Farmers across Serbia spill milk because transporters have cancelled their deliveries

Farmers across Serbia spilled milk yesterday because transporters (buyers) had cancelled their deliveries to dairies, said Milija Palamarevic, president of the Central Serbia Cattle Breeders Association.

He told Beta that transporters were cancelling milk deliveries because dairies would not accept the product due to a surplus, which had been imported.

Palamarevic said that in the village of Bresnica near Cacak, on the farm of producer Milos Trajkovic, that day’s production, or 220 liters of milk, had been spilled under the cows because his purchase had been cancelled the day before, while another 1.5 tons had been spilled on other farms.

– We are asking the Ministry of Agriculture to protect domestic production and introduce levies, or protective import taxes on powdered milk, hard cheeses and milk – said Palamarevic.

He invited all milk producers to a meeting on Sunday, December 21 at the Hotel Ravni Gaj in the municipality of Knic to agree on the next steps, of which, as he said, potential ones include the dumping of manure in front of retail chains, especially foreign ones, and at the gates of dairies.

Palamarevic said that they had had a meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, which had also been attended by milk processors, and that they had been presented with the situation of milk producers.

– We warned the Minister of Agriculture, Dragan Glamocic, about all this, milk processors were also there, where we clearly explained to them what it was all about. Dairies are still treating producers the same way they have been for 30 years, and that is exploiting producers to the last penny – he said.

Udruženje odgajivača goveda centralne Srbije

Milija Palamarević