U.S. dairy groups call on Trump to address Canadian dairy label requirements

Jan 13, 2017

Groups say Canada’s actions are in violation of NAFTA

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

The International Dairy Foods Association, National Milk Producers Federation, U.S. Dairy Export Council and National Association of State Departments of Agriculture wrote a letter to President-elect Donald Trump urging him to address dairy trade with Canada.

Last April, Dairy Farmers of Ontario implemented a strategy to create a new milk ingedient class, allowing Canadian ingredients to be more competitive domestically.

The letter to Trump suggests it’s costing companies in New York and Wisconsin about $150 million and that jobs are being lost on farms and in processing plants.

“In fact, the entire U.S. dairy industry is being hurt, as milk prices are being driven down nationally by Canada’s trade actions,” the letter says.

The groups say if Canada adopts a national ingredients strategy it could hurt the American dairy industry further and be in violation of NAFTA.

“The U.S. dairy industry is already restricted by Canada’s exorbitant tariffs and the limited market access granted under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),” the letter said. “As one of our top trading partners, Canada’s flouting of its trade obligations is unacceptable.

“It is clear that these policies were implemented to intentionally block imports from the United States and are therefore in direct violation of Canada’s trade commitments under NAFTA and the World Trade Organization.”

In an email to Farms.com, Dairy Farmers of Canada said it continues to monitor the situation.

"We remain confident that our government supports the Canadian dairy sector," the email said. "The dairy ingredients strategy is a Canadian domestic initiative that is part of an effort by the sector to continuously respond to a changing market environment. Of course, the food processing industry in Canada will continue to be able to source its inputs domestically or through imports."

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.