Local concern over how the new trade agreement will impact dairy

Dairy farmers across Canada are taking the hit with the new trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico. 

Al Mussell, the Research Lead at Argi-Food Economic Systems in Guelph, said this new agreement will hurt Canadian dairy farmers.

“There was never going to be a win here for the dairy industry, just varying degrees of loss. I think what a lot of people in government, the dairy industry, some of my colleagues, and researchers, are trying to figure out is just how big of a hurt we have got put on us,” he said. 

Mussell says dairy farmers across Canada are probably feeling targeted with this agreement.

Adding he is concerned that there could be a milk quota cut faced by dairy farmers in the near future.

This same view is held by Ralph Dietrich, the Chairman of the board for the Dairy Farmers of Ontario. 

“We recognized of course that if there was a NAFTA deal, there is a good chance that dairy would have been hit again, but it is surprising to us the extremities of the hit,” said Dietrich. 

“The unfortunate part is that it is obviously a guarantee, and it's a guarantee that it is going to negatively effect the dairy industry in Canada. The unfortunate part is that in reality it is not the solution that the United States dairy farmers need,” he added. “The United States dairy industry needs to recognize, no matter what the product and in their case it's milk, you can't just keep producing and producing and producing. You have to have consumers for the supply of your products,” he said. 

Dietrich said this is going to not only impact farmers but also consumers who will see less Canadian dairy products in stores.