A call to action

The European dairy sector is facing multiple challenges including geopolitical instability, cutting emissions and battling diseases such as bluetongue, but it will survive with its “global leadership role in terms of quality, innovation and sustainability,” according to the European Dairy Association’s (EDA) new president, Albert de Groot.

That was one key message of this year’s (26 March) EDA dairy policy conference in Brussels, titled ‘Nourishing a Sustainable Future, Nurturing Innovation.’ “We are facing a myriad of challenges that require our urgent attention and collaborative efforts within the industry, within the dairy chain, and together with the authorities,” said de Groot, who is also CEO of the Netherlands’ Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods.

“Especially now, in times of increasing global tensions, we need European policies that strengthen the competitiveness and autonomy of our sector and support our transformation to an even more sustainable industry,” he said.

The EDA has welcomed the European Commission’s ‘Vision of Agriculture and Food’ policy plan, issued in February (2025), with its emphasis on sustainable production practices and innovation in dairy. The EDA also liked its commitment to continue the funded EU school food scheme, “ensuring that younger generations benefit from nutritious dairy products.”
With that in mind, de Groot proudly told delegates he wholeheartedly endorsed former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s belief that, “There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies.” Raschad Al-Khafaji, director of the UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) liaison office to the EU and Belgium added, “Dairy is an essential component of healthy and diverse diets.”

Keeping it simple

However, de Groot also liked the new policy’s focus on reducing the industry’s administrative burdens at a national and European level, which is also crucial to “enable dairy processors to focus on innovation and efficiency.”

The people able to make these decisions, including Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle, European Commission strategic policy director for agriculture and rural development, and Magdalena Montaigu, the spokesperson for current EU rotating presidency holder Poland on the EU Council of Ministers’ Special Committee of Agriculture (SCA), agreed on the need to cut unnecessary regulatory requirements and keep simplification “high on the agenda.”

Geslain-Lanéelle added that farmers were key to EU dairy success but needed cooperation from the processing industry and suppliers to achieve sustainability, “We give you hooks to work with us and build with us,” she said. Meanwhile, Montaigu said the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy that governs EU dairy rules, must be accompanied by a “dedicated and strong budget appropriate to the ambitious goals of the farmers and sectors as a whole.”

De Groot stressed that while “dairy unites us in a shared purpose of nourishing people and caring for the planet,” finance was equally important: “We need to ensure sustainability without compromising economic viability.”

For German centre-right MEP Norbert Lins (European People’s Party), vice-chair of the European Parliament committee on agriculture and rural development (AGRI), the newly established advisory European Board on Agriculture and Food will play a crucial role in building bridges between policy and “real world” practice.

For example, it would help in making carbon control programmes accessible for all, “from the family-run dairy in Ireland to the cooperative in Poland, by simplifying the certification process and leveraging technology to make measuring and reporting climate contributions straightforward,” he observed.

Dr Judith Bryans, CEO of Dairy UK, told Dairy Industries International (DII) after the conference “there were both challenges and opportunities for the European dairy sector, but it has proven its resilience in the past in the face of multiple issues and will continue to do so, because dairy is needed… to help meet the triple challenge of providing high quality nutrition that is safe and affordable to a growing world population, to sustain livelihoods, and to do all of that in an increasingly environmentally friendly way.”

With US president Donald Trump threatening new tariffs, she said, “There is clearly uncertainty over the future of US tariff policy, and the US is a major market for European dairy.”

Indeed, with the Trump administration poised to impose protection in April, MEP Lins told the conference: “If tensions escalate, we could see a repeat of 2019’s chaos, when a 25 per cent EU dairy tariff wiped out millions in cheese exports virtually overnight.”

But Bryans added, “The flip side to this [tariff] coin is that as demand globally is relatively stable, then initial disruption to trade flows may be resolved by displacement of product into different markets. If the US imports less it will export less, creating opportunities for EU dairy.”

