Archive for Canadian Dairy Industry

Holstein Canada’s Governance Rewrite Passed. 0.8% of Members Voted.

In a British Columbia ballroom on a Saturday morning, sixty-five Canadians signed away a century of member-governed dairy democracy. The herd book will outlive the organization. And almost nobody noticed.

Editor's note — April 19, 2026: Former Holstein Journal editor Bonnie Cooper, has pointed out that the language "Resolutions are not binding upon the Board" in the new §4.15 is not new to the 2026 by-laws — the identical sentence appears in §10.5.1 of the prior by-laws and has been operative for years. The Bullvine has updated the relevant passages below to reflect that §4.15 carries forward, rather than introduces, that language. The article's broader argument — that the April 18 rewrite expanded board authority through §2.05 (unlimited borrowing), §2.09 (sole discretion over operating policies), and §5.05 (appointed directors), and that the 2025 member accountability resolutions received no formal progress report — stands unchanged. Our thanks to Bonnie for the correction.

The Slido screen at the front of the room showed a number. It was not a big number.

Sixty-five in favour. Some abstentions. A handful against. The chair — outgoing, warm, measured — announced that the motion had carried. The by-law section was adopted. The meeting moved on. Somewhere in the ballroom, a scrutineer named Pascal Lemire logged the result.

There are 7,900 members of Holstein Canada. Sixty-five of them voted. That is 0.8%.

By the end of that Saturday morning, those sixty-five people had adopted a wholesale governance rewrite of the 141-year-old association that governs the Canadian Holstein breed. The by-law rewrite carried forward existing language stating future member resolutions would not bind the board. The board would have “sole discretion” to write the operating policies governing elections, director conduct, and member discipline. The board could borrow against and mortgage any Association property without a member vote, with no stated cap. Two voting directors could, going forward, be appointed by the board itself rather than elected.

None of those four clauses drew a single challenge from the floor.

We read every speaker. We matched every quote. We cross-referenced every vote. And the conclusion we have arrived at is not the one the board would like us to reach. It is not a conclusion about bad actors or institutional conspiracy. It is something quieter and, in its way, more damaging.

Holstein Canada is not being taken over. It is being left.

That is a harder problem than takeover. Takeover can be fought. Abandonment has no opposing side.

And if the trend lines set at this AGM hold for another five to ten years, the specific legal institution that holds the Canadian Holstein herd book, administers the Master Breeder program, and represents Canadian breeders internationally may not survive in any form that a 2020s breeder would recognise. The breed will continue. Holstein genetics are too globally entrenched to care whether any single national association endures. But the member-governed, branch-based, bilingual democratic Association of Canadian Holstein breeders is not a law of nature. It is an institution. Institutions die when their members stop showing up.

On April 18, 2026, in British Columbia, sixty-five (of 7,900) members showed up and changed an association … for ever?

The Million-Dollar Surplus That Wasn’t

The most honest moment of the AGM came from a man who had been in the CEO’s chair for less than five months.

Greg Dietrich, new to the role, new to the podium, walked the room through the 2025 financial statements. On paper: $16.78 million in revenue, $16.35 million in expenses, an operating surplus of $426,000. Add investment returns from the reserve fund and the headline jumped to $1.01 million.

One million. Surplus. A good year.

Then Dietrich did something his predecessors had not done.

“We had about $780,000 that we did not pay for staffing or labor resources,” he told members. “If we consider that into the full staffing, then our operational position could be more about a $350,000 deficit. So as we look at 2025, it may appear at the beginning that we had a fantastic year. Our truer position is actually closer to a bit of a deficit, if we’re being… looking at it with a close eye. We achieved that, not necessarily in the right way.”

The new CEO stood up in front of the members and told them the million-dollar surplus was a ghost. Jobs they couldn’t fill had produced the illusion of growth.

