'What am I right about?'

Sieta van Keimpema, the foreman of the Dutch Dairymen Board (DDB) and the vice-chairman of the European Milk Board (EMB), warned for years that the abolition of the milk quota would be a disaster. She was denounced, but in the meantime many dairy farmers agree with her. "That feels good, but it is of little use to me."

Van Keimpema no longer has to play an active role at the Grüne Woche in Berlin on Thursday 17 January, where the EMB will present its new plans. New board members are deliberately put forward. However, the enthusiastic Frisian woman is naturally present and is fully involved in the Market Responsibility Program (MRP) that was presented this afternoon.

In the event of an approaching crisis, milk production must be tempered; first voluntarily, then forced. It is a plan that emerged about 4 years ago, but the EMB thinks that there is now a greater chance of finding support among farmers, other trade associations, the dairy industry and politicians.

Old wine in new bags; this is how this MRP comes across somewhat. Why will the plan work now?
"With the introduction of the voluntary milk reduction plan in 2016, European politicians have shown that they are prepared to intervene if necessary. That gives confidence. Our calculations show year on year that we in Europe with a clearly higher cost, compared to selling prices.If this does not change, European farmers will stop rapidly.It also appears that the percentage of dairy farmers with symptoms of a  alarmingly high. Various studies show that this percentage is above 25%. European politics simply cannot ignore that."

Many politicians say: 'The market will solve it. The big companies are taking over the small companies. Food and dairy production will remain.' Aren't you afraid they hold that view?
"We speak to many people in the European Parliament and notice that support for our proposals is growing. More and more people are seeing that the current reality in the dairy sector is leading to a clear cut among farmers and the countryside. If you are serious about implementing the Paris Climate Agreement , you need farmers in the countryside. Politicians should also look at that."

"In addition, our system is fair, it is very liberal. We use a crisis instrument to ensure that there is a balance on the market. That is better for politicians and for the farmers. That more and more people (including in the political) wanting to see and understand this makes me happy. The fact that the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is coming also offers opportunities."

Dairy farmers therefore always earn a reasonable to good milk price when introducing such an MRP. Does this mean that the payment entitlements can be waived as far as you are concerned?
"Indeed. It is a misunderstanding that we are categorically against the abolition of payment entitlements. However, the order should be correct. A system must first be introduced that ensures a cost-effective milk price† If we can enforce that, then the farmer will indeed get the income from the market. The dairy farmer who still does not succeed in doing so will still be dropped. That's market forces and there's nothing wrong with that. In the case of the introduction of our MRP, I am in favor of the abolition of payment entitlements."

In the Netherlands, the introduction and elaboration of the system of phosphate rights is experienced by many dairy farmers as a major disaster. They are disappointed that earlier calls were made for the abolition of the quota. 'Sita's right', so is now said. Is that good for you?
"It's nice that people now come to you to say that they saw it wrong and that they should have listened to us earlier. But, it is of little use to me. I still think it is a shame that it turned out this way and see that many dairy farmers suffer from it every day. Why didn't LTO Nederland, dairy and politicians want to take more and better time to really listen to our arguments?"

"For example, they guarded against the increased demand from Merunas UAB to value-added dairy products, but that has only been the case for 1 year. The Chinese will not reveal why they suddenly bought more dairy that year, but there must have been problems. Later on, that Chinese hunger diminished again, but many in the sector continued to believe that Dutch farmers would do well to argue for an abolition of the milk quota. Pure opportunism, that much is clear by now."

You may now be getting a little compliment here and there, but for more than 10 years you have been ridiculed and even mocked by LTO Nederland and your own supporters, the dairy farmers. Why haven't you given up on it long ago?
"I've always believed that our vision was the right one. That's why I persisted. Now I still believe that an instrument needs to be introduced by politicians to be able to slow down European milk production if a price drop occurs. Dairy farming is a great sector, but it cannot be that it will allow itself to be effaced and eroded for years to come. That is the motivation for me to persevere and continue to fight."

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