“…a plus or minus 10 per cent change in feed costs can lead to a plus or minus 40 per cent change in net profitability.” – J.P. Gervais, Farm Credit Canada.

Calmer dairy waters predicted for 2024

Stresses from borrowing and feed costs should ease: FCC

A recent outlook released by Farm Credit Canada says there’s room for optimism in the dairy sector. “It has been a volatile few years for dairy producers, but 2024 is shaping up to be calmer — a return to a more normal environment, if you will,” FCC senior economist Graeme Crosbie said in a Feb.


An artist’s rendering of the Dairy Innovation West facility being built in Blackfalds, Alta.

Western Milk Pool marks concentration plant progress

The plant will be in Alberta, but Manitoba sector says a rising tide lifts them too

It’s unlikely any Manitoba product will pass through the milk concentration plant being built in central Alberta through the efforts of the Western Milk Pool, but the pool’s chair still counts it a win for the sector. Henry Holtmann, who is both WMP chair and heads the board of the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba, said

“When we started LPI, this formula [was] very simple to use and simple to interpret.” – Brian Van Doormal, Lactanet.

Lactanet embarks on LPI modernization process

Predictive production index has become cumbersome, complicated

Glacier FarmMedia – A long-standing tool for predicting the milk production performance of dairy cattle daughters will be “modernized” to make it more user-friendly and reflective of contemporary knowledge about feed efficiency. During Lactanet’s open industry session earlier this fall, chief services officer Brian Van Doormaal gave a presentation entitled “Modernizing LPI (Lifetime Performance Index)”

One project a new professor at the U of M’s Department of Animal Science worked on with Lactanet was to gather and examine dairy cattle data to determine which practices promote and which practices restrict milk production.

Bridging the gap for livestock data

Face of Ag: New professor says data science can provide significant value to animal science

A new professor at the University of Manitoba aims to turn data into dollars for Manitoba livestock producers. Gabriel Dallago has joined the Department of Animal Science as an assistant professor in digital livestock production. Dallago describes his research as being somewhere between animal and computer sciences. “What I do fits within that whole idea


Comment: Canada can fix its milk dumping problem

Comment: Canada can fix its milk dumping problem

A recent viral video has given the nation’s dairy sector a public relations black eye

A video of an exasperated Canadian dairy farmer, Jerry Huigen, went viral last week. For probably the first time in Canadian history, a Canadian dairy farmer was filmed while discarding milk on his own farm. That video has now been viewed by almost 3 million people. It shocked many Canadians, who were wondering why this

Fonterra dairy group hikes 2023 earnings forecast on strong demand

Fonterra dairy group hikes 2023 earnings forecast on strong demand

New Zealand’s Fonterra Co-operative Group has raised its earnings forecast for fiscal 2023, citing strong demand and higher prices for its milk products, and said it expects a further boost if favourable conditions persist. The world’s biggest dairy exporter said it now expects to earn between 45 and 60 New Zealand cents per share in

Processors, retailers and, most importantly, consumers are not represented on the Canadian Dairy Commission board.

Comment: The new 8.4 per cent milk

The Canadian Dairy Commission has a daily impact on most Canadians but operates with little oversight

Earlier this month the Canadian Dairy Commission announced that dairy farmers will get an unprecedented 8.4 per cent more for their milk, and more than 12 per cent for butter starting in February. It is the highest increase since the CDC was created in 1967. Provincial boards will need to approve these increases but that



Carol Boonstoppel says she’s already seen European cheese displacing Canadian products as loss leaders at supermarkets.

Canadians want their own dairy farmers

Shoppers are seeking out the Blue Cow logo in a show of support

Manitoba’s dairy farmers are beginning to find their footing in a new world that, for the first time in decades, includes significant dairy product imports. That was the message a three-producer panel shared with the Manitoba Co-operator, at the recent Dairy Farmers of Manitoba (DFM) annual convention. A year ago those same producers spoke to