Canadian farm gate milk prices to be increased

 The Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) conducted a review of Canadian farm gate milk prices and various other costs used in administering the supply management system. The results of the review led to the announced changes, effective 1 February 2022. 

The farm gate milk price will increase by $6.31/hl (or $0.06 per litre). The increase in producers’ revenues will partially offset increased production costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic which caused revenues to remain below the cost of production.

Feed, energy, and fertilizer costs have been particularly impacted. This will increase by an average of 8.4% the cost of milk used to make dairy products for the retail and restaurant sectors. However, the increase in the cost to processors will depend on the butterfat and solids non fat content of the product they manufacture.

The new farm milk prices will become official once they are approved by provincial authorities in early December 2021.

The CDC’s butter storage fees will be reduced from $0.0206 to $0.0137 per kg of butter, a 33% reduction. The Commission stores a certain quantity of butter to guarantee an adequate supply throughout the year, and to prevent shortages. In the case of butter sold at retail, for example, these fees represent half a cent per pound of butter (454 grams).

In addition, the CDC recognizes a 5.0% increase in milk processing costs such as packaging, labour, and transportation. This applies to butter sold by manufacturers to the CDC in the context of its storage programs.

In order to reflect these changes, the support price for butter used by the CDC in its storage programs will increase from $8.7149 to $9.7923 per kg on February 1, 2022, an increase of 12.4%.

The impact of these adjustments on retail prices will depend on many factors such as manufacturing, transportation, distribution, and packaging costs throughout the supply chain. In the last five years, the consumer price index for dairy increased by 7.4%. This compares to 11.8% for meat, 20.6% for eggs, and 7.7% for fish.