|
|
|
|
|
Wisconsin Ag News Headlines |
|
Grassland Dairy Dropping Dozens of Milk Patrons on May 1
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 04/05/2017
World renown butter maker Grassland Dairy Products, Inc. is ending milk contracts with at least 75 Wisconsin dairy farms later this spring. The Greenwood-based dairy plant says the decision was prompted by a substantial loss of ultra-filtered milk exports after new Canadian dairy regulations took effect in March.
"The Canadian government's decision had a far-reaching impact on Grassland and its patrons, and this will have an impact on other companies," said Goedhart Westers, who serves as the company's business development executive. "This was a difficult decision and made with the utmost respect for the hard-working dairy farmers."
Westers says the decision impacts over a million pounds of milk daily. He explained that without demand for its products, the company cannot utilize all of the milk they are currently buying.
Last fall, Governor Scott Walker penned an editorial stating that the Province of Ontario instituted a new pricing policy designed to discourage U.S. exports of ultra-filtered milk; and that Grassland Dairy's ultra-filtered milk sales fell by 50 percent in volume from
the previous year.
"In addition, the Canadian dairy industry has targeted U.S. exports by proposing new incentives for processors to purchase Canadian milk - while at the same time illegally subsidizing the export of Canadian dairy products in excess of Canada's World Trade
Organization obligations," Walker said in October 2016. "The Canadian government is reportedly seeking to implement this program nationally - on top of the tight restrictions and steep tariff barriers already levied on imported products."
Grassland Dairy issued a 30-day notice to the affected producers so they could find new markets for their milk.
Meanwhile, several other dairy plants from around the Midwest have also notified some of their patrons that they will no longer be taking their milk for similar reasons.
Other Wisconsin Headlines
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2024 - Farms.com. All Rights Reserved. |
|
|