All language subtitles for The Milk System_NON_HI

The story of humans
and milk began over 8,000 years ago.

Back then, the earliest farmers discovered

that they too could drink the milk

that the calves were suckling
from the cows

in order to survive hard times.

Since then, milk,
the white elixir of life,

has featured in myths
and religious writings.

When I was herding cows as a child
in the mountains,

I never asked myself
why they produce milk.

It was as self-evident
as the apples hanging from the trees

or the water flowing down
mountain streams.

And all the gestures involved
in dealing with cows,

such as the way to call to them,

seemed to have remained unchanged
for centuries.

In recent decades, however,

the relationship between humans,
animals, and milk, has changed radically.

In Europe alone, it's a market
worth 100 billion euros

that produces the almost
200 million tonnes of milk

that are sold by multinational
conglomerates annually.

When 1.3 billion Chinese
were given a taste for milk

the market simply exploded.

As milk has become
a much-desired commodity,

the milk trade is now extremely fierce.

I wanted to hear from industrialists,
farmers, and scientists,

about what the effect of
this production development has been

on animals, the environment, our politics,

and last but not least, on all of us.

Peder Mouritsen is not a farmer.

He and his son work as entrepreneurs.

Six farms, 750 cows, and 12 employees.

Check up on that. Let's do that.

Can you bring one more?

Frederiksen is on his way.

That's good. Okay.

We're constantly optimizing.
I'm thinking about it all the time.

It's nice to be here.

No sleep aid for me. I sleep so well.

But... they say you have stress

if you wake up
and you're thinking about work.

Then I've had a lot of stress.
I just never really worried about it.

My job is to
check, check, check everything.

To make sure that they do
what they have to.

I am almost like a shadow,
just lurking around.

Our existence relies on

producing milk as cheap as possible

and with the highest quality possible.

There's a lot of pressure on the price.

We need to...

produce more at a higher quality,
so we can get the price we want.

That's what it's about.

When we took over the family farm,

we were the 18th generation to do so,

we had 100...

140 cows.

Then we expanded so we had 300.

We doubled up.

That was in 2002.

I could not have imagined
that we today would have 750.

Not at all.

It happened because--

It happened because we wanted it.

But... we wanted it because of the money.

As it is...

we will have managed
to get through the crisis we are in now,

until the economy starts flowing again.

We will be ready
when the price of milk goes up.

Then it's time to make money.

Peder delivers
his milk to the dairy concern Arla.

Dairies are the most important interface
between producers and consumers.

and are considered
the most powerful players

on the milk market.

We need to wear goggles

in this area here.

It comes directly from the farm

and is weighed in.

1.1 million liters,
four different types of milk

And then we start here.

We test for penicillin.

We note down which truck
delivered the milk.

We also write down
if the taste was good enough

then it's graded G1.
If it's G3, it's considered waste.

Sterilized, homogenized, pasteurized.

Now the milk is quickly pumped
to the filling line.

Arla has
grown rapidly in that last decade.

It has incorporated countless competitors.

This puts it in the top five of
the largest dairy companies in the world.

When I started as a very young marketer,
27 years old,

in 1987 in Denmark,

there were 37,000 farmers producing
a five and a half billion liters of milk.

Today we have 3,500 farmers
producing almost the same amount.

So there has been a huge structural
development on the farming side.

And that's also needed in order
to be able to compete

with farmers throughout the world.

The market has globalized
and we today have prices that are

so much linked together.

Whatever happens in Berlin

may come price-wise from
a trend in China or vice versa.

As a company, as an FMCG company,

as a food company, as a dairy company,

you have to have the force
and the power

to reach further and further away

from your home, finding new consumers,

having the financial power to engage
in new technology, in new innovation.

So the growth in itself actually gives us
a lot of opportunity

to grasp the opportunities
around the world

that we would not have

were we a much smaller company,
as we were 10 years ago.

The first one?

In the southern tip of Germany
lives the Geiger family.

I'll look where these two are.

Four generations under one roof.

Like most European farmers,
theirs is a family business.

They have 250 cows,

but are being forced to economize
more and more.

When I came to the farm in 1978,

there were 35 cows.

Today, 35 cows is nothing.

Okay, dig in.

Unfortunately, no fried onions

No onions.

It's a bit of a family thing,
it's in the blood.

My husband is a man
who is able to work a lot.

And the business mindset stems from him.

From his ancestors.

His grandfather
always had the biggest farm

with the most cows.

It seems that is hereditary.

We managed. But we came to a point
where we said, "We need to stop."

We didn't want to be pushed anymore.

You're obligated to deliver all your milk
to one dairy.

You only find out afterwards
how much you'll get paid.

And if the milk price drops,
it's tough luck.

You have no power, no influence.

Back in the day,
our cattle were put out to pasture.

But when you have so many,
that's difficult,

herding so many cows out to the pastures,

some of which are far away.

Taking them out there and back every day
is lots of work.

Also the paths are dirty
and we'd have to clean them all.

That's ultimately why we stopped
pasture feeding.

Back when we had just 100 cows,
they were outside.

For the cows,
pasture is definitely better,

we don't even need to argue about that.

This is Discovery.

We call him the poop robot.

It pushes the cows' poop down the drain.

A manure sewer is underneath.

