by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
COBDEN — The Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement the Conservative government signed onto isn’t popular with many dairy farmers.
Don Russell, past-chair of the Renfrew County Dairy Producers Committee, said the Conservative government let the dairy farmers down when it allowed 3.25 per cent of milk and milk products to enter Canada from other countries.
“It sounds like a small amount, but it’s like a tap in your kitchen,” he said, explaining, “Once the faucet starts leaking a little bit, it’s going to run eventually, and that’s what we’re worried about.”
There is currently $900 million of imports coming into Canada, he said. What isn’t known is whether the $900 million coming in is part of the 3.25 per cent given up, Mr. Russell said.
There is currently $7.2 million worth of raw milk, which is 14.2 per cent of our domestic market, coming in the back door. If the 3.25 per cent takes a bite out of the back door entries, that‘s great, he added.
A concern of the dairy farmers is the milk quality, Mr. Russell said.
“Prime Minister (Stephen) Harper said in his speech that all imports coming into Canada will have to equal the standards of our milk quality,” he said. “Well, it’s not doing that now. All imports coming in now are not close to our milk standards.”
He noted many American dairy farmers inject hormones into their milk cows every seven days, which helps the cow produce 15 per cent more milk.
“How is that fair and how is that to our standards, because we don’t inject hormones,” Mr. Russell said. “Our dairy farmers don’t want to inject hormones into our cows.”
The question is how do Canadian dairy farmers remain competitive with their U.S. counterparts when they aren’t held up to the high standards of Canada’s milk, he said.
“We love our milk,” Mr. Russell said. “We have our high quality of standards, which makes it so hard for us to compete with U.S. products that don’t have our high standards and have hormones and other additives in it.”
Mr. Russell noted consumers who want to guarantee they are buying Canadian milk, should look for the blue cow logo on the packaging.
“Without the blue cow on your product, you don’t have a clue where it’s coming from,” he said.
All processors were offered the opportunity to put the blue cow on their packages, at the cost of the dairy farmers, but not all processors took up that offer, Mr. Russell noted, adding, while most consumers assume that all the milk in Canada is Canadian milk, that’s just not true.
“The blue cow means it’s 100 per cent Canadian milk,” he stated. “When you go to the grocery store and you want to ensure you are buying Canadian milk and milk products, if the blue cow is there, it’s 100 per cent.” he stressed.
