A glass of pure, Canadian milk—often the perfect match to a homemade cookie (and by “cookie”, we actually mean cookies—let’s be real with ourselves here), can be enjoyed because of the diligent and impassioned work of our local Canadian dairy farmers. Farmers who are meticulous about meeting the high standards required of Canadian dairy, all so you can feel good about the products you consume.
These dairy products are produced with the milk from a farm near you—anywhere across the country. Whether or not you’ve taken the time to picture what a dairy farm looks like, there’s a chance you may be in for a bit of a surprise.
Dairy farms: small, medium or big?
Canadian farms come in all shapes and sizes! Some small farms have 40 cows. And there are a handful that reach 1000+ cows. But what is a typical farm? For Canadian dairy farms, the simple average is 105 milking cows. Eastern Canada tends to have an average number that is lower (average of 82 to 100 cows per farm in Quebec and Ontario), while Western provinces tend to have an average number closer to 190 milking cows per farm (and more land too). The reality is about nine in 10 farms in the country have 200 lactating cows or fewer. All farms—regardless of size, are subject to the same high standards and practices in terms of animal care, animal health, environmental sustainability and the purity of milk produced.
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