Inside: Milk & Food
Still great opportunities for dairy farmers
Due to the phosphate reduction scheme 2017, there is hardly any mention of windfalls for dairy farmers. There are, however, a few opportunities. For example, the weather offers unexpected opportunities, but an unexpected turn of events also provides good news for the broiler cows. More in an analysis of Boerenbusiness Milk.
Read this article?
Become a subscriber and get instant access
Choose the subscription that suits you
Entrepreneurs, who think they qualify for the bottleneck scheme, can report to the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) until Saturday. Then we have to wait for the results of gain summary proceedings and any new summary proceedings that are yet to come against this far-reaching arrangement.
LU scheme overshadows developments
The LU scheme has major consequences for most dairy farmers and farmers who have non-lactating cattle. The scheme also overshadows other developments. An example of this is the news about the stable guaranteed price of Friesland Campina. That is usually good news. However, this news is now overshadowed by the fact that cows still have to go.
Cows out unusually early
Something that is even more disappointing, because the weather encourages an early start of the grazing season. Spread across the Netherlands, the first cows went out again. Unusually early. In Flevoland, the first cut of grass was even harvested. Tension in the feed market usually starts to increase now. The question then is when the cows can go outside again and/or whether feed still needs to be purchased. In any case, this season will start smoothly, but April offers no guarantees. Last year, for example, it still snowed in several places at the end of April.
nothing to fear
From the feed market, it does not appear that dairy farmers should fear rising costs in any case. Also the large commodities wheat, corn and soy are lower. Where a slightly more expensive euro soothes the pain of purchasing in dollars.
Effects of the regulation visible in slaughter figures
Usually a lower feed price also means a lower output of cows, but 2017 is different in all respects. Week 11, for example, once again records a slaughter figure above 17.000 animals. We see that happening for the fourth week in a row. A total of 17.174 head of cattle, with an average weight of 311,50 kg, went for slaughter. The reason for this is the phosphate reduction regulation.
Because of all the extra supply there was fear of lower prices, but the opposite happened. Vee & Logistiek Nederland increased the price in week 12 by 0,05 euros per kg. That is striking. What helps is that also the cattle export can continue. This can have a dampening effect on the number of animals sent to the slaughterhouse. Bunnik already raised livestock prices in week 11, but remains stable in week 13.
All in all we prefer to keep the cattle
In any case, it means that the broiler cows do not generate rock bottom prices. Another great opportunity, but here too many livestock farmers would have preferred to keep their livestock. The feed, the livestock prices and the milk price provide space for dairy farmers to achieve good results. However, politics continues to create uncertainty. This is because it is remarkably quiet around the nitrates directive, which means that the uncertainty surrounding the retention of the derogation for broader manure standards also continues.