Finance chair Benoît Turmel of Ferme Beauçoise, Quebec then walked members through a ten-year chart. Expenses above revenues for an entire decade, with one COVID-era exception. “For the past five years,” Turmel said, “our operational deficit has been negative for an average of $147,000. We’ll have to be proactive and use our imagination.”

Five consecutive years of operational losses. A decade of expenses running ahead of income. The books are only held up by investment income from a reserve fund — $6.89 million at year-end, returning 9.28% in 2025, according to the Finance Committee report — that Holstein Canada is now, at management instruction, being moved from RBC to Burgundy Asset Management in an explicit attempt to grow the reserve toward one full year of operating expenses. At present, it covers about six months.

And the 2026 budget members approved without a single challenge? A projected $584,000 deficit, deliberately. Severances are baked in. Consulting fees are baked in. Legal fees for the governance rewrite are baked in. Dietrich framed it as “investment in rebuilding.” It is also a draw on the reserve, and a bet on two specific operational turnarounds that the financials do not yet support.

The bet: Holstein Canada will classify 10,000 more cows in 2026 than in 2025. That is the assumption underpinning the budget.

The reality: Holstein Canada classified 5,000 fewer cows in 2025 than in 2024.

Pascal Martin of Quebec, one of the sharpest members in the room, called the contradiction from the floor. The board did not rebut the substance. They explained the plan — new four-month classification rounds, a two-month interval service for large herds, a new business development hire — and moved on.

There is a word in financial reporting for budgeting aggressive growth into a business line that has been contracting. The polite word is “ambitious.” The less polite word is “unsubstantiated.”

The room accepted it without a recorded vote.

Fred Hofstra Stood Up

The only by-law section that drew real opposition was Section 5.05, which creates up to two appointed voting directors — board members chosen by the board rather than elected by the membership.

Fred Hofstra runs Corlane Holsteins in Alberta. He is president of the Alberta Holstein Branch. He is not a perennial critic; later in the same meeting he delivered one of the warmest tributes to the board’s recent progress. He is the kind of member the board wants in the room.

He walked to the microphone. He gave his name, his prefix, his province — the ritual of the AGM floor — and he said this:

“You’re taking a pretty big swing at switching to external members, which are not voted members. They’re going to be appointed. And you’re saying they’re going to be a two-year appointment, but yet they’re going to be making decisions and voting on behalf of your membership. We have to trust the board, but we also have to question the board, because without questions, we don’t get answers. So we can’t just trust you blindly. I really believe that this needs to be thought out at a longer term so that we can bring this back to our membership.”

Stefan Allery of Quebec echoed him. So did Dennis Weary and Rob Bumstead of Ontario. Amanda Jeffrey of Ontario pointed out that the regional boundary maps referenced in the new Section 5.02 did not exist yet — members were being asked to approve a framework and let the board draw the lines after.

The sharpest procedural observation came from Bumstead. Minutes earlier, the meeting had adopted Section 4.11, granting members the right to vote electronically in future meetings. Bumstead said it plainly:

“Those people do not have a chance to vote here today. And I think this is a pretty significant change to your bylaws. And also, we just passed a motion under section four giving them the right to vote.”

In other words: you have just told the membership they have a right to vote remotely. Now you are refusing to defer a major governance decision until you can actually give them that right. Use it, or the provision you just passed is decorative.

Section 5.05 passed anyway.

What did not happen — what no speaker raised, what no member flagged, what no branch president asked the board to defend — was the rest of the rewrite. Section 2.05, giving the board unlimited borrowing and mortgage authority without a member vote and without a cap. Section 2.09, giving the board sole discretion to write the operating policies governing elections, discipline, and director conduct. And Section 4.15, one of the quietest clauses, carried forward from the prior by-laws and again unchallenged:

“Resolutions are not binding upon the Board.”

Nobody raised it. Nobody asked about it. It passed in a bundled section vote in under five minutes. The most important governance sentence in the rewrite received zero seconds of floor debate.

There is a Bullvine question worth asking plainly. How does a clause that explicitly strips the binding authority from every future member resolution pass, in a single meeting, unchallenged, at an association whose members passed seven member resolutions that same morning?

