HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO), is the marketing organization and regulatory body representing over 4,000 dairy farmers in
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. DFO was formerly known as the Ontario Milk Marketing Board (OMMB), which was established as result of the 1965 Ontario Milk Act. On August 1, 1995 the Ontario Milk Marketing Board and the Ontario Cream Producers' Marketing Board merged to form Dairy Farmers of Ontario.


Administration

The DFO management includes Murray Sherk as chair, Nick Thurler as vice-chair, Steve Runnals as 2nd vice-chairhttps://new.milk.org/About-Us/Our-Team and Patrice Dubé as economics director.


History

The Dairy Farmers of Ontario was established in 1965 as regulatory organization, which derives its authority from the 1965 Ontario Milk Act. The Milk Act was passed in response to milk market inefficiencies and inequities in the 1960s. The Ontario provincial government 1963 commissioned study called for the creation of the Ontario Milk Marketing Board (OMMB) in Guelph, Ontario, an intermediate body to purchase all milk produced on Ontario farms and to sell it to milk processors. From the time of its inception in 1965 until 1995, Dairy Farmers of Ontario was known as Ontario Milk Marketing Board.


Mandate

DFO administers the raw cow milk quality program under the auspices of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), which licenses all dairy farms under the Ontario Milk Act. The Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission delegates authority to all marketing boards, including the DFO. The DFO has the authority to set the price of milk, based on its end use. The DFO sets most prices based on those established at the national level by the Canadian Milk Supply Management Committee (CMSMC).


Supply management

In Canada, the dairy industry, along with the chicken, turkey, egg, and broiler hatching egg industries, operate under national supply management systems. In March 2018, the
Wisconsin Farmers Union Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Mich ...
(WFU) hosted events in Eau Claire, Edgar, Fond du Lac, Dodgeville, and Westby featuring DFO's Ralph Dietrich and Murray Sherk talking to Wisconsin dairy farmers about the benefits of Canada's dairy supply management to Canadian "producers, processors and the Canadian economy" In his message as DFO VC, Dietrich said that with American dairy system facing a crisis, the SM system provides an orderly marketing system as an option.


Dairy farming in Ontario

There are over four thousand dairy farmers in Ontario represented by the DFO as their marketing organization. Annually, Ontario dairy farms produce $1.8 billion worth of milk products making them the largest agricultural sector in the province. Dairy farmers in Ontario produce approximately 32 percent of Canada's milk.


''Milk Producer''

DFO publish the monthly dairy farmer's magazine, ''Milk Producer''.


Spring Policy Conference (SPC)

The DFO holds a policy conference each spring. At the 2018 Spring Policy Conference (SPC), topics of discussion included the potential economic impact of international trade negotiations, both the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), signed March 2018, and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) under renegotiation. Other concerns included 2018 "milk production exceeding current demand" and changes in Health Canada's policies regarding the food guide and its labeling standards.


See also

* Reference re Agricultural Products Marketing *
Dairy farming in Canada Dairy farming is one of the largest agricultural sectors in Canada. Dairy has a significant presence in all of the provinces and is one of the top two agricultural commodities in seven out of ten provinces. In 2018, there were 967,700 dairy cows ...
*
Milk quota Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulati ...
*
Canadian Dairy Commission The Canadian Dairy Commission (French: ''Commission canadienne du lait'') is an Ottawa-based Government of Canada Crown Corporation that plays a role of administrator, facilitator and stakeholder in the public policy related to the Canadian dair ...


References


External


Dairy Farmers of Ontario fonds
Archives of Ontario {{Authority control Marketing boards Dairy organizations Dairy farming in Canada Agricultural organizations based in Canada