Eleven months ago when former Ontario agriculture official Jack Rodenburg announced at the Woodstock dairy conference that the world yogurt phenom, Chobani, was going to be building a plant in Ontario to manufacture Greek yogurt and that it had just been approved by the Ontario government, he never predicted this.
But within the Canadian farm marketing system, how could it have been otherwise? That by the end of the year — after more than $1-million in lawyer fees on each side and major infighting within the warped tangle of the Canadian dairy supply management system — no construction would even get started.
“In Canada, the total amount of yogurt allowable is strictly controlled.”
God forbid Canadians might have too much yogurt.
“Under an agreement set in November 2011, the marketing board powers in Eastern Canada — Ontario, Quebec, and three provinces from Atlantic Canada — suddenly established a global plant quota for yogurt for the region. In the allocation of quota, 70% was awarded to Quebec. “
Funny how it’s always Quebec.
Mr. Harper, tear down that wall.
” Transcripts of a court case in Montreal show who Chobani’s opponents are: The Dairy Farmers of Canada and milk processors in Quebec and Ontario.”
Government power is being used to protect the powers that be from competition from Chobani.
If the former bureaucrat did not see this coming, he must have been comatose at his desk when working for tax payers.
I would sarcastically blame Harper, its his evil hidden agenda to let the marketing boards destroy themselves.
But where else in the world would a government protected monopoly get to hose the tax payer like this.
These Liberal Legacies, should be held out for all to see, as a clear demonstration of the corruption they call good government.
Time to dump every marketing board in the country and get back to free enterprise. The government has no business telling anyone that they can or cannot operate any legal venture. Just udder (heh) stupidity when a piece of paper allowing quota is worth far more than the entire farm.
Yup. But it’s going to have to come from the consumers.
Canadians will piss and whine about texting charges, VISA interst rates, and cable TV charges, but for some reason they’re dumb as stumps when it comes to the royal screwing they’re getting on their dairy products.
Time to ditch these Communistic marketing boards and re-introduce the free enterprise system.This isn t Harpers fault, this is some provinces led by the commies in Quebec and the socialists in Ontario who despise free enterprise capitalism even more than they do Albertas oil sands.
and people wonder why milk is $4.60 for TWO litres at the corner store in NS and any cheese not made in Canada (and a lot of that) is $54/kg at Superstore…thanks to the 300% tariff the boards impose…not to mention other punitive taxes and duties…milk boards outlived their usefulness a long time ago.
A classic problem associated with command economies — “introduction”. It was extremely difficult to introduce new technologies, processes and products in communist economies because there was no benefit for the ones controlling the existing production, only risk. That’s why consumers in the former Soviet bloc were using products equivalent to western ones from the 1950s
yup, a good milk quota can be worth upward of a million dollars, and the farmers just love that. If they want to retire just sell the quota and rent land to aggri-croppers:-)))
Well it looks like the Ontario dairy farmer has screwed himself.
It is crazy that a company wants to build, and there isn’t enough milk ….
Somebody in the milk marketing board isn’t doing their job very well.
Yup.
Just like a spinster who finally has a chance to get a friendly poke, the resonse is always “NO”!
Even though “yes” would be beneficial in the long term, and completely enjoyable.
Yogurt too pricey?
Let them eat cheese.
“Mr. Harper, tear down that wall.”, is right.
Actually this is a combination of the soviet marketing boards and crony capitalism working together. They both make a killing on this deal, and the consumer gets taken to the cleaners.
Viva Le Wheat Board free farming!
Harper has made clear he is not going to do anything about these marketing boards.
“but for some reason they’re dumb as stumps when it comes to the royal screwing they’re getting on their dairy products.”
That’s because of the romance we have with farmers (or nurses, or miners, or teachers) which they work hard to cultivate. Currently, Farmer’s Dairy (the major NS cooperative) is running a major ad campaign featuring avuncular dairy farmers, in which the public is urged to “kiss a farmer”. It’s not clear, however, where they want the kiss to be placed.
Care to bet on that one LAS?
“In Canada, the total amount of yogurt allowable is strictly controlled.”
Who would have thought that multiculturalism would NOT apply to yogurt?
Sorry.
I once heard Geri Kamenz, before becoming president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and later (and currently) chair of the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission, declare to our (Conservative) MP, Guy Lauzon, “Supply Management is the only sector of agriculture that is working” (meaning: consistency of farm income, profit and wealth accumulation are all enviable). The demand to produce more of a lucrative product is, of course, extremely strong – thus the crazy price of quota and the equally extreme interventions to control the buying and selling of quota, not to mention the ridiculous practice of dumping over-quota milk down the milkhouse drain to avoid penalties. One would think that the new Chobani plant – already proven to significantly expand total milk consumption in other regions – would be welcomed as a rare opportunity within an industry that has suffered steady decline of per-capita demand for decades. Hmmm, quite the indictment of socialist policy playing out in the real world, eh?
I also agree that the quota system seems out of control, and should be abolished.
However, my concern would be, if the quota system goes, if there is a rush to produce more milk, would the next step be adding BST into the milk to increase production? BST, for any that don’t know, is ubiquitous in the American milk supply. A hormone that ensures continuous supply of milk from a cow, it allows a farmer to basically milk a dairy cow until she drops. So, for years, before “mad cow” closed the borders, the American dairy producers relied heavily on Canadian dairy producers to supply replacement heifers.
Leaving aside concerns re: treatment of these cows (not a member of PETA! But those dairy cows on high production American farms don’t have good lives)….I would not want to be consuming milk with BST in it. Hormones to the cow….hormones in the milk. If there is no limit on supply, and prices are lower because of it, then the farmer is likely going to do what it takes, economically, to produce ever more milk. So far, BST is not legal in Canada (pains me to say it, but I think that was a Liberal decision). Hopefully it will stay that way.
