Farmers say first price increase isn't enough to cover spikes in costs.
Milk and milk products are on display at a store.
Cole Burston took the photo.
The federal body that manages Canada's milk supply is under pressure to raise prices again.
In February, the set price that farms receive for their milk jumped by a historic amount, but farmers say it's not enough to cover the high cost of livestock feed.
Canada's supply management system seeks to protect dairy, poultry and egg farmers and stabilizing the domestic food supply by controlling prices, capping production and blocking foreign competitors.
The Canadian Dairy Commission is a Crown corporation that sets the farm-gate price for milk. This year's increase was controversial and happened once a year. The CDC recommended a historic increase in the farm-gate price of milk, sparking calls for more transparency. The provinces increased their rates in February.
The CDC is considering another hike. According to a June 2 memo from the CDC chair, the Dairy Farmers of Canada wants the CDC to invoke the exceptional circumstances process so it can raise milk prices. There would be a price increase on Sept. 1 and it would be deducted from any future price increases.
The cows are being milked
The photo was taken by Christinne Muschi.
Between June 13 and 15 the CDC will be consulting with industry leaders. The decision will be made on June 17 There has been no mid-year price increase by the CDC.
It wasn't clear how much the Dairy Farmers of Canada were asking for. The consumer price index shows that dairy prices at the retail level were up eight per cent in April. The inflation rate for groceries in April was the worst in 33 years.
The Retail Council of Canada blamed food inflation on food producers.
The Retail Council said in an email that the calls for a dairy price hike point to another example of how retailers continue to face multiple price increases and/or demands from suppliers.
The Dairy Farmers of Canada made it clear that the request only affects farm-gate prices and that it is up to dairy processors and retailers to set their own prices further down the supply chain.
The farm-gate increase is necessary because farmers are facing never-before-seen spikes in costs for the commodities needed to produce milk which have continued to go up in the months following the CDC's last price hike. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led to huge jumps in the global prices for fuel andfertilizer, as well as grains, which are currently in short supply in Canada due to last summer's extreme dry spell.
DFC said that dairy farmers are not the cause of food inflation. Supply management is a pillar of food sovereignty and will continue to protect Canadians now and into the future.
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