Produces Warning: Number of Cows Getting Depleted, There Will Not Be Enough Dairy Products

Milk could soon become a “deluxe” product. It will no longer be a foodstuff that is easily available to everyone, especially the youngest ones.

Just like beef is no longer such a product.

The producers are warning that, as soon as this autumn and winter, there might be a shortage of milk, because the number of milk cows has been depleted and many small farms have closed their stables. They also say that certain big dairies have halved the quantities they buy out, because there is less and less milk.

– We have sent appeals, request to those in charge, explaining to them in a civilized way what needs to be done, without any blockings or protests, but we have received no response – one of the big producers of milk in Serbia told Novosti.

– We are not going to protest. It would be pitiful to orient our lives toward organizing blockings, when all we want to do is work. The problem in the milk industry has not been systematically solved.

Furthermore, the producers are aggrieved that it is only the growth of the costs of the dairies is mentioned, as if the prices of their inputs have not grown.

– There will soon not be milk – a producer from Vojvodina told us.

– I am registered as a medium-sized farm, I have halved the production, and I don’t know what my animals will eat this winter. I have no idea what others will do. It all costs, the electricity, the medicines, the vaccines… On top of that, farmers are very disorganized. Even the fact that they will give RSD 15 per one liter of milk per quarter helps the milk producer and not us.

Milk producers are also trying to make dairies raise the price of milk through the state. On average, it is around RSD 40 per liter. They remind that many dairies use powdered milk.

– Certain farms in Serbia could no longer withstand it and they sold out the cows – said Olivera Latinovic, a milk producer from the Kikinda area.

– When they produce, they incur debts, so it’s better for them not to do it. Those who don’t have their own land have an additional problem. Big dairies are reducing their production. We haven’t yet received the subsidies for April, May and June. Not everyone got money per head of livestock either. We get RSD 52 plus VAT per one liter of milk. Our farm produces 1,500 to 2,000 liters a day. That is an extra class. But there are farmers who get RSD 30 per liter. I have 100 milk cows, and a total of 200 cattle.

Cheese made from palm oil as well

When milk is bought in stores in the city, it turns out that it doesn’t have much to do with milk. It only tricks the customers, Latinovic explains for Novosti.

– They even make milk and cheeses from palm oil – Latinovic claims.

– It is alright that our producers are not allowed to use genetically modified food, but then it’s not normal to import meat which has been fed with it abroad.

Olivera Latinović

milk

price of milk

purchase price of milk

dairy industry in Serbia

production of cheese

genetically modified food

milk production costs

palm oil