At the FEPALE congress in Costa Rica in April 2008, more than 1000 stakeholders from 32 countries met to discuss the present and the future of the dairy industry in Latin America and in the world.
According to Rodolfo Barrantes, President of Dos Pinos, the leading dairy in Costa Rica, the dairy industry in Central America has the potential to be very competitive. But there are several challenges. Areas like productivity and quality, technical development, ISO certification and sustainability need to be improved. Also, the producers need to become more business-oriented, the dairy production needs to be modernized and industrialized, and there are also infrastructural needs, e.g. for transports.
(Vicente Nogueira)
Vicente Nogueira, president of FEPALE, gave his view on the outlook for the dairy industry in Latin America: The milk production in Latin America will develop in the coming years. It has increased from 9,8% of total world production in 1992, to 12% in 2006, and Nogueira believes that it will continue to increase. The reasons behind this are, he says, the low cost and the availability of land, the low level of technology which can be addressed to increase productivity, the labour force, with millions of people active in the dairy industry, while in other parts of the world labour availability is a problem.
The future challenges for the Latin American market lies in, according to Nogueira, continued international negotiations, environmental sustainability, where there is a need for action, not just talk, focus on quality and food safety, and finally innovation and promotion of dairy products to the consumers.
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What is the main challenge for the
milk producers in Costa Rica today?
-Increasing the efficiency. We need to look
for new ways of production.
What is your impression of the conference?
-It has been very interesting. You hear
about things that you want to apply to
your daily work when you get home.
You get new ideas. |
Joaquín Granados
Monge, Costa Rica | ____________________________________________
Brian Willis, Director of International Trade, Fonterra Cooperative Group, gave his view on the Outlook on the global market.
Australia’s production will decline, and New Zealand is limited in its ability to grow. EU production is difficult to predict due to the Common Agricultural Policy reform, and Argentina is troubled by political intervention. India and Russia have good potential to export milk, but quality and large domestic consumption will affect the possibilities. China will continue to grow fast, but so will also their domestic consumption. Willis sees the supply response from the US as most significant for the global market in the short term.
The global dairy consumption is forecasted to grow at 3% per year, but the impact of new pricing is unclear. The global purchasing power is increasing, and this drives the demand for dairy products. The high oil prices are also a major factor in the sustaining demand at current prices. The oil prices can be directly linked to dairy prices, since high oil prices means growing developing world economies, where many are major dairy importers.
Brian Willis’ conclusions were that assuming that GDP growth and oil prices remain high, the demand for dairy products will continue to grow despite the high milk prices. High prices on milk substitutes, like soya, will make consumers stay with milk, and government intervention in the developing world will ensure that consumers will be able to pay for dairy products. The deregulation of the EU and removal of buffer stocks means that the limits will be set by the market, and not by politicians. If the cost of farming will only increase then we can assume that the price of milk will have to meet those cost increases or else supply will diminish. If we assume that the US dollar will stay weak in the short to medium term, we can assume that US exports will remain competitive.
Clauco Carvalho, from Emprapa, Brazil, presented his view on the impact on dairy production of the production of bio-fuels with grains. His conclusions were that the production of bio-fuels will continue to grow, with a global impact on agriculture. It will affect the commodity prices, (food and feed prices). Brazil has good competitive advantages, like land availability, water and technology. The challenges for the producers will be to manage the risks, look for alternative animal feed, try new production systems and improve the efficiency. He believes that during the next decade there will be new technology for bio-fuels, and other alternatives for sources, like cellulose, and that this will decrease the pressure on the corn.
There were several presentations on primary production over the three day conference:
Yunior Acosta from Biomin explained how the use of feed additives can improve the nutritional value of silage and conserve the energy of the silage, making it possible to produce the same amount of milk with less concentrate.
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What is the main challenge for the milk
producers in Colombia today?
-Colombia is a country where the grassland
depends on chemical fertilization, and right
now, with the current oil prices, the prices of
fertilizers are also very high. So we need to
be more efficient and produce at very low cost.
What is your impression of the conference?
-The most important thing is to get to know
people from other countries, to share
experiences. There have been some very
interesting talks. I liked the part about animal welfare, which is a new thing here, and I also
liked the sustainable farm presentation. |
Luis F. Giraldo S., Medellín, Colombia |
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On the theme for animal well-being Neil Chesterton, (Inglewood Veterinary Services, New Zealand) presented different ways of avoiding costly hoof lesions. In a grazing-based production one of the main causes of hoof lesions is hoof wear. The condition of the roads, the design of the milking facilities and cow handling routines are important factors to avoid this. Being patient and understanding cow behavior can make the cow traffic smoother causing less stress and less hoof lesions.
(Pamela Ruegg)
In a presentation on milk quality Pamela Ruegg, University of Wisconsin USA, said that to produce high quality milk it is essential to implement recommended management practices. To achieve this it is important to clearly communicate the value of these practices and to motivate the farm personnel to apply them in a consistent way. The only secret of producing high quality milk is to continue to develop and motivate the people that milk the cows Pamela Ruegg concludes.
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What is the main challenge for the milk
producers in Venezuela today?
-To increase the milk production. We have
the opportunity with the giant deficit of milk
in the world. We have the natural resources
and the technology.
-What we are lacking is probably confidence.
That and also that the oil interferes a lot
in the economy. It distorts everything.
However, we have the possibility to grow.
The opportunities are right there.
What is your impression of the conference?
-My main interest is in the Primary
production area, and I have seen some
very good presentations, above all the
topics on the organic farming, the
functional dairy products, and sustainable
farming.
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Andrés E. Querales,
San Cristóbal,
Venezuela
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At the closing dinner it was announced that the 11th FEPALE congress in 2010 will take place in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
To see the programme on the congress web site click here>>
Costa Rica facts:
51.100 km2, internationally known for its great diversity and concentration of natural resources. 6% of the planet’s biodiversity. 25% of the area is protected in national parks or reserves.
Milk production: 800 million litres per year, increasing 5% per year in the last 20 years, and with an 8% increase the last two years. An increase of 5% is estimated for the coming years.
There are 14 000 dairy farms in Costa Rica, employing more than 140 000 people.
On a Latin American level Costa Rica is in 10th position in terms of production and the country has one of the continent’s largest consumption per capita, 156 litres per year.
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