It's a clean solution,
so the cows always stand on clean ground.

They don't have to stand in the muck.

That's important for the health
of their hooves.

The Geiger's
don't have one single employee.

But they do have
the most modern technology.

According to Martin, they couldn't
run the farm as a family business

without the milking robot.

Using a little to achieve a lot,

that's my goal.

But politics is making it
harder and harder.

It's no longer possible.

Maybe it is wishful thinking,
I don't know...

wanting to achieve more with less.

Today, you need to go higher and higher,
always deliver more.

There are consultants who tell you
which fodder to feed the cows

so you can always achieve maximum yield,

more growth...

We're reaching our limits
as a family operation.

We don't earn as much anymore.

We're only working for the big companies,
the feed and food industry.

And we fall by the wayside.

Right now,
the base price we get is 27 cents.

In order to cover all cost
of our milk production,

we'd need at least 40 cents or higher.

And that makes me angry.

Yeah. That makes me question
whether the system is working right.

Dairies have traditionally
been organized as cooperatives

but little remains of
their regional social intentions.

Another global player in the milk sector
is FrieslandCampina,

which is based in Holland.

It's a bit like Darwin, huh?

If you don't keep renewing yourself,
you basically die.

So we need to keep renewing.
We need growth.

We need to grow in order to...

to keep innovating
to be able to keep investing.

And I think that's also important
for the health of our company.

As soon as we stop growing,
I think we have a big problem.

We always say that we are
from grass to glass.

So we have the cows,

we have the production, and we have
the sales and the products.

The best way to compare our company
is almost with a refinery.

There's a huge, huge array of products
that we make with our milk.

These are all the products that are coming
out of one stream of milk that goes in

and all these products magically come out.

One of our, uh...

fastest-growing categories,
infant formula.

We have the Friso brand
that we sell all over the world

but predominantly
southeast Asia and China.

Another highlight is a product
that we recently launched in Hong Kong.

It's Optimel adult nutrition.

This is a product for seniors.

We have three types: for 40+, 50+ and 60+.

And basically, when you're getting older
you're losing your muscles,

you're losing your mobility.

And we have a specific formulation
for senior people.

And this is a big trend
that we also see across the world.

Now for people who have less money,

we also have a product
that we sell in West Africa

that basically

lowers the price point,
gives them one consumption.

They can buy four in a row
but they can also...

buy one piece apart.

And by doing that

the trade is also happy
because they can serve more customers.

Is there really no alternative
to always bigger and more global?

In South Tyrol, I meet Alexander Agethle

on his small, organic dairy farm.

It wasn't far from here
that I herded cows as a child.

Emma, hup!

Hup! Hey.

Go, go.

Hup!

Hey. Go, go.

Recently a woman said to me,

"You know, Alexander,
the cows walk as quickly as their farmer."

Then I said,
"Well, I guess I'm a leisurely guy."

How you treat the animals shows.

They like walking.

They go slowly because
they were on the pasture all summer.

And because of that
they aren't as quick.

It is quite interesting to note

that the average age
of the cattle has risen tremendously.

They don't have to produce as much milk
and hence aren't pushed to their limit.

So they have the resources
to become older.

If I had a chair
I could stay here all day.

For me, watching a cow graze...

it's just soothing.

The job of a farmer is so varied.
That's what drew me to it.

It is much more than just a job,
it's a way of life.

At least that's how I interpret it.

It was clear to me
that I wanted to pursue organic farming.

To me, organic farming
is the most economic way of farming.

So it was also clearly
an economic decision.

It quickly became clear

it wouldn't remain a big factory farm.

We decided that we wanted
to process our milk ourselves.

- Hello! Good morning!
- Hi!

To me it became clear right away

that we needed to aim for quality.

That's why we make cheese
from our raw milk,

develop our own recipes,

so we can achieve a high quality.

We are lucky to have so many skills
within our family,

there's communication, organization,
and production skills.

We are really lucky.

Of course, farmer-to-consumer marketing

has its limitations
as not everyone can come here.

But nowadays there are many different
distribution options.

But I do have to say

I am not interested in selling my cheese

beyond a range of 200 kilometers.

It makes no sense ecologically.

The most central
and yet weakest link

in the intensive milk production chain
are the cows.

They are permanently being optimized
through breeding.

The high-producing cows
of the Friesian breed

don't have much in common anymore

with the animals I drove out
onto the meadows.

These animals are task optimized,

meaning they were bred specifically
for milk production.

It's rare to have a day
without insemination.

Maybe one day without,
but most days we inseminate.

Pregnancy is the most important part
of keeping cattle or cows.

A cow can't be empty too long
or otherwise she'll get fat.

That would result in her
not be giving milk.

A cow should have one calf per year.

If she can't get pregnant anymore,
unfortunately, she'll have to go.

That's the way it is.

Somehow
I failed to realize that the milk we drink

is that of permanently pregnant cows.

Because without a calf,
there's no milk.

And without milk,
there's no right to exist.

Cows could easily live to the age of 20,

but the average lifespan
of a high-producing animal

doesn't even top five.

And it's only the females
that are allowed to survive in any case.

Come here, hey.

Come with me, come.

Come on, go.

A cattle trader will come
and pick them up.

He'll sort them by weight and breed.