The only coherent answer is that the members in the room did not read the document carefully enough. Or they read it, and they did not feel empowered to challenge it. Or they read it, they understood it, and they accepted it.

None of those three answers is good news.

The Accountability Ghost

August 2024. Somewhere in Canada, a branch treasurer opened an email from Holstein Canada’s head office and learned that Directors and Officers liability insurance for branches had been cancelled. No consultation. No transition. No replacement coverage. Volunteer branch boards — retirees, working farmers, young leaders doing the unpaid work that holds the federation together — were personally exposed to liability on the decisions they had already been making for years.

The 2025 AGM in Halifax responded with a direct resolution: reinstate it. Alongside that, members passed a set of equally blunt directives. Reinstate the in-person National Joint Branch Meeting. Require HC leadership to attend provincial AGMs. Commit to detailed financial statements. Restore classifier autonomy after reports that breeders had been pressuring classifiers to skip low-scoring cows. Fix bilingual service delivery for a membership that is 43% francophone. Drive progress on crampy bull identification.

Now go to the 2026 transcript. Search for “D and O.” Search for “directors and officers insurance.” Search for “branch insurance.”

Not a single mention. A year after the resolution, the issue that exposed volunteer branch boards to personal liability did not rate a sentence of follow-up. Not from the chair. Not from the CEO. Not from the finance chair. Not in a committee report. Not from a member asking at the microphone. The single sharpest accountability demand of the 2025 AGM — the one that came from branch volunteers who learned they were suddenly personally exposed to liability — appears nowhere in the 2026 AGM transcript.

Classifier autonomy? The outgoing chair said this, precisely: “Given the importance of strengthening the management team for this key department, we have no conclusions to share with you this morning.” A new classification manager, Valerie Trembley, has been hired. Members were told to wait.

Bilingualism? The meeting itself was fully bilingual with simultaneous translation. Dietrich made a personal effort in French. But there was no systemic update, no metrics, no service delivery audit.

Crampy bulls? The 2025 resolution evidently did not produce the change breeders wanted, because a 2026 resolution was required to mandate the same lobbying. Roberto Dufour of Sandrian brought it back. It passed at 69%.

This is the context in which Section 4.15 — resolutions are not binding on the board — was adopted without debate.

Put it together. A membership, a year ago, handed the board a specific accountability list. The board addressed some items, ignored others, made partial progress on the rest, and declined to report back on progress in any organised way. And in the same meeting, that board asked the membership to re-adopt governing language stating future resolutions of this kind would not bind them — and the membership did, without debate.

The members said yes.

If Section 4.15 is the formal codification of how the 2025 resolutions were already being handled in practice, then what members accepted on April 18 is not a change in the relationship between the membership and the board. It is a written acknowledgment of a relationship that had already changed years ago.

The 0.8% of members who voted on April 18 were the ones who showed up to ratify that relationship.

The Resolutions That Landed — and the Test They Now Face

It would be unfair to skip what the membership did pass.

Holstein Québec brought a resolution demanding full transparency on the All-Canadian voting system — complete results for every nominee, named judges, published vote proportions. It passed at 89%. This is a direct win that breeders can measure. If the next All-Canadian results appear in Info Holstein without the breakdowns and the judges, members will know Section 4.15 has teeth.

The review of Cow of the Year weightings — greater weight to daughters’ results, a lowered minimum classification threshold so influential cows below 92 points can still be nominated — passed at 71%. This is overdue. Many of the breed’s most influential modern matriarchs would not clear a 92-point bar. The weighting should reflect what the breed is actually using these cows for.

Saskatchewan’s resolution requiring lactation numbers and fresh dates on show cards passed at 88%. Hofstra again from the floor: “On the ethics side of it, I think this is just common sense.”

Roberto Dufour’s crampy bull resolution passed at 69%“Crampiness is a big breed issue. If they get crampy at third lactation, we have to cull them, and that damages the entire cow family.”

