DAIRY FARMERS OF CANADA COMMENTS ON FARMGATE PRICE INCREASE

STATEMENT       |       JUNE 21, 2022       |       OTTAWA

The Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) today announced a 2.5% increase in the farm-gate prices for milk, to be implemented on September 1,2022.

Like all Canadians, dairy farmers are concerned with the sharp rise in inflation of late. However, as we have noted previously, dairy farmers are not the cause of the unprecedented global economic turmoil plaguing all sectors of the economy, but have to adjust to the conditions like everyone else. In less than a year (Jul. 2021 to Mar. 2022), costs have risen dramatically for fertilizer (+44%), fuel (+32%) and animal feed (+8%), just to name a few. The upward pressure on costs is expected to continue.

Today’s announcement serves as recognition from the CDC that farmers have been under pressure as a result of those input costs.

The past few years have demonstrated how vulnerable our food systems are to issues like the pandemic, global supply chain disruptions, labour shortages, and extreme weather events.

Now more than ever, Canadians understand the importance of producing more of our food right here within our borders. Given the role dairy plays in meeting the need for nutritious, domestically produced food, not to mention the jobs and investment that are supported by our sector, we need to keep dairy farming from becoming a losing proposition.

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