Tapia has insisted that this initiative “in no way” has to do with the controversy over large farms for meat production. Cantabria and Catalonia have also joined the initiative.
Euskadi, Navarra, Cantabria and Catalonia, through their main livestock cooperatives and with the support of their governments, have launched a joint project to “modernize and make sustainable” dairy farms.
The project, with more than 100 million in investments until 2026, is led by livestock cooperatives, which add more than 600 farms, Kaiku (Euskadi and Navarra), Llet Nostra (Catalonia) and AGC Agrocantabria, which is joined by two other dairy industries, Iparlat and Làctics Masachs; technology centers Neiker, AZTI, INDIA e IRTA, and four Basque management centers and the Cantabrian CIFA.
The initiative was presented this Wednesday at a farm in the Carranza Valley (Bizkaia) in a ceremony attended by the four directors of the branch: Arantxa Tapia (Euskadi), Itziar Gómez López (Navarra), Teresa Jordà i Roura (Catalonia) and Guillermo Blanco (Cantabria).
Tapia has insisted that this initiative “in no way” has to do with the controversy over large farms for meat production.
“The commitment to this family farming is not from today, it is not a new debate, it is the model that we have been working on for a long time, what we have always been doing,” he assured.
The councilor of the CAV has requested the involvement of consumers to support “family” livestock, taking into account when comparing milk prices “how they work” on these farms.
Reduce emissions, water consumption and waste
With this plan, it is expected to achieve in 2027 a reduction in 60 % of emissions linked to the production and logistics process, in line with the NetZero 2050 commitment, as well as a reduction in 45 % in water consumption and the promotion of the circular economy and the minimization in more than one 50 % of the waste generated.
At the same time, the initiative will have an impact on improving the economic and social sustainability of the 603 family farms and cooperatives involved, which bring together a total production of more than 337 million liters of milk per year.
The project will also address the digital transformation of the sector through new technological infrastructures, automation and the use of artificial intelligence applications and data intelligence, which will improve the productive efficiency and profitability of all structures for the sake of their environmental and social sustainability.
The president of Kaiku, Valentín Novales, explained that they have been working on this “very ambitious and difficult” project for more than a year and that they aspire to obtain funds from the European Union, in addition to financing from the autonomies involved.
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