Fortunately, German farmer finds support in milk price

The German dairy farming and dairy sector met at the end of last week at the traditional Berliner Milchforum. Initially, it was not just about the good milk price. 

First, the concerns were addressed, as well as the question of whether a new grand coalition of Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and Social Democrats (SPD) will ensure a return to 'real agricultural policy'. This is in contrast to the past period in which the Greens and Socialists held sway and Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir slowly pulled the teeth out of agriculture. 

Green Deal overboard or not
There are encouraging signs for farmers, it was said. In Germany, for example, red diesel is returning, but are other changes from recent years also being reversed? For example, the obligation to fix the milk price for farmers in advance (Article 148), and energy is becoming affordable again. Moreover, will Germany continue to partly comply with the agreements from the Green Deal, or should that Brussels ballast now be completely shaken off?

Successors don't trust it
Returning to the past will not be easy, because there are only a few agricultural representatives in the German Bundestag. Society is changing. "Our successors no longer trust it. There are too few representatives in the national government who think along with us and work with us," was how a cooperative director expressed the concerns during a discussion.

However, the dairy market is doing well
On the other hand, society as a whole has started to look differently at the importance of food security, that there is enough food available locally. Moreover, the demand for dairy products is very good. Even the segment of drinking milk is growing again in countries such as Germany and the United States, despite the growth of the market for milk alternatives, ZMB researcher Wohlfahrt notes. It is mainly the premium drinking milk products that are doing well. And who would have expected that milk fat would become so scarce and expensive in recent years?

Markets are changing and the fact that milk production in most European countries is declining rather than growing also helps to keep prices high. The only product segment that is still struggling is bulk milk powders. Even though production has declined, it seems that too much is still being made, according to Wohlfahrt, but that too can change.

Bluetongue and the Netherlands
A phenomenon that is difficult to grasp in the dairy market is the influence of a series of bluetongue infections in livestock farming. At present, there are at least 4 or 5 different variants of the bluetongue virus active in the EU and these variants often mutate again, as researcher Jörn Gethmann of the Friedrich Löffler Institute explained. In the past year, bluetongue has caused a significant drop in milk production. If vaccination is carried out on time and widely this year, he believes that many problems can be prevented. However, the signals from large parts of Germany and also France do not reassure him.

It is difficult to prove exactly how bluetongue infections entered Europe, but the BTV-4 virus entered Europe via Greece, the other variants - BTV3, 8 and 12 - appear to have been introduced into the EU via the flower trade and Dutch airports, although the international horse trade may also have been a factor, Gethmann said.