On Monday at an Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting in Brussels, Romania advocated for the interests of cattle and dairy cow breeders, which he said have to be at the core of Romania's agricultural policies supported by European funds and public money.
"The milk cow is our main source of milk. The road to the slaughterhouse is open and necessary for reforming herds that have used up their production and breeding, not for the animals in full swing of production. The support mechanisms and the amounts provided for in the national strategic plan moving forward support an increase in the number of dairy cows in order to keep the most valuable food on the market. Let's be confident in our possibilities and act together for the development of this sector!," Romania's Agriculture Minister Petre Daea told the Agriculture and Fishing Council meeting, told Agerpres.
According to a press statement released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR), the Romanian government allocated 185,483,810 euros in last week's meeting to animal breeders for the application year 2022 for coupled support schemes in the livestock sector, and about 114,129,810 euros will go to the bovine species (milk buffaloes, meat cattle and dairy cows).
"And now, in order to meet the farmers in the livestock sector, at the request of MADR, the European Commission approved, for the first time, a 70% advance payment starting on October 16, so that animal breeders can face the dire conditions, as a result of the drought," according to the ministry.
The difficult time facing animal husbandry can be overcome by supporting dairy cows, through coupled support (300 euros/head of animal), welfare measures (100 euros/head of animal), which will be granted under the national strategic plan. This subject came up on Monday at a meeting of Daea and European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski.
"Many and important investment objectives have been achieved in this area in strict biosecurity compliance, and the improvement process has brought us to the highest level of performance comparable to the best existing results in the EU. (...) We should not deviate from the path of performance and efficiency that we must continue on for the good of Romanian farmers and consumers," said Daea.