Behind the Lines - April 2011

Sunday, April 3, 2011

When we heard about a southwest Ontario goat farm operator who was planning on expanding to more than 1,000 milking does, we found it intriguing. Then we caught the news that a goat milk brokering co-op had joined forces with a smaller processor co-op which had made inroads into grocery stores. Add to that some very large farms that are processing their own milk as well as that of other farmers and we figured there was a trend worth examining.

Goat milk processors told us their customers are concerned about health, not price, and that sales are growing in spite of an uncertain economy. Is this something for farmers in other commodities to think about? This story about enthusiastic producers and processors by staff writer Mike Mulhern begins on page 12.

Does higher priced milk at the farm gate result in higher prices in the stores and then lead to lower consumption? Some critics of supply management think so and point towards the downward trend in per capita fluid milk consumption experienced over many years. Writer Don Stoneman found a parallel downward trend in fluid milk consumption in the United States, where there is no supply management. But whether Canadian per capita fluid milk consumption is higher or lower than in the United States depends upon how the figures are calculated. An economist for the American promotion group says their consumption is higher based on weight rather than volume, with some other factors thrown in.  This story begins on page 34.

Politics is involved here. American producer groups are supporting a move towards supply management to bring some stability to prices. Processors, not surprisingly, are fighting it.

One thing is for certain, Canadians buy more fluid milk per capita than was reported in a story published in the March issue of Better Farming. We published consumption figures found on a Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) website. DFC says the number quoted was an "experimental" calculation from Statistics Canada estimating the amount of fluid milk actually drunk, rather than wasted or used for cooking. DFC told us this was explained in a footnote on the website but, though we looked, we couldn't see that footnote.

A student from Mississauga has written to Better Farming expressing his concern about "inhumane" farming practices. Some readers will no doubt find his views disturbing. They are certainly ill-informed. The letter is on page 6. We wonder if this person, and maybe his teachers, will receive an invitation to visit a farm.

We've had excellent feedback from readers who enjoyed the column about tillage by Pat Lynch in our March issue. This has prompted us to launch a series on tillage. Keep an eye out for the first installment by Mike Mulhern in our May issue. BF

ROBERT IRWIN & DON STONEMAN