And then he'll sell them
to fattening farms.

I only sell bulls.
Female offspring remain on our farm.

I need them to add as stock replacement.

Bulls are more of a burden.
They require lots of work.

They're worth around €70 per calf.

We used to get lower prices, €50.

It's not profitable.
But we have them and have to do it.

We can't just kill them.

Our animals are just numbers.

They calve after two years.

But we decided four ago

what sperm to use
and how to cross breed them.

It was actually four years
that we decided...

at least four...

how that one is supposed to look today.

And it is a bit funny to see

if it turns out as it should.

Will we get what we expected?

A lot of new knowledge
comes along in four years,

so you might already know
it will turn out bad.

But then you'll see how bad exactly.
That's also...

...fun to see.

Our idea of a crossbreed,

when we started
four or five years ago,

was to get a cow we could milk...

for more years.

Because it costs money
to raise a new cow.

In those two years the calf just...

takes up space while it needs to grow.

That's just expenses, expenses, expenses.

If we could get a cow that could
milk for five years rather than three,

then we would not have to get another one.

We would be some surplus calves
which we can sell,

though they're not worth much.
It is just a waste product to us.

If the price for them is so low
that we can't even cover our expenses

to keep them alive for two weeks,

then we put them down. We have to.

This is not a charity. This is a business.

The breeders are not yet capable

of completely excluding
the births of males.

But they will be.

I meet the turbo-cow breeder elite
in Cremona, North Italy,

for a genetic performance show.

In recent years,
genetics helped us a lot

because it selected
very productive animals,

but also ones able to handle
more and more stress.

It's like an athlete.

Athletes are never fat.

They are lean but in shape.

A fat animal

is not productive and suffers.

The animal should be in shape.

It has to be fed
with the highest quality product,

whether it is hay or feed,

so that it can become pregnant
as soon as possible.

One calf a year, if possible.

You can buy the embryo,

a newborn calf,

a pregnant heifer,

or a dairy cow.

How does it work with the embryos?

With the embryo, there's a catalog

which, obviously, shows embryos
that are offered on the market.

These cows are way more sensitive.

Well, it's like having a Formula One
and having it run on a country road.

There's the milk demonstration.

You can see if the animal

produces a lot or little milk.

The animal will tell you.

- You can tell by looking?
- Huh?

-You can tell from the outside?
-Yes, yes.

Yes, yes, yes.

High-producing cows
are living power stations.

They have to pump over 20,000 liters
of blood through their udders every day,

an energy-sapping task.

But there are other problems
relating to high-performance husbandry.

In this kind of business with 700 cows,

we produce a lot of manure.

We have this rule of thumb...

for one liter of milk
you get three liters of manure.

We produce 20,000 to 24,000
liters of milk.

You can do the math.

That's around
70,000 liters of manure a day.

We use this tank as a buffer.

It's an eternal problem. It's always full.

I don't want to look at shit anymore.

Professor Johannes Isselstein

is systematically examining
the manure problem,

what goes into a cow
and what comes out.

And how much is modern dairy farming
straining the ecological cycle.

You can completely feed cattle with grass.

Cows are amazing animals in so far as...

they turn a raw material, grass,

that is an inferior resource
to human nutrition,

into something extremely superior,
milk protein.

The intensification of milk production
led to cows being expected

to deliver a higher yield

and this higher yield
couldn't be upheld with natural roughage.

Under our conditions in milk production

we have around one third of feed energy
stemming from grass

and two thirds of what the cows eat
and what is used for milk production

is farm harvested feed.

Most farmers have to buy this feed

and the majority of it is soy.

The majority of soy
that farmers buy comes from South America.

A massive expanse of rainforest
has been cleared there

for European fodder production.

They are known as "shadow fodder fields",

a flattering name
for an ecological disaster.

And we will never rid the world of famine

if you feed corn and soy to animals
rather than nourish humans with it.

And is if that wasn't scary enough,

cows can only use a third of the energy
that is in soy or grain.

Globally speaking, we are
squandering resources on a massive scale

by feeding cows with grain
to promote higher yields.

Grain and soy are mixed with silage
and fermented

to make durable green fodder.

In intensive enclosed farming,
this paste is fed to the cows.

There is drought in Ukraine.

It rains in the USA.

All of that has an effect
on what I buy and what I sell.

I also have to think...

it's so cheap now. Prices can only go up.

So I cover my bases while it's cheap
and hope the selling price will rise.

That is how it works.

-Who is this?
-Hello, Peter.

-Welcome.
-Thanks.

-What's up?
-What's up?

-How's it going with the corn harvest?
-Well...

We have harvested 38 hectares,

-so we are not quite ready yet.
-No?

-It will take a while.
-It's the early variety.

-It's not good with too much sun.
-Well, that's all right then.

The question is
if it'll be enough for all 2017--

-Exactly.
-Maybe.

-Let's try to--
-Maybe we should lock the prices now.

That's the question.

We need to evaluate
what the market will do.

-Can you deliver that price on it?
-Yes, we can.

-It only costs an arm and a leg.
-84 kroner more than the regular.

The animal is
the transformer of nutrients.

All of it ends up in liquid manure.

Farmers here
purchase protein from overseas

and protein consists mainly of nitrogen.

We import high amounts of nitrogen

which then don't get transferred
back to the originating countries

but instead end up on our own fields.

This means we have
a considerable import of nitrogen.

Our fields have to cope with
these purchased amounts of nitrogen.

High amounts of nitrogen
can lead to risks of emissions.

Nitrate can be washed out into the soil.

Ammonia vents when organic fertilizers
are applied.

Or nitrate in the soil
turns into nitrous oxide

which then is released into the atmosphere
and is extremely damaging to the climate.

Some countries, Holland for example,

solve these issues by selling
liquid manure internationally.

That way their own soil
isn't overburdened.

Nitrates in
the groundwater are so dangerous

because they are converted into nitrites
in our body.

Nitrites, in turn,
prevent the transportation of oxygen

and are suspected carcinogens.

Tests show excessive quantities
of nitrates in a third of German wells.

In Holland, the soil in now so burdened
that the EU is threatening

to prohibit all milk production.

The system exposes farmers to pressure,
ruins our environment,

and encourages
cattle breeding ad absurdum,

and yet more milk
is being produced every year.

The departure from conventional
milk production on Alexander's farm

hasn't been entirely free of friction.

I gave him the farm...

understanding that he would
continue the work

in a way that suits him
or the way he wished to do it.

So I did back off...

but on occasion I got frustrated watching.

I was a successful breeder

and the cattle performance was good.

Of course, I had problems as well,

but I accepted the problems
so I would still have the high yields.

My fellow farmers

respected and accepted me
as one of their own.

Our small cheesemaking business
has made a name for itself.

We could sell much more than we produce.

And using simple techniques
to increase production

in order to sell more
and make more profit,

that's a speculative thought.

I think we simply have two completely
different views...

of profitability.

One entails high amounts of milk,
high revenue,

high costs.

And mine is low amounts of milk,
low revenue, low costs.

Research has shown

that the most intensive
and the most extensive models

are the most successful economically.

So... we're both right.

But for me,
the ecological impact is important

and we don't include environmental costs
into calculations,

so I'm a bit more right.

First and foremost,
it needs to be authentic,

meaning the cow eats what it can find.

They give half of the amount of milk

that we used to produce.

But it's good milk.

Alexander has no problems with his manure.

He processes his cow dung
into high quality compost.

This used to be manure but
now it smells like soil from the woods.

I don't fertilize the plants...

I fertilize the land.

A handful of this topsoil...

in this handful

we have more microbes
than humans on this planet.

And when I use this fertilizer,
I feed those microbes.

That's the paradigm shift.

We need to get off the tractor,

touch our soil and understand it.

This is essentially the secret
of successful ecological agriculture,

at least in my opinion.

The milk branch meets annually

at the World Dairy Summit.

Everyone plays their part

to persuade consumers
with innovative strategies

about how healthy and beneficial
milk products are.

The biggest challenge of the future
is to produce sufficient...

milk and dairy products
to feed the global population.

When you look at how much dairy
we are supposed to consume,

in Europe and many countries,
like the Netherlands,

it's advised to have three servings
of dairy a day.

In some other parts
of the world they, um...

advise two servings a day.

Suppose you go for two servings,

and then when you look at how many people
there will be in the world in 2050,

if everybody would have
two servings of dairy,

we would need to double
the production we have today.

We are actually not selling.

We are talking here about
the "First 1000 Days" concept,

which is a scientific concept
that we embraced as a company.

And together with a partner,

so, like medical institutions,
but also NGOs, governmental authorities,

we educate society
about the importance of nutrition.

The consumer will be open
to the communication

that is provided by our products.

So, therefore, we as a business can say,
"Okay!"

And now we offer a range of products,

because we have a large portfolio,

and now, you,
knowing how important this is,

you can consciously choose.

What are you looking for?

Are you looking for something
that will help your child digest?

Are you looking for infant formula?

Are you looking for follow-on formula?

So it's Yakult.
It's a bottle full of live bacteria

and they reach the intestines alive.

Okay. And what that does happen
in my body if I drink it?

Yeah, that's the problem.

There's a legal European law
that prohibits me to tell you about it.

It's almost a moral imperative
to feed the world.

I mean, we should.

We have a growing world population.

We should be able to go
to feed these people.

Some people are even saying
food is a human right.

The cow's milk
is the sourcing that we really rely on.

But we modified it,

which means that some ingredients
we have to remove

and some ingredients we have to add

to mimic, in the best possible way,
breast milk.

So, when the cattle is being born,

the milk that the cow is providing
is for the cattle to grow.

It's also for the cattle
to grow horns and hooves.

And for us humans, that's, let's say...

not necessary.

So, probably maybe we could, you know,
milk chimpanzees.

But, again, in terms of accessibility,
well, that wouldn't be very smart.

We are not allowed
to speak to consumers

on the health effects of our products,
unfortunately.

So... they don't know.

The health-promoting effect
of milk products

is the industry's main selling point.

Thirty grams
of milk fat, 35 grams of protein,

47 grams of lactose,
seven grams mineral salts,

and all essential vitamins
can be found in one liter of milk.

From the first day of our lives,

milk benefits our health.

In Europe, it's only since
the 50s and 60s

that we have increased
our milk consumption.

We were taught from an early age

that it's an elixir of life.

But is milk anywhere near as healthy
as we are told it is?

♪ It's marvelous what it can do!♪

♪ And with its protein it provides
Strength for our muscles♪

In Northern European/
North American culture,

milk has been very important.

In part, it's enabled us to live
in a cold climate

where we don't have fruits and vegetables

and other foods available all year round,

like in a more temperate
or tropical climate.

It did allow us to survive

until we're 45 or 50 years of age
and we could reproduce.

But today we would like
to live longer and be healthier

for many decades longer.

and that northern climate
way of consuming food,

that diet of northern climates,

has turned out not to be
optimally healthy.

I don't want milk. Milk's for babies.

Yeah, babies.

Oh, yeah? Well, I happen to know
that milk helps build strong bones.

So drink up.

Well, Mr. Miller told me
he never drinks milk.

-And look at him.
-Yeah.

Hi, kids!

Oh.

Oh, that's not good.

Prevention of bone fractures has been

the main rationale, the main justification

for consuming high amounts of milk.

So it's been perhaps an enigma, a paradox

that the countries that consume
the most milk

actually have the highest fracture rates.

We've known that for quite a while.

And now we're starting to understand,
I think, at least some of the reason

why countries that consume a lot of milk
have the highest fracture rates.

We've been conducting several
large, long-term studies.

We have enrolled almost 300,000
men and women and adolescents

and followed them now for almost 40 years,

keeping track of what they consume
as foods, the amount of milk they consume,

and also physical activity, smoking,

pretty much anything else we could
think of

that might affect their health.

♪ Milk gives the body what it needs♪

♪ So it stays fit, as you know♪

♪ Because only milk can do that♪

♪From milk protein to calcium♪

♪ Minerals to vitamins♪

Milk is something that promotes growth.

That's the natural function of milk.
It's to make young mammals grow fast,

make our cells multiply when we need to
at a young age.

But for the rest of our life,
especially as adults,

we don't necessarily want ourselves
to be multiplying fast.

That's one of the factors that we
understand helps promote cancer growth

and that has raised concerns
that high consumption of milk

may promote risk of cancer.

The evidence is strongest
for prostate cancer,

but it's possible that
high milk consumption

might increase the risk
of other cancers as well.

I don't think we have to tell people
that they should stop drinking milk

or not having any dairy.

I think having a range
of acceptable dairy consumption

would be better.

And I think that can include
zero dairy consumption

and probably maximum
about two servings a day of dairy,

but that's really not essential.

But if someone wants to have that amount,
I think it can be incorporated,

especially if that part of that
is in the form of yogurt.

Walter Willett's studies
are among the most frequently cited

in the specialist world.

And although the experts
discuss them heatedly,

one thing remains unchallenged.

Milk is not, per se,
as healthy as the industry claims.

The industry, on a global scale,
is very alert to, uh...

some of these, you know, um...

pieces of science that comes out

and you have to take it very seriously.

I think that we have been,
for some time now,

in a trend where the overriding trend is

that dairy is actually
a very healthy and nutritious raw material

and that you can do lots
of wonderful things with dairy.

I think that's the overriding impression.

I also think, on the other side,

we as an industry need to understand
that we have to present our products

in a way that they are also indeed
natural and healthy.

So we are working
with less fat in our products

while maintaining a nice quality
that is worthwhile eating and drinking.

That's a difficult balance to strike.

So I think that if we're doing it
in a clever way as an industry,

the raw material of milk
has a bright future.

Where is the core set
for milk production development?

On my travels it becomes apparent
that Brussels is the central setting

for the European dairy industry.

The handsome sum of 45 billion euros,

the largest item on
the European Union's budget,

is spent there every year on agriculture.

Martin Häusling is a parliamentarian
and also an organic dairy farmer.

One shouldn't imagine

that the EU parliament's
decision-making process

is driven by farmers in Baden-Württemberg

or in Slovenia.

It's about the interests of an industry.

Milk is a cheap raw material
being mixed into lots of things.

It's being split up into its components
and is used in many industries,

from candy to supplements.

They want cheap materials.

And they want to make sure

that we always operate close to a surplus.

No one in the food sector

wants to have small amounts or amounts
that merely satisfy the European market.

They always want to be far over the limit.

We need to have a constant surplus
to be able strong-arm the producers

They can threaten them that if they
don't sell to them for a certain price,

someone else in the EU will.

So we're not just looking
at the interests of 13 million farmers

who receive EU subsidies.

It's about the top players,
including the dairy factories.

And they mainly benefit from us

exporting massive amounts of milk
for low prices globally.

The COPA farmers organization

is one of the most powerful lobby groups
in Brussels.

For decades, the organization has been
successfully promoting its interests here.

Farming is the best business of them all.

It's the best...

I can't say "way of life"

because it's no longer, if it ever was,
a way of life.

It's a way of making a living.

And especially for those young farmers
and their families that enter the market,

it has to be a competitive form of...

let's say, livelihood.

And if that is not maintained,
there's no future for agriculture.

How closely COPA
and the industry are actually intertwined

is something that Nina Holland
from Corporate Europe Observatory

can elucidate.

There are roughly between
20,000 and 30,000 lobbyists

based here in Brussels
and most of them work for the industry.

We can assume that the food lobby
is pretty big.

Okay. So here we are
at the office of FoodDrinkEurope

So, FoodDrinkEurope is a big lobby group

comprising all big food corporations,
including Nestlé, Danone, etc.

They are very much obviously in favor
of deregulation in general.

They organized an event together
with COPA-COGECA, the farmer's lobby,

to say how much benefits Europe would have

and the food industry and the farmers
from TTIP.

And, of course, it was a bit odd
that the farmers would

sit together with the food industry.

It clearly fits into the logic
and philosophy of COPA-COGECA to actually

fight for the so-called 10% of farmers

who will become the most modernized,
most industrialized,

who can operate and can be competitive
on the world market

and not actually defend the interests
of all farmers.

The whole agri-food chain turnover,
and especially if you measure that

from the industry to retail level,

is somewhere close to
1.4 to 1.5 trillion euro.

So it's a staggering number.

And it is the biggest economic sector
for the moment.

It's bigger than the automobile industry.

It's bigger than the chemical industry.

We produce more per hectare.

We produce more per animal.

This is particularly the strength
of the European Union, agriculture.

It is really important for us
that we maintain this productivity trend.

But why must a trend be maintained

when the European market
has long-since been saturated?

You have to think back to the year 2000.

Not only the agriculture market
was deregulated

but also financial markets were.

The basic belief was...

anything not regulated by the state
will be regulated by the free market

and it'll be better.

And so the European agricultural policy,
which in fact was highly regulated,

was opened to the world market.

The farmers received some direct payments

but were told,
"Go ahead and produce what you want,

the market will take it.

And the big growing markets like

China, Africa, Middle East,
maybe South America,

are the markets that we needed to serve."

The driving thought was us
providing food for the world.

So it's no longer
about securing European food supply

as was the declared aim
of the European agricultural policy.

European farmers are now
supposed to produce for world export

and at the same time facilitate growth
for the agricultural conglomerates.

We're in a situation today

where it's evident that the growth
in dairy consumption per capita

is growing outside of Europe

The European consumers are getting
more advanced and more demanding

and want a lot of innovation but
the consumption as such is not growing.

But outside of Europe is for the industry,
I think for the European dairy industry,

extremely important
and that's the nut that we need to crack.

All of us, one way or the other.

And we are trying to do different
strategies, the companies in between.

But how does one
make a population group happy

with something they don't know at all?

This business coup can be best admired
taking the example of China.

So, basically, what we tell them is

that if you drink milk,

you get proteins and nutrition
that makes you strong and tall.

So the Asian population
is in need for strength,

resilience, strong families.

They also like to be tall
because they believe that

when you're more tall
you're more successful in life

and you're more healthy.

And what you see is that small babies
that get infant nutrition

will stay with a milk diet.

And when kids are drinking milk

also the families
are starting to drink milk.

So people, slowly but steady,
get more milk into their diets.

In China's supermarkets

I don't just find
chic UHT milk six-packs

but also endless shelves of baby food
unlike anything I've ever seen in Europe.

Is it true that people in China drink milk
because they want to grow higher?

Yes, for their kids.

In my knowledge, at least,
calcium is good for your bones

and then you drink as a small kid
and hopefully you'll grow taller.

Given the rise is prosperity,
milk has become overnight

a fashionable Western consumer item
for the Chinese.

China drinks milk.

This announcement
was essentially the green light

for the liberalization
of the European milk market

and the race for the top
in the Chinese market.

But in China,
huge native production structures

have been created in almost no time.

Total investment was 10 billion RMB.

Daily capacity is 2,000 tons fresh milk.

So we think this is the biggest
liquid milk workshop in the world.

Now you can see this is Arla,

it's our third largest shareholder.

We cooperate with Arla Foods
mainly in farm management.

And this one is for Danone.
Danone is our second largest shareholder.

We established a cooperation company
with Danone to produce yogurt.

Now here you can see our very beautiful
European-style street.

Because we want our visitors
stay here very relaxed.

And they can take some pictures,

they can know the history
and origin of milk.

In Europe,
farmers need the support of their dairies.

But these are investing in China

and thereby increasing pressure
on European farmers.

Around this plant we have many big farms.

Like, on one farm,
there are more than 10,000 cows.

In China,
there was not a established dairy system.

We learned from
the experiences of other countries

how they manage and operate
a large dairy farm.

What is especially problematic here
is the large number of cows we have.

I myself was honored to have participated

in the building of
the largest dairy farm in China

EVERYTHING ELSE IS POINTLESS
IF THERE IS A QUALITY ISSUE WITH RAW MILK

We didn't believe it
when they said

the Chinese would drink everything up.

That we wouldn't be able
to produce enough in the future.

In the weekly papers we kept reading

we should prepare for the future.
That's what every paper said.

Our farmer's association always said,
"We are competitive!"

That German farmers remain competitive.
We're not afraid of competition.

"China will drink us dry!"
That's what the associations said

And all dairy factories said they
can market everything for a good price.

But it didn't happen that way.

STOP FARMS FROM DYING
REDUCE AMOUNTS, DON'T RUIN FARMERS

Since 2008, many milk farmers

have been regularly protesting
against dumping prices

in the hope of influencing decisions
taken in Brussels.

