MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

World Dairy summit in NZ with 2.200 participants from 66 countries

IDF president Richard Doyle

A record 2200 participants from 66 countries are attending what is billed as the world's most important dairy conference, the World Dairy Summit, in Auckland, lured by New Zealand's appeal both as global dairying leader and an attractive destination, say organisers.

In comparison, just 800 people attended last year's summit in Berlin. Organisers say they had initially planned for 600 participants in Auckland for the four-day conference but recently registrations had rocketed.

The summit is held under the banner of the International Dairy Federation, a 107-year-old Brussels-based alliance of global dairy industry stakeholders, which today represent 86 per cent of the world's milk production.

With global demand for dairy foods expected to increase 50% within 10 years and double by 2050, the sustainability of the sector - ensuring food security by lifting productivity with minimum impact on the environment - is “the defining issue of our time”, IDF leaders told journalists from around the world this morning.

NZ Ministry of Agriculture deputy director general Paul Stotts said one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century would be feeding a world population predicted by the United Nations to swell by 30% to 9 billion within 40 years.

IDF president Richard Doyle said the summit would measure the progress of a 2008-launched initiative to adopt an industry global strategic plan and new methodology based on the best science and standards. The summit would also mark the launch of a new IDF website devoted to methodology and guidelines to help all stakeholders set comparable and consistent benchmarks when measuring their carbon footprint, he said.

In New Zealand, 85 per cent of Fonterra's carbon emissions were from dairy farms, Fonterra group director of supply and external relations Kelvin Wickham said. Dairying earns $1 in every $4 of New Zealand's export dollars.

The issues facing dairying were challenging and complex, and while Fonterra, the world's biggest dairy exporter, was devoting a lot of attention to its environmental commitment, “we are not happy with our compliance of effluent management across our farmer base”.

Germany's deputy minister of agriculture Gerd Mueller said milk had “an excellent future” but production had to be sustainable for farmers, who had to be able to cover their costs.

“There is a limit to the complete liberalisation of the market worldwide,” Mueller said.

While the EU was ready to renounce subsidies to its farmers - viewed by New Zealand as barriers to fair trade - there would first have to be fair market conditions, he said.

”Dairy products deserve a fair price. The downward price spiral must be stopped”