Dairy needs one message from government to grow
Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s (April 29) Dairy Makes a Difference launch at the House of Commons, Bryans told a room of Trehane Trust Scholars at a dinner in London last week that the government was inconsistent in its support of the sector.
“We will be challenging politicians going forward on what they tell us in private and what they say in public,” said Bryans.
‘A lot of red tape’
“We are very fortunate that we have had governments that want to see the industry progress, but there’s a lot of red tape and, going forward, we need to see some innovation that will allow us to grow further.”
George Eustice, MP and parliamentary undersecretary of state for farming, food and marine environment, MP Neil Parish and other politicians would go on record with their opinions at tomorrow’s event, she added.
Dairy is expected to endure immense pressure from an increasing global population set to reach 9.6bn by 2050. Demand for dairy products looks set to rise as incomes increase and developing countries grow their economies.
Demand for dairy will rise
“It has recently been estimated that the amount of milk needed to meet the world’s needs by 2050 will be 1,077Mt. Currently the world needs 740Mt – quite a jump that offers a tremendous opportunity to the dairy supply chain,” said Bryans.
Not all of the countries requiring unprecedented amounts of dairy products would be self-sufficient in dairy and European milk would be needed to help meet the demand, she added.
“We are fortunate enough in the UK to have first class dairy farmers and processors who will play their part in meeting that demand and we have the support of the consumer and the devolved governments. Furthermore, we have a good story to tell about our foods being safe, nutritious and sustainable.”
However, the UK dairy industry was also in direct competition with Europe, which was already sizing-up market opportunities, she warned.
“For the UK to thrive post 2015, it needs to build and sustain a globally competitive dairy sector and our government needs to help us further by reducing the burden of red tape and creating a business environment where the industry can succeed,” said Bryans.
