On 21 April, the Dairy Farming Development Forum was held in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province by the China Agricultural Reclamation and Dairy Farming Alliance. At the event the China Agricultural Reclamation Raw Milk Production and Quality Standard (Standard) was passed.

Experts from within and outside the alliance have spent nearly a year formulating the Standard, based on the national food safety standard, Raw Milk Standard (GB 19301-2010) and the domestic dairy farming situation with reference to international practices also. The industry is viewing it as China's strictest yet raw milk standard:

• CFU (= colony-forming units) reduced from <2 million/ml (as set in 2010 in GB 19301-2010) to <100,000/ml

• SCC (= somatic cell count) at <400,000/ml: it is the first time for this index to be listed, based on the highest international standard, that in the EU (higher than <750,000/ml in the US)

• Milk protein content raised from 2.8% to 3.0%: this reflects the fact that the country's largescale farms are developing rapidly, especially those in the alliance, to international quality standards

It is important to note that this is NOT a national standard, but it is of undoubted strategic significance and will increasingly provide a guide to the domestic dairy industry.

The alliance, established on 18 November, 2015, involves national and regional dairy companies (e.g. Bright Dairy & Food Co., Ltd., Beijing Sanyuan Foods Co., Ltd., Heilongjiang Wondersun Dairy Co., Ltd. and Guangdong Yantang Dairy Co., Ltd.) alongside standardised and largescale dairy farms and dairy research institutes located in 12 advantageous reclamation zones.

Currently, the number of cows included in its members' operations is about 1.4 million (9.5% of the national figure), with an annual milk output of 3.7 million tonnes (10.1% of the total).

At the conference, Feng Yanqiu, the Alliance's Chairman, made an introduction in which she addressed several key subjects:

Farming & processing

As production management and technology are improved and controls strengthened, the quality and safety of raw milk now partially reach or surpass the standards of developed countries. However, local consumers don't know this and continue to worry about quality and safety problems, doubting domestic dairy products and especially the raw milk on which they may be based. This has prevented the consumption of such products from increasing in recent years.

Price & cost

Compared to those developed countries, China’s production cost for raw milk has stayed high for a long time, indicating a lack of competitiveness. This leads processors to use imported milk powder, especially in reconstituted milk. The practice weakens the quality of dairy products and severely restricts the sector's upstream (dairy farming) development. The prices of premium raw milk produced by the largescale and standardised farms are decreasing continuously.

When demand is weak, this milk will be dumped or processed into milk powder. Many cows are being culled – stable production cannot be maintained! Local trade sources commonly play down the country's farming prospects, taking a pessimistic view.

Consumption

Consumers lack understanding about the nutritional value of milk and have no knowledge about how to choose between milks. This leads to blind consumption, and sometimes even to no consumption. For instance:

• Some only regard imported, high priced and long shelf life milk as good milk

• Some mistakenly consider milk beverages as real dairy products, based on taste

• Some think that milk is unsafe and dare not consume; some even believe that milk is harmful to health and give up consumption as a result

All this has led to the sluggish and chaotic market seen in recent years, and has indirectly constrained healthy industry development.

The formulation of the Standard is aimed at improving dairy farming levels to produce more high quality milk that reaches or surpasses the advanced standards seen in other countries, and uses the best processing technology to offer more high quality, fresh and nutritious dairy products such as fresh milk to consumers: the goal being to finally build up confidence in domestic dairy products.

Raw Milk Quality Indices by Country/ Region

Note: *This data was published by the Sino-Dutch Dairy Development Centre in 2014, based on a survey of 13 provinces/ regions/ municipalities involving 205 dairy farms/ 244,000 cows. The farms averaged 1,202 cows, with 687 in milk.
Source: CCM

This article comes from Dairy Products China News 1605, CCM

About CCM:

CCM is the leading market intelligence provider for China’s agriculture, chemicals, food & ingredients and life science markets. Founded in 2001, CCM offers a range of data and content solutions, from price and trade data to industry newsletters and customized market research reports. Our clients include Monsanto, DuPont, Shell, Bayer, and Syngenta. CCM is a brand of Kcomber Inc.

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Tag: raw milk  dairy

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