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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • SEPTEMBER 2019


Feds announce compensation package for dairy Lump-sum payments will be distributed to all quota holders


by DAVID SCHMIDT


ABBOTSFORD—BC dairy farmers can expect to receive a healthy influx of cash later this year after federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced a $1.75 billion compensation package for concessions the government made in recent trade deals.


Bibeau made the announcement at a Quebec dairy farm on August 16, saying the compensation will be paid out over eight years, with the initial payment totalling $345 million. The payments will be shared by all Canadian dairy producers based on their individual quota holdings. In a release accompanying the announcement, the government said that represents an initial payout of about $28,000 for an 80- cow dairy herd. Based on those numbers and given BC dairy farms now average 135 milking cows, that means BC farms can expect to receive an average of almost $50,000 in the first year.


Although the compensation


package stretches over eight years instead of the six Dairy Farmers of Canada was asking for, BC’s DFC director Dave Taylor, a Courtenay dairy farmer, says it “stayed within the models that were presented to government.”


compensation for any losses incurred in the Canada-US-Mexico trade agreement although the government has promised to “fully and fairly” support dairy farmers for that agrement. “With (CUSMA) not ratified and with implementation still uncertain, there was no need to expect anything at this time,” Taylor states. He calls the new program a vast


Producers toured Forefields Holsteins Ltd. in Spallumcheen last month. JACKIE PEARASE PHOTO He notes the first year payment is


“secure” regardless of what happens in the October federal election but admits there are “no absolute guarantees” on future payments. However, he also notes both the Liberals and Conservatives have indicated their support of supply management. He says both the Liberal


government and the leader of the


official opposition (Andrew Scheer) have assured DFC that there will be no further concession to Canada’s domestic dairy market in future trade deals, such as the one Canada is working on with MERCOSUR, the South American trading bloc. The payments are intended to compensate for concessions in the CETA (European) and CPTPP (Pacific Rim) trade deals. It does not include


improvement on the $250 million Dairy Farm Investment Program, the government’s initial response to dairy farmers’ concerns about market losses from the trade agreements. Only 18% of Canadian dairy producers received funding from DFIP, which provides matching grants of up to $100,000 for on-farm infrastructure improvements. The new program does not require any capital input from producers nor does it specify what producers can use the money for.


“Most farmers received nothing


(from DFIP),” Taylor notes, asking “is that fair? I think (the new program) is fair because everyone is affected by the market losses.” Taylor admits some people will look at the program as a subsidy to dairy farms but insists that is not the case. “It’s really how you look at it. This is compensation for a direct market loss which was taken away from us.”


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