While in Argentina milk production has been stagnant for 20 years, it is estimated that in the Asian continent the demand for dairy products will continue to grow steadily, especially in countries such as China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand , which means a market opportunity for producing countries.
In this context, our country has the conditions to begin to grow in liters and increase exports, according to the Producer Conservando Foundation.
In this regard, Francisco Oliverio, advisor to the Foundation, explained that Argentina has the potential to occupy a more important place in the market, since, according to production during 1999, it reached 10.3 billion liters of milk per year and since then it has remained between 9.8 and 10.8 billion liters, representing only 1.5% of the world's dairy in 2018.
On the other hand, during the last 10 years, milk production in countries such as the USA, New Zealand and Brazil showed significant growth, as did Argentina between 2000 and 2013, where an export value of 1780 million U $ A was reached. However, according to data provided by the Observatorio de la Cadena Láctea Argentina (OCLA), these exports began to decrease steadily until reaching 726 million dollars in 2017. Subsequently, from 2018 to 2019, exported dairy products showed a 10% drop in Tn and 9% less in U $ A. However, the data from January to August 2020, despite the Covid 19 pandemic, show a growth of 31-35% in Tn and in U $ A compared to the previous year.
According to the analysis carried out by Oliverio, the fact that the Argentine dairy does not display its full potential in the agro-industrial export complex is due to macroeconomic and political issues that threaten long-term predictability, such as high fiscal pressure, labor issues, low efficiency and productivity of labor, costs between factory outlet and consumer, and unfair competition. In addition to production costs, such as grain price fluctuations that generate profitability losses when the cows' diet is changed throughout the year.
It is important to note that cow diseases, such as tuberculosis and brucellosis, have not yet been eliminated from the country, which is added to other health problems such as embryonic losses and abortions, and the problems of guachera and rearing that limit the replacement of cows to the production system.
Finally, it recommends investments related to animal comfort that improve summer production and reproduction, such as "half shadows or natural shadows in summer, shaded waiting pens, ventilation and water sprinkling."
Undoubtedly, the challenge for our country in the coming years will be to develop a political and economic framework that will give a strong boost to the growth of this activity, which has great untapped potential.
