By Alice McFarlane

The federal government releases details on the fifth compensation payment for dairy producers

Jul 11, 2023 | 4:58 PM

New information has been released on the fifth compensation payment for dairy producers under the Dairy Direct Payment Program (DDPP).

This compensation of up to $1.2 billion over six years will account for the impacts of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

From 2019-2023, the first four payments were made totalling $1.75 billion to account for the impacts of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

After consulting with the industry, the program’s calculation date will be Aug. 31.

This means that producers of cow’s milk must hold a valid dairy quota licence registered with a provincial milk marketing board or agency on Aug. 31 to be eligible for a payment that year.

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As the calculation date impacts when the registration period can open, setting the date earlier in the year (previous years used an October 31 date) will ensure producers have more time to sign up before the deadline and may receive their payment sooner.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada will be sending letters to all eligible producers in the fall with the program registration details, with payments to follow once a producer completes their registration.

The federal government also announced it’s providing over $7.5 million to Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) to help support sustainable development in the industry.

DFC will conduct research focused on providing solutions to improve the environmental and economic sustainability, and resilience of the Canadian dairy industry.

To achieve these goals, DFC will develop and implement plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon, improve the health and welfare of cows, and the quality of milk produced.

The research activities will focus on AgriScience Program priority areas: Climate Change and Environment; Economic Growth and Development; and Industry Resilience and Societal Changes.

DFC President Pierre Lampron said the investment in the fourth Dairy Research Cluster supports evidenced-based research that ultimately supports Canadian dairy farmers.

“Today’s announcement reinforces the work we are doing within the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership and supports another important step towards carbon neutrality,” Lampron said.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW