(CBSA)

Ottawa loses millions on import duties

A significant volume of dairy, poultry, eggs and beef was imported into Canada without a permit or paying the appropriate customs duties, hurting both the federal treasury and farmers, says Auditor General Michael Ferguson in his spring report to Parliament. Analyzing figures from Global Affairs Canada and the Canadian Border Services Agency found “authorizations, certificates,

Dairy products have plenty of benefits but there’s plenty of misinformation about them being bandied about.

Is milk good for you?

Don't listen to detractors, milk has many health benefits

I recently visited a dairy farm and especially admired the 24-hour-old calves. They already were up walking around one day after birth. We humans take about a year to do that. A Brown Swiss calf with long eyelashes and I bonded. It licked my hand with its rough tongue and I was carried back to


Full-fat cheese and other dairy products won’t contribute to heart attack and stroke, according to a recent study.

Dairy fat not heart and stroke culprit

A major analysis of past studies says the risk from 
dairy fat has been overstated

A review of 29 health studies involving more than a million patients says dairy fat doesn’t increase the risk of heart attack or stroke. These findings challenge the widely held belief that dairy products can damage health. In fact the analysis found that even full-fat versions of dairy favourites like cheese, yogurt and sour cream

Value shifts away from protein

Value shifts away from protein

Canadians continue to embrace fat in their dairy products, which creates a market imbalance

With more Canadians turning to higher-fat dairy products, dairy farmers are looking at long-term solutions for balancing production with consumer demand. “We want to satisfy this demand with Canadian butterfat or Canadian cream, but as you know, at this point we are all just trying to catch up with this marketplace,” said Brent Achtemichuk, Dairy


Manitoba dairy farmers gather for a district meeting in Headingley on April 11, 2017.

Milk production being ramped up

New dairy-processing plants will allow Manitoba milk producers to have quota fully issued

Manitoba’s dairy farmers are preparing for what may be the largest increase of processing capacity ever seen as a result of one project. “I don’t know if there has ever been a situation elsewhere in Canada where there has been a 40 per cent increase in processing capacity in a province from just one project,

There appears to be no problem with milk from cows on extended lactation when it comes to cheese making.

Extended lactation could make better cheese

Danish researchers show that despite fears the practice could harm milk quality it may actually be better

Extending dairy cow lactation periods by up to six months not only can lower the environmental impact of the industry — it just might make better cheese too. That’s according to some recent research by Danish scientists who decided to put long-standing concerns over the practice to an empirical test. They found an expected decrease


Gay Lea opens doors to Manitoba producers

Gay Lea opens doors to Manitoba producers

Manitoba producer named to Gay Lea Foods board as co-operative expands into Manitoba

Manitoba dairy farmers are now able to join the Ontario-based Gay Lea Foods Co-operative. The decision was formally made at the co-op’s annual general meeting in Mississauga last week, but has been expected since Gay Lea Foods announced it was partnering with Vitalus Nutrition to expand milk-processing capacity in Manitoba last October. A refurbishment of

Could Trump save the Canadian dairy industry from itself?

Could Trump save the Canadian dairy industry from itself?

Trump may be the catalyst necessary for a much-needed revamp of the Canadian dairy industry

The great Canadian dairy crisis is about to experience a new and interesting twist. As Donald trump assumes the role of the 45th president of the United States, some wonder whether he could bring about the end of Canada’s infatuation with dairy marketing boards. Both during his campaign and after the election, Trump took aim


Wanting to preserve the nature of their farming business and safeguard their family heritage, Suzanne Dufresne and Daniel Gosselin display one of their cheese varieties produced in their cheese-making facility built on their farm to add value to their milk.

Specialty cheese maker exemplifies robust organic sector in Quebec

The farm is also one of the few to maintain the Quebec tradition of producing cheese from raw milk

During the summer, Daniel Gosselin’s and Suzanne Dufresne’s cows graze on pastures seeded to more than a dozen carefully chosen flowering plants. In winter, they move back indoors to a warm, spacious barn and switch over to a diet of dried fodder. The cows’ seasonal diet is the secret ingredient imparting the distinctive flavours of

Portion of Cheddar (detailed close-up shot) on vintage wooden background

Cheese maker chases non-GMO specialty market

It’s a case of giving consumers what they want, rather than creating 
a differentiation as a marketing ploy, says Bothwell

A Manitoba cheese maker will become the first in Canada to produce a verified non-GMO product. Bothwell Cheese has been awarded the voluntary label by the Non-GMO Project, a U.S.-based non-profit, for a new cheddar product line due out in 2017. Mike Raftis, Bothwell’s vice-president of marketing, sales and communications, says the move comes in