Drought: towards a shortage of milk next fall?

Alexandra Jaegy, edited by Romain Rouillard 08:52, August 07, 2022

Will there be milk in our supermarkets in the fall?

The question is far from fanciful.

The drought that is hitting the country hard has considerably affected crop yields, particularly fodder used to feed livestock.

If the situation continues, a shortage of milk cannot be ruled out. 

Bruno Martel has been producing organic milk in Brittany for a month.

It was impossible for him to feed his cows in his dry pasture and the weather has become a real obsession.

"Today, on a daily basis, we are scrutinizing the temperatures, the rainfall, the sky, saying to ourselves 'there must absolutely be water'. And suddenly, it becomes distressing at the end of being completely dependent on water since there, we will really wait for it”, he explains at the microphone of Europe 1.

Consumer solidarity

And for good reason, the drought is already causing him to lose between 7,000 and 8,000 € of production per month.

Like him, the FNSEA, the Federation of Farmers' Unions, predicts a shortage of milk in the coming months because of this drought.

Winter fodder stocks are already being consumed.

Some farmers will even have to sell their animals, for lack of means to feed them.

For Bruno Martel, consumers must show solidarity.

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- Drought: faced with water restrictions, farmers are increasingly deprived

"What I would ask for is above all the benevolence of society. Our consumption patterns influence our production patterns. If we want to continue to have an agriculture that respects the environment, which is committed to the planet, well it must also be accompanied by the act of purchase in order to be able to hold on, even in complicated periods", he maintains. 

For its part, the FNSEA is asking for the establishment of an emergency fund and an increase in the prices paid to breeders.