For pigs in commercial barns, these include a balance of ventilated air speed, gasses, humidity and temperature, producers heard during the Saskatchewan Pork Symposium in early November.

“Oftentimes, when I ask people how their ventilation is in their barn, they tell me pigs aren’t chilled, they’re not heat stressed in the summer, and that’s not ventilation, that’s temperature,” said Nathaniel Stas, technical services director at the Pig Improvement Company (PIC).

WHY IT MATTERS: Lack of balance between temperature and ventilation can hit at pig growth efficiency, sow lactation and feed intake.

“And temperature and ventilation, even though they’re heavily correlated, they can battle against each other.”

If the temperature is too hot, there is more gas output from pigs as they grow, such as ammonia, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide.

Stas also urged producers to remember the pigs’ natural body heat and how that will increase in warmer barns.

He equated growing pigs to teenagers who leave the house without a jacket when the temperature is below freezing. Both are at key points of growth, and growing increases warmth.

As such, he suggested barns should be set to 10 to 14 C instead of 20 C, which will make the pigs much happier in their active growth stage as they work to convert feed into muscle or, in the case of sows, into piglets.

READ MORE: Pigs have their say when setting the temperature

“Per pound or per kilogram of animal, a young pig is more efficient.… It converts heat faster than a heavy-weight animal, and therefore it produces more heat per kilogram of animal,” Stas said.

“(Meanwhile), ventilation in a farrowing room or a nursery is even more critical, even more fine-tuned, because that pig is producing that much more heat, more gasses because of that per kilogram or per pound of animal (heat generation principle).”

Ventilation

Ventilation is required to control humidity and the gasses given off by the animals that rob them of oxygen and make it hard to breathe. If the farmer is having difficulty stomaching the air in the barn, then the pigs probably need a change, too.

Fans, soffit vents and gable openings all constitute ventilation, but fresh air intakes are also required. The fresh air mixes with the air of the barn, and all must be exhausted out at the proper speed and with an adequate volume of air, calculated at cubic feet per minute.

Air is meant to move like water, Stas said. If it’s moving too slowly around the fresh air inlet or there are too many obstacles, other sections of the barn become dead zones with poor quality air.

Areas become too cold if air moves too quickly, which causes inefficiencies because the heaters use more power and the pigs use more feed to stay warm instead of grow.

READ MORE: Building smart barns for smart farms

Air speed should be measured frequently. Air is a constant and easy to measure because the distance of the barn never changes, he said. Air moves two feet for every 100 feet per minute of the air speed to which a fan is set.

“So most farms are going to be 600 to 800 feet per minute,” Stas said.

“That means that air is going to go 12 to 16 feet before it starts to tumble and roll.”

For it all to work effectively, adequate air pressure is required. A vacuum must be created by the fans and air intakes for proper flow. If not, whether coming in by holes and gaps or open doors, air becomes “sporadic” and will ricochet in any direction, making ventilation ineffective.

“A roll of duct tape and a can of spray foam can be a producer’s best friend,” Stas said.

Test the pressure via static pressure monitors or by opening and closing the door. If the door slams shut, pressure is too high, but if it doesn’t have any pull or drag on it, pressure is too low.

The other key to an effective system is equipment maintenance. Stas warned that an eighth of an inch of dust on a fan can rob it of up to 40 per cent of its power. Dusting and testing belts and motors, plus cleaning soffit vents, can be a game changer on the ventilation system.

Humidity

Stas said humidity levels should also be a top priority.

“Humidity is a great proxy to determine if air quality is good,” he said.

“We can measure gasses. It’s more expensive to measure gasses but if our humidity is good in our barn — and by good, I mean 50 to 65 per cent in any swine facility — then we’re doing a pretty good job of ventilating that barn anytime it’s cold outside or cooler than we want it to be inside.”

Humidity should be measured each day, at the same time, just like temperature.

Adjustments to ventilation should be made using a rolling average from every three days. If humidity is higher than the recommended 65 per cent, for example, ventilation would need to be increased.

Cost of business

This may sound like extra work and an additional cost of fuel to producers, but Stas said these should be considered typical costs of production. Without necessary adjustments, the pigs aren’t growing as much, and therefore aren’t maximizing their potential as income drivers.

