DAIRY FARMERS OF CANADA WELCOMES COMPENSATION ANNOUNCEMENT

Ottawa – The announcement today by the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, of the second year of promised compensation for concessions made to domestic dairy production as part of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) as well as the schedule of payments for the remaining balance provides more certainty for dairy farmers, according to Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC).

 

“Dairy farmers want to invest in their farms to innovate and increase efficiencies. Our objective is to be better prepared to face the intensification of competition from imported dairy products made from milk produced elsewhere, as a result of CETA, CPTPP and more recently the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). These important investments on the farm can only come with a level of certainty as it relates to the promised compensation. Reducing the timelines for the scheduled payments is recognition by the government of the importance of the foreign competition we face, this is why today’s announcement is so significant,” said Pierre Lampron, President of DFC. 

 

In 2020, DFC had three items to achieve on its workplan with government:

“I want to thank Prime Minister Trudeau for following up on his commitment.  We now turn our attention to the last item on the workplan, compensation for CUSMA, and we look forward to engaging with Deputy Prime Minister Freeland and Minister Bibeau,” Mr. Lampron added.

 

The House of Commons adopted unanimously last Thursday a motion in support of compensation for the supply managed sectors, including dairy. “I want to thank all MPs in the House of Commons who supported it, and I want to acknowledge their support on this file,” said Mr. Lampron.

 

The Canadian dairy farming sector is an important driver of the Canadian economy but its ability to succeed has been jeopardized by the signing of these three trade agreements. By 2024, 18% of our domestic dairy production will have been outsourced to foreign producers who will supply milk for imported dairy products that wind up on Canadian store shelves.

 

A healthy and vibrant dairy sector will also play an essential role in ensuring Canada’s post-pandemic recovery, and in providing greater food security for Canadians. The dairy sector supports over 221,000 full-time jobs, contributes $19.9 billion annually to Canada’s GDP, and generates $3.8 billion in tax revenue every year.

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.