Official farmer associations are
seldom to be seen at the demonstrations.

We attended
demonstrations where I learned a lot.

I talked to other farmers
and everyone had the same issues.

FREEDOM, EQUALITY, FARMING

We all have the same thoughts.

That's when I realized
that we're being screwed over.

We went on strike
and tried to change things

so we'd head in the right direction again.

But our farmer's association
worked against us with all means.

We've been producing a surplus of milk
for decades.

This could've been regulated.

But they didn't want to.

Everything had to be cheap at all times.
The surplus is what breaks us.

After the strike we knew
that this was all planned.

The way things are,
it's all intentional.

That the milk price
is not intended to go up.

Milk as a raw material is supposed
to be cheap for the dairy factories.

And for retail.

In order to store
milk longer and transport it globally,

the industry transforms it
into powdered milk

in an energy intensive
drying process.

The farmers have actually produced so much
more milk because it was attractive,

if you go back a year ago,
that the market over-flooded.

Then again the whole industry,

whether you were a big company
and a branded player,

or a private label player,
or a small player.

You have to find a home for your milk
and your products

and that drives competition
and it drives price competition.

But what is to be done
with all these goods?

New markets are needed,

so the EU reaches new made-to-measure
free trade agreements

with parts of Africa.

These also guarantee long-term,
low import duties

for European milk products.

The powdered milk
that mainly comes from Europe

is offloaded here in the port of Dakar

to then be distributed
all around the country here in Senegal.

Bocar Diaw runs a small dairy

and is president
of the Senegalese milk association.

- Give it.
- It's heavy.

Milk is in high demand.

After receiving the milk, we pay by check.

We do not have a limit on what we stock.

We often have up to a thousand bags.

Here, we have this. It is industrial milk.

It is curdled milk
made from powdered milk.

We also have...

"Yahourt Jaboot" which is
from a dairy company,

which specialize in producing yogurt
from powdered milk.

They are all imported products.

These packs cost 75 or 100 francs.

They are affordable to everyone

and easy to use
because it is powdered milk.

You understand?
And it is from the European Union.

These are all products
from the European Union.

So, the European Union policy

supports their agriculture financially,

which enables a dumping...

in our local economy.

INTENSE MOMENTS OF HAPPINESS!

DRINK YOUR MILK, BREATHE WELL,
BE STRONG.

EAT HEALTHY

The small dairy Bocar runs
is on the edge of Dakaar.

He works exclusively
with native cow's milk.

The process is simple, really.

We receive cow's milk,

we specialize in cow milk.

We work with farms
that collect and bring us milk.

We make the transformation...

into yogurt, sour milk,
and then we sell in our shops.

The milk we produce here in Senegal
from our cows

is much more expensive for the producer

because production costs are high.

It's a lot easier today
to process powdered milk.

We'd earn more money with powdered milk.

But we opted to work with cow's milk
because it is much more sustainable.

Agriculture here
does not get any support,

there is also no subsidies for livestock.

That is why the production cost are high.

There are no grants for producing,
transforming,

and marketing the products.

We are pretty much on our own.

Now, in the current
situation, the European milk industry

is completely dependent
on direct payments.

No dairy farmer can survive
if they don't receive

their annual payments from the EU
on Dec 31.

It's almost their entire income.

The subsidies from EU are important.

-We depend on them.
-We can't live without them.

If you look at the bottom line,
year after year,

then it has to be there.

Because there's nothing else there.

You can't make money by producing milk

without the subsidies from EU.
It's impossible.

Ask the bank what they would say
if we didn't get it.

Yes. But you could also ask
what it would take

to not rely on the subsidies from EU.

We would simply need
50 øre more for our milk.

-And it's--
-That would replace...

...the subsidies from the EU.

The consumer would just
have to pay 50 øre more.

It sounds like nothing,
but we are talking about billions.

The consumer would save too.
They wouldn't pay as much tax to the EU.

-Yes.
-They are paying anyway.

-They do.
-It's going around in a circle.

It's going around but
through some clever white collar people.

-But do we want it...
-No.

If the EU decided tomorrow

to no longer pay those 45 billion euros
in direct payments

this way of agriculture and this export
strategy couldn't function any longer.

So the taxpayer fuels this export strategy
and the strategy of cheapness

and the taxpayer gets told
that they get cheap products in return.

But they aren't for the European market,
they're ruining small African farmers.

Today the dairy farmers really...

they can barely make it.

Because they don't know
where to sell their milk.

It's a rural area,

everyone has cattle.

So, the milk market is not here.

For Bocaw, dairy farming
always has a social component

and can not simply be left
to the free market.

Policy is required.

Assalamualaikum.

- How are you?
- Good, you?

-How things going here?
-Things are fine.

-The milk collection?
-Not too bad!

How many liters did you collect?

About 140, 150.

140, 150?
How much you buy it for?

300.

We could use some better equipment,
at least, the stuff here is--

-It doesn't allow us to...
-Semi-industrial?

Yes, at least semi-industrial.

Of course there is competition.

Especially the powdered milk.

It is everywhere.

They should increase
the taxes on imported goods

to help finance the local producers.

That's right.

True.

If you are succeed at what you are doing

that would mean you are
combating poor nutrition

because kids will have quality milk.