“What we’ve come up with for research and in the information we’ve collected, is for every 15 per cent added humidity, it’s about three per cent (effect) in average daily gain,” he said.

“And you can correlate that to the sows as well, because it’s a water-to-feed ratio impact. The humidity goes up, pigs don’t fill as well, they can’t breathe as good and so their intake goes down.”

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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has identified Influenza A as the wild waterfowl-borne disease creating milk production problems in Texas, Kansas and New Mexico dairy herds.

The disease was previously identified as Texas Agalactiae Syndrome. However, genetic sequencing revealed the “mystery illness” as a strain of Highly Pathonogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus that’s existed in the U.S. for two years.

According to AgWeb.com, the USDA says affected dairy cows do not appear to be transmitting the virus to other cattle within the same herd.

HPAI has been known to transmit to humans, but those cases are rare. The U.S. National Veterinary Services Laboratories says it has not found changes to the virus that would make it more transmissible to humans, adding “The current risk to the public remains low.”

Before avian influenza was identified, Canadian dairy organizations had urged producers to limit animal movement.

Clinical signs of infection include:

• Decreased herd level milk production
• Acute sudden drop in production with some severely impacted cows experiencing thicker, concentrated, colostrum-like milk
• Decreased feed consumption with a simultaneous drop in rumen motility
• Abnormal tacky or loose feces and some fever

The Texas Animal Health Commission says symptoms of the disease last between 10 and 14 days. The exact cause of the illness is undiagnosed and still unknown.

Affected producers have reported older cows in mid-lactation may be more likely to be severely impacted than younger cows and fresh cows or heifers.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) says there is no indication this is a foreign animal disease.

Producers are being asked to be diligent in their farm level biosecurity, especially with individuals that have recently been in the U.S. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has also asked for heightened border controls around people who have been on farms in the U.S.

If animals are brought from the U.S., they should be quarantined on-farm and monitored very carefully for any illness symptoms, especially those listed above.

Producers are also asked to report any potential symptoms to their local veterinarians.

Dairy Farmers of Canada says it is working with CFIA to monitor the situation and will continue to update should there be further developments.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza is not a human health risk in properly cooked meat and pasteurized milk.

The HPAI virus has hit Canadian poultry operations in recent years. Millions of birds have been culled across the country.

Updated to include the new information about Avian Influenza causing this animal health concern.

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Denmark, a major pork and dairy exporter, could become the first country in the world to levy an emissions tax on farming, a move that has broad political backing in the country, after New Zealand last year pushed back such a tax to the end of 2025.

A carbon tax on farmers could help Denmark achieve its legally-binding 2030 target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent from 1990 levels.

But such a measure would also mean higher costs for farmers and as a consequence reduce production by as much as one-fifth, a government-commissioned group said in a report on Wednesday.

A tax of 750 Danish crowns (C$147) per million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted would have the biggest impact. The group also considered lower taxes of 375 crowns and 125 crowns.

“These models are based on something very disappointing, namely that climate reduction can only come by reducing production,” Peder Tuborgh, CEO of dairy producer Arla Foods, told Reuters.

Tuborgh said new technologies had helped Arla’s 9,000 farmers in Denmark, Sweden, England, Germany and Benelux reduce emissions by 1 million tons in the last two years.

“There is an innovation path,” he said. “We would like to continue that journey, rather than having to shut down our production.”

More than half of Denmark’s land is farmed, with agriculture accounting for about a third of the country’s carbon emissions, according to Danish climate think tank Concito.

The agriculture sector has become a political battleground as the European Union strives to meet its net zero emissions target by 2050. Farmers across the bloc have been protesting for weeks, saying they are facing rising costs and taxes, red tape, and excessive environmental rules.

The scenarios laid out by the government advisors would reduce agricultural production by between six per cent and 15 per cent, with cattle and pig production falling by around 20 per cent under the harshest taxation scenario.

“It will be relatively dramatic if we chose to go down that path,” Jais Valeur, CEO of Europe’s biggest pork producer Danish Crown, told TV2.

“It’s key that we encourage our best farmers to become better so that we can lead the way for a sustainable transition,” he said.

–Reporting for Reuters by Isabelle Yr Carlsson, Louise Rasmussen and Stine Jacobsen.

