Dairy Farmers of Ontario (CNW Group/Dairy Farmers of Ontario)
It seems like a contradiction- you’re finding a shortage of bagged milk at the supermarket, but you are hearing that local dairy farmers are dumping their product due to declining demand.
Dairy cattle may be a commodity- but a cow’s udder can’t be turned on and off like a tap as circumstances require.
Betty Briscoe and her spouse Alf are Admaston-Bromley dairy farmers, and, as Betty explains, demand for processed milk product is down as commercial eateries don’t require coffee creamers when their establishments are closed.
That’s just one example, but the retail demand for milk products is substantial, and that portion of the market has dried up due to COVID-19 closures.
Briscoe says unlike grain or other cash crops, a dairy farmer cannot store milk.
She says when milk is dumped, it is not flushed down the drain; the excess product is mixed with manure.
Briscoe says we live in extraordinary times, but preserving our Milk Board marketing process- despite the currently frequent kinks in the supply chain will assure the viability of the family farm when the COVID crisis is behind us.
