Small farmers caught in gears of milk crisis

Siiri Liiva
, reporter
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Photo: Mihkel Maripuu, Sander Ilvest

The two-year dairy crisis has probably hit small and medium dairy producers, who are paid less per liter of milk, receive modest support compared to major producers, or use their personal property to try and save their businesses, the hardest.

«First buyers have paid smaller producers less than major farms for the same kind of quality. They have also found themselves in a rather vulnerable situation where they are simply told the milk truck will not be by tomorrow,» said Kaul Nurm, who ran the Estonian Farmers' Association for the past 26 years until August of this year.

That is exactly what happened to Tammo Parmas (79) who was the first to receive a farmer's certificate in Valga County in 1988. Parmas still runs a 20-head dairy herd in his Väike-Ande farm in the village of Tagula despite his age and medical condition. «Estover no longer took our milk,» the farmer said, talking about last year. Estover was buying milk at 14 cents per liter at the time.

Because the region's small producers formed a cooperative society, E-piim quickly took them under its wing. «Estover wanted to get rid of the small players. Close your barn doors and do what you want, it is no longer our business,» the small farmer said. Parmas admits, however, that uncertainty in terms of how long E-piim has need for small producers is always there.

«I have not been turned down yet, but God knows when it is going to come,» Parmas said. He is currently paid 18 cents per liter for prime grade milk. The farmer feels it is unfair that the milk that reaches shelves in stores is basically just rinsing water. «They take whole milk from us, while the stuff that reaches the shop is ruined milk – all the cream and what is good has been taken out,» Parmas said.

The Valga County farmer is also upset with the government that has given farmers a lot of promises but delivered on none of them. «Our milk has the same quality as that of major producers, while we are paid roughly half as much for it,» he said. Parmas does not plan to liquidate his herd at this time. «I have the land and the animals, and a person has to do something,» he said.

Unequal support

Võru County small producer Aivar Sloog (62) has thinned his originally 27-member herd down to 20 animals in his Päka farm in Antsla parish. «It is not worth the bother at these prices,» he said. E-piim pays Sloog 21 cents per liter since September 1. He has managed to make ends meet thanks to last year's good grain harvest but is already planning to liquidate his dairy cattle.

Sloog believes that the low price of milk and the fact that farmers have to produce at their own expense is up to retail chains and dairy processors to shape. «Overproduction is so massive. This madness is the result of abolished quotas and our delusions of grandeur,» the farmer said. He believes that the price of milk will only rise as a result of Germany and France lowering their quotas.

Sloog added that young heads of government completely ignore the fact that the country has no food security. «What use are tanks and things in a situation where people have three days' food in the refrigerator and even that will spoil without electricity. City dwellers do not have places to go in the countryside anymore,» he explained.

The small farmer is also disgruntled by decisions to give dairy farmers crisis aid. Whatever major producers say, it has benefited them the most. Next year they will lower area-related aid by 5 euros and give an extra 100 euros for every cow. Sloog has 200 hectares of land and 20 cows.

If he can make ends meet by the end of the year, a major producer that has less land and more animals will definitely be in the green. «A major producer who has 400 hectares and 1,000 cows will lose 5,000 euros and gain 10,000 in support – where is the fairness in that. There should be enough room for everyone under the sun,» Sloog said, and added that it seems to him efforts are made to starve small producers in every possible way.

«I'm not crying yet. I need to pay last year's taxes in October. If I can settle things with the tax board without having any of my property seized, then I believe I can make it. I think the banks will meet me half-way,» the Võru County farmer said.

If these lifelong farmers aren't yet ready to call it quits on account of sheer stubbornness and a rock-solid faith in a better tomorrow, a number of dairy farms have faced facts and made the pragmatic decision to exit the loss-making dairy sector.

Will not leave the country

One of the latter is young farmer Karin Sepp, who took over her parents' farm in Võru County with her brother in 2000. Sepp has participated in farmers' protests to draw attention to problems. The latest such protest took place in Tartu where young farmers bought an entire batch of milk from one of the city's Prisma supermarkets to demonstrate their displeasure with the low price of bag milk.

«We made the decision in July of last year. We saw that we couldn't make it and cut our herd almost in half,» said Sepp, who had 200 heads of cattle at the time. After selling half their herd the farmers realized the harshness of that decision. «Because dairy farming is not just a way to make money – it is an engine of village life – we figured, up until this spring, we wanted to keep this region afloat, give people work, and that we can survive,» Sepp said.

They have now faced reality and decided to liquidate the herd in full by the end of the year. «I believe it will be easier to stop now, as the soul has had time to adjust. On the other hand, we feel a certain release as we can shed that heavy burden of obligations – that we can live without constantly being in debt,» Sepp explained, and added that for her, mental stress has been the most difficult aspect.

She said there is a lot of the latter in the dairy sector today: «You want to do things, but the market pays you so little for it that you utilize everything you have just to keep going for another day.» Sepp is currently still selling milk to E-piim and gets 23 cents per liter from September 1.

Even though her Koka farm will stop producing milk at the end of this year, Karin Sepp cannot imagine moving away from the country. «I feel extremely sorry for the time people waste behind traffic lights – I will never move to the city,» she said. Sepp added that it is her nature and that of her entire family to find another way to survive in the country. «We will think of something else; we will move on with our lives,» the young woman said.

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