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
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.