President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting with businesses in Rivne region on Thursday instructed the government to develop a program to compensate for the construction of dairy farms, according to the President’s website.
“During the meeting they discussed regulation of the timber market, efficient use of land and development of dairy farming. The President instructed officials to elaborate and solve these issues, as well as to develop a program of compensation for the construction of dairy farms,” – noted on the website of the Office of the President.
As reported, the Cabinet of Ministers at a meeting on February 3 approved the concept of the state targeted economic program for the development of livestock farming for the period up to 2033. According to the concept, the state targeted economic program of livestock development should meet the needs of the domestic market in safe and quality food products of animal origin; create progressive forms of entrepreneurial activity and organizational and economic conditions for the motivated development of the livestock industry.
It will, in particular, promote the development of farming, which will ensure further integration into the infrastructure of the agrarian market (increasing the share of livestock products production from farms in the category of enterprises up to 10%). In addition, the program will stimulate the development of capacities for processing of livestock products by increasing the volume of dairy raw materials for industrial processing up to 6 million tons.
It is expected that the set of measures proposed by the government will contribute to the stabilization and increase in the number of farm animals, in particular, by providing the livestock industry with pedigree (genetic) resources of Ukrainian origin: cattle – up to 50%, pigs – up to 50%, horses – up to 70%, sheep – up to 80%, goats – up to 50%, poultry – up to 50%, bees – up to 100%).
The concept of the state program is aimed at ensuring stable veterinary and sanitary condition, biological, infectious and invasive safety of livestock facilities and prevention of negative environmental consequences of production activities of livestock enterprises for handling animal by-products not intended for human consumption.
It also provides for the promotion of exports of livestock food products and the opening of new markets.
The concept envisages support for small and medium-sized producers, stimulating the consolidation and development on cooperative basis of farms and personal peasant farms, which can be the main ones for handicraft processing activities and organic production of products using direct channels of product sales.
In 2024, commercial dairy farms will increase milk supplies for food processing by 6% compared to last year, said Anna Lavreniou, CEO of the Association of Milk Producers (AMP), at the international conference “Opportunities and Challenges of European Integration of Livestock in Moldova and Ukraine” at the EuroTier-2024 exhibition in Germany.
“The war brought terrible losses. Today, more than 100 dairy farms in Ukraine have been either destroyed or destroyed due to Russia’s terror tactics. Restoration of these facilities is critical to ensure stable milk production. At the same time, despite the active phase of the war, industrial dairy farms continue to invest in productivity, compliance with European standards, and safety,” she said.
Lavreniuk emphasized that in 2024, Ukrainian dairy farms will increase milk supplies for food processing by 6%.
In addition, the head of the industry association noted the accelerated pace of innovation in practice, which was catalyzed by the war.
“Our Ukrainian producers are investing in biogas plants at a frantic pace to provide themselves and their communities with electricity. This is a new challenge that requires technical expertise and financial support,” noted Lavreniuk.
According to her, Ukraine is currently experiencing not a staff shortage, but a staff famine.
“The huge turnover of personnel in the agricultural sector requires express training and professional development courses and their adaptation to European requirements. This is the number one challenge, because we don’t have time,” stated the head of the AUFM.
Lavreniuk also asked her European colleagues not to get tired of providing financial assistance to Ukrainian farmers who need support for recovery and development, which involves investing in new technologies and modernizing production processes.
Switzerland has allocated CHF2.5 million (about UAH 100 million) to support milk production farms in the war-affected regions – Chernihiv, Kyiv and Sumy regions, the main attention will be paid to the hygiene of the milking process.
The corresponding humanitarian project is being implemented at the request of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine in cooperation with the Association of Milk Producers of Ukraine (AMA), the #SaveUA international charitable foundation and the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, according to the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy on Wednesday.
The goal of the project is to ensure food security in the regions by improving the quality and safety of dairy products produced in the country, mainly by monitoring compliance with the hygiene of its production. In particular, the control over the hygiene of the culture of milking animals will avoid failures in the further processing of milk, on the one hand, and outbreaks of diseases among consumers, on the other.
The Ministry clarified that by August 1, 232 dairy farms had already confirmed the need for humanitarian assistance, of which 95 were from Chernihiv, 78 from Kyiv, 59 from Sumy region.
“With the support of Switzerland, interested milk producers in the affected areas will receive products for washing and disinfecting milking equipment, pre- and post-milk treatment, udder hygiene wipes, gloves, reagents for the detection of latent forms of mastitis, disinfectants for livestock buildings, etc. in the amount of their quarterly needs,” the Ministry of Agrarian Policy said in a statement.
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, until the completion of the project in November 2022, the supported farms will be able to significantly improve their financial condition by restoring product supply chains. It is also important that the purchase of goods will be carried out from Ukrainian suppliers who operated on the market before the war, which will enable them to continue to provide hygiene products and serve dairy farms in the future.
“On the path to restoring the capacity of the Ukrainian dairy sector, it is important to support production technologies built on high hygiene standards for high-quality and safe food products,” the agency concluded in a statement.
As reported, in June the Swiss government announced its intention to hold consultations for more than 100 dairy farms from the above three areas. The government of the country sent a group of consultants to Ukraine, who provided producers with recommendations in the field of restoring livestock productivity, quality control and safety of raw milk.
