Short term versus long term
An interesting fact popped up in my news feed this morning, about the Irish dairy herd. Apparently Ireland may have to cull up to 65,000 dairy cows per year if the agriculture sector is to get in line with Irish government climate targets (www.irishtimes.com), to reach a reduction of 200,000. This is a country that has spent the last 10 years growing its herd to meet the growing export markets, since the removal of European Union quotas, and has some of the most sustainable dairy out there. This strikes me as a bit short-term in thinking by the Irish government, as this particular country is not the highest emitter of carbon either.
Meanwhile, the French government has asked Danone and other French companies to cut their prices on consumer goods, according to Reuters. Like most other countries, consumers are seeing higher prices in the supermarkets in France, although ironically, British retailers have quickly gone back to their ways of involving milk in their price wars, Farmers Guardian reported in a recent blog by Liz Haines, a dairy farmer in the UK. (www.farmersguardian.com)
That being said, optimism is the long term outlook, as more people continue to consume dairy. An Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB) Export conference last week discussed the increasing demand for meat and dairy worldwide. Global fresh dairy production consumption is expected to increase by 2.53% to 2024, according to the OECD, and the UK government has added £2 million to the pot for global trade shows and missions, along with a £1 million bespoke export support fund for the UK dairy sector, which was announced in the government’s “Farm to Fork Summit” recently, Nicholas Saphir, AHDB chair noted. AHDB for its part has unveiled Beyond Borders, a strategy for delivering enhanced services for the agricultural sectors for international trading. (www.ahdb.org.uk)
As they say in sports, it’s all to play for.
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