ZAGREB, 9 February 2022  - The Croatian Chamber of Agriculture (HPK) on Wednesday once again warned that the price of raw milk is untenable, and that its price should head towards HRK 3.5 with VAT because its price is rising much faster in the European Union than in Croatia.

HPK participated at a meeting of the CDG Milk (Civil dialogue group on milk) on Tuesday where they discussed the situation and trends surrounding the price of raw milk in the EU, chairman of the Milk Committee at HKP Igor Rešetar said.

"We saw that in countries Croatia imports milk from the most, the price of fresh milk has increased on average by 8-12% in the past year, while the price in Croatia remained the same throughout 2021," said Rešetar.

Croatia has one of the lowest raw milk price rises, yet despite all the problems last year, 428,700 tonnes of milk were delivered, which is 1.3% less than the year before. The number of dairy farmers has fallen by 500 and Croatia now has only 3,500, HPK underscored.

"The price of raw milk should be heading towards HRK 3.5 with VAT, which is the price that farmers in Italy, Austria and Poland have," said Rešetar.

Despite the Ministry of Agriculture's attempts to support the milk industry, HPK warned that the current situation is unsustainable and that further collapse could become dramatic. Croatia could be one of the rare countries left without local dairy farms.

HPK noted that milk production in Croatia is constantly on the decline. In 2015, 513,400 tonnes of milk was delivered compared to 434,200 tonnes in 2020. The situation in Slovenia is almost unchanged whereas in Serbia, it is increasing from 861,800 tonnes in 2015, to 907,700 tonnes in 2020.

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ZAGREB, 10 Sept 2021 - The Croatian Chamber of Agriculture (HPK) said on Friday that without concrete and swift measures from the government livestock and milk production would collapse. 

The HPK announced that next week it would again organise meetings of all six committees relating to the livestock sector to examine the situation and propose urgent measures to prevent a collapse of livestock and milk production.

This year has been extremely hard for livestock farmers, whose position on the national and common market is currently affected by the adverse impact of the COVID-19 crisis, the HPK said.

"This year has seen a dramatic rise in prices of raw materials on the global market, including in Croatia. Livestock farmers have seen their costs rapidly increasing since the start of the year, while at the same time they have been selling their products below the asking price because on the common market commodities are offered at dumping prices because of surpluses caused by the COVID-19 crisis," HPK president Mladen Jakopović said.

He added that the structural problems in the national livestock sector and the sharp rise in input prices were compounded by a drought and, in some areas of the country, by the consequences of last year's earthquakes.

A study by the Osijek Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Science has shown that input prices, notably the cost of animal feed, had accounted for about 50% of material costs before their jump in 2021, while currently they exceed 70% in certain sectors. This has resulted in higher prices of cereals, processed cereals and animal feed as well as in losses to the livestock sector.

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ZAGREB, 4 Sept, 2021 - Cattle farmers lose HRK 4.75  per kilo per head due to the corona crisis, the Zagreb-based Večernji List (VL) reported on Saturday.

Findings of a study, conducted by Osijek researchers Krunoslav Zmaić and David Kranjac, show that the corona crisis has caused disruption on the market.

Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, fodder made up about 50% of the material costs in businesses led by cattle farmers. However, cereals and oil crops' price hikes have raised this percentage to 80%.

The average price of soybean skyrocketed 50.49% this year in comparison to their five-year average, and maize prices increased roughly 36%, whereas fodder barley prices went up 19.5%.

For instance, milk producers lose HRK 1.02 per litre due to the crisis.

The researchers warn against excessive imports of meat and milk at dumping prices, and they propose stringent restrictions on this import.

 They also suggest short-term state support schemes.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

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ZAGREB, 28 June 2021 - In 2020, the quantity of cow milk collected in Croatia fell by 0.3% on the year to 434,230 tonnes, according to the national statistical office (DZS).

After years of marked decreases, a certain stabilisation in the purchase of milk from farmers can be noticed, the Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food (HAPIH) says in a 2020 report.

Official statistics show the quantity of cow milk collected has been decreasing since 2015, with the largest decrease registered in 2018, by 4.9% from 2017.

According to the DZS, 2020 saw increases in sheep and goat milk collected, with 2,821 tonnes of sheep milk (+7.1%) and 4,055 tonnes of goat milk (+1.6%).

Statistics on milk and dairy production show the production of drinking milk in 2020 dropped by 5% to 281,820 tonnes on the year. Cream production dropped by 6.7% to 33,033 tonnes, butter production by 17.4% to 3,515 tonnes, cow milk cheese by 6.2% to 31,373 tonnes and fermented products by 5.5% to 89,522 tonne.

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ZAGREB, 17 June 2021 - Croatia will finally start using EU funding from the Animal Welfare measure, which will be increased by HRK 130 million this year, the Jutarnji List daily said on Thursday.

In 2021 HRK 220 million will be paid to 1,700 users, and in 2020 HRK 90 million was disbursed.

The measure has been used for years by Croatia's competing countries, and it is an additional source of income to many meat, milk, and eggs producers, whom it helped overcome numerous crises and problems.

Following negotiations with the European Commission, it was agreed to increase the average support for welfare in cattle breeding by 187%, in pig breeding by 235%, in poultry breeding by 188%, in goat breeding by 125%, and in sheep breeding by 127%.

In addition, a new HRK 92 million operations for encouraging the use of livestock manure on arable land was negotiated. It was approved because of the devastating data on humus content in our soil due to intensive field production, and it is expected that support will amount to €215 per hectare.

President of the Croatiastočar association, Branko Bobetić, said that the new measures for this your would enable a larger number of applications, adding that farmers could get €10 to €250 per head.

(€1 = HRK 7. 484807)

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