Conference Board Takes Aim At Supply Management

Supply management blocks dairy farmers from competing in world markets and saddles consumers and processors with high costs, says a report from the Conference Board of Canada. Dairy farmers are engaged in defending their system from cheap imports when they “could otherwise be positioning the sector for future long-term domestic and global success including opportunities



Ethiopia Targets Land For Commercial Farms

Ethiopia plans to offer three million hectares of land over the next two years for investors to develop large-scale commercial farms, a government official said Nov. 5. Countries in Asia and the Gulf – such as China, India and Saudi Arabia – have rushed to buy farmland abroad to grow crops for their own people

EU Dairy Farmers Win Subsidies, Want Reforms

Dairy farmers won 280 million euros ($418 million) of additional subsidies from the European Union Oct. 19 after weeks of protests over low milk prices. But some of the farmers, who burned hay, threw firecrackers and blocked traffic with tractors and buses as EU farm ministers met in Luxembourg, said only a regulatory reform of


In Brief… – for Oct. 22, 2009

Mexico tries GM corn: Mexico, considered by many to be the cradle of corn, has issued permits to grow genetically modified corn for the first time in a bid to eventually boost production of the grain. Mexico’s Agriculture Ministry said the two permits will allow only experimental genetically modified (GM) corn crops, which will be

Slow, Steady Progress For Manitoba Milk Producers

“What we’re experiencing are very stable prices.” – DAVID WI ENS, DFM Dairy Farmers of Manitoba recently amalgamated their nine regional districts into three. This tripled the size of local milk advisory committees. Some producers feel the committees are now too large and unwieldy. That was as close to complaining about their industry as milk


U. S. Lawmakers Agree Dairy Aid

House and Senate negotiators agreed on $350 million in U. S. aid to dairy farmers who face the lowest farm gate milk price in decades, a key senator announced on Sept. 30. Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl said $60 million would be used to purchase dairy products for use in U. S. public nutrition programs and

World Milk Crisis Could Threaten Dairy Tariffs

“The tariffs would not be sufficient.” – RICHARD DOYLE, DFC Canada’s milk producers are evading a dairy crisis raging in the rest of the world, but a renewed threat to their protective shield might change that. A combination of low world milk prices and a strong Canadian dollar could allow cheap foreign dairy products into


Manitoba Exceeds Annual Dairy Quota

“Nobody could have predicted a cooler-than-normal summer.” – BRENT ACHTEMICHUK, DFM Acool summer this year provided Manitoba dairy farmers with an unexpected boost in milk production – a little too much, in fact. Manitoba exceeded its provincial quota for the 2008-09 dairy year, resulting in an overproduction penalty. On a 12-month rolling basis ending July

Dairy Farmers Burn Hay, Dump Milk In Price Protest

European dairy farmers set hay on fire and spilled milk in front of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels Sept. 21 and warned their protest over low milk prices would intensify. About 80,000 dairy farmers across Europe have joined a milk supply boycott which is now in its 10th day. They are demanding the EU