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David Wiens, who farms with his brother at Grunthal, Man., about 50 km southeast of Winnipeg, replaces Pierre Lampron, an organic dairy farmer in Quebec’s Mauricie region and DFC president since 2017.

Wiens, a director with Dairy Farmers of Manitoba since 1995 and its president since 2006, was named a director on DFC’s board in 2009 and became its vice-president in 2011.

At the time of his election as DFC president, Wiens was also chair of DFC’s proAction committee, the Canadian Dairy Research Council and the DFC committee reviewing and updating Canada’s code of practice for the care and handling of dairy cattle.

“Our industry is at a crossroads, we face numerous challenges, but there are also opportunities which we must seize,” Wiens said in a release Wednesday.

“Dairy farmers are the first link with milk production in bringing highly nutritious dairy products to consumers. Yet, we rely on our dairy processors as key partners in the supply chain. It is in the overall sector’s interest to adopt collaborative approaches to meet the expectations of Canadians.”

DFC’s board of directors for 2023 also includes Sarah Sache (B.C.), Wim Van De Brake (Alberta), Matthew Flaman (Saskatchewan), Stefan Singer (Manitoba), Gilbert Matheson (New Brunswick), Greg Archibald (Nova Scotia) and Steve Reeves (Prince Edward Island).

Ontario is represented on the DFC board by Vicky Morrison, Mark Hamel and Don Gordon, and Quebec by Daniel Gobeil, Peter Strebel and Marcel Blais. A director representing Newfoundland and Labrador was not named Wednesday.

Lampron, who’d been on the board of Producteurs de lait du Quebec since 2000, remains present at the national ag policy level, having been named in Feburary as second vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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“I think that we’ve come to a very solid revised code,” David Wiens, DFC’s vice-president, said in an interview.

The National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) on Thursday released its revised Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Dairy Cattle, to take effect on April 1, 2024.

The code forms the backbone of DFC’s proAction quality assurance program, to which all dairy farms must adhere.

Key changes to the code involve a timeline to eliminate tie-stall housing for cows, a system in which the animals are tethered continuously or for long periods. Effective April 2027, cows may not be tethered continuously. New barns will be required to allow “daily, untethered freedom of movement and social interactions year-round,” the code says.

By 2031, calves will be required to be housed in groups or pairs by four weeks of age. If they’re housed outdoors or in hutches, they may only be tethered if they can move in and out of the hutch. They must also be able to have physical contact with another calf, unless they need to be separated for health and safety reasons.

“Both of these changes are supported by science in terms of promoting good overall animal welfare,” Wiens said.

Both changes garnered praise from Humane Canada, a federation of humane societies and societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals (SPCAs). Humane Canada is one of the founding members of the NFACC and sat on the committee that oversaw the code’s revision.

“Overall we feel positive about the improvements in the code,” said Kathy Duncan, director of national programs with Humane Canada.

Nearly two thirds of Canadian dairy farms use tie-stall housing, Duncan said, and the previous code of contact took no steps toward eliminating the practice. Though Humane Canada is disappointed in the length of the phase-out periods for the changes, she said they are steps in the right direction.

“There are a number of areas of improvement,” Duncan said.

She highlighted added requirements that are intended to address animal abuse and work to ensure low-stress handling.

“We’ve seen some pretty horrific video of different types of handling on-farm and in slaughter,” Duncan said.

There are also stronger requirements and recommendations for oversight of farm workers.

Allowed stocking density will also decrease to 1.1 cows per stall in a free stall system from 1.2 cows per stall, effective April 2027. As of April 2031, that will be reduced to one cow per stall.

Wiens said he already stocks below the allowed rate.

“We find that cows are actually more productive at a slightly lower stocking rate,” he said.

The 2023 code notes that with lower stocking rates, cows have more access to feed bunks and can spend more time lying down — particularly for less dominant cows.

The code doesn’t include requirements for emergency preparedness planning, which is a disappointment, said Duncan. She pointed to the 2021 floods in B.C., which inundated many farms, including dairy farms. Many animals died, and other were left stranded and in dire need of food and water, according to one CBC report from November 2021.

The code contains many recommendations for emergencies, including the suggestion to develop a plan for evacuating cattle. It references “comprehensive resources to support emergency planning” that are separate from the code.

The code attracted “overwhelming interest” from Canadians, Duncan said.

