Weekly Dairy Market Outlook

By Ken Bailey

Penn State University

December 28, 2003

Moldovan Report Number 2

By Ken Bailey
Penn State University


Villagers are required to stand in the early morning cold to wait for the delivery truck to come by to pick up their milk. Most have just 3-5 liters of milk in a small bucket, hardly enough to justify their efforts. When the truck comes, coop manager Liudmila Serepitco records the milk volumes and her husband Vascilii loads the milk into the small tank that sits on the back of a green pickup truck. From there the milk is delivered to a collection point and loaded into a chilling tank. A larger truck from the dairy plant will come later in the morning to pick up this milk.

The village of Cainarii-Vechi is about two hours north of the Moldovan capital city of Chisinau. When I arrived in the village I was pleased that it wasn’t very cold. Unfortunately, that meant lots of mud. It was a huge effort just to walk from one side of the village to the other. That night, the weather turned bitter cold. By morning the roads were firm, but covered with ice.

I stayed in the home of an elder couple with my translator Victor. It was a typical Moldovan home. The main house consisted of two rooms separated by a large fireplace. No kitchen, bathroom, living room, etc. The elder couple that was caring for us had a difficult time heating the house. Coal is too expensive for most villagers, so they use dried sunflower stalks and “cow chips.” Try as they might, there simply wasn’t enough fuel to heat the house. I was thankful I was prepared and dressed properly for the cold weather.

The kitchen was in a separate room outside the main house in the courtyard. This room was not heated. Food was prepared there and brought into the house. My lunch consisted of barley and fresh boiled goose. Breakfast was macaroni and chicken.

That evening my translator and I walked through the thick mud to Liudmila’s home to discuss the future of their cooperative. She was educated by Moldovan standards, but was afraid to do any financial planning due to superstitions. It was also apparent to me that as a cooperative, they faced all the challenges our early U.S. dairy cooperatives faced in the 1920’s. For example, all of the chilling and testing equipment was owned by the local dairy plant. Second, they received a very low price for their milk. Third, payments were always behind. This was a source of frustration for Liudmila as the villagers blamed her for these types of problems. But without their own chilling equipment and with just one milk buyer, they had a very poor bargaining position.

Another problem with these new and struggling dairy cooperatives in Moldova is that they are all isolated and alone. None have any idea what is going on in the next village. One of my objectives on this assignment was to work with the Citizen’s Network for Foreign Affairs (CNFA) in bringing some of these coop leaders together into one room to discuss the possibility of forming a Moldovan Association of Dairy Cooperatives. That objective was achieved. We brought together five cooperative leaders and discussed both financial planning and analysis and the formation of an association. While the discussions were a bit rocky by American standards, all agreed that an association was critical for their future.

As Americans we take for granted all that we have. Travels abroad to places like Moldova help me appreciate all that we have. But American farmers may also take for granted all that they have. There is no government safety net here in Moldova. There are no federal orders, minimum price supports, import controls, etc. Traveling to Moldova also helps me understand why cooperatives were formed in the U.S. in the first place and why we have associations like the National Milk Producers Federation. While we all want to make these organizations better, I can easily see the downside of not having them at all.

I have finished my volunteer assignment with CNFA and will be heading home soon to celebrate a belated Christmas with my family. Please keep warm and safe and lets all look forward to a happy new year!

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