Ontario Goat seeking official designation as an association of producers

Feb 27, 2017

Designation would allow the organization to collect a mandatory licence fee

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

Ontario Goat (OG) is seeking official designation as an “association of producers” under Section 12 of the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Act and wants producers in the province to weigh in on the possibility.

If enough “yes” votes are cast during a Producer Expression of Opinion held by the Farm Products Marketing Commission between Feb. 27 and March 10, OG will become a permanent representative farmer organization.

This designation would allow OG to collect a mandatory license fee on all goat milk marketed from licensed goat milk farms. OG’s proposed fee is $0.005 per litre, the same amount goat milk producers have been paying since 2014 through a voluntary check-off. OG wouldn’t immediately impose a license fee on non-licensed goat milk, meat or fibre. The membership would be voluntary.

OG executives say goat producers are ready to have full representation.

“In all our consultations, it is clear that everyone in the industry agrees we must have a representative organization with a permanent governance and funding structure in place before we can move forward on any other objective or priority” Anton Slingerland, OG president, said in a release.

In 2012, Ontario Goat held a similar vote but producers chose not to receive official marketing board status.

But Dirk Boogerd, vice president of Ontario goat who also produces goat milk near Embro, said the industry has undergone changes since then.

“There’s been some key dairy processors (Saputo, Gay Lea Foods) that have invested big money into the dairy goat industry in Ontario (and) changed the dynamics of the industry becoming more of a mainstream market and not just a niche market,” he told Farms.com Monday. “Last time around there was a misunderstanding that people associated marketing boards right away with quota systems.”

Ontario Goat will be holding two information sessions for interested producers.

A producer information conference call will take place in March 2 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Participants must register by calling the OG office at 519-824-2942.

Another session will take place at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Woodstock on March 3 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Farms.com has reached out to other goat milk producers in Ontario for their opinions on the vote.

Read a summary of OG's proposal below.

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