Ottawa-Claims that more than 6 billion litres of milk have been dumped by Canadian dairy farmers since 2012 are based on unverifiable assumptions and in reality, little milk is wasted, says the Canadian Dairy Commission.

The report in Ecological Economics bases its arguments on several unverifiable assumptions including the number of cows in Canada and an assumed amount of milk a cow can produce to arrive at a theoretical production figure, CDC said. The production figures used in the report do not match industry figures.

“It is not accurate to assume that the difference between this theoretical figure and sales data demonstrate milk that goes unmarketed.”

Jacques Lefebvre, CEO of Dairy Farmers of Canada, said “The authors of the study acknowledge that much of their conclusions are drawn from ‘estimates’ rather than a robust data set. These data assumptions and calculations would need to be validated independently.

“Milk disposal is not a unique issue to Canada. Although supply management is aligned to the needs of the domestic market, when there is a surplus of milk, often it is linked to supply chain issues. Milk is disposed only as a last resort after exploring all other alternatives. This is done in accordance with regulations and the costs are borne by the dairy farmers.”

CDC said it is important to note that, based on verifiable data, of the approximately 9.6 billion liters of milk produced in Canada in the dairy year 2023-2024, 99.9 per cent of butterfat and 99.1 per cent of solids non-fat produced in Canadian farms were marketed. “Milk collected on farm is perishable and must be delivered for processing within 2 to 3 days.

“If for any unforeseen event, all the components of the milk cannot be processed in their own province, several solutions will be pursued such as sending it to another province, donating it to food banks, and/or feeding calves or other animals. A very small proportion of the unmarketed milk components were therefore discarded. This is mainly skimmed milk and not whole milk.

“All costs of milk that goes unmarketed are borne by producers. As such, disposing of large volumes of milk on the farm is not financially sustainable.”

In recent years, programs have been put in place at the national level to stimulate investment in processing, mainly skim milk, in Canada, CDC said.

CDC said it has publicly-available infographics on the establishment of milk prices at the farm gate and on what milk contains and its use, which are updated annually and they demonstrate the amount of milk marketed in Canada.”

This news item prepared for National Newswtach