Jakovina’s Plan for ‘Healthy’ Milk

The Ministry of Agriculture will partially compensate producers whose milk was not purchased by the dairy industry, and they will receive healthy corn from state reserves in exchange for contaminated feed, said Minister of Agriculture Tihomir Jakovina yesterday while presenting an action plan under which approximately five million kuna will be allocated for this purpose.

Milk that was not purchased due to a positive sample will be transported to three bioenergy plants in Slavonia.

– There will be no waste of milk; instead, milk from farms with positive samples will be taken and safely destroyed in bioenergy plants – said Minister Jakovina at a press conference at the Ministry of Agriculture in Zagreb.

Milk will be collected starting Tuesday, he said, adding that increased levels of mycotoxins have been found in milk samples from 400 farms in the eastern part of the country, where approximately 70,000 liters of milk are produced daily.

– In addition to partial compensation for this milk, we will systematically help agricultural producers to start producing health-compliant and quality milk on their farms as soon as possible, as usual. In doing so, we seek their understanding and cooperation – noted the minister.

He explained that for farms where milk samples are positive and where there is no purchase, proper animal feed will be provided, which must be immediately fed to the livestock on the farm. In the meantime, he added, veterinary inspectors and employees of the Agricultural Agency will urgently sample the existing feed on the farms.

– Where the limit values are low, the feed can be used through microfixators, and where the values are much higher than allowed, the feed will be completely replaced – he added.

Minister Jakovina emphasized that they expect and have information that in places where healthy animal feed has started to be used, very quickly, within three to five days, milk samples have become completely health-compliant and ready for purchase. He also noted that analyses of animal feed and milk will be repeated every three days until the milk samples are negative, adding that these costs will also be borne by the Ministry of Agriculture.

When asked by journalists to comment on the statements of the president of the Association of Farmers of Slavonia and Baranja, Antun Laslo, regarding the availability of corn when farmers requested it last year and did not receive it, Jakovina said he would not comment on Laslo’s statement. He only added that Croatia has certain reserves of corn in state reserves and that in such cases, as this one, it can be used through emergency actions on the ground. And that is what we are doing now, he added.

– The most important thing is the prevention and health compliance of all products that reach consumers. Secondly, the dairy sector, which is quite exposed to risk and has difficult operations, needs the care and attention of the relevant ministry and the entire system – he emphasized.

In response to a journalist’s question about the situation here, considering that inspections in Slovenia found horse meat in tortellini, Minister Jakovina said that there is no such information through the rapid alert system, which means that there are no problems with this in Croatia. – If we receive such a notification, we will immediately inform consumers and take all necessary steps for analysis – stated Minister Jakovina.