When you cross the Canada/U.S. border headed south, the landscape is the same, the time zone is the same, but the economics of dairy are very different. Canadians in agriculture are familiar with our domestic supply management system that aims to match supply of dairy products to demand. This control of supply through a quota… Read More
Category: Supply Management
A former senior advisor for a Canadian trade minister has published a report that will raise some eyebrows and counter a common narrative surrounding Canadian dairy and the supply management system. The study, published last week by a new Ottawa-based trade firm called Export Action Global, found Canadians don’t pay more for comparable dairy products… Read More
Milk cooler sales can tell you a lot about the state of the North American milk industry. As U.S. dairy farmers continue to struggle with low prices resulting from oversupply of fluid milk, sales of cooling systems reflect these challenging times in the marketplace. Mike Kelley, regional sales manager for Mueller Dairy Farm Equipment, says… Read More
Ontario farmers continue to spend big money on farmland, especially in the southwest part of the province. According to the annual Southwestern Ontario Land Values report from Valco Consultants, the median price paid for an acre of farmland in this region of the province came in at $12,710 in 2017, an average increase of 9.7… Read More
The federal Liberals remain non-committal on whether they will offer compensation to the supply-managed dairy and poultry sectors for market access that will be conceded if the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is ratified. The CPTPP terms agreed to last month would open up an additional 3.25 percent of Canada’s domestic dairy… Read More
Comparing government support for Canadian versus American dairy farmers is not a simple black and white process. While Canada’s dairy sector operates under a regulated supply management system, the U.S. government’s support for its dairy farmers is less direct. Support, in its various forms, equaled 73 percent of U.S. dairy farmers’ market returns in 2015,… Read More
The Canadian government has conceded the same access to the country’s dairy, poultry and egg markets in the new Trans-Pacific Partnership as was agreed to the initial version of the deal in 2015 when the U.S. was still part of the TPP. Canada and the other 10 countries concluded negotiations on Tuesday for the updated… Read More
Dairy Farmers of Canada has found its new chief executive officer, and he comes with an understanding of the processing side of the dairy business in Canada. Jacques Lefebvre’s first official day in DFC’s Ottawa office is January 8th, as he replaces Caroline Emond, who departed in July 2017. He comes to DFC from his… Read More
The Ontario Liberal government has had its share of challenges in 2017. For starters, Premier Kathleen Wynne’s approval rating sunk to the low teens as Ontarians continued to gnash their teeth in response to the government’s hydro power plan. And then there was the government’s plan to increase the provincial minimum wage to $15 by… Read More
Where can Canadians find everything they need to know about farming all wrapped into a neat 60-page package? It’s all in The Real Dirt on Farming. Farm & Food Care Ontario officially unveiled the newest version of its flagship public outreach publication last month. This new Real Dirt is the fourth edition since the project’s inception in… Read More