Milk Prices Expected To Increase This Fall

Jun 23, 2022

As expected, the price of milk will be going up for a second time this year.

The Canadian Dairy Commission, which governs what farmers are paid for the milk they produce, approved another 2.5 percent hike in farmgate milk prices slated for September 1st. That's on top of the 8.4 percent hike that came into effect back in February.

It's the first time two separate increases in milk prices have been approved in a single year, but dairy producers say they are facing higher prices for inputs like fertilizer and feed, following last summer's drought on the prairies.

Canada's food professor, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, who's been critical of the CDC in the past, says the hike this fall could have been worse. Charlebois says the commission is beginning to listen to consumers and the concerns many have when it comes to food inflation. The price hiked approved this week, will mean the price for milk and other dairy products will be climbing again this fall.

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Video: How farmers are protecting the soil and our food security | DW Documentary

For a long time, soil was all but ignored. But for years, the valuable humus layer has been thinning. Farmers in Brandenburg are clearly feeling the effects of this on their sandy fields. Many are now taking steps to prepare their farms for the future.

Years of drought, record rainfall and failed harvests: we are becoming increasingly aware of how sensitively our environment reacts to extreme weather conditions. Farmers' livelihoods are at stake. So is the ability of consumers to afford food.

For a few years now, agriculture that focuses solely on maximum yields has been regarded with increasing skepticism. It is becoming more and more clear just how dependent we are on healthy soils.

Brandenburg is the federal state with the worst soil quality in Germany. The already thin, fertile humus layer has been shrinking for decades. Researchers and farmers who are keen to experiment are combating these developments and looking for solutions. Priority is being given to building up the humus layer, which consists of microorganisms and fungi, as well as springtails, small worms and centipedes.

For Lena and Philipp Adler, two young vegetable farmers, the tiny soil creatures are invaluable helpers. On their three-hectare organic farm, they rely on simple, mechanical weed control, fallow areas where the soil can recover, and diversity. Conventional farmer Mark Dümichen also does everything he can to protect soil life on his land. For years, he has not tilled the soil after the harvest and sows directly into the field. His yields have stabilized since he began to work this way.

Isabella Krause from Regionalwert AG Berlin-Brandenburg is convinced after the experiences of the last hot summers that new crops will thrive on Brandenburg's fields in the long term. She has founded a network of farmers who are promoting the cultivation of chickpeas with support from the scientific community.