Four threats loom over Colombia’s dairy industry, according to the president of Dignidad Ganadera

The recent announcements of the withdrawal of Alpina and La Alqueria del Cauca have strongly affected Colombia’s dairy industry. However, these events only aggravate the situation of the industry in the country, as stated by José Felix Lafaurie, president of the Federación Colombiana de Ganaderos (Fedegan).

The president of Dignidad Ganadera, Richard Fuelantala, told MÁS COLOMBIA what, in his opinion, are the four main threats facing Colombia’s dairy industry.

| You may be interested in: The decision to migrate: more than 2% of the world’s population are migrants and refugees

The coming into full force of the FTA with the United States represents one of the main threats to Colombia’s dairy industry

The first threat is the increasing imports within the framework of the various trade agreements signed by Colombia, especially the Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

The total tariff deprotection for milk in Colombia, which will take effect in 2026, is expected to severely affect national cattle farmers and several regions of the country.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in 2019 milk imports amounted to 450 million liters of milk, which corresponded to 6% of national production at that time. By 2020, these reached 900 million liters, 13% of national production.

In other words, dairy products entering the country, mainly from the United States, are displacing national producers. This is happening despite the fact that there are still quotas and tariffs that limit the entry of these products into the country, which are being reduced year by year.

In this sense, associations such as Dignidad Agropecuaria Colombiana and Fedegan have repeatedly requested the national government to review and renegotiate this FTA, in order to avoid the withering away of Colombia’s dairy industry.

Extreme environmentalism has generated an anti-livestock atmosphere

According to Fuelantala, extreme environmentalism has created a mistaken vision of cattle ranchers as large landowners and large landholders. According to the Nariño leader, this is false, since 90% of the country’s milk and meat producers are small farmers.

There are around 670,000 dairy farmers, of which 320,000 are dedicated exclusively to milk production in Colombia, according to Fedegan. These families need to compete under fair conditions in order to continue developing their productive activity.

| You may also be interested in: Manufacturing exports, a pending task in the integration of Latin America

Milk substitutes harm the dairy sector

The leader of Dignidad Ganadera also expressed his concern about substitutes that are being passed off as milk. He explained that the marketing of vegetable and lactose products under the denomination of “milk” generates confusion in consumers with misleading advertising, and induces them to buy products with different nutritional values.

Cow, goat, and sheep milk – and not these substitutes – are the ones that the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes as food products and recommends consuming, especially during infancy and adolescence.

Public policies do not favor agricultural activity

Finally, Fuelantala mentioned the impact of public policies on the increase in production costs. According to the union representative, the implementation of the multipurpose cadastre policy and the labor reform, which does not take into account the particular conditions of the Colombian countryside, will end up increasing costs and reducing profitability.

The National Association of Milk Producers (Analac) has said that this year, “production costs are historically high”. According to the Ministry of Agriculture with data from the DANE, during 2022 the producer price index (IPP) increased 23.42% for raw cow’s milk, 17.59% for processed liquid milk, 13.84% for other dairy products and 13.30% for cow’s milk cheeses, fresh or processed.

This is partly due to the importation of a large number of inputs and raw materials that “due to the rise in the exchange rate and global geopolitical reasons” make the production of milk in Colombia more expensive, according to the Balance and Prospects of the Colombian Livestock Sector (2022 – 2023).

For Fuelantala, increasing imports, what he calls extreme environmentalism, misleadingly sold milk substitutes, and policies unfavorable to the sector require immediate attention from the authorities and society in general.

| Continue reading: Nariño dairy farmers’ gloomy situation, aside from the good news from Alqueria