Dairying in time of war

ALON HAGALIL, Israel — The nation of Israel is considered a global dairy industry leader. It touts one of the most advanced systems and, with cows that produce more than 26,000 pounds of milk annually on average based on 2023 data, Isreal leads the world in per-cow production.

Ofier Langer owns the Israeli Dairy School, which he created to share his passion for driving success for dairy farmers globally, who have traveled from around the world to learn from the efficiencies in place in Israel. The school is based in Alon HaGalil in northern Israel.

“The Israeli Dairy School is my dream,” Langer said. “I have found many people have the lack of know-how and many people would like to learn from Israel how we do it. My idea is simple: to work very openly and share the way we are doing dairy farming in Israel. We don’t claim to do it better; we do it in a unique way.”

Before launching IDS 15 years ago, Langer was a vice president of Afimilk, working with the company’s worldwide commercial operations.

“All our farms are very modern, from small to big,” Langer said. “All have computers, sensors and other advanced systems.”

Robotic milking systems are not common in Israel, Langer said, but many farms use automated feed mixing systems.

“Some farms are making their own total mixed ration while others receive feed from a centralized feeding station, which distributes it to dairy farms using specialized vehicles,” Langer said. “It is like a buffet service. The feeding center usually makes a few types of feed and they send it to the farms.”

Israel is a small country. About the size of New Jersey, it is about 290 miles from north to south and 85 miles from east to west at the widest point and nine miles across at the narrowest point near Tel Aviv. For a country of its size, the climate varies widely, Langer said.

“We have different environments and temperatures, but we learn how to do it,” Langer said. “Some are very hot and dry. Near the Mediterranean it is very humid. (In) some (areas) it is very cold and snows in the winter.”

Because of the climate, alfalfa is not grown in Israel nor do cows graze. Corn and wheat silages serve as primary components in Israeli rations.

Langer said Israel uses a quota system to regulate milk production, although the country will soon be moving away from quotas — just one of the many challenges he sees facing Israeli dairy farmers.

“We have between 600-650 dairy farms,” Langer said. “The young generation is not ready to take over. They prefer to go to the city, and we see less and less small farms.”

With the current quota system, as small farms exit, their quota is typically purchased by other dairies, with larger farms continuing to increase in size, Langer said.

There are two types of farms in Israel, the large collective Kibbutz and the Moshav, which are family-owned herds. According to Langer, small farms can have as few as 150 cows, while the largest farms have 1,000-2,000 cows.

The country produces over 422 million gallons of milk annually, which is regulated by the Israeli Dairy Board, comprised of government officials, the major processing companies and dairy farmers. Milk is typically processed and consumed by Israeli consumers as fluid milk and cheese.

“Because we are eating kosher, most of the milk is going to local markets,” Langer said. “We are drinking milk and eating a lot of white cheese. When you go to the store, the variety is huge. People like dairy.”

The Israeli dairy industry faced grievous injury in the attacks Oct. 7, 2023, Langer said.

“They attacked more than 10 kibbutzim — they killed dairy farmers, took hostages, killed cows, destroyed everything,” Langer said. “For more than three days, cows stayed without food, without milking. We had volunteers from all over the country going to these places near the battles to take care of the cows. In some cases, entire farms were destroyed. The dairy community worked together to rebuild those farms from scratch, ensuring that dairy farmers could continue their work despite the devastation.”

In the northern region of Israel where Langer lives near Nazareth, the population is approximately half Jewish and half Muslim.

“We are living well together; we are good friends,” Langer said. “The problem is in Gaza and the West Bank. Here we live our lives peacefully. We had hopes for the future, then in a single day we found ourselves in the midst of a brutal war.”

The attacks Oct. 7 took place on a Saturday — Shabbat, the Jewish holy day of rest.

“During Shabbat it is usually foreign employees or Muslim people, our friends, who are milking the cows,” Langer said. “They captured and killed Thai workers and Israeli Muslim people working.”

While the war has waged, Langer said life has gone on under fear of further attacks.

“Every Israeli has an application on our phone that give us alarms when we have to take shelter when someone is bombing,” Langer said. “It tells us what kind of bomb — a missile, a rocket — and how much time we have to take shelter.”

Langer said the alerts have happened as frequently as 20 or more times a day.

“You have to stop everything and go fast,” Langer said. “Dairy farms have shelters; some homes have security rooms. Old houses don’t have security rooms so we go to community shelters. If there are many attacks at night we sleep in those shelters. (If) you are driving and hear an alarm — you have to stop the car, get out and lay on the ground with your hands over your head.”

Israel’s missile defense system defeats most of incoming attacks, but damage and death still occur.

“You hear the noise; it’s like fireworks in the sky,” Langer said. “In a neighbor village, a missile hit a dairy farm and killed 10 cows, destroyed buildings and houses. People died.”

With the ceasefire, life has started to return to normal in Israel, a state Langer hopes to continue. He said he is looking forward to soon being able to welcome visitors and share Israel’s dairy industry again.

“I hope we’ll have better times soon — we are all aiming for peace,” Langer said. “We are happy now with the good relationship with America. Every Israeli is thankful for the support we got through these difficult times. Despite the challenges, the Israeli Dairy School remains committed to sharing knowledge with international dairy farmers.”