11.01.2012
Romanian breeders raising large numbers of cattle want a support scheme for milk quality, in order to reward those who invested in farms and are now able to deliver milk up to European standards. „Prolonging the transition period for processing nonconforming milk until the end of 2013 is a good thing for small farmers, but a disadvantage to large investors who made costly upgrades to their farms. Such investments are hard to recover since processing units are targeting people with smaller prices, even if the milk is nonconforming, especially during summer”, says Caraș Costel, president of the Holstein-RO Cattle Breeding Association.
Caraș states that in Romania 93-94% of cattle breeders own 3 to 5 animals and produce 50 to 60 of the available milk while the rest of 6 to 7% make up the difference of 40-50% in milk production.