Within an hour of its release, those representing certain sectors of agriculture had their statements prepared and sent out to various media organizations. Their opinion of  Canada’s Food Guide was largely determined by where their commodity ended up on the new plate. Dairy industry Although Health Canada made it clear dairy was “still on the… Read More

In an open letter to the prime minister, Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) are calling for Justin Trudeau not to sign the United-States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA). The group states the USMCA will create further harm to the Canadian dairy sector. Adding that the trade document still contains, “provisions that would grant the U.S. oversight into the administration of… Read More

Whether the government brings forward small business tax change legislation, the U.S. closes the border to Canadian cattle, or a bill (i.e. C-49) ends up locked in the Senate and going nowhere fast, our industry associations and member-based organizations lobby for change on behalf of farmers. According to Wikipedia, lobbying is defined as: the act of attempting… 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

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 U.S. introduced its much-anticipated proposal regarding dairy during NAFTA negotiations on Friday, although it did not contain an explicit request for a percentage increase in market access into Canada. The American proposal was focused on changing Canada’s milk class system and increasing transparency in supply management. The proposal would reverse recent changes to Canada’s… Read More

Dairy and supply management have yet to be formally discussed in the renegotiation of NAFTA, with the third round of talks set to wrap up on Wednesday. Canada’s chief negotiator, Steve Verheul, indicated over the weekend that he did not expect the U.S. to table any dairy text in Ottawa. That was still the case… Read More