You fought poverty because farmers

will have good job with an income.

This is a big fight.

-We are dealing with a rural exodus here.
-That is true.

-How many people are employed here?
-Seven.

-Seven already!
-Only with 150 liters.

This means that if you got the support

to produce 1,000 liters,
you will hire 50 people.

That's for sure.

But regarding the rural exodus.

The worst thing is that kids of farmers
are on the boats to go overseas.

They’re dying in Libya
and on the high seas.

This is very important.

The children who die there
are the sons of cattle-breeders.

In 2008,
the World Bank and the UNO

had information
on global agriculture collated.

The scientists found that
the decisive factor of the war on hunger

is not increased productivity

but the availability of food
and the means of its local production.

The best guarantees for
comprehensive global food security

are small farming structures.

A large part of the agricultural industry

rejects these findings.

We've led agriculture in a direction

that is clearly a dead end.

It happened because we made agriculture
a topic exclusively for economists.

And on the other hand,
for us it is a job and a way of life.

I believe it's time to make
agriculture a topic

for ecologists, philosophers,
and economists.

But it can't just be a matter of numbers.

We need to create
much smaller production units,

create more diversified production units,

create production units
with less technology.

This may sound completely alien

but as of right now, we farmers are
in the process of rationalizing ourselves.

On the other hand, agriculture has
an emotional aspect to it.

My farming is a soulful endeavor.

The animals are very important to me.

And I can only achieve this ideal

by remaining small.

I fancy the idea that I will manage

to make my cheese recognizable
by its terroir

simply by cultivating my soil
the way I do.

It's my vision that someday

you will be able to recognize a region
from a cheese.

That I'll be able to tell from the smell
and taste of a cheese

that it's from this area.

And for that purpose, importing feed
from all over the world

to produce lots of milk is pointless.

Instead, it will be crucial
that the cow eats what it can find here.

But is Alexander's model

of strictly organic dairy farming

only feasible on a small scale?

Together with two other farmers,

Kjartan Poulsen runs
a large organic dairy farm in Denmark.

When you enter the cow house

it doesn't look very different
to a conventional farm.

But the differences are fundamental.

We are very close to 100% self-sufficient

in what we feed the animals and...

almost all our cattle
is outside all summer

1,600 heads, they are all on grass
in the summertime.

We do not want to be stressed.

Neither do we want to make stress
to the animals.

We just feed them
what we can grow every year

and then take the milk that they produce.

And in this way everyone is, I believe,
more happy.

If they are kept on pastures
and eat only grass,

cows are not climate criminals.

On an environmental balance sheet then

organic milk is definitely superior
to ordinary milk.

Even if it is produced in the same
industrial fashion

as at Kjartan Poulsen's.

So the pertinent question becomes,
"Why don't more farmers go organic?"

Especially since prices
organic farmers receive

are consistently good.

"Too expensive and too labor intensive,"

is what farmers tell me.

Which is why most of them prefer to stick
with the conventional model and hope,

year in, year out,
for a rise in prices.

We are about 100% in debt today,
so we should try to get that down a bit.

Every month we deliver...

an efficiency plan to the bank.

Number of cows that died, milk produced
per cow, and all those things.

We send that to them as information.

But... we're not tied
at the hands and feet.

I can go buy whenever I want.

But they are following us closely.

We have to be...

better farmers than our neighbors.

Yes.

-We are... at war with everyone.
-That's--

-You need to know that...
-Yes.

...for when you take over.

There's no--

-There's no goodwill. It's not--
-No. Nobody will cry for you.

You have to...

be an asshole once in a while.

What's been happening in the past years

is a cannibalization of the sector

They eat each other up.
Without any consideration.

Whenever land is for lease...

even at the funeral of a farmer,
the widow is approached

about whether she wants to lease
her husband's land.

That's not a one time thing,
every village tells those stories.

People are becoming inconsiderate.

Obviously not always
because they want more

but because they're under such pressure.

It's such a bubble.
They have their backs against the wall.

They have been driven so far out
and can't even go back.

It's locked.

We were discussing milk policy

then Bové got up and said,
"I ask you to rise and commemorate

the 600 French farmers
who committed suicide last year."

First, a murmur went through the rows

but then everyone,
including the Commissioner, stood up.

The number is apparently true.

As I said...

farmers now have
a disproportionately high suicide rate.

I'm a strong believer that long term,

and I know that can be difficult if
you're a farmer to accept that today,

but long term there is a nice future
for dairy products.

It's a very healthy product,
it's nutritious.

It's the right nutrition
for lots of people in the world

and there are many consumers out there

who are just now learning
to eat and drink a dairy products

the way we're used to doing it
in Europe or the Old World, so to speak.

So there is, on the demand side,
a great opportunity actually.

If we understand as companies
to grasp that opportunity

and that's an ongoing process
and we will never be finished doing that.

The cattle's liquid manure

flows through the system
and produces energy.

Or rather gas and thus electricity.

With pure liquid manure we now make
more money than with our milk.

-With poop.
-With poop, so to speak.

That's a joke if you think about it.

I just got a message...

a text here on on my phone.

The price of milk will rise 15.1 øre
on October 1st.

Yes.

We are ready.

That's straight to the bottom line.

That's damn good.

Almost makes me cry.