Alice O’Donovan, secretary general at CELCAA, representing European Traders in agri-food products and commodities, and former legal and policy adviser for European dairy trade association Eucolait, told DII tariffs would certainly have a destabilising effect, noting, “Commission plans to apply EU production standards to imports are another worrying development – not particularly from an import perspective (as EU dairy imports are so limited), but rather from the perspective of possible retaliation by trade partners.”

She added that EU dairy traders were “making great strides in improving the sustainability of their operations, through choosing sustainable road transport and freight or sourcing from the most sustainable supplies and that Europe was one of the best placed regions in the world to produce dairy and should leverage this position.”

Roderik Wickert, head of press and public relations at the German dairy industry association (Milchindustrie-Verband e.V. – MIV), also noted challenges, including stifling bureaucracy and high production costs, uncertain political developments (Ukraine, Middle East), a possible reorganisation of the global market, and outbreaks of bird flu, bluetongue and foot-and-mouth disease.

Notwithstanding, the dairy industry was already on a good sustainable path, he said. “Dairy cows from Germany in particular are doing very well in terms of global emissions. While the global average is around 2.4 CO² equivalents/kg of milk, in Germany it is around 1.3 CO² equivalents/kg of milk.

In England, there are promising campaigns to reduce methane formation in the cow’s stomach with feed additives, and the proportion of renewable energy is steadily increasing in the entire dairy industry.”

He said, “We are on the right track. Germany is lucky as our milk products are in great and increasing demand and its industry is prepared to do a lot for climate protection.”

In general, UK Dairy’s Bryans warned there was uncertainty over the future treatment of agriculture in respect of carbon emissions and whether agriculture would be brought into the scope of the EU Emission Trading System (ETS). “However, growing concerns over food security and geopolitical uncertainty may result in policy makers recognising the need to protect productive capacity and therefore the food supply.”

There is growing pressure for regulation “based on prices meeting production which would challenge competitiveness, fly in the face of market dynamics and could ultimately be to the detriment of farmers,” she said.

As for cutting emissions across processing and transport, Sam de Frates, vice president of procurement at Mars, where “more than 200,000 cows help make our chocolate treats around the world” and whose ‘Moo’ving Dairy Forward’ sustainability plan is targeting halving emissions across the entire business by 2030, told the conference investment and the ecosystem can work hand in hand. “But there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to mitigate climate emissions,” and every farm must be treated differently, he stated.

Hanne Søndergaard, executive vice president (EVP), agriculture, sustainability and communications, at Arla Foods, with 7,600 owners in seven European countries, told DII it was essential to develop policies that support rather than hinder the sector’s efforts towards sustainability. “To achieve a sustainable future, collaboration is fundamental. Engaging farmers and stakeholders in policy-making will help create enabling conditions for sustainability. Supporting the innovation and digitalisation of agriculture is pivotal for better resource management and efficiency,” she said.

Søndergaard highlighted Arla’s FarmAhead programme, which uses data, incentives and partnerships, to drive change across the value chain in cutting emissions. “A comprehensive food systems approach that includes farmers’ perspectives in all relevant policy areas while stimulating industry initiatives and strengthening public-private partnerships is essential for driving sustainability,” said the EVP.

Dorset, UK-based organic dairy farmer Sophie Gregory, who sells product through Arla, from her 1,200-acre farm, said it was essential to listen to farmers’ views and “turn ideas into impact. “We need to get out on farm and keep shouting about the benefits of dairy, which is what I love.”

She noted, “We need to make sure we are innovating to encourage the next dairy drinkers.” This meant innovations from different flavour yogurts to protein bars, and prioritising education and farm visits for children, coupled with “progressive policy and support.”

Moreover, with the average age of a European farmer at 58, and with only 10 per cent of farmers being under 40, embracing tech “is important…[to] make the sector more appealing to the next generation,” she added.

As MEP Lins said, such technological innovation is not a luxury, but key to preparing agriculture for the 21st century. “The high average age of farmers is a wake-up call, but we risk losing an entire generation not due to lack of interest, but because of structural inequalities. In many regions, land prices have become insurmountable barriers for young people seeking to enter farming.” Targeted support is needed: low interest loans, leasing models or start-up programmes for young farmers, he recommended.

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