Nearly 6,000 individuals or groups responded during the public consultation for the code, NFACC documents show. Forty per cent identified as dairy producers, just over 31 per cent were concerned citizens or animal welfare advocates, and just over 17 per cent identified as consumers.

— Geralyn Wichers is a reporter for the Manitoba Co-operator.

CLARIFICATION, April 4, 2023: A previous version of this article stated the updated code would require the elimination of tie stalls as of April 2027. Specifically, the code calls for elimination of tie stall housing, meaning the continuous or lengthy tethering of dairy cows in their stalls. The article has been edited to further clarify.

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As the industry emerges from the pandemic, supply chains remain challenged and the war in Ukraine and global instability have caused higher fuel and fertilizer costs, he said.

Despite this, “we’re fortunate to have a very predictable system, even if there are a few challenges managing it.”

Why it matters: Dairy production is the largest agricultural sector in Ontario, contributing almost $8 billion to the provincial gross domestic product and supporting 100,000 full-time jobs.

DFO ended 2022 with the biggest logistical challenge it has ever faced. Blizzard-like conditions hit the province Dec. 23-26, resulting in nearly 45 per cent of farms (1,416 out of the province’s 3,273) missing regular milk pickup, and they were asked to dump milk because trucks couldn’t reach them.

The DFO said it is compensating producers affected by the storm through a cost recovery plan that includes a 2.5 cents per litre reduction to milk blend prices in January.

Sherk and DFO Chief Executive Officer Cheryl Smith acknowledged the organization did not communicate with producers as well at it should have during the storm, and lessons have been learned.

“The board is committed to developing a workable plan for effective communication and action during times of emergencies,” said Sherk.

He said DFO has never had to deal with a storm that affected so many producers at once. The province has 80 processing plants that typically accept more than eight million litres of milk daily. Sherk said a fellow board member told him that “you don’t realize the enormity of the work our logistics staff do on a daily basis” but the storm, coupled with the Christmas holiday, presented a challenge unseen before.

Both Sherk and Smith thanked milk transporters and DFO’s logistics team, as well as producers, for weathering the storm. Smith acknowledged the poor communication and told delegates “the bottom line is all of you had anxiety around this because no one knew exactly what was happening.”

She said DFO has a taskforce “looking at what we can do in the future for emergencies” and that a full investigation is underway, including policy review.

Growing the market

In her address, Smith said DFO remains focused on its strategic plan and priorities.

“It’s all about having a dynamic, profitable and growing dairy industry.”

It set an ambitious target to grow allocation to the P5 by 2.5 per cent annually.

Smith said the organization didn’t meet this target in 2022. It grew allocation by 0.74 per cent, although it has grown overall by three and a half per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels.

“So that’s positive, but we know we have work to do for that growth to continue.”

As inflation rises, Smith said DFO is managing costs to the “best of our abilities and being as efficient as possible.”

Dairy is sensitive to price when costs rise, she said, and these costs must be recovered through higher prices.

She noted the dairy industry has a significant role in the consumer market. Ontario has 40 per cent of the Canadian population, equal to 15 million consumers.

That’s why the organization has worked to strengthen industry perceptions, and the DFO marketing team has worked to emphasize the relevance of milk and dairy, she said.

“We’re very, very focused on Gen Z, but also growing consumption across all age groups.”

Board elections

Sherk, board member for Region 8, was re-elected DFO chair during a separate meeting.

Mark Hamel, board member for Region 11 was elected vice-chair, replacing Nick Thurler (Region 2) who resigned in December; and Adam Petherick, board member for Region 4, was re-elected as second vice-chair.

Elected regionally were John Wynands, board member for Region 3; Albert Fledderus, board member for Region 7 and Hamel, board member for Region 11. They will begin a four-year term on DFO’s board of directors.

Award winners

New this year was the DFO Recognition Dinner held Jan. 18 after the annual meeting. The DFO board recognized five Ontario dairy producers with an award for best quality scores, and the first-ever DFO Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Glen McNeil of Heather Holme Holsteins in Goderich.

Sherk said McNeil’s contributions to the dairy industry as a producer, mentor and advocate “have been immense. He is kind and generous in giving back to dairy producers and his community, and the sector has benefitted from his commitment to quality, advocacy and goodwill.”