And the most strategically important resolution of the day — joint Holstein Ontario and Manitoba Holstein Branch — passed at 85%. More on that in a moment.

Two resolutions were defeated. Quebec’s move to mandate bull classification at AI centres went down 61% against, primarily because Alberta’s Doug Blair delivered a surgical floor speech on how weakly bull conformation correlates with daughter proof — Gold Chip at 82 as a three-year-old, Cinema, Starbuck — and members listened. Quebec’s motion to allow breeders to enter group show classes based on the “breeders” tab rather than the registration prefix was defeated 60% against, killed in one sentence from Ontario’s Dean Karen: “I’m old school — the prefix on the animal, that should be the group you represent.”

Seven passed, two defeated. In a functional association, this is a productive AGM on member business.

But under the by-laws adopted at this same meeting, the board is now explicitly not bound by any of the seven. Whether these resolutions are implemented, ignored, or partially delivered will be the test of whether Section 4.15 is a safety valve the board uses sparingly or a license it uses casually.

We will be watching. The 2027 AGM should publish, as a standing agenda item, a full implementation scorecard for every 2026 resolution. If that scorecard does not appear, members will have their answer.

The Robotic Milking Question — Where 2035 Actually Gets Decided

If the Canadian Holstein breed is still relevant in 2035, it will be because the people and the institutions around it solved a single technical-political problem in time. Not breeding strategy. Not show ring fashion. Not Master Breeder point weightings. Data.

Roughly 20% of Ontario dairy barns now run robotic milking systems. In Manitoba, it’s well beyond 50%, and across Canada new operations and rebuilds are overwhelmingly free-stall designs built for the robot era. Every milking generates real-time component data — fat, protein, and somatic cell count. The robots know. The herd management software knows. The farm owner knows.

But official milk recording — the foundation of the Canadian dairy genetic evaluation system, and the prerequisite for staying in the Master Breeder program — does not accept that data as official. A farm running Lely or DeLaval robots is asked to also run separate DHI sampling on top, duplicating labour and cost, or to walk away from the program.

An increasing number of farms are choosing door number two.

Resolution 5 at the 2026 AGM — moved by Alan Hawthorne of Bobmar Farms, Ontario, vice-president of Holstein Ontario, and seconded by Monica Kagi of Red Lodge, Ontario — calls on Holstein Canada to “fully support development of a working group with all relevant stakeholders” to get robotic sensor data accepted as official test data, keeping members engaged in milk recording and the Master Breeder program.

It passed at 85%. The strongest mandate of the day.

Holstein Canada’s formal response to that 85% mandate after the vote? Silence. No timeline. No named working group lead. No budget allocation. No visible dialogue with Lactanet on the floor. The resolution is on the books.

Overlay that silence with two other things Greg Dietrich said almost in passing during his CEO address. First, Holstein Canada is “researching 3D cameras for AI and animal measurements” — machine-vision evaluation of conformation, an in-house project. Second, the Association is preparing a plan for the board on “multi-breed opportunities” — an expansion of the herd book beyond pure Holsteins.

Then overlay that with what Lindsay Warden, CEO of Holstein Association USA, told the same room when she took the mic. Holstein USA is running a parallel machine-vision project called “Build a Better Cow,” still in development, explicitly aimed at using cameras to support conformation evaluation. An Alberta member stood up and asked the obvious question: should Holstein Canada and Holstein USA be building one system together, or two systems apart?

Dietrich’s response was warm and non-committal: “We’ve already started some similar discussions. We’re already excited to have some of those discussions as a group.”

Here is the decade-defining fork.

In 2035, the Canadian Holstein breed will be evaluated primarily by machines. Robots will capture production. Cameras will capture conformation. Genomic predictions will overlay both. The question that decides whether Holstein Canada — the institution — still has a reason to exist is whether it becomes the trusted Canadian custodian of the breed data pipeline, or whether Lactanet, the robotics companies