation for on-call services will be increased and the conditions for older employees to be able to retire earlier have been improved. The new collective labour agreement applies to 12000 people who work at 40 locations at 13 companies.

Great Britain had in April 2023 a number of 7500 dairy farms which was 380 less than in 2021 and 1220 less than in 2019.

The United Kingdom headquartered AB Agri has acquired IFCN AG, a Germany headquartered dairy research and consulting company. IFCN has supported the dairy industry globally for over 20 years with comprehensive dairy data, knowledge and events. Its mission is to help people in the dairy world to make better decisions. IFCN is built on three pillars, a network of researcher partners in over 100 countries, partnerships with over 130 dairy companies and organisations, all held together by a team of 20 dairy experts located in Kiel, Germany. IFCN will continue to operate on a standalone basis offering independent services. AB Agri is a daughter company of Associated British Foods (ABF) a diversified international food, ingredients and retail group headquartered in the UK also. Its ingredients division is the world’s second-largest producer of both sugar and baker’s yeast and a major producer of other ingredients including emulsifiers, enzymes, and lactose. AB Agri manufactures animal feed, create nutrition and technology based products, and offers data services for the agri-food industry. The company employs almost 4000 people across the world, sell products into 84 countries. Associated British Foods plans to buy the UK stock market listed dairy technology company National Milk Records (NMR) to boost AB Agri.

In the United Kingdom the main retailer Marks & Spencer has removed ‘use by’ dates on ‘too good to waste’ on fresh milk. M&S is one of the last British retailers that change to Best Before labelling being rolled out across all M&S Select Farms British and organic milk in UK stores. With milk ranking as the third most wasted food in UK homes after potatoes and bread, M&S will encourage customers to use the old fashioned sniff test to judge whether their dairy is still drinkable, by replacing use-by labels with a best-before date, to decrease the waste of milk and dairy products.

In the United Kingdom the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF) has called the government for help to have sufficient manpower. For that dairy farmers want permission to hire foreign workers. According to RABDF the current exodus of dairy farmers is a worrying trend lack of labour has a big part to play in that. Many farmers are at a crossroads with declining support, and for them to plan and invest for a sustainable future, they must have confidence that both skilled and permanent labour will be available. Of a focus group of dairy farms almost half employed foreign workers because they couldn’t recruit from the domestic workforce. Antisocial working hours and not enough people interested in the industry were the main reasons they gave for not being able to recruit. Forty percent also said unsociable working hours were the main reasons for staff leaving. RABDF believes access to foreign labour is something the dairy industry needs.

In the United Kingdom Oatly will stop selling vegan ice cream. Also others have stopped or limited their vegan ice cream. Others have also limited their range of vegan milk alternatives in the UK because a lack of demand.

In Ireland in the first four months of 2023 a number of 80 people from abroad have got a work permit to work on dairy farms. The Irish dairy sector has lack on labour. One of the requirement to get a work permit is a minimum salary of 30000 euro per year for a 39 hour week.

The Denmark headquartered dairy cooperative Arla states that it next year will offer plant-based butter products in the Lurpak brand which is original the brand of cow milk based butter.

In Denmark the dairy cooperative Arla will invest 175 million euro in the Videbaek plant of Arla Food Ingredients to increase capacity 40 percent.

In Sweden a survey commissioned by the dairy cooperative Norrmejerier shows that 70 percent of the Swedish believe that milk plays an important role in children’s development. Three percent of the respondents over the age of 65 think that milk is not important for the development of children, while 21 percent of those aged 18 to 29 think so. Of the respondents, 80 percent almost always have milk at home and five percent never buy milk.

In Scandinavia and the Baltic states, the France headquartered and stock market listed dairy Danone will change the distribution of its products to vehicles that run on hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) instead of diesel. By switching fuel, CO2 emissions from logistics in the region are reduced by 11 percent. The switch to HVO is made possible in collaboration with the transport and logistics company Frode Laursen. Danone aims to reduce CO2 emissions in the countries concerned by 50 percent by 2030.

The Committee on Agriculture of the European Parliament has voted against proposals to put a permitting system in place for family farms under the EU Industrial Emissions Directive (IED). Earlier EU member states stated that the commission’s proposal will have to be changed that the directive extends to intensive livestock farms with higher LU numbers than 350LU for cattle. Last year the European Commission has proposed changes in the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) which will mean that farms with more than 150 livestock units (LUs) will need a special permit. One dairy cow is one LU, one heifer is 0.8 LU, a calve under one year old is 0.4 LU.

In Romania retailers and dairies have agreed to cut consumer prices of fresh milk of Romanian origin with 20 percent during half a year.

In Italy in 2022 the average milk production of production recorded Holstein Friesian cows was 10786 kilogram milk with 3.85 percent fat and 3.35 percent protein. In 2021 this was 10710 kilogram milk with 3.89 percent fat and 3.37 percent protein. In 2022 milk recording was done on 9280 Holstein farms with 1148844 cows, which was 272 farms less and 18110 cows more than in 2021. In 2022 average those farms kept 124 cows, six more than the average in 2021.