The price of wheat quickly doubled on the futures markets in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine is considered the breadbasket of Europe and is one of the largest wheat producers in the world. But what impact does this have on the German dairy industry and what can we learn from it for the future?
Consequences of the Ukraine War for the German dairy industry
The conventional dairy industry in Germany depends on this to a not insignificant extent, as the cows are fed a large part, if not mostly, grain instead of species-appropriate green fodder. While large industrial indoor operations in particular are now suffering from the cost explosion, the margins of farmers with pasture farming are increasing. After all, your costs have barely increased. Because the grass in the pasture grows as before.
The alternative to grain feeding
It is fashionable to advocate veganism or vegetarianism. But if we are honest, by building civilizations we humans have left the path of living in complete harmony with nature and not having any influence on it. Agricultural land can deprive animals of living space, plowing up soil releases CO2, etc. It makes little sense to grow grain and then feed it to animals, which in turn contribute to our diet. Instead of plowing up natural pastures, you could simply leave the cows on the pastures. Because we can't eat grass, but cows love grass. This is how they “transform” the grass, which is not edible for us, into milk and meat. At the same time they provide natural fertilizer.
Their contribution to greenhouse gases must be viewed in a differentiated manner. Because if these pastures were turned into arable land, which was then artificially fertilized, it can certainly be argued that this could have significantly worse effects. We should learn that grazing and agriculture go hand in hand and that species-appropriate husbandry is not a good solution in the long term.
Your alternative
Would you also like to support pasture farming and consume dairy products with a clear conscience? At Protero we rely on Irish pasture farming, which makes the image of happy cows on lush green pastures come true. In contrast to Germany, Ireland offers the perfect mild climate with lots of rain, which means that the cows there spend most of the year grazing. And of course you can notice that in the taste!Does that sound exactly like you? Then you will find everything from Irish milk powder to natural protein powder made from Irish pasture milk in our shop.