Kategorie: News

The Irish Glanbia Co-operative Society Limited (“Glanbia Co-op”) and Glanbia Ireland, a food and nutrition business, have revealed that they will in future be known as Tirlán. Combining the Irish words ‘Tír’ for land and ‘Lán’ for full, Tirlán stands for ‘Land of Abundance’ and represents the deep connection and relationship between the Co-op, its people and the land they nurture together to farm and sustain. In December 2021, farmer shareholders of Glanbia Co-op voted in favour of purchasing the remaining 40 percent stake in Glanbia Ireland from Glanbia plc to become the owners of the Irish dairy and grain business. As a co-operative, Tirlán is 100 percent farmer-owned, with 11 processing facilities, 52 agri-branches and over 2100 employees. Sales revenue this year is forecast to exceed 3 billion (10*9) euro. It recently commenced construction of a 200 million euro cheese facility, in a joint venture with the Holland headquartered private dairy Royal A-ware.

In Ireland 43 percent of the dairy farms have a somatic cell count of more than 200 000 cells per millilitre milk; 25 percent between 200 000 and 300 000; 10 percent between 300 000 and 400 000 and 7 percent more than 400 000 cells per millilitre. (Source: Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).)

In Ireland this year the average calving interval of dairy cows is 388 days, the same as last year. The ten percent farms with the shorted interval count 364 days, the ten percent farms with the longest interval count 422 days. Source: Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

In Sweden in 2021 the average price of arable land was 11440 euro per hectare, an increase of about 15 percent compared to 2020. The price of pasture land has risen by 13 percent compared to the previous year, to 4255 euro per hectare. Compared to ten years ago, 2011, the price of arable land has almost doubled and the price of pasture land has more than doubled. In southern Sweden, prices are higher than in the north. (Source: Swedish Agency for Agriculture)

In Finland this summer in most areas the quality of grass silage is better than average in previous years. Half of the farms plan a third cut. However: in other areas grass growth is suffering on drought.

After the EU and New Zealand reached a political agreement on a comprehensive trade agreement with New Zealand that includes a substantial access to the EU’s market on dairy, sheep meat and beef, Copa and Cogeca the umbrella organisations of European farmers and European cooperatives, are worried about the effects. New Zealand exporters already have market access for 75000 tonnes of butter and 11000 tonnes of cheese, this additional access to the EU’s added value protein market and sensitive products (butter 15000 tonnes, cheese 25000 tonnes, milk powder 15000 tonnes) will substantially increase market pressure and will provide a strong bargaining hold on import management to one dairy company according to Copa and Cogeca.

The France headquartered private dairy Bel Group and Polmlek the largest private dairy company in Poland have signed an agreement to sell Bel’s stake in the Morrocon dairy Safilait, and the Tarmast farm which supplies Safilait. Morocco is a key market for Bel where it also has a factory and where it will continue to invest. In 2015, the group had expanded its offer in Morocco by acquiring Safilait, a dairy company specializing in the processing, packaging and sale of fresh milk, UHT milk and fresh dairy products. Polmlek offers a wide range of dairy products: Dutch and Swiss-type cheeses, mozzarella, cheese spreads, curd cheeses, creams, yoghurts, butter, UHT milk, powdered milk, milk desserts and others. The transaction will enable Polmlek to implement a long-term plan of foreign expansion.

The France headquartered private dairy Bel Group has acquired 70 percent of the Chinese of Shandong Junjun Cheese’s share capital. Shandong Junjun Cheese is based in North-Eastern China. Founded in 2017, their portfolio of products is comprised of a large range of cheese which achieved over a 100 percent annual growth since 2018. The Bel Group specialized in cheese and snacks generated in 2021 with 11800 employees sales of 3.38 billion euros.

In Italy the Switzerland headquartered private manufacturer of dairy products Emmi is selling its 25 percent stake in the Italian cheese specialist Ambrosi SpA to the France headquartered private dairy Lactalis. According to Emmi, the stake, acquired in 2007, was aimed at achieving joint international growth in several selected countries in the specialty and premium cheeses segment. And while Italian cheese classics such as Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano have been the ideal addition to Emmi’s range of Swiss cheese specialities, they are no longer part of Emmi’s core range.

