How Covid-19 has Caused Setback to Poland's Beef and Diary Industry

The producers of beef and dairy producers are going through a difficult season due to COVID-19  lockdowns and movement restrictions.

 

Poland is the fourth largest producing country in European Union and this is placing upon them a very

huge pressure.

 

According to reports, the industry is experiencing setback due to COVID-19 restrictions; and this has slowed down orders from restaurants and hoteliers, however price fluctuations in the markets are not making things easy.

 

The Polish Federation of Cattle Breeders and Milk Producers is encouraging Polish residents to consume more beef and dairy products to keep businesses afloat.

 

"We want to encourage greater consumption of milk in Poland, but we also want to show consumers that behind the milk they buy in the store is a specific breeder and his work," the Polish Federation of Cattle Breeders and Milk Producers said.

 

“The coronavirus pandemic has caused very large disturbances in the dairy industry. The slowdown in foreign trade caused the product prices and, at the same time, the prices of the raw material to drop significantly. Prices in the European Union have been on an upward trend since the middle of this year.

 

"In September, the average price of milk in Poland was PLN 1.38 per litre. We anticipate that these prices will go up at the end of this year, while the pandemic makes the market unpredictable and we do not know what consequences the second wave will bring to our industry,” Dorota Śmigielska, milk market analyst at the Polish Federation of Cattle Breeders and Milk Producers, vice-president of the Milk and Dairy Products Working Group at Copa-Cogeca, said.

 

The association also emphasizes that this is not the first time the industry has faced challenges affecting farmers. Similar situations were highlighted such as severe droughts over the last two years, causing production costs to increase and negatively affecting milk quality. Milk prices have also remained artificially low,  that is farmers have been operating at a loss