The chair of Dutch dairy giant FrieslandCampina, Piet Boer, was optimistic on the future of milk production, but was slow to give a timeline for an upturn in prices.

Boer was addressing the Positive Farmers conference in Cork, where over 450 farmers attended on day one.

On the supply side, Boer said that historically milk production around the world reduced with lower milk prices but said that supply reduction is slower during this downturn, mostly due to improved farmer sentiment in northwest Europe after quota removal.

On demand, Boer said the big player in the world market is China, and until China re-enters the market in any meaningful way then the global demand for milk products will stay low. He said FrieslandCampina was already seeing a lift in demand in some African and Asian markets.

Over 70% of FrieslandCampina’s product mix is value-added. Boer said this is adding an extra 6c/litre to its milk price over their competitors in northern Germany.

Boer questioned whether the pricing model where co-ops pay out the max to members was actually the best way, adding that the result is often that there is very little to re-invest.