Third increase to Canadian dairy prices in a year takes effect
Beginning Thursday, Canadian dairy farmers will be charging an increased price for their products.
The Canadian Dairy Commission implemented a 2.2-per-cent increase to the "Farm Gate Milk Price" on Wednesday.
Fraser Valley dairy farmer Grant Bouwman says the increase will be miniscule for his overall business.
"Will this help? Yeah, every increase helps. But will it cover it all off? No,” said Bouwman. "The cost of producing in agriculture everywhere has increased so much, the cost of fertilizer, fuels, labour."
The increase equates to roughly two cents extra per litre for farmers.
"Our prices just continue to go up and we're not making money, we're just trying to keep going and survive," said Bouwman.
The survival mindset is something many shoppers can relate to at the grocery store.
"We'll expect to see higher dairy product prices in 2023,” said professor Rick Barichello of UBC's Food and Resource Economics department.
Barichello warns shoppers the dairy increase will have a trickle-down effect on the sticker at the store for items like cheese or yogurt.
"It's really unusual to see our grocery prices go up at this pace, and especially to have had it increase so quickly," he said.
The increase is the third hike in the last year. The price of milk has gone up a total of 13.1 per cent since last February.
But that total reflects only the rise in compensation for farmers.
"The total price of a dairy product you pay at a store is not reflective – well (it's) somewhat reflective – but there is transportation, processing, there's a lot of other things that affect the price besides what we get at the gate,” said Holger Schwichtenberg, the chair of BC Dairy.
“Based on where we’ve gone in the last year with all the increases in the feed, fuel, fertilizer and interest and all that, it fills the gap a little bit,” said Schwichtenberg. "So this helps, but are we out of the woods yet? No, I don’t think we are.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.