One more point – I do believe the American consumer can make a choice – BST milk is clearly labelled, or perhaps non-BST milk is clearly labelled. In any case, you can be sure the non-BST milk is going to cost more. I don’t know how much more, but maybe approaching our milk prices. In other words, if supply management ends (seems to make sense) but BST is still not allowed, we may not see prices down at levels enjoyed by American consumers who get to drink hormones with their milk!
Also, I agree that milk/dairy is absolutely not necessary as part of a healthy diet. That is a colossal and misleading advertising campaign by the dairy producers.
Not to go on and on……but does anyone have any knowledge of raw milk? Illegal in Canada – everything has to be pasteurized, although apparently the threat of raw milk has also been overdone, especially with current sanitary practices (not surprisingly, this threat was overblown by exactly the people pushing for pasteurization!). Interestingly, it seems that raw milk has so many more enzymes, etc, than pasteurized milk (which is apparently a “dead” food in many respects) for all intents and purposes it is a different food entirely. And, those who are lactose intolerant often have no problems with raw milk, since it contains lactase, one of the enzymes killed by pasteurization. Raw milk – sometimes amazing health benefits. Pasteurized milk – not so much.
Also interesting – many states allow production and distribution of raw milk, so the consumer can decide. Just as the consumer (in the U.S.)can decide whether to drink milk containing BST, or not. So, basically, in Canada it would just be nice to have a little more choice. I can hear people (perhaps not on SDA, full of common sense) say that, with our public health care system, if you choose to drink raw milk, you should have to pay for your own care if you get sick. I would submit that that is a false argument – for reasons stated above.
For the record – I am not a dairy farmer! Don’t completely reject dairy, although not a huge consumer. I have thought about getting my own cow, so I could get some raw milk! But we like to travel, so…….
An excellent review of the situation: http://mises.ca/posts/articles/chobani-vs-supply-management-happy-marriage-ugly-divorce-or-a-new-chapter/
Funny, ain’t it, that when real welfare-bum corporate-crony farmers put in an appearance, that “phil” is nowhere to be seen?
We in Idaho thank your provincial government for its foolishness.
It’s a major boost to the Twin Falls economy.
Sue, interesting comments, but there’s one with which I have to disagree. Pasteurization is and must remain mandatory. Otherwise, give it time and we will have bovine tuberculosis coming right back. And I’m not interested in comments from folks claiming that processing is much cleaner. If that were the case, salmonella and botulism would never occur today.
Tuberculosis is already on the rise in many parts of the world. No one wants to go through that nightmare again.
Sue.
Do you really think there is no BST in our plastic bags of 2 percent?
The rules can still apply healthwise, but it is time to abolish the too long monopoly. The plastic is crap too. Beer can come in bottles, but not milk–huh? It would be great to see young people in farming again.
Exactly. The way it is now it is impossible for anyone to get into the dairy business as the cost, particularly of the quotas, it too big. The big dairies just keep getting bigger as the big dairies buy out quota from those retiring or quitting.
CGH,
Would you consider the option, as some states do, of allowing some sales of raw milk, as per customer demand, clearly labelled,conforming to health guidelines of course. That way, if people wished to consume raw milk, they wouldn’t be breaking the law. Seems silly to try to turn people who are making a choice based on health into lawbreakers. I think we can all agree it should be about consumer choice – the more the better.
Wow! I guess perhaps I am naive – I never even thought about that! Does that mean we can’t trust anything we buy from the store?
“Does that mean we can’t trust anything we buy from the store?” (sarc?)
No, it means that you can’t trust the Canadian Dairy/supply management apparatus to keep BST out of Canadian dairy cattle.
Sue, it still can’t be done. Tuberculosis is a highly contagious disease with a high fatality rate. It’s like smallpox vaccine. It’s simply not optional; the risk to public health is far too high. Some diseases, like tuberculosis, like SARS, like smallpox, like polio are contagious. When we take health risks with some kinds of food contagion we’re not just endangering ourselves; we may well be endangering others. This one is NOT like voluntarily undercooking beef and getting an e coli infection.
All of our regulations regarding food preparation and packaging are largely designed with public health issues in mind. Strenuous as they are, no system is perfect. There’s still about 800 deaths annually in Canada from salmonella.
Back in the 1930s, entire wards in Sick Children’s Hospital were filled with bovine tuberculosis victims. The survival rate was barely over half. One thing and one thing only wiped out this endemic plague: mandatory pasteurization.
Consumer choice is a fine principle which should be followed as much as possible. But not when such choice is a clear and present danger to the public. The last thing we ever want to see is the hideous old days of the tuberculosis sanitaria.
There is a dairy producer vote upcoming in March to establish a brand spanking new veal marketing board in Ontario:
http://www.betterfarming.com/online-news/ontario’s-veal-dairy-farmers-vote-march-veal-marketing-board-proposal-11614
“All of our regulations regarding food preparation and packaging are largely designed with public health issues in mind. Strenuous as they are, no system is perfect…
Consumer choice is a fine principle which should be followed as much as possible. But not when such choice is a clear and present danger to the public. The last thing we ever want to see is the hideous old days of the tuberculosis sanitaria.”
Now-a-days, our food regulations are designed for one thing: the growth and perpetuation of a useless bureaucracy.
With very few exceptions, every dairy farm family drinks raw milk right out of their bulk tank – and I haven’t heard of one of them contracting TB from raw milk. So where is there a clear and present danger?