by Steven A. Larson, Editorial Consultant
Milk quota for the 27 countries in the European Union will expire on March 31, 2015. How that will affect Europe's dairy industry was the focus of a session during the annual congress of the European Federation of Animal Sciences held in France last month.
Herman Versteijen, director of agricultural markets for the European Commission, described prospects for a so-called soft landing for Europe's dairy farmers. Two factors will aid the move to less-regulated agricultural policies.
First, the amount of quota has been expanded in recent years so more milk has been produced and marketed in a free market situation. Overall, in the EU, milk quotas have not been filled since 2006/2007.
Of the 27 EU countries, only five exceeded quota milk production in 2012, with only one topping the quota amount as much as 4 percent.
The other factor, a related development, is that EU dairy farmers, like their U.S. counterparts, have become more active in world dairy trade. The EU's exports of cheese and skim milk powder have been especially strong. That's another way of saying they can be competitive.
The EU now has a 32 percent share of the world cheese and skim milk powder market, according to Versteijen. Plus, European Commission officials anticipate continued growth in world demand for dairy products. They expect world cheese demand to grow 15 percent in the next 10 years, with Saudi Arabia and the U.S. showing the greatest appetites. They expect global skim milk powder demand to grow by 23 percent over the same period with the U.S., China and Mexico being the big buyers.
About the author: Larson has served on the editorial staff of Hoard's Dairyman for over four decades and led the editorial department as managing editor from 1998 to 2012. In August, Larson spoke in Nantes, France, at the European Association for Animal Production which is similar to the American Dairy Science Association in the U.S. This is just some of the insight he gleaned at that event.
