Kategorie: News

In Holland the Board of dairy cooperative Royal FrieslandCampina has for the first time a Chair who is not a dairy farmer by himself. To make this possible the statures of RFC had to be changed. The new Chair: mr. Sybren Attema was in the past a dairy farmer and held until 2010 board positions at various legal predecessors of FrieslandCampina for eighteen years. As Chairman of Friesland Foods, he was closely involved in the merger of Friesland Foods with Campina, and subsequently he held the role of Vice-Chairman of Royal FrieslandCampina for two years. In 2010 Attema stopped dairy farming and stepped down from his board duties to join RFC as Regional Manager of its Dairy Development Programme in Southeast Asia, a role he fulfilled until 2019.

In Holland the Cefetra Group, one of the largest European importers of cereal and oil meals has entered the dairy products trade with a wide range of dairy products such as cheese, butter and milk powder as well as milk alternatives under Cefetra Dairy.

In Holland research of Wageningen University & Research shows that a lower phosphorus content in the diet of dry cows and fresh cows get in this periods a higher calcium level in their blood and have a lower risk of milk fever. The dry cows got 2.2 gram phosphorus in their ration and eight weeks after calving 2.9 gram.

In Holland representatives of the dairy farmers and industry and the ministry of agriculture have made an agreement about measures that have to be taken by dairy farmers to decrease the emission of ammonia. To the measures belong a lowering of the protein content of rations from 167 gram per kilogram in 2018 to 160 gram in 2025. In 2025 on 50 percent of grassland on sandy soils must water be added to slurry manure when adding it to the soil. Pasturing cows have per year to be 180 hours more on pasture. It is the individual farmers their choice how they will implement the new measures.

In Holland starts Wageningen University & Research a research project with analysing the breath of cows as an indicator of the health of individual cows, also in relation to milk production. For this has been installed the first sniffer on the first of 100 dairy farm with more than 10000 cows on which methane and CO2 concentrations will be recorded over the next two years. All measurements take place in the milking robot, which enables information to be collected on each cow individually during milking. The collected data that will form the basis for developing a new breeding value for methane. Previous research based on measurements at 15 farms has shown that there is an important genetic component to this. First analysis show heritability for methane emissions of 20 to 30 percent.

Great Britain had on October 1, 2021 a number of 1.67 million dairy cows which was 1.7 percent less than one year before. However: the number of youngstock was 932000 head which was 5.3 percent more than one year before.

In the United Kingdom from January 2022, Arla and Starbucks will develop and pilot a new sustainable dairy sourcing blueprint for Starbucks, designed to help reduce the coffee chains carbon emissions from dairy. At the end of the three-year pilot, Starbucks hopes to scale the blueprint to support Starbucks dairy suppliers across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The pilot will work with 14 of Arla’s UK farmer owners, Arla and an independent advisor appointed by Starbucks. Starbucks will also be working with scientists from The Nature Conservancy, a global, and environmental stewardship non-profit who will support the partnership. Dairy emissions account for 22 percent of Starbucks global carbon emissions. Starbucks target is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent globally and Arla’s target is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent per kilogram of milk by 2030.

In Ireland an analysis of Teagasc shows that in 2020 the average dairy farm had a phosphorus balance (excess of inputs over outputs) of 12.3 kilogram surplus per hectare.

In Ireland analysis of Teagasc show that in 2020 the average dairy farm emitted 8.61 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per hectare and 0.81 kilogram CO2 equivalent per kilogram of milk produced and per kilogram of fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM), which is standardized to 4 percent fat and 3.3 percent protein per kilogram of milk 0.79 kg CO2 equivalent per kg of FPCM produced. The average dairy farm emitted 0.0044 kilogram of NH3 per kilogram of FPCM produced.

Ireland had on June 1, 2021 a number of 1.6 million dairy cows. This was 2.3 percent more than in 2020 and 12 percent more than in 2017.

The Denmark headquartered dairy cooperative Arla has got a patent on a technology called milk fractionation to separate milk into its different protein components. The new technology makes it possible to select of specific pure milk proteins, for example, casein and serum whey proteins. Arla is currently using the new technology manufacturing an organic food expects to launch its first organic private label infant formula solutions based on the technology during 2022.

In Denmark the France headquartered dairy cooperative Danone has sold Aqua d’Or, its Water and Beverage business in Denmark, to Royal Unibrew, a Denmark-based brewing and beverage company. The sale is part of Danone’s strategic portfolio review and of the optimization of its capital allocation.

In Denmark during the control year 2020/21 there were just over half a million cows in milk recording. There are a total of 504049 cows in the final result. That is 9776 fewer than the year before. The average production was 10518 kilogram milk, 454 kilogram fat and 380 kilogram protein, a total of 834 kilogram fat plus protein. The difference from the previous year is +14 kilogram milk, +4 kilogram fat and +2 kilogram protein. The number of recording farms was 2132 which was 130 less than the year before. The average size of the herds increased six cows to 236 cows. About 90 percent of the Danish dairy farms and cows is in a milk recording program.

An analysis done by the Nordic dairy processors organization NMSMt shows that in 2020 on Iceland and in Norway more than 60 percent of the processed milk came from farms that let milk their cows by robot. In Finland this is 46 percent, in Sweden 43 percent and in Denmark 25 percent.

Swiss research shows that pasturing cows stimulate the number of beetles in pastures. Investigations on alps detected more than 30 different species of dung beetles. On average one dung heap housed 50 beetles but individual dung heaps even contained more than 800 beetles. A cow weighing around 600 kilograms produces during her life more than 11000 kilogram dung heaps on pastures and around 120 kilogram beetles use this dung, according to the researchers.

In France the demand for organic milk is decreasing with the result that there will be a surplus of 200 million litre until the end of the year. To remove the surplus from the market, the French organic dairy cooperative Biolait asks French consumers each to buy one litre organic milk (extra). Biolait has 1400 member farmers and collects 30 percent of the French organic milk.

In Germany in October compared to September the raw material or compound value of milk at farm increased 4.4 eurocent to 43.3 eurocent per kilogram milk with 4.0 percent fat and 3.4 percent protein (exclusive VAT). This is 11.8 eurocent more than in the same month last year. The highest future price of milk for the next 18 months on the Kieler Börsenmilchwert European Energy Exchange is the price for December 2021 at 50.0 eurocent. The lowest future price is the price for January till April 2023 at 44.1 eurocent.

In Germany a study commissioned by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), which analyzed the environmental effects of various milk production systems in Germany and calculated their environmental damage costs shows that organic produced milk from cows that are on the pasture is more environmentally friendly than milk from conventional farms that are kept year round inside. The main reason for this is the cultivation of the forage. These costs were between 21 and 34 cents per kilogram of milk. Organic farms with pasturing caused the lowest environmental damage costs with up to 27 cents, conventional farms with year round inside housing had with up to 34 cents per kilogram of milk the highest environmental damage costs.

In Germany 76 percent of the produced milk is meeting the VLOG conditions. Ten years ago this was five percent. Important conditions for meeting the VLOG standard are that participating dairy farmers give their cows feed that is free from gene technology. Additionally participants apply full outside grazing at their farms.

The biggest German dairy cooperative DMK has announced that it will introduce vegan products as an alternative to dairy products, for example vegan cheese, vegan desserts.