How dairy farmers are helping Ukraine win the war against Russia

But they face enormous challenges to manage the damage to the land wrought by war, Ukraine Association of Milk Producers (AMP) president Andriy Dykun told the conference on February 13.

Despite the war, the Ukrainian dairy industry had the potential to be a global dairy powerhouse, Mr Dykun, who is also the Ukrainian Agri Council chair, said.

Before the war, agriculture had been a key part of the Ukrainian economy, contributing 41 per cent of exports and 20pc of gross domestic product.

It employed about 14pc of the population.

In 2021, the dairy industry produced 9.9 billion litres of milk, slightly more than Australia.

But the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022 had taken a heavy toll.

More than 150,000 cows had been killed and more than 100 dairy farms had been partially or completely destroyed.

The country had gone from being an exporter of dairy products to an importer.

Farms in the eastern provinces occupied by the Russians had lost enormous amounts of infrastructure.

Some farmers were jailed.

"You are very lucky, you don't have neighbours," Mr Dkyun said.

Some dairy farmers were continuing to farm close to the war zone - making milk under bombs.

Dutchman Kees Huizinga is one.

He milks 2300 cows on a 16,000 hectare farm in the Cherkasy region in central Ukraine.

Mr Huizinga had also taken the story of farming in a war zone around the world - helping raise awareness of what the dairy farmers in the region were facing.

After he spoke to farmers and the media in the Netherlands, it became one of Ukraine's biggest supporters.

"It shows how one person can change something," Mr Dykun said.

Another farmer Viktor Hrechuk's farm is just 20 kilometres from the city of Maryinka in the Donetsk region.

The city has been flattened.

"For the farm, the sound you can't even imagine," Mr Dykun said.

"The Russians sent 10,000 rockets every day from the frontline.

"I always call him and he is always in a positive mood."

Mr Dykun said Ukraine was investing in the dairy industry because it offered a solution to some of the challenges the country faced as a result of the war.

The closure of export channels through the Black Sea for both export heifers and crops meant the country had a surplus of both.

An expanded dairy industry could take advantage of both and provide jobs and nutritious food close to people in war-affected zones.

Agriculture had become even more important for the economy.

The chemical and metallurgical sectors had been destroyed in the war, leaving IT and farming as the two main sectors.

The AMP had taken on a key role in supporting farmers in the impacted areas.

It had provided humanitarian aid, such as food parcels and farm supplies, to farms and people.

"Each month we deliver around 30,000 to 50,000 food boxes, using the network of our farmers," Mr Dykun said.

It had also supported the military.

AMP had supplied thousands of vehicles to the army, including farm utes that were turned into small mobile missile launchers.

"Other industries are able to relocate ... but you can't relocate a farm," he said.

"And we as farmers know we have to give everything we can in order to stop the enemy."

Mr Dykun is upbeat about the long-term future of the dairy industry in Ukraine - despite the challenges.

One of the most significant challenges was mined territories formerly occupied by the Russians.

These covered more than 2 million hectares.

Experts estimated it could take 700 years for all the mines to be removed.

Much of the country's irrigation had also been destroyed.

"Despite the reduction in support from international partners, Ukraine remains strong," Mr Dykun said.

The Ukrainian dairy industry had the opportunity to become a world powerhouse, producing 20 billion litres of milk.

"According to the World Bank, Ukraine is the only country in the world that has a possibility of a big increase in milk production," Mr Dkyun said.

"We don't have any problem with carbon, we have a lot of land, we have ... grain."