Strategies of the Walloon dairy producersfaced to the uncertain dairy future

This study observes the strategies, and their determinants, of the Walloon dairy producersfaced to the post quota perspective through the realisation of 245 surveys, conducted from November 2014 to February 2015. It highlights how dairy production companies plan to evolve to cope with this great change in the sector and so how will move the production of our dairy products. Three kinds of strategical variables were defined and related to the evolution of milk production (MP) [the producerswho increase MP (HighMP) vs. keep constant MP (ConstantMP) vs. stop MP]; the valorisation of MP [alternative (ValMP)vs. classical] and the diversification of activities [with (DivMP) vs. without such activities]. The relationships between the chosen strategies and the quantitative technical variables were studied using generalised linear models. The independence between qualitative technical variables and the strategical variables was tested using Chi Square test. HighMP and ConstantMP producersrepresent 38.4% and 53.9% of respondents, respectively. HighMP producerswere significantly more declared as legal entity (p-value = 0.03), had more family members on the farm (p-value<0.01), larger agricultural area in property (p-value = 0.03) and higher MP quota(p-value = 0.01)compared to ConstantMP producers. Only 9.8% of respondents decide to valorise differently MP. ValMP producerstend to have more employees (p-value = 0.08) and an agricultural area less fragmented (p-value = 0.07)than classical producers. A total of 7.8% of respondents decide to develop other activities. DivMP producerstend to have more employees (p-value = 0.10), more agricultural area in property (p-value = 0.03) and a more recent year of installation (p-value < 0.01). Finally, 44.9% of ConstantMP producersdo not want to start an alternative valorisation of MP and diversify their activities. In conclusion, a relationship exists between, amongst others, the legal status, workforce available, characteristics of the agricultural area, the dairy production and the strategy chosen by the Walloon dairy producers.