In Austria, permanent keeping dairy cows tied is still permitted in exceptional cases until 2030 and concerns about 2500 dairy farms, or ten percent of all dairy farms. In order to meet society’s wishes and to motivate dairy farmers to switch sooner, the Austrian agricultural marketing service AMA Marketing is focusing on the further development of the quality mark for milk and dairy products, whereby detached stables are a precondition. The exceptions for the AMA quality mark dairy farms will no longer be recognized from 2024. According to conservative estimates, at least half of the 2,500 affected companies will switch by that date.

In Germany in July compared to June 2022 the raw material or compound value of milk at farm decreased 2.0 eurocent to 63.8 eurocent per kilogram milk with 4.0 percent fat and 3.4 percent protein (exclusive VAT). This is 27.6 eurocent more 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 August 2022 at 61.8 eurocent. The lowest future price is the price for June 2023 at 54.1 eurocent.

In Germany the government has proposed a law that in 2023 antibiotics monitoring will apply for dairy farms also. Dairy farmers then have to record the use of antibiotics and report the days of treatment. If the measures are not successful after 24 months measures will have to be taken for reduction.

Germany’s main environmental protection agency Umweltbundesamt UBA advocates a reduction in the number of animals by 50 percent. In view of animal emissions, UBA believes that a carbon tax for cows is a logical idea, but after heavy criticism it withdrew the proposal. Nevertheless, the UBA is calling for a significant reduction in the effects of animal husbandry on the environment and ⁠climate⁠, because the production and consumption of animal food is currently not sustainable from an environmental and climate point of view, nor from a health and animal welfare perspective, according to the UBA.

Belgian dairy processing companies reduced the content of added sugars in their products by 15 percent between 2012 and 2021. The members of BCZ, the Belgian Confederation of the Dairy Industry, more than achieved the objectives of the Balanced Nutrition Covenant (2012-2020), with a reduction of 12 percent instead of the proposed 8 percent. They continued their efforts in 2021, increasing the total reduction to 15 percent. More than half of the entire dairy range contains no added sugars at all.

Holland had in 2021 a number of 518 organic dairy farms and 45 dairy farms were in transition to organic farming. Total Holland has 17000 dairy farms.

In Holland in 2021 of the dairy farms 73 percent produced more manure than was allowed to use on own land.

In Holland the dairy cooperative Royal FrieslandCampina, Rabobank and the dairy farming equipment producer Lely are joining forces to reduce nitrogen emissions at dairy farms. They are entering into a partnership for the installation of 96 Lely Spheres, spread across all Dutch provinces. The Lely Sphere is an installation that can reduce nitrogen emissions up to 70 percent in the barn of a dairy farm. The three parties hope that after this pilot project the concept will be applied on a broader scale in the sector. The Lely Sphere is a circular barn system that separates solid manure and urine and converts nitrogen emissions into valuable fertilizer. These can be reused by the farmer for precision fertilisation on the land. In this way a more closed mineral cycle is achieved, the use of artificial fertilizer decreases and the climate in the barn improves. Recent scientific reports show that with the Lely Sphere, ammonia emissions are reduced by up to 70 percent in the barn. With this partnership RFC, Rabobank and Lely want to make the investment in a Lely Sphere accessible for farmers. RFC will provide a financial contribution to the farms, Lely gives a discount on the purchase of the system and Rabobank offers a loan with advantageous conditions. In addition, the parties trust that this initiative will also encourage regional and national authorities to take initiatives to stimulate sustainable agriculture through innovation, and to make the necessary financial resources available. In time between 450 dairy farms have applied to join the pilot.

In Holland in 2021 the percentage of dairy farms that led their cows on pasture increased 0.3 percent to 82.7 percent and the percentage of cows that went on pasture increased 0.5 percent to 74.5 percent. However: the time cows were on pasture went a little down, to 1301 hours per year.

The Holland headquartered dairy cooperative Royal FrieslandCampina lost between July 2021 and July 2022 a number of 284 member farmers that have withdrawn their membership. Together they produce 832 million kilogram milk a year. that have withdrawn their membership. Together they produce 832 million kilogram milk a year.