XtraBlatt Issue 02-2017

When we visited the Bigler farm
a few months ago, Germany
was still badly affected by the poor milk
price year. We were therefore inquisitive
about the milk production situation for
producers in “cheese land” Switzerland.
“It’s bad here too”, answered Rudolf Bigler.
“Our farmers hope for a rise in prices
although, honestly, I don’t think this will
happen so soon.”
THE CHEESE
DELIVERS
In Switzerland, milk price is not quite milk
price, says Rudolf Bigler describing the
Swiss confederation system. A third of
the farmers, mainly in West Switzerland,
deliver hay milk for more easily marketed
cheeses (e.g. Gruyere) and get decent
prices. In spring 2017 this was 85 rappen
(Rp)/l which represented 74 Eurocents.
(NB: 100 Rp = 1 Swiss Franc or CHF). One
third get acceptable prices (57 ct/kg) e.g.
for Emmental cheese, and a final third
must accept a price equivalent to just
under 44 ct for processing and industry
milk. While the prices have risen on average
by 5 Rp/l during the summer, they
are still not in the proverbial green area.
“Put simply, the milk price depends on the
market success of the cheese types,” explains
Rudolf Bigler.
The Bigler family’s cow barn is fully automatic with robots milking and feeding cows, followers
and calves.
In Switzerland, the milk price system isn’t
easily understood. The farmer told us
about the different price levels: A, B and
C milk. He has, for example, a monthly
contract for a certain amount of A milk
from his farm. When he steps over this
amount, the oversupply automatically
slips into the B price range, or even C sector.
That’s not all: this contract amount
is flexible, varying according to amount
of milk produced in a particular season.
Highest deliveries are in March, April and
May leading to milk oversupply which
then depresses the contractual amount
of A milk. Thus, Bigler must accept that,
from March to May, more of his milk slips
into the B and C categories. In summer,
when milk deliveries are less, the sizes of
A and B milk contracts can increase.
SELF
MARKETING PAYS
“Future-oriented dairy farmers must plan
their costs for survival with a milk price of
around 50 Rp,” reckons this Moosseedorf
farmer somewhat provocatively. However,
he knows very well that most farms
won’t manage this and will have to part
with their cows. This is already obvious
from the structural changes in his area.
“When I was a student 30 years ago there
were 17 dairy farmers in our village. Now,
there are only two of us left.”
For background, it’s important to realise
that the average dairy farm in Canton
Bern milks 20 cows on 20 ha land. And
that direct payment support is according
to land area. Bigler points out that
this means farmers will part with their
cows before they sell any land. With a
20-ha farm and relatively little work, up
to 30,000 CHF subsidy can be achieved,
he smiles. The state pays more premium
per ha than the rent required for the land
which lies, according to Rudolf Bigler, at
just short of 880 € equivalent, while state
subsidy often reaches 1400 €/ha. “This
blocks the structural change and sets false
signals,” he reckons.
Swiss farmers wanting to make money
with milk must, alongside watching production
costs, also especially choose the
right marketing strategy. This means
milk for cheese, and not milk for export.
On the other hand, cheese is not always
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