In 2021, Spanish law makers introduced a novelty to stop the destruction of value in the food chain. The Spanish agricultural organisation COAG (Coordinadora de Organizaciones de Agricultores y Ganaderos) gives us an overview.

The conference organised by the Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture on 31 August in Berlin concluded with the first indications from the ministry in favour of strengthening dairy farming. The BDM engaged actively in discussions with representatives from the dairy industry, research, NGOs, trade and with farmers themselves. We also expressed our criticism of agricultural policy to date with an action in front of the conference venue, and presented our expectations of this conference by publishing an eight-point position paper.

When taking office, Federal Minister for Agriculture Cem Özdemir had promised “to really turn things around”, but there is not much of that to be seen within everyday politics. This is why our action with the Ferris wheel was accompanied by the message: “Let’s turn things around big time to preserve viable, small-scale farming, greater animal welfare, climate services, environmental production, more biodiversity!”

Parliamentary State Secretary at the BMEL, Dr Ophelia Nick, announced that she wished to pay special attention to the nature of supply relations between milk producers and dairies. She said that appropriate measures that are compatible with EU law shall be discussed with the coalition partners. This includes, above all else, the transposition of Article 148 of the Common Market Organisation (CMO).

Another positive signal was that improving price monitoring and market transparency was also discussed. This could lead to further development of the EU Milk Market Observatory – something that we dairy farmers had to fight long and hard for in the first place. Article 148 CMO is also important at EU level because it does away with the exception from compulsory contracts that currently exists for cooperative dairies. This is significant as about 70% of German milk is still processed by cooperatives.

Meeting with Federal Minister for Agriculture Cem Özdemir

When Federal Minister Cem Özdemir visited the farm of a BDM member, the association highlighted that it is not possible to secure the future of the agricultural sector with subsidies alone. The BDM used concrete figures to show how tense the financial situation becomes when you try to compensate for the milk price reduction of about 25 cents compared to 2022 with public funds. In this context, Minister Özdemir stated that he fully understood the need for a better market position for producers. In his view, the planned national transposition of Article 148 CMO would be the first important step towards supporting producers – even if there is already major resistance to this change. At the same time, critical and constructive discussions were had about further expectations of farms, political failures and constraints, as well as areas like the CAP that require urgent action.

Autumn Agriculture Ministers Conference in Kiel from 20-22 September

In the lead-up to the Conference of the Ministers of Agriculture, the BDM visited the party headquarters of the CDU, FDP, SPD and Bündnis 90/The Greens. Dairy farmers “sailing” in the same boat presented a joint position paper to the party representatives entitled “Eight demands for economically and environmentally sustainable dairy farming”. At the initiative of Lower Saxony, the issues on the dairy market were put on the agenda of the conference where all federal-state ministers will come together.

At the meeting with associations, we talked about the situation on the dairy market and the resulting need for action. In line with the request from Lower Saxony, we expressed our expectation for the conference to discuss possible binding criteria regarding contractual agreements on volume, price and duration within the scope of Article 148 CMO. In this meeting as well as in many other discussions with ministers, various positions were expressed, as was expected. Representatives of farmers’ unions were against the activation of the article. The Bavarian Minister of Agriculture also defended a position against this. It was recorded in the minutes of the meeting that Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony and Bremen were in favour of expanding the Milk Market Observatory to include an early-warning mechanism and of triggering effective crisis instruments (voluntary production reduction).

Bundesverband Deutscher Milchviehhalter e.V. (BDM)

The situation for milk farmers in Lithuania continues to deteriorate. Over the past year, the Lithuanian dairy sector has witnessed a worrying decline, notably a reduction of 7,500 dairy cows, equating to a 3.3% decrease. At the same time, the number of operational dairy farms saw a steep drop of 11%, totalling a loss of 2,500 farms. This downward trend has continued with a 2.5% drop in milk deliveries. Worse still, despite this drop in milk deliveries, there has been no corresponding increase in milk prices. To draw a comparison: the current milk purchasing price is about 30% lower than it was in 2022. From January to August 2023, the income of milk producers in Lithuania was a staggering 120 million euros lower than during the same period of last year.

Denmark's wolf population has recently reached unprecedented numbers, shifting the balance in the country's ecosystem. For decades, the fox was Denmark's largest predator. However, in recent years, packs of wolves have firmly established their territories, both inside and outside the designated wolf areas in the western regions.