Dairy farmers say the milks gone sour

Southern dairy farmers have complained that Dutch-backed milk producer Friesland Campina (FC) has driven buy prices down despite surging animal feed costs.

Farmer Nguyen Thi Huong, from the Mekong Delta Province of Long An said she lost VND300 – 900 (2 – 5 cents) per a kilogram on milk she sold to FC last month.

But the company formerly known as Dutch Lady, says the complaints are little more than farmers crying over spilt milk.

Since October, the firm changed its standards on milk purchases to 350,000 units of bacteria per milliliter, said FC’s Luu Van Tan.

Providers of milk which go over that limit get a deduction of VND300 – 900 (2 – 5 cents) per kilogram, he told Tuoi Tre, adding that the move is aimed at improving the quality of the firm’s products.

“We organized training to help farmers meet our standards before we started applying the new price frame,” he said.

However, farmers accuse the dairy company of not playing fair when taking the bacteria test samples.

The tests are taken, not at the sell outlets but at the freezing center, some 30 – 40 kilometers away.

The farmers complain that the quality of the milk will change while being transported to the company before quality ratings are undertaken.

Tags: Vietnam agriculture, Vietnam business news