Piet Boer passed the baton as chairman of the FrieslandCampina cooperative to Frans Keurentjes. In this position he was responsible for the presentation of the annual figures for the first time. Boerenbusiness interviewed him about the turbulent times in which the sector finds itself.
The LSU scheme, part of a plan devised by the sector itself to reduce phosphate production, came into effect on 1 March. Is this a harbinger of how things will be handled in the future?
'The lesson we have learned recently is that we have entered a new phase. By, among other things, abolishing the Product Board. It places different demands on the self-regulating capacity of the sector, but also that of the cooperative. Which will also be called upon in the themes that are now on the agenda: animal welfare, outdoor grazing. You can see that the challenges are increasing in that sense. Then the question is: do you want to set agendas and take initiatives yourself or do you let it come to you? That is a theme that is explicitly on the agenda within the cooperative this year.'
The scheme has taken effect and there are sounds that the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) is very busy. Do all members already know where they stand?
'People have had their letters and reference dates, but on the basis of the new regulation they will soon be sent the exact data. This next week or 10 days. We provide back office support, but RVO does the implementation. Partly because things went wrong with the land connection, there are still a number of so-called loose ends.'
We also know that the cessation scheme has been widely used, but what if dairy farmers dispose of their cattle and start milking again on 1 January 2018? is that possible with the processing?
'That is being looked at, but in principle it is possible. Because in order to get the phosphate rights you have to remain a farmer for the government, which creates the basis to possibly start up again. What it means for the milk supply depends on the payment of the phosphate rights and how they will be applied. Is someone going to keep dairy cattle again or will they opt for beef cattle. We do foresee an efficiency boost, but will this lead to unbridled growth in milk production? We don't expect that. But we keep our finger on the pulse. Also to see how the sector reacts to it, but we don't expect it to cause problems.'
Due to all the developments, there are some signs that relatively young entrepreneurs are stopping. How do you as FrieslandCampina view this?
'I don't have that insight for a while. If that were the case, it could be worrying. At the same time, there is a lot of dynamism in the sector. And if young farmers decide to seek refuge abroad, that is of all times, but it is not yet a reason to combine one with the other and worry about that.'
CEO Roelof Joost also answered a few questions:
What are the expectations for the regulations regarding phosphate reduction?
'We are pleased that we still have the derogation for broader manure standards in sight. It will have to be seen at the end of the year whether that is still the case. Execution is starting now, but the framework we've put in place seems to be good so far, but we won't really know where we stand until half way through the year. The first signals for the feed track are good. The signals regarding stoppers are good and you can also see from the slaughter figures, not even counting exports, that there is a significant increase in cows, so it seems good.'
A question we cannot ignore in the run-up to the elections. Does the Netherlands need a minister of agriculture?
'I think we need more of a kind of ministry of nutrition. Agriculture is a one-sided approach to it, but I think a ministry of nutrition is better. Where you look at what we need, what are we going to respond to and where can you approach agri. I think we help the Netherlands more with that than saying that agriculture should be put back in place.'
A lot is also happening outside the Netherlands. You raise milk in Asia, but are there plans to raise more milk there?
'No, but at the moment milk from the Netherlands is difficult. This because we didn't have milk available, which doesn't help either. A great deal of the milk is processed by our own companies, including in Africa and the Middle East, leaving less for Asia. Then you are also more dependent on third-party markets. But where we can put our own milk, we certainly will. '
Another market that stands out is Mexico. Trump is hurting relations between Mexico and the US. Does this offer opportunities?
'We sell a large number of special products there, including infant nutrition. We are very successful in that. It's become a reasonable market for us, but ultimately we just have to see how it unfolds over time. We then have to look at everything that is going on to see what it will mean for us if it is put into action, but for now it is business as usual.'
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