When the world gets too small

The daily news headlines have intervened in the dairy industry once again, and we find ourselves on the sharp end of conflict. The news that the International Dairy federation’s World Dairy Summit, which was to be held in Tel Aviv at the end of October has been cancelled, makes me very sad. But it is kind of the way of dairy – we cannot disassociate ourselves from world events or weather even if we wanted to.

Russia is another good example of the news becoming a story in dairy as well. Arla for its part has furloughed employees due to the ban on imports to Russia, and Finnish producer Valio is also coping with the impact the government decision to shut the borders on international products.

The dairy industry is so integral to most people’s lives in the most mundane of ways, from the bottle of milk to the carton of yogurt and the ice cream in the refrigerator. It is the good and the bad thing about our industry. With the increasing movement of dairy products across borders and across the world, this is something that we will continue to see and have to deal with.

I for one am hoping that the good people on all sides will come to the table and sort something out for peace in these regions. It has been done and can be done again.