Expert list milk quota

The expiration of the milk quota regulations at the end of March 2015 will confront the EU dairy producers with changed market conditions. Which adaptation strategies Baden-Württemberg companies are developing and how this will affect the structural change is what agricultural economist Prof. Dr. Reiner Doluschitz is looking at together with the agricultural engineer Pamela Lavèn. In their study, they asked dairy farmers in Baden-Württemberg about their reactions to the expiration of the milk quota regulation.

In addition, Prof. Dr. Doluschitz constantly deals with questions on the topic of cooperatives including dairy cooperatives in his capacity as the Director of the Research Centre of Cooperatives.

Contact: Prof. Dr. Reiner Doluschitz and Dipl.-Ing. agr. Pamela Lavèn, Department of Computer Applications and Business Management in Agriculture, +49 711 459 22841, E-mail

Prof. Dr. Enno Bahrs and his staff member Dr. Lukas Kiefer focus on dairy production from a business and environmental-economic perspective. The topics that are dealt with in the area of Farm Management include, for example:

• Profitability of ecological and conventional dairy animal operations
• Strategies to improve the use of feed in “disadvantaged areas” of Baden-Württemberg in the post milk quota era
• Effects of fodder needs on greenhouse gas emissions and energy balances
• Studies on the CO2 footprint for milk from south-German production.

Contact: Prof. Dr. Enno Bahrs and Dr. Lukas Kiefer, Department of Farm Management, +49 711 459 22566, E-mail

The end of the milk quota can affect the size of herds and production capacity and thus also change the feeding of dairy cattle. A needs-based feeding system for the animals in relation to energy, nutrients, and structure is the area in which Dr. Herbert Steingaß does his research.

Changed intensity of feeding by increasing or decreasing the amount of concentrated feed influences milk production and milk composition, but it also relates to the health of the dairy cattle with the provision of structured feed. A change in the amount of protein given has consequences for the nitrogen-use efficiency and nitrogen excretion; the same applies to phosphorous.

Contact: Dr. Herbert Steingaß, Department of Animal Nutrition, +49 +711 459 22419, E-mail

Questions on improving the efficiency and added value in milk-processing companies are indirectly relevant for the price of milk. This is where the work of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Hinrichs begins. He studies milk-technological processes in order to design them more efficiently, use by-products, and thus increase the competitiveness of milk-processing companies.

The end of the milk quota will also likely have an effect on the export numbers. Today, Asia and particularly China is already a large market for non-perishable dairy products. Hinrichs’ work aims to ensure that the goods have a long shelf-life and the quality is preserved for the customer.

One of Prof. Dr. Hinrichs’ other research areas are specialty products such as, for example, milk-based ingredients for infant formula. Here, he is expecting greater demand for safe products with high quality due to growing prosperity.

Contact: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Hinrichs, Department of Dairy Science and Dairy Technology, +49 711 459 23792, E-mail