FrieslandCampina has said the proportion of its farms to utilise outdoor grazing has grown for the fourth successive year, surpassing the 80% mark.
The percentage of farms with outdoor grazers has risen to 81%, up from 77.9% in 2015. The Dutch dairy cooperative aims to restore that figure to 81.2% – the same level as 2012 – meaning it is firmly on course to meet its objectives on pasture-raised cattle.
The popularity of organic and outdoor-raised dairy is growing, with consumers increasingly interested in the ethical side of the food and drink products they consume.
Frans Keurentjes, chairman of the FrieslandCampina cooperative board, said: “It’s extremely positive news that more member dairy farmers want to make an effort to keep the cows out in the meadows. With this effort the dairy sector remains visible for the people and the characteristics of the Dutch landscape – [that] being cows in green meadows – is preserved.”
The milestone means that the proportion of FrieslandCampina’s farms to utilise outdoor grazing has grown continuously for the past four years: the figure was 77.9% in 2015, rising to 78.2% in 2016 and 79.4% last year, and now 81% in 2018.
FrieslandCampina approached members who do not use outdoor grazing for their cows during the past few months. Hundreds of them were given tailor-made advice or attended a special outdoor grazing meeting, which resulted in 303 extra member farms choosing to have their cows graze in the meadows from 2018.
The precise effect of the increase in numbers will be known by the end of the year, FrieslandCampina said.
Its farmers will receive an outdoor grazing premium of €1.50 per 100kg of milk produced when their dairy cows graze in the meadows at least 120 days per year for a minimum of six hours a day. Farmers who graze only some of their cows outdoors for this long will receive a partial outdoor grazing premium of €0.46 per 100kg of milk, so while progress is rewarded on a sliding scale there is a clear incentive for farmers to allow their cows to roam outside.
At present, around 8.6% of farms receive the partial outdoor grazing premium, FrieslandCampina said.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024