The association "Farmers' Council" continues to seek solutions to stabilize the dairy industry

Wednesday, July 8 in Jelgava region,At the Zaļenieki Education Center The association "Farmers' Council" (ZSA) organized a meeting for representatives of the Latvian dairy industry. The purpose of the meeting was to start work on developing a dairy industry strategy. For the first time, the following members of ZSA, representatives of the Latvian Agricultural Cooperatives Association (LLKA), representatives of the Latvian Rural Consulting and Education Center (LLKC) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MA), as well as representatives of milk processing companies, came together.

The situation in the dairy industry has been getting more and more complicated since August of last year, contrary to predictions. As autumn, the peak milk production period, approaches, farmers are concerned about an even greater drop in milk purchase prices.

Dairy farming is one of the largest agricultural sectors in Latvia, and its decline would lead to a decrease in both jobs and population in rural regions. Therefore, the Farmers' Council called together representatives involved in the dairy sector to begin work on developing a dairy sector strategy, based on each person's personal knowledge and experience.

During the meeting, the main directions of the strategy were outlined and the problems that need to be solved were defined so that when faced with another crisis, there would be a clear action plan.

Juris Cīrulis, Deputy Chairman of the Association "Farmers' Council":
"S"Working with several organizations, we have begun to develop a milk strategy. Previously, such a gathering was difficult, but “thanks” to the crisis, as well as the ZSA initiative, both producers and processors, as well as representatives from the LLKC and the Ministry of Agriculture, participated in the discussion. As a result, we have identified the playing field called “milk production in crisis conditions”. The next meeting to resolve the situation is scheduled for two weeks, during which, by communicating with each other, we will seek answers to the questions asked today.”

Guntis Pirvics, head of the LPKS “Dundaga” cooperative:
"So far, there have been attempts to find a common language between dairy producers and processors - but unfortunately unsuccessful. The discussion, on the other hand, opened up opportunities for cooperation. Of course, there are representatives of the industry who consider such measures to be unnecessary demagogy, but a common language must be found! The goal of the meeting was to jointly constructively begin developing solutions, which was also achieved."

Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Dairy Farmers' Central Union Janis Šolks:
“Those involved in the dairy sector must be co-responsible for where the road leads and what it is like. It is a pity that until now, due to various disagreements, each side had sat at its own end of the table and listened little to other opinions. The meeting proved the opposite – we can cooperate! The disappointing fact is that the discussion has started at an inopportune moment – a moment of crisis. The event is ambitious and no other farmers' organization has taken the lead so far. What has been learned must be kept in mind and further actions must be based on true and verified facts. Only by listening to each other can we work as one whole mechanism.”