The following Quality Award Winners received Gold Quality Certificates in January 2022 for milk shipped in 2021:

• Citilimits Farms Inc., Jordan Dietrich and Nicole Dietrich 
• Zethill Farms Ltd., Russell Zettler
• Ontowa Farms Inc., Martin Family, Ralph Martin and Judy Martin
• Elliottdale Holsteins Ltd., Andrew Elliott and Nicole Elliott
• Slits Dairy Farms Ltd., Pedro Slits and Jolanda Slits

Juanita Echeverry-Munera, PhD candidate in the Trouw Nutrition Ruminant Research Centre at the University of Guelph, received the 2023 DFO Doctoral Scholarship of $100,000 to explore methods to raise dairy-beef calves to improve productivity, sustainability and economic return on Canadian farms.

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“I definitely saw it coming,” J.P. Gervais told Farmtario in a recent interview, referring to a June 21 Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) announcement it will seek approval from provincial authorities for a rare mid-year increase.

Why it matters: The announcement reignited criticisms of Canada’s supply management system.

The CDC’s mandate is to “provide efficient producers of milk and cream with the opportunity to obtain a fair return for their labour and investment.” And even though two of the six organizations the CDC typically consults before recommending a farm-gate price change – Restaurants Canada and the Retail Council of Canada – opposed a Sept. 1 increase, Gervais said accounting for all the different factors along the dairy supply chain strongly pointed in one direction.

“All the stakeholders . . . are experiencing increasing costs,” he said. “And there was little doubt in my mind that there would be a request for a mid-year increase.”

CDC typically announces revisions to the farm-gate milk price effective Feb. 1 of each year. The last time a mid-year change occurred was in 2018. At that time, the dominant factor affecting dairy farm income was the global trade challenge-fuelled cancellation of Canada’s Class 7 milk pricing strategy. Milk cheque revenues declined as a result but the effect of the increase in cost of production was relatively mild at approximately 5.1 per cent from 2017 to 2018.

But now, from the time calculations were made leading to the annual Feb. 1 increase (8.4 per cent in 2022 – already significantly higher than most years), costs have only risen more for farmers.

“Feed, energy, and fertilizer costs have been particularly impacted (by inflation), with increases of 22 per cent, 55 per cent and 45 per cent respectively since August 2021,” the CDC said in a news release.

Gervais says he always likes to point out to milk price naysayers that the CDC recommendation doesn’t ultimately amount to a fixed farm-gate price. It’s a “target price” that fluctuates depending on what happens in the marketplace regarding different classes of milk and milk components.

“That’s a widely misunderstood fact in the general population.”

Perspective is also important, he stresses. Compared to some other similarly-positioned countries, there has been an increase in Canada over the past decade in the average share of income allocated to food. From that perspective, rising Canadian food prices can be a troubling trend. “But when you start off from a situation where we were very fortunate to buy high-quality food at a reasonable price compared to much of the rest of the world, that changes the perspective,” he said.

The CDC, in its news release, explained that “in the last five years, the consumer price index for dairy increased by 7.7 per cent. This compares to 14 per cent for meat, 21 per cent for eggs, and 32 per cent for fish.”

The Commission also offered a comparison with recent farm-gate changes in the European Union and U.S., citing increases of 23 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively, over the past year for fluid milk.

Gervais also likes to make clear that the different steps along the supply chain mean the price in the grocery store isn’t necessarily going to mimic the farm-gate price. “If you think of fluid milk that consumers purchase . . . the price will likely go up by a similar amount,” Gervais notes.

But if you look at further-processed products like cheese or yogurt, which have more elements in the supply chain, the price at the store might not exactly reflect the farm-gate price.

Under the current circumstances, however, costs are going up all along that supply chain. “At the end of the day, everything costs more.”

Restaurants Canada, responding to the CDC announcement, said it “requested a dismissal of any price increase” during consultations into the decision. This was done, the organization stated, “to not only avoid a precedent (of a mid-year increase), but to reflect the reality that restaurants are at a point where they can no longer absorb or pass along any kind of additional charges.”

However, another organization consulted by the CDC, the Dairy Processors of Canada, argued in its response that “the mid-year adjustment . . . will allow for dairy prices to increase more incrementally, and may mitigate the impact on consumers.”

