Butter stocks drive eastern dairy quota increase

Increasing demand for dairy products — including a need to build butter stock — has meant a one per cent increasing in saleable dairy quota, and incentive days from November to March 2018, for eastern Canadian dairy farmers.

The P5 dairy farm boards, representing Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, announced the quota increase Friday.

The one per cent increase in producer saleable quota is effective Nov. 1.

One incentive day per month — the ability to sell one additional day worth of milk, based on a dairy farm’s current quota — was issued for each month from November until March.

The quota is not cumulative, meaning that there is only one day for each month.

The industry has set a goal of 35,000 tonnes of butter in stock, which has not yet been met.

Organic farmers also got a significant boost in milk-producing potential, but they will have to wait for a while for it to kick in.

Organic dairy farmers will have three incentive days per month from April 2018 to March 2019. The incentive days will not be cumulative.

— John Greig is a field editor for Glacier FarmMedia based at Ailsa Craig, Ont. Follow him at @jgreig on Twitter.