Besides the Bluejays what I’ve worried about the most over the last month is the dairy industry. This obsession by the New York gangster and his trade henchmen that the dairy industry is the ultimate example of Canada ripping off American producers is the height of hypocrisy. How dare Canada use tariffs to protect an important domestic industry. My sincere hope is that the cascade of legal and political entanglements facing Trump, including a supreme court hearing on whether a president alone can impose tariffs, will push the dairy issue into the background.
Unfortunately that won’t stop a number of Canadian commentators who want to see Donald Trump succeed in gutting the supply management system. Kory Teneycke on the excellent political podcast The Curse of Politics; Jen Gerson and Matt Gurney from the insightful The Line; and others all whine about not being able to buy French butter and cheeses and that it’s the fault of Canadian dairy farmers.
I do want to point to one exception. Janyce McGregor who covers trade issues for CBC has consistently been fair in her reporting on the dairy industry. She hosted an excellent episode of The House in July on trade tensions with the U.S. that included a segment on the dairy industry ( https://bit.ly/4hBnGXT ). The whole program is worth listening to.
Dairy farming in developed economies has challenged farmers and governments for a century. From New Zealand, Australia through Europe, and North America the non-stop production of a perishable commodity means farmers have little marketing power. Prices drop quickly once there’s the inevitable over supply. In the late 1950’s when the Canadian government started supporting farmers through what’s called the Agriculture Stabilization Act most of the money went to dairy famers. By the early 1970’s, really at the insistence of then Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, a regulated system was set-up that would limit production to demand and ensure efficient farmers a fair price. And yes the vast majority of this quota went to the provinces with largest populations at the time, Quebec and Ontario. Both have vigorously defended the system to this day.
The dairy industry has mishandled some issues: the use of palm oil to increase butter fat production, competing with American dairy farmers in export markets for powdered protein, and not always being transparent in how the Canadian Dairy Commission sets milk prices for farmers.
One real difference in Canada is that unlike in the U.S. there are no government subsidies. Here’s a link to the long list of government programs and subsidies American dairy farmers need to stay in business: https://bit.ly/47SlWpQ . It’s consumers who pay the true cost here, and yes that means dairy prices at the supermarket are higher in Canada.
There’s obviously a strong urban-rural divide between the city folks who write and comment so negatively about the dairy industry, and the people who actually do the daily work on farms. Yes those with milk quota have substantial net worth, much higher than most Canadians, but like anyone with a successful business only benefit once the business is sold. And most business people don’t HAVE to go to work when there’s a -30 windchill, and snow blocking the doors.
There are also animal welfare and soil conservation benefits from the income stability from supply management that would never be considered by urban commentators. While the Americans chase low prices by vastly increasing herd sizes, and using artificial hormones to boost production, Canadian herds, certainly in this region, are much smaller. Growth hormones are not allowed in Canada. The need for hay and silage, the availability of manure to put back on the land, ensures healthy soils. These are important but definitely not things talked about in political podcasts.
And don’t forget Matt, Jen and Kory, it’s small well managed herds in France that allow the production of the premium butter and cheeses you crave. But guess what, you can also get award winning cheeses and butter produced under the very marketing system you condemn. This is from PEI’s COWS Creamery:
COWS Creamery uses recipes from the Orkney Islands, north of mainland Scotland to produce all of our cheddars in Prince Edward Island. The milk of Holstein cows from small local Prince Edward Island farms is gently heated, but not pasteurized so all beneficial microbes can thrive and give depth of character and flavour. The salt air and iron-rich soil of Prince Edward Island combine to add unique flavours and premium quality to our cheddars.
You should try them. They’re in your local supermarket.
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