Earning more with less livestock, you can!
Earn More With Less Cattle? It is possible, if the farmer wants it
Milk price is higher than ever. As a result, dairy farmers are faced with an interesting choice. Will they become more sustainable and comply with the government's nitrogen rules? Or do they go for intensification and expand quickly? Major dairy producers like A-ware are fully committed to maintaining the status quo. And that is also reflected in the increasingly violent peasant protests.
Gigantic investments
As a result, the Dutch dairy industry is at a crossroads. FrieslandCampina reorganized sharply: the dairy cooperative closed factories and merged others.
Dairy giant A-ware is focusing on more production, according to a permit application that the Friesch Dagblad saw at the end of last year. This shows that A-ware, owned by Quote 500 millionaire Jan Anker, wants to produce 100,000 tons of cheese in its factory in Heerenveen annually. A few years ago, Arla Foods also allocated 527 million euros 'in order to get closer to growth ambitions again'.
Incidentally, these investments do not have much to do with an increase in dairy consumption in Europe: it has been almost flat for years. The Dutch dairy giants are actively looking for sales areas elsewhere. FrieslandCampina, for example, with its brand Dutch Lady taps into market share in Southeast Asia, while Arla writes about its investments that they are “focused on increasing turnover [.] outside Europe. The company's fastest growing strategic markets are the Middle East and North Africa, China and Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the United States.’
In fact, the price for “milk” has risen so much that it barely escapes the price for organic milk
These investments only pay off if the dairy giants are able to process huge flows of milk every year. So they are currently doing everything they can to prevent dairy farmers from switching to another product or collaborating with a competitor. With record milk prices as a result.
In fact, the price for “milk” has risen so much that it barely escapes the price for organic milk. FrieslandCampina currently pays 60 euros for 100 kilos of regular and 6275 euros for organic milk.
This is now also reflected in the price consumers pay for dairy products. Figures from the CBS show that it is currently rising faster than inflation. The price in the supermarket for butter rose more than 18 percent since last year, the price for cheese and cottage cheese went up by more than 11 percent. In some supermarkets, the price for organic dairy products is now even lower than that of “regular”.
Greasy years for a switch
The dairy processing industry regularly expresses support for the farmers protests. In particular, A-ware, the company of dairy millionaire Jan Anker, is one of the driving forces behind the increasingly violent peasant movement. A-ware, for example, funded Agri Facts, a foundation with very short lines with the Dutch agricultural lobby.
A-ware calls the cabinet's nitrogen plans 'unrealistic, unnecessary and unacceptable' and falsely states that there is' discussion 'about the contribution of the agricultural sector to the nitrogen crisis. FrieslandCampina also believes that farmers in the Netherlands can 'get a little more support'.
It is clear that many dairy farmers take those words to heart. The Netherlands has been under the spell of their protest for weeks, with some of the farmers radicalizing, blocking motorways and threatening politicians.
But high milk prices are making it easier than ever for dairy farmers to move to a more extensive, sustainable dairy farm. Board member Annette Harberink of Caring Farmers, an organization that promotes nature-inclusive circular agriculture: 'Smart farmers are using the fat years to switch. The high milk price makes that switch less difficult, so now is the time.'Dairy farmer Schoonman agrees with her: 'If we get the fair price for our product, the transitions that society asks of us will be realized within five years.’
However, this transition is complicated by the fact that the price for organic and regular milk is now close to each other. Organic dairy farmer Rick Huis in't Veld: 'Those who farm extensively produce less milk per hectare. Normally, this is partly offset by a higher yield for organic milk. However, due to the increased price for conventional milk, the difference is now very small.’
Nevertheless, he advises farmers to switch: 'Now you can pay the changeover costs. In two years, the current milk price may be a lot lower again, while the price for organic milk is quite stable.’
