100 Million Litre Drop in Milk Production in Croatia

In 2013 503 million litres of milk were produced in Croatia, a drop of close to 100 million litres from 2012, when 602 million litres were produced, according to data from the Croatian Holstein Cattle Breeders Association…

The number of milk producers in the country continues to decline, with an estimated 10,000 now producing milk in Croatia, said the association, adding that farms are ‘closing’ by the day. The association says it has for a number of years now warned, urged, and begged the government to solve the credit policy in agriculture, including the loan and interest repayment rates.

“We have to be equal with the rest (farmers) in the European Union,” said Association President Branko Kolak, who says without support with land the problem will only get worse.

“This has stretched on for 15 years now. Not one farm in Europe or in the world can survive without land. There have been no capital grants in the past two years, they announced that there will be this year, so we’ll see what happens,” said Kolak.

In 2008 there were over 50,000 milk suppliers in Croatia, this has now dropped to 10,000 with 2013 the first year a drop of millions of litres in milk production has occurred.