Fact-check traces false claim Latvia will cut dairy herd

Latvia has no plans to reduce its dairy cow numbers by a quarter, LSM’s Re:Check fact-checking project reports. The claim, circulated by local accounts and several Belarusian media outlets, misrepresented a report by the Agriculture Ministry.

Re:Check traced the claim to a Russian-language video clip shared on TikTok and Facebook, where it reached tens of thousands of people in Latvia. The day before the television report cited in the clip, the Russian-language outlet Baltijas Balss published an article by Riga City Council member Nikolajs Kabanovs, of the Stability! party. Kabanovs wrote that Latvia would have 94,000 dairy cows next year, implying that the current number is substantially higher.

The ministry report does not propose culling animals or setting a limit on the total number of cows. It outlines climate targets for agriculture, including plans to improve dairy cow feed quality and ration planning, and to increase the number of organic dairy cattle. Latvia had 112,000 dairy cows last year, and the ministry confirmed there are no plans to restrict their numbers.