Liberalisation is an opportunity for faster growth, but it also poses a significant risk, Minister Dejan Židan told a Biotechnical Faculty conference on the outlook for dairy production.

Milk production accounts for 15% of Slovenian farming output and has been growing fast as the number of dairy farms has dropped, with the result of the average size of dairy farms rising.

Agriculture Ministry data shows only 6,500 dairy farms still sell milk on the market, but half of those are mountain farms, which account for 40% of total output.

Agriculture Institute statistics show the majority of dairy farms have one to nine heads of cattle.

The number of farms with up to 100 animals has surged in recent years, according to Tina Volk, but Slovenian farms are still small.

In the EU on average 60% of dairy farms have over 50 dairy cows.

Volk also touched on production figures, noting that the average amount of milk per cow per year had increased by 17% to 6,000 kilo between 2001 and 2012.

Nevertheless, this is still far behind Denmark and Sweden, where cows produce in excess of 8,000 kilo of milk per year.