About 40 people attended a noon-hour rally in Olds on Sept. 20 in support of the local and national dairy industry.
Elmira, Ont. dairy owner Henk Schuurmans and his family are travelling across Canada (#CdnMilkTour) to promote what they believe are the benefits of the nation’s supply management system for milk.
The stopover in Olds saw Schuurmans and family members visit with local producers and other supporters.
Supply management is a national policy framework that coordinates the supply and demand of dairy products.
Canada’s system is working well and should not be sacrificed as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations, said Schuurmans.
The U.S. is calling on Canada to dismantle the supply management system, saying it gives Canadian producers an unfair advantage. Schuurmans counters that the system “provides a good balance by allowing Canadian dairy farmers to collectively negotiate prices and adjust milk production to meet consumer demand.”
Raising awareness of the dairy issues is the principal aim of the tour, he said.
“We want to keep our milk 100 per cent Canadian and to keep the family farm in Canada and not have the big corporate farms like the ones in the U.S. move in here,” said Schuurmans. “I have three sons and I want to make sure they have a future in dairy farming.
“We have a good system in Canada. It is stable for the farmers and the consumers. Not only does Canada’s dairy system provide farmers with fair wages for their labour, it offers continued and sustainable growth and hundreds of millions of dollars in new farm and processor investments.
“Supply management provides a fair price to farmers and the consumer is not subsidized through tax dollars by the government.”
Having the support of local dairy farmers for his trip is appreciated, he said.
Cornel Van’Tklooster is a dairy farmer with an operation north of Olds.
“It’s a great initiative from a private guy who basically started up this whole journey,” said Van’Tklooster. “It is important to bring out the message.
“There is a lot of misconception about what supply management means and what it really does. I hope this helps the public understand the need for supply management in Canada.
“The perception that all dairy farmers are millionaires is completely bizarre. The misconceptions are the biggest problem.”
There are dozens of dairy farmers in the region, he said.
Schuurmans’ cross-county tour was tragically delayed in July when Henk’s wife Bettina died when the tractor they were riding in as part of the tour was struck by a truck near Saskatoon.
“I felt that I had to continue this trip for my family,” said Henk. “Following the death of my wife, I am continuing this journey in her honour.”
For more information on the tour, see Milky Wave Inc. on Facebook.
