Canada's Dirty Dairy Secret Exposed, We Dump Lots of Good Milk - Toronto Sun

2/4/23, 10:23 AM Canada's dirty dairy secret exposed, we dump lots of good milk | Toronto Sun
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LILLEY: Viral video shows

Canada's dirty dairy secret - we
dump lots of milk
Brian Lilley
Published Feb 02, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
79 Comments
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https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-viral-video-shows-canadas-dirty-dairy-secret-we-dump-lots-of-milk 1/8
In Canada, we waste a lot of milk to keep prices high, writes Brian Lilley. PHOTO BY ISTOCK /GETTY IMAGES
With one simple video, Jerry Huigen let the rest of the country in on Canada’s
dirty dairy secret: We waste a lot of milk to keep prices high. Huigen, a
southern Ontario dairy farmer, posted an emotional video to TikTok showing
his dairy operation spilling milk because he was over his quota for January.
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“I dumped 30,000 litres of milk. It breaks my heart,” Huigen said in the video.
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It also pains the parents who do the shopping in every household with young
kids. Kids drink a lot of milk and like everything else, the price of milk is going
up at a time when many are feeling the pinch at the grocery store.
“This time, I’m going public. I want the people to see the pain us growers
have,” Huigen said. “Only one country in the world — in Canada, not in the
United States, not in Europe — do they dump when they are over, but we’re
not supposed to talk about it.”
Ontario dairy farmer Jerry Huigen. TIKTOK/TRAVIS_HUIGEN
Huigen said the excess milk could go to low-income families or food banks, or
even donated to hospitals, but instead it is ordered dumped by the regulators
of the system.
Milk production in Canada is controlled by a national supply management

system that also has provincial arms at work. Farmers have a quota of how
much milk they can produce — a quota that must be purchased. No farmer is
allowed to sell or distribute more milk than their quota allows.
Dumping milk has been going on since the start of the system to control
supply, and thus price, but few people know about this dirty dairy secret.
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In Ontario alone, farmers dumped 74 million litres of milk between Nov. 1,

2020, and Oct. 31, 2021. Those figures, which used to be public, are now
considered “commercially sensitive” information and kept secret.
Sylvain Charlebois, a professor at Dalhousie University and expert in food

distribution and agriculture in Canada, said he had asked the federal Canadian
Dairy Commission last week for figures on how much milk is dumped down
the drain, but they did not respond.
The news of the dumping of 30,000 litres in one month at one farm comes just
as farmers were given a 2.2% increase in the price they are paid for their milk,
which went into effect Feb. 1. It comes on top of a 2.5% increase last
September and an 8.4% increase last February.
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If you feel like milk costs more, you’re right.
It makes the supply management system look cold, callous and greedy. The
system was put in place to give farmers a stable income and as an alternative
to what most countries do, which is subsidize farmers directly.
The news of the dumping will have some calling for an end to the supply
management system, something that won’t happen. It’s too touchy politically
and banks and credit unions across the country have billions of dollars of
loans tied up in financing the quota loans farmers have taken out.
That doesn’t mean there can’t be changes to the system to make it work
better for farmers and consumers — there just needs to be some political will
on that front from elected officials and enough producers in the dairy sector.
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“Let’s make supply management work for farmers and Canadians,”

Charlebois said.
He said Canada could export more of its dairy products, which other countries
want, but the industry has been slow to react to that demand. That could stop
the massive dumping, give farmers more income and keep prices lower for
Canadian consumers.
The industry already had an image problem with rising prices and this
dumping fiasco will only make matters worse. If they won’t innovate
themselves, someone eventually will, and it may not be to their liking.
Best to change and find solutions now.
blilley@postmedia.com
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2/4/23, 10:23 AM Canada's dirty dairy secret exposed, we dump lots of good milk | Toronto Sun

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insights into the sports

Sections Search Subscribe Sign In

1 SUNshine Girl Jordana

LILLEY: Viral video shows

Subscribe now for only $2/week for 24 weeks

Buy Houseplants Online Today

Your Midday Sun

Ontario dairy farmer Jerry Huigen. TIKTOK/TRAVIS_HUIGEN

Milk production in Canada is controlled by a national supply management

Do politicians and corporations understand that average people

In Ontario alone, farmers dumped 74 million litres of milk between Nov. 1,

Sylvain Charlebois, a professor at Dalhousie University and expert in food

STORIES CONTINUE BELOW

Shop Popular Evergreen Trees

If you feel like milk costs more, you’re right.

RECOMMENDED FROM EDITORIAL

CHARLEBOIS: Milking Canadians no longer that simple

“Let’s make supply management work for farmers and Canadians,”

Best to change and find solutions now.

1 SUNshine Girl Jordana

2 Shania Twain rocks blond locks and becomes completely unrecognizable

4 DEAR ABBY: One-night stand leads to awkward social situation

5 Marit Stiles set to officially take over as Ontario NDP leader

‘CALM DOWN, CANADA’: Tucker Carlson

Thousands of Helly Hansen sweaters recalled in

Get a plan that fits your life

Canada's new anti-Islamophobia representative

EDITORIAL: Political posturing won’t fix health

GOLDSTEIN: Canadians hit with high costs

LATEST NATIONAL STORIES

THIS WEEK IN FLYERS

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion

News Sports Opinion Entertainment Life Horoscopes Puzzles ePaper Subscribe

Follow Toronto Sun

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