Federal government pledges $8.6 million to Dairy Farmers of Canada

An influx of $8.6 million in federal funds will help Dairy Farmers of Canada to evaluate and improve its quality assurance and traceability programs, and to work toward its 2050 net zero goal, the organization said.

Federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay announced the funding on Monday.

Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) will receive up to $5 million over five years to “advance sustainability and public trust, leveraging the proAction quality assurance program,” a federal news release said, and it will fund sustainability initiatives.

DFC will also get up to $3.57 million over five years to strengthen its DairyTrace cattle traceability system, which was rolled out in 2020.

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“Today’s investment is about giving Dairy Farmers of Canada the support they need to help farmers adopt sustainable practices to lower emissions, and improve the traceability and safety of dairy products,” MacAulay said in the news release.

In an emailed statement, DFC said it would be using some of the cash to evaluate and improve the proAction quality assurance program.

“For example, we are working on incorporating the new requirements from the revised Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Dairy Cattle,” DFC said. “We are also engaging in training and communication on these changes and other priority topics for farmers, industry professionals and service providers.”

With DairyTrace, DFC is looking at improving data or metrics related to animal health emergency management, the organization said. They’ll also work on supporting non-producer stakeholders like abattoirs and auction marts to report dairy cattle “traceability events” to DairyTrace.

DFC is also planning to conduct emergency disease response exercises.

“We will then implement those improvements, where needed, in DairyTrace,” DFC said.

In regard to sustainability, DFC said its plans include exploring and adopting a tool to help farmers measure their farms’ environmental footprints.

“The intent of this tool is to enable farmers to be able to measure where they are today and then measure again after implementing [best management pratices]. This includes benchmarking and measuring progress of continuous improvement.”

“DFC welcomes these AAFC investments which will help the Canadian dairy industry find long-term success in safety and sustainability,” said DFC president David Wiens in the news release. “These programs go hand in hand: improved traceability protects against and prevents disease spread, supporting the viability of our nation’s dairy farms. This results in less waste and a more sustainable food supply chain for all Canadians.”