It should be some comfort to dairy farmers, Gervais said, that the costs of production – and, therefore, the cost to consumers – for other edible proteins have generally also gone up. But dairy needs to remain competitive with alternative proteins for consumers not to switch away. Future decisions about milk price changes should keep this in mind.

He is, however, optimistic. “If we get good crops in North America this year (and) if we get a good supply of grains and oilseeds in 2022 . . . there should be some relief for the dairy cost of production.”

Plus, in the post-Class 7 environment, the world price for milk matters more now to Canadian dairy producers than it did four to five years ago. If that price continues rising, that should help farm revenues.

With interest rates rising, even if production costs like feed and fertilizer soften, many Canadian dairy farmers face the prospect in late 2022 and 2023 of increased costs for servicing debt.

“I think we’re going to see interest expenses go up somewhat,” Gervais predicted.

But by the end of this year, “we’re likely done with rising interest rates.” Those looking at renewing loans in that period should carefully consider their strategy going forward. But he’s confident the effect won’t overly burden Canada’s dairy sector . . . or Canada’s dairy consumers.

“I’m an optimist. I think we’re going to see inflation slow.” It won’t stop or reverse, Gervais stresses, and there will still be food price increases.

“It’s going to cost us more to buy food.” But he believes the increases will be manageable – especially when taken in perspective.

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The Canadian Dairy Commission said Tuesday it will recommend that the farm gate price for milk be increased effective Sept. 1 by $1.92 per hectolitre.

That increase, which works out to 1.92 cents per litre, “will partially offset increased production costs due to inflation,” the CDC said in a release, noting the costs of cattle feed, energy and fertilizer costs have risen 22, 55 and 45 per cent respectively since last August.

The CDC on Tuesday separately announced an increase to its support price for butter, also effective Sept. 1, boosting that rate from to $10.0206/kg, up from $9.7923.

The new farm gate milk prices are to become official on approval from provincial dairy authorities, which is expected in mid-July, the CDC said.

The Sept. 1 milk price adjustment translates to a 2.5 per cent increase on average for the price for milk used in the manufacture of retail and foodservice dairy products such as milk, cream, yogurt, cheese and butter, the commission added.

The farm gate price for milk is typically raised or lowered just once a year at the CDC to reflect changes in costs of production — a schedule Dairy Farmers of Canada said “creates a gap between the true costs of producing milk today and the next annual adjustment.”

DFC had said June 2 that the current “exceptional circumstances” call for a mid-year adjustment to help bridge that gap. The last such mid-year adjustment was made in 2018, the CDC said.

The CDC said Tuesday it “considered possible impacts of a price increase on consumers and demand” in its decision.

Dairy products “must remain affordable” for Canadians, the commission said, also noting dairy farmer revenue had improved in recent months on last February’s farm gate price increase as well as rising world dairy prices.

Factors such as transportation, distribution and packaging costs elsewhere along the supply chain will also play parts in the “net impact” on consumers, the commission said.

Make allowance

According to the Dairy Processors Association of Canada (DPAC), the CDC’s separate increase in the support price for butter works out to 2.3 per cent, reflecting both the mid-year farm gate milk price increase and an increase in the regulated “make allowance” of butter of 2.5 per cent.

The support price for butter is used by the CDC when buying and selling butter under its domestic seasonality program, which kicks in when regulated Canadian milk production exceeds domestic market requirements, at which point the CDC buys butter from processors at the established support price.

The make allowance, or processor margin, refers to the costs incurred to process milk into butter, including labour, packaging and other inputs.

DPAC said Tuesday it had asked the CDC, during its consultations last week, to consider making an upward adjustment in the make allowance. It cited estimates which suggest processor costs have risen more than 12 per cent since last August, mainly on prices for energy, packaging and materials as well as milk.

As for the farm gate milk price increase, DPAC said it doesn’t traditionally take a position for or against an adjustment the CDC recommends.

However, DPAC said, making a mid-year adjustment “will allow for dairy prices to increase more incrementally, and may mitigate the impact on consumers.”

The CDC said Tuesday that while the consumer price index for dairy has increased by 7.7 per cent over the last five years, it rose 14 per cent for meat, 21 per cent for eggs and 32 per cent for fish over the same period.

