By David Wiens, President, Dairy Farmers of Canada
When it matters most, Canadians come together to support what makes our country strong and unique.
For dairy farmers like me, that means producing high-quality milk for Canadian families— and doing it in a way that strengthens Canada and reflects its values.
From coast to coast, dairy farmers work together to provide safe, high-quality milk every day to meet the needs of Canadian consumers. This cooperation is the result of supply management, a made-in-Canada solution that delivers a reliable, homegrown supply of nutritious food items like dairy, eggs and poultry.
It’s a vital part of Canada’s food security, and something dairy farmers like me are proud to be a part of. It only takes two or three days from when we milk a cow to when it’s available on store shelves. And that’s happening across the country every day, as milk flows from our farms to Canadian tables.
This reliability is not something that can be taken for granted, especially as Canada faces unprecedented global uncertainty. We’ve seen that in times of scarcity; it is not uncommon for countries to put themselves first. The more Canada depends on imports, the more vulnerable Canadian families will be to trade tensions and external shocks like supply chain disruptions, natural disasters or disease. Canadian dairy, on the other hand, is here to serve Canadians first, and you can count on that no matter what’s happening outside our borders.
A strong domestic dairy sector also builds Canada’s food sovereignty — that is our ability to make choices about how and where our food is produced.
Producing milk the Canadian way means family-run farms that meet some of the highest standards in the world.
Whether in the barn or in the field, farmers must meet rigorous requirements on food safety, traceability, animal care and the environment. Every dairy farm is audited to ensure they have these standards in place. Moreover, artificial growth hormones are banned for dairy in Canada, and milk is systematically tested for antibiotic residues.
Sustainability, too, is an important part of the way we farm. We know the future depends on our actions today. The carbon footprint of a litre of Canadian milk is less than half that of the global average, making it one of the lowest in the world. Testing out new best practices and tools like on-farm greenhouse gas calculators help us to continue this progress, as we build on the economic strength of our sector.
In total, dairy supports more than 270,000 jobs and contributes $28 billion to Canada’s GDP. Behind these numbers are farmers, but also veterinarians, nutrition experts, truckers, processors and other workers who all depend on dairy farms to fuel jobs and local economies. From robotics and digital tracking tools to genetics and workforce training, dairy farmers are continually reinvesting in innovations to keep our farms competitive, productive and efficient. And we do it without the help of direct production subsidies, which are common south of the border.
Stable agri-businesses are the cornerstone of vibrant, rural communities nationwide – anchoring jobs, people and opportunities in towns like Grunthal, Manitoba, where my family and I farm. The benefits also flow out to cities, where milk is processed, dairy products are sold, research is undertaken, and technology that supports farming is developed.
Despite its benefits to Canadians, supply management is under pressure from some in the United States who want even more concessions and market access than they’ve already received under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and the World Trade Organization. Further concessions would put Canadian jobs, farms, and rural communities, not to mention food security in an uncertain world, on the line.
Confronted by renewed U.S. pressure, the federal government and Parliament have consistently affirmed their strong support for dairy and supply management. Dairy farmers appreciate that they understand what’s at stake.
Canadians can count on our country’s 9,000 dairy farmers to deliver a steady supply of milk, from Canadian farms produced to Canadian standards.
For us, it’s about more than milk. It’s about producing it in a way that reflects what we value and strengthens our communities, and our country.
David Wiens is a third-generation dairy farmer, who farms near Grunthal, Manitoba. David is also President of Dairy Farmers of Canada, a farmer-funded and farmer-run organization that represents the 9,000 dairy farmers in Canada.
