EuroDairy farmers were significantly more profitable than the average EU dairy farm. Entrepreneur’s profit, which includes all sources of actual and imputed costs, but excludes the value of Basic Farm Payment (BFP), was determined using the European Dairy Farmers (EDF) cost of production model. Only 26 of the 120 pilot farms showed positive Entrepreneur’s Profit in 2016, rising to 46 in 2017. Expressed as Family Farm Income (FFI - Total returns, less Cash costs, less Depreciation) 92 farms (or 77%) had a positive FFI in 2016 (4.8 €/100 kg milk). Driven by better milk price, the number of farms with a positive FFI in 2017 was 108 (90%), with an average FFI of 8.6 €100/kg milk. For comparative purposes, Gross Margin was calculated for EuroDairy Pilot farms and compared to FADN data for 2016. The FADN group had a Gross Margin of 88 €/ton of milk, while EuroDairy Pilot farms averaged 182 €/ton of milk. Calculating net economic income, only 9% of farms in the EU 28 had a positive value compared with 22% of EuroDairy pilot farms. Variation in N and P surplus and efficiencies respectively were calculated for each of 10 farm systems. For 9 out of the 10 systems, nitrogen use efficiency varied within the range 0.2 to 0.4 and phosphorous use efficiency ranged between 0.4 and 0.9. The system with the highest efficiencies (0.55 and 1.25 for nitrogen and phosphorous respectively) was characterized by significant export of nutrients as organic manures. The best performing farms (selected on the basis resource efficiency and economic performance) were calculated to be 18% lower in Nitrogen surplus relative to the system average (range -3% to - 56%, across the 10 farm systems). Biodiversity audits, conducted using the BIOTEX tool on 52 Pilot Farms in 10 countries, showed that the majority of farms had a positive impact on biodiversity. EuroDairy organised 14 cross border farmer visits - involving 10 countries, over 350 participants, 56 farms and 16 separate organisations.Visits provided an opportunity to share knowledge, assess the strengths and weaknesses of dairy production in the countries visited, and provide feedback of research and policy needs. Of the 43 Operational Groups recruited to the project, 28 were funded through regional Rural Development Programmes, and 15 were supported by other funding sources. Operational Group coordinators were brought together in a workshop to explore synergies between Operational Groups and Thematic Networks. Technical workshops brought together experts, advisors and farmers to share scientific and practice-based knowledge, and identify gaps to be addressed by future R&D. Four international workshops were organised on resource efficiency - the Dutch approach to closing nutrient cycles based on use of the ANCA tool; water use, particularly in southern regions of Europe; opportunities and challenges for grazing dairy cows in central Europe; and strategies to improve feed efficiency. Two workshops were organised to capture current knowledge, emerging thinking and relevant initiatives on biodiversity. Four cross border workshops were run under the theme of Animal Care - reducing antimicrobial use; practical welfare assessment; ‘Welfare plus’ probing new boundaries in animal welfare; and alternative housing systems for dairy cattle. Seven workshops were organized on Socio-economic resilience - ‘Lean management’ x 2; ‘Optimising the future value of milk’; Cost of production and future farming strategy. An important focus for the project was the development of resilient farming systems which sustain a smaller reduction in productivity as a result of a shock or disturbance, recover more quickly and more completely than a less resilient system. Resilience management was discussed in workshops in Flanders, in Normandy and during the final pan-European workshop, “Dairy Farming in a Changing world”, which took place in Brussels.
