Canadians may soon be paying more for milk at the grocery store.
The Canadian Dairy Commission is recommending an 8.4 percent increase for the farm gate price, which is slated to take effect next year.
Dairy Farmers of Canada Vice-President David Wiens says it’s a tough situation for farmers.
“When we have our feed costs go up by 27 percent over the last couple of years, and fuel costs have gone up, labour costs have gone up,” Wiens said. “All of these things are beyond our control.”
Wiens says this increase would help keep farms sustainable.
“Without the price increase we’re not able to reinvest in the farm: whether it’s maintenance, whether it’s improving equipment, or those kind of thing,” Wiens said. “Over time, if we aren’t able to put the revenues back into the farms, the farms will slowly begin to diminish.”
Wiens says it’s not as if prices have only gone in one direction recently.
“There are years when the Canadian Dairy Commission does the review — and they do this review every fall at this time and they make an announcement at the end of October every year — and some years, the prices actually go down, and sometimes they go up,” Wiens said. “This year, they`ve gone up.”
The increase must be approved by provincial milk boards. Dairy products could increase in price by as much as 15 percent to account for the increase.
