In 2019 the focus again on milk powder and cheese

When you land at Schiphol by plane and walk into the terminal, you see it immediately: the Netherlands is a dairy country par excellence. Your eye is drawn to the beautiful wall pictures depicting dairy cows. Images that evoke a sense of pride and passion in me. And to think that there has been a grave mood in dairy farming for years, especially because of the phosphate legislation.

You cannot deny that there is a negative atmosphere in the sector, and that has nothing to do with the milk price. It has been at an acceptable level for months. No, the atmosphere is ruined by the complex legislation and regulations (read: the phosphate file). This leads to uncertainty, mutual division and also a lot of frustration.

Focusing on problems
We seem to have forgotten that the Dutch dairy sector is doing well abroad. We sometimes don't seem to know that cows are kept to produce dairy products. Partly because the sector is blind to the problems, the outside world increasingly associates the sector with ammonia emissions, manure surpluses and complex phosphate legislation.

Even for 'down-to-earth Dutch' it is almost incomprehensible. The pride of dairy farming may still be reflected at Schiphol, but that is often no longer the case on the farmyard.

Profiling with cheese
A country like Switzerland also presents itself with cows and cheese, although it is not always bright and sunny there. These small-scale farmers are maintained with subsidies, which the Swiss citizens have serious questions about.

Beyond the country's borders, however, Swiss cheese is world famous; just like the Dutch cheeses. It is not without reason that dairy is the seventh most important export product for the Netherlands. The sales of milk powder and cheese, also known as white and yellow gold, are worth billions of euros.

The phosphate file
Hopefully the phosphate file will soon fade into the background and a suitable solution will be found for the bottlenecks. Then the dairy sector can reunite and focus on what it has traditionally been good at: producing, processing and exporting dairy. When the negative atmosphere is subsequently turned around, the proud feeling will hopefully return. And then the murals at Schiphol are not just a pretense.

Receive the magazine in your letterbox
This abbreviated article is part of the 2018 dairy analysis. The subscribers of Milk and Feed Pro have recently received it. Would you also like to receive this magazine? then click here to become a subscriber and receive the magazine sent to you.

With a subscription you get access to all private articles, data and market information on Boerenbusiness† As a subscriber you also get access to various seminars and workshops. Curious about all the benefits? View our offer in the webshop.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness and Food Business. He also closely follows the raw materials markets and focuses on animal proteins such as dairy and meat. He regularly interviews leaders from the agricultural sector and the food world.

© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.