Kategorie: News

Holland had ultimo 2019 a number of 1.59 million dairy cows. This is the same number as ultimo 2013 but 0.2 million head less than ultimo 2016.

Dutch research shows that postponing the next insemination to 200 days after calving does not have a negative influence on the milk production of first calf heifers but it has a negative effect with older cows

Dutch dairy farms became in seven years less intensive according to Dutch Statistics. In 2019 44 percent of the farms kept less than two livestock units (2 cows) per hectare available land. In 2013 this was 35 percent. Also the percentage of farms with more than two livestock units per hectare is going down.

Holland had end of 2019 a number of 488 organic dairy farms which was seven more than in 2018. In 2019 a number of 19 dairy farms were in transition to organic dairying.,   organic milk production was 265 million kilogram, five million kilogram more than in 2018.

In Holland regional practical research on farms shows that in cow barns flooring systems that have been developed and are certified to have a lower ammonia emission may in practise not always have a lower ammonia emission than conventional slatted floors. This provisional statement has been made after in barns with a low emission floor ammonia concentrations have been measured that are higher than in conventional barns. The compounding of the manure seems to have more influence on the ammonia concentration.

In Holland the CEO of the Holland headquartered dairy cooperative Royal FrieslandCampina has stated that dairies should not compete on base of durability because that is a race to the bottom with supermarkets as the winner. Instead of this dairies can better compete on base of taste of their products because than consumers can choose their preference.

In England in 2019 a number of 3289 cattle herds have been infected with bovine Tuberculosis (bTB). This is the second year in a row that less herds are infected. From 2010 t0 2018 the number of infected herds varied between 3600 and 4000.

In Ireland in 2020 the average calving interval was 387 days which is three days less than in 2019. On the top ten percent of the dairy farms in 2020 the calving interval was 364 days. This top ten realized a six week calving rate of 86 percent. For all dairy farms, like in 2019 also in 2020 the six week calving rate was 65 percent. To compare: in 2009 this was 53 percent. Of the heifers, 71 percent got it first calf between 22 and 26 months of age, two percent more than last year. Source: Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

In the Nordic countries Finland, Sweden and Denmark the breeding value for ”saved feed” is introduced in breeding index Nordic Total Merit (NTM) in the evaluation in August 2020. NTM is a total merit index that hold traits with an economic importance for Nordic dairy farmers. The number of traits has increased over years due to new registrations being available. Feed efficiency is an important trait that has so far been difficult to include in breeding values because of lack of registrations. This will change gradually, and first step is that Nordic Cattle Genetic Evaluations (NAV) included Saved feed in NTM in August 2020 based on maintenance efficiency. The plan is to include also metabolic efficiency in Saved Feed and in NTM in the near future.

In Finland the dairy cooperative Valio is reducing the amount of plastic used for packaging and is increasing the proportion of recycled plastic used. All the packaging is now recyclable. During the autumn, Valio will stop the use of covers with plastic spoons for quarks and puddings. This reduces the amount of plastics used in these packages by 44 percent. That means about 150 000 kilogram of plastic a year, an amount that corresponds to about seven million plastic bags. Valio is also making a partial shift to recycled plastic packaging for all of Valio’s cheese slices, and their overall plastic content is also being reduced. In Finland more than 55 percent of packaging material is made from recycled plastic. Thinner packaging saves 70 000 kilogram of plastic per year. Thinner packaging is easier to squeeze into a small area to save space in rubbish bins and in rubbish transportation.

Most of the beef produced in Finland is coming from dairy calves which are raised in separate beef farms from the age of about two weeks until they are sent to slaughter. Annual beef production in Finland is about 80 million kilogram. More than 80 percent of Finnish beef is produced as a by-product from dairy production as cull cows, dairy origin bulls and heifers not need to replace dairy cows. The role of beef breed animals is to produce the remaining portion of the total beef production. When the number of dairy cows has turned down and the number of calves fell down the self sufficiency rate of beef (ratio of production to consumption) has fallen from 111 percent in 1995 to 89 percent in 2005 and to only 84 percent in 2019.

The Rabobank Global Dairy Top 20 2020, is the latest survey of the world’s largest dairy companies in 2019. Merger and acquisition activity during 2019 totalled 115 deals, three more than in 2018. Dairy Farmers of America acquired the previous ranked 11 Dean Foods in early 2020, boosting year-on-year sales by 47.5 percent. Increasing fierce competition in China’s domestic market forces companies to look for overseas growth but this is becoming more challenging. For example China’s largest dairy company Yili realized year-on-year growth of nearly 20 percent due in part to its acquisition of the New Zealand based Westland cooperative. However: Nestlé divested some of its non-core dairy assets and sold its USD 1.8 billion (10*9) US-based ice cream business along with other assets. Organic growth was not enough to retain Danone’s ranking and moved to the fourth position. To compare: in 2017 Danone ranked position 2 after several acquisitions in that year. Consolidation of key dairy assets by Fonterra and and FrieslandCampina resulted in lower year-on-year sales in both US dollars and euros and each lost two positions in this rank. Arla Foods also dropped two positions in this rank but did manage to post a year-on-year gain in euros. Dairy farmers in New Zealand and Europe are facing greater environmental constraints which are limiting growth of their dairies also. Because of that their dairies are likely to focus on value strategies and rationalization of plant capacity. Entering the Global Dairy Top 20 this year, from the world’s largest milk producing country India is Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation with USD 5.5 billion in 2019, up 17 percent from the prior year.

The EU exported in the first six month of 2020 59 percent more butter, 10 percent more cheese, 15 percent more whole milk powder and 16 percent less skimmed milk powder,

Drinking cow milk based on grass is better for the environment than artificial milk based on soya and palm ingredients, according to British researchers. This among others because soya meal from land that not long ago was converted from wood or natural grass land to arable land has a high carbon foot print. Also the production of artificial milk based on soya and palm is less environmental friendly than the production of milk by cows, in particular when the feed ration of cows does not contain ingredients from soya or palm. Source: Journal of Applied Animal Nutrition.

The European Commission has explained that the Austrian plans to ban the use of glyphosate in whole Austria is illegal to EU legislation.

In Italy the dairy farm Agricola Zani has reached a number of 94 black and white Holstein Friesian cows that crossed the border of 100 000 kilogram milk production. This is the highest number in Italy.

The Austrian state Tirol has 2100 alps which are used for pasturing cattle, mainly dairy cattle. Last 20 years the number of dairy cows on Tirol alps has decreased 10 percent. The number of alps with less than 20 cows has fallen almost 50 percent. To support the dairy farms on alps, the state subsidies dairy farms with alps in 2020 and 2021 with 120 euro per cow on alps.

In Germany in August compared to July the raw material or compound value of milk at farm decreased 0.2 eurocent to 29.9 eurocent per kilogram milk with 4.0 percent fat and 3.4 percent protein (exclusive VAT). This is 0.1 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 February 2022 and March 2022 at 33.8 eurocent. The lowest future price is the price for September 2020 at 30.7 eurocent. www.ife-ev.de

In Germany in the first six months of 2020 compared to one year before, dairies took in 0.5 percent more milk, produced 5.0 percent more skimmed milk powder, 2.8 percent more cheese and 1.5 percent more butter, and consumers bought almost 40 percent more long storable organic milk than one year before.

In Germany new welfare regulations oblige that calve until an age of six month have to have housing with a soft or elastic transformable floor.