Over the last 12 months, it noted, farm gate milk prices in the European Union have risen by about 23 per cent. Class I (fluid milk) and class IV (butter and skim milk powder) prices in the U.S. have risen by 49 per cent and 55 per cent in the same period, compared to 6.6 and 38.3 per cent in Canada. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

CORRECTION, June 21: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the per-litre value of the announced milk price increase as 0.192 cents.

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The CDC said June 2 it had received a request from Dairy Farmers of Canada for the increase “due to the current inflationary environment.”

If it’s approved, and if the approval sticks to what DFC is requesting, the increase would take effect Sept. 1 and would be deducted from any increase coming out of the CDC’s “routine” milk price review this fall.

The CDC said its board will consult with stakeholders on the matter from Monday to Wednesday next week (June 13-15) and will announce its decision “in the days following these consultations.”

Normally, DFC said in a separate statement June 2, the CDC adjusts dairy farmgate prices once a year to reflect changes in costs of production, based on “numbers from the past year.”

Those numbers, DFC said, “do not reflect the current prices of inputs, which are skyrocketing.” Between last July and this March, costs have risen on inputs such as fertilizer, fuel and cattle feed, by 44, 32 and eight per cent respectively, DFC said.

The CDC pricing methodology “creates a gap between the true costs of producing milk today and the next annual adjustment,” the dairy farmer group said, and the current “exceptional circumstances” call for a mid-year adjustment to help bridge that gap.

Canadians, DFC said, generally understand dairy farmers “are not the cause of food inflation but have to adapt to the current reality just like everyone else,” and dairy farmers also understand the pressures consumers “in all walks of life” face right now.

“It is important to note that dairy farmers do not set prices at retail, or in foodservice, and the farmgate price of milk is just one of the many factors that go into the cost structure for the price paid by consumers for dairy products,” DFC added. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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A post-Brexit shortage of workers, exacerbated by the global strains of the COVID crisis, has sown chaos through supply chains for everything from fuel and pork to poultry and bottled water, raising concerns growth could be crimped.

One fourth-generation dairy farmer who owns a Holstein Friesian herd in central England was forced to dump 40,000 litres of milk in the past two months when no driver turned up to collect it.

“It’s cutting, it’s emotionally draining when you’re producing milk and at the end of the day you have to pull the plug and it has to go,” said the farmer, who asked not to be named due to concerns about the impact of negative publicity on contractors.

The farmer was forced to destroy four milk loads in the past two months due to shortages though in an entire career of 45 years he can remember doing it only two or three times before — and then due to bad weather.

The United Kingdom produced 15.3 billion litres of milk last year so supplies are not yet threatened, though the destruction of milk shows the extent of the labour problems which are straining supply chains across the land.

Distressed milk

Razor-thin margins and the perishable nature of milk mean supply shocks are quickly felt by dairy farmers, according to Peter Alvis, chairman of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers, the industry body which lobbies for farmer interests.

“I don’t think things with global supply chains have settled down again after the pandemic, and the shortage of HGV drivers is having quite a large impact,” he said.

Alvis said milk wastage was so far limited to a few incidents, though precise data is hard to come by.

In an indication of the pressures on the dairy industry, many farmers have had to turn to distress milk services, small companies set up to buy milk at lower prices and transport it to other outlets in an effort to stop it being dumped.

Rob Huntbatch, 38, rescues milk for half its normal price and turns it into curd, and typically has two hours from when a farmer calls him to pick up the milk before it is dumped.

In Cheshire alone, Huntbatch saved 160,000 litres of milk in September – an increase of 100,000 litres from the previous month – but was still unable to save 80,000 litres.

“This is only the tip of the iceberg,” Huntbatch said. “I think it will get worse – in wintertime, if there’s snow, drivers get slowed down, and it’s going to be make even more of an impact.”

The uncertainties around milk transport are combining with skyrocketing costs for farmers. Fertilizer used to grow feed for the cows, has spiked in price along with natural gas prices, and electricity prices are also jumping.

Henry Bloxham, a 61-year old Staffordshire dairy farmer who owns 250 cows, says his fertilizer prices have risen by 150% in three weeks and fuel increased by 10p a litre in the last week alone.

If costs continue at current levels, he says he will consider leaving the industry by next April.

“If we have to keep paying these costs, you will see a mass exodus of dairy farmers next summer,” he said.

— Victor Jack is a Reuters reporter in London, England.

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