What Latvian farmers should do with the spare milk?

The head of the dairy group at the Latvian Agricultural Organization Cooperation Council, Sandra Stricka, said producers should quickly seek new export markets, as the Latvian market is too small for the local production. Meanwhile, following Russia’s embargo, several Lithuanian dairy companies have begun terminating milk procurement contracts with Latvian farmers.

“Several farmers report that Lithuanian companies are terminating their contracts with Latvian farmers, while prices for milk are falling,” Stricka said, adding that the government and EU institutions should find a solution on how to improve the current situation and seek new export markets for local farmers.

Deputy CEO of the Latvian Agricultural Organization Cooperation Council, Armands Krauze, said that the government should lobby farmers’ interests in order to achieve compensation payments from the EU funds.

“We must prevent another crisis scenario, when farmers were able to receive EU aid only two years after the crisis was over. The funds should be requested from Brussels, as it would be wrong to use Latvia‘s budget funds which are required for other social groups,” Krauze said.