Dairy groups are demanding action from Washington after Canada made changes to its milk pricing classifications, and the move is leaving some producers with no place to sell their milk.
Farm Journal’s Milk reported Tuesday that Grassland Dairy Products in Wisconsin told its producers it will no longer accept their milk at the end of April. Canada is no longer accepting the milk due to the country’s new Class 7 pricing policy.
In response, U.S. dairy organizations urged the Trump administration to fight back against what groups call “protectionist Canadian trade policies’ that slam the door to American dairy exports.
The groups, such as U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), say Canada’s move is in violation of existing trade commitments between the two nations.
Before the current challenge to dairy exports, an over-abundant supply of domestic milk was not helping prices. Milk production in the U.S. is 2.5 percent above last year’s levels.
“If we can get a little bit of export strength going for U.S. dairy products in the second half of 2017, we can talk about prices that are going to move higher relative to where we were in 2016,” said Dr. Scott Brown, an economist at the University of Missouri.
Watch the story of how a Wisconsin dairy family is looking for answers trying to cope with the announcement on AgDay above.
