Rabobank and NAJK investigate
Which strategy suits which dairy farmer?
Rabobank and NAJK drew up 3 strategies for dairy farmers. The aim is to support entrepreneurs, but also to open the discussion, because is growth the right strategy or is another strategy better? Important challenges are phosphate and the climate, but personnel also appear to be at least as big a challenge.
Dairy farming is anything but black and white, but roughly three strategies are emerging, Rabobank and NAJK point out. This concerns the ambitious developer, the stabilizing and optimizing entrepreneur and a broadener. "Aspects that an entrepreneur should pay attention to are the coordination of production resources, cooperation and whether or not ownership," says Marijn Dekkers, sector specialist Dairy Farming at Rabobank.
There is more than entrepreneurial capacity
But the questions go beyond your own company. In this way it can also be determined whether doing business in the Netherlands is appropriate or not? "We look more broadly than at entrepreneurial capacity." Despite the fact that dairy farming has gone through a turbulent time and there are still entrepreneurs who struggle with the new rules, there is still a future in the sector. "The will to continue is still there, but the youth is looking for how and where they will continue."
In the meantime, there are also factors that determine which way an entrepreneur can best go. These include phosphate, but also fluctuations in the milk price. What kind of debt is then permissible?
'The permissible debt burden is very difficult to indicate. In the past it was indicated that above 1,25 you were heavy and below it light. But differences in intensity are so great that this also causes differences in debt. Farms with 12 tons of milk per hectare of owned land can sometimes have no problem with more than €1,75 in debt per kilo of milk, but some companies with 30 tons of milk per hectare of owned land are already satisfied with €1 per kilo of milk. The diversity is enormous. In any case, the fluctuation in the milk price requires sufficient flexibility and capacity to build up a buffer.'
Staff?
Another factor mentioned is personnel. "At companies with more than 1,5 to 2 million kilos of milk, the choice is often made to work with staff," says Dekkers. These companies can no longer solve it with only automation and family labour.
However, working with staff requires more from an entrepreneur. "You start with a milker, but then you have to find a good candidate who can fit the milking times into his work rhythm. The question that must then be asked is: how do you deal with the weekends? At the same time, a dairy farmer does a lot of work When deploying foreign labour, it appears that he can get less work -certainly during the weekend- for the same rate (as what he assigns himself).'
More than growing
'Milking in the new reality' is a foretaste of the phosphate rights, because does it make sense to invest a large sum of money, or is a different strategy more appropriate? For example, broadening is being examined. Ultimately, the main aim is to make dairy farming more resilient to the challenges posed by the market and society.
Herman van den Pol
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