Farmers search for ways to combat cross-border dairy shopping

Provincial and national dairy organizations are rolling out 
programs to convince consumers that Canadian milk and 
cheese is the better choice

Cross-border shopping is taking a bite out of Canadian dairy sales. “They go for gasoline and then end up picking other supplies up, too,” said Henry Holtmann, vice-chairman of Dairy Farmers of Manitoba. British Columbia is the epicentre for cross-border dairy sales, he said, adding it has seen approximately 10 million litres lost to American

Canadian dairy farms follow similar trends to main rivals

George Morris report says number of dairy farms has fallen by 90 per cent since the
late 1960s and the cow herd has shrunk from 3.5 million to one million today

Canada’s dairy herd, as well as the number of farms and processors, has contracted at about the same pace as its counterparts in the U.S., Australia, and Europe, says a new report from the George Morris Centre. The main difference is that Canada hasn’t increased milk production as much as other countries have, and due


Canadian dairy industry is a source of pride

Iam proud of Canada’s national agriculture policy for dairy — supply management. Like many rural initiatives of the past, it has deep co-operative roots that have nurtured the development of a viable, modern dairy sector in every region of Canada. It provides the degree of discipline and organization necessary for dairy farmers in the organized

Supply management is in trouble

Good news. Canada is joining talks for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which will open lucrative new trade opportunities — if we give up supply management. Or so you’d think by reading national newspapers these days. Ever since Canadian participation in the TPP talks was announced last month, columnists in the Globe and Mail and National Post



Dairy discussions continue

Dairy farmers are looking at quota harmonization across western provinces as a way to improve efficiency. Henry Holtmann, chairman of the Western Milk Pool’s (WMP) quota harmonization committee, said the process of making recommendations is moving forward as representatives from the four provinces work to build trust and mutual understanding. “I think we will move


New dairy website

Dairy Farmers of Manitoba (DFM) is continuing to encourage its producers to tell their stories in order to defend supply management from its critics. “We should get out there ourselves and talk about it, because it can’t always be government or (DFM) that is doing everything,” farmer Raymond Palsson said following a producer meeting in

New regulations match EU

Canadian dairy farmers will have to meet new standards for somatic cell counts beginning this summer. Effective August 1, regulatory limits for producers will be lowered to 399,000 per millilitre from 499,000 per millilitre. But industry representatives said farmers are ahead of the curve and prepared for the change. “The change is not going to


Moving beyond supply management

Now that we have some clarity on the economic future of the Canadian Wheat Board, attention is slowly turning toward the issue of supply management, which has arguably served our agricultural economy well for decades. Economically speaking, these sectors have been unwavering, and consumers have long benefited from stable retail prices for these products. However,

Dairy farmers shoot back at critics

With their system of revenue under renewed jabs from various angles, Canada’s dairy farmers have compiled their retorts into a new online campaign. Dairy Farmers of Canada on Feb. 1 launched a website dubbed YourMilk.ca, which organizes the case for the country’s dairy industry into three sections: one on the industry’s benefits to the public,