Leaders of Ontario’s organic food production and processing sectors aren’t ready to declare a trend but there are indications that recent food price inflation has affected consumers’ willingness to pay premium prices for organic options. “There have been a few emails coming through from people concerned about how this is going to affect organics,” Organic […] Read more
Tag Archives dairy farmers of ontario — page 2
Organic groups watch for trends as food prices rise
DFO cuts organic production in anticipation of slowed market growth
New research effort to target dairy sustainability
Carbon footprint, feed efficiency, nutritional traits will all be studied
University of Guelph professor Dr. Gisèle LaPointe has secured $3.5 million in federal funding to lead a collaborative research effort into the future competitiveness and sustainability of Canada’s dairy sector. The project also leverages a $1 million commitment from the Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) marketing board. LaPointe’s Dairy Alliance proposal was among successful applicants for […] Read more
Artificial ingredients could reach dairy market first
The dairy sector will have challenges coming soon, especially as they relate to artificially created dairy proteins. Evan Fraser, director of the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph, told the recent Dairy Farmers of Ontario annual meeting that there will be several issues for dairy farmers and regulators to grapple with. A San […] Read more
Sherk re-elected Dairy Farmers chair
Lactanet appointed as quality assurance validator
Dairy Farmers of Ontario has signed on Lactanet as the independent validator of the proAction quality assurance program in the province. DFO had been using its own customer service people to validate the program, but there was concern that would be seen as not independent enough for validation of a quality assurance program. Indeed, in […] Read more
Province-wide bulk tank samples to track disease prevalence
Research project could help with individual farm and provincial disease management
Ontario bulk tank samples will be screened for diseases in a broad look aimed at determining disease prevalence in Ontario herds. The provincial government recently announced financial support for the Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DF)-led effort to establish annual testing of bulk tank samples for a roster of infectious diseases. Why it matters: Some diseases […] Read more
Turning off the milk tap
Dairy farmers are learning to manage larger changes in demand due to COVID-19
Signs that dairy markets may be stabilizing will come as welcome news for the industry. The past three months since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic have been a roller coaster ride for producers, who have worked to match frequent shifts in demand, and changes in how much they get paid for their milk, with […] Read more
Test period underway for vertical milk storage in Ontario
Approved sampling protocols must be expanded for towers to come into use
A test period has begun on a 600-cow dairy farm near Maryhill for the use of a 40,000-litre vertical milk tank. It isn’t currently legal for use on-farm to cool and store milk in Ontario because milk truck drivers can’t see, smell and sample the milk as prescribed under the Milk Act. Why it matters: […] Read more
Some Ontario milk not being picked up as market shifts
Closure of restaurants and food service due to COVID-19 has challenged processors
Hundreds of Ontario dairy farmers won’t have their milk picked up and potentially into the future because of gluts of milk at processors due to market changes from COVID-19. Dairy Farmers of Ontario let its farmers know on March 31 that some will have to dump their milk due to huge changes in the milk […] Read more
The challenge with fluid milk
Processors struggle with fluid milk profitability while dairy farmers work hard to rebuild the market
The profit and loss for fluid milk in Ontario is “already bust,” says a dairy processing company executive. Mark Taylor, president and chief executive officer of Lactalis Canada, the parent company of Parmalat, told the annual meeting of Dairy Farmers of Ontario that fluid milk consumption had a large drop in 2013 and has stagnated […] Read more
Farmer co-op delivers 24 days of ‘holiday cheer’ in the form of milk and cookies
Gay Lea and Ontario’s dairy farmers head to places celebrating the holidays in a specially outfitted truck
Gay Lea Foods and Dairy Farmers of Ontario took Christmas cheers directly to their customers, with a milk and cookie delivery truck that showed up where people were enjoying their favourite holiday traditions. The goal was to hand out 1,400 cookies and cartons of milk per day for 24 days in December, representing the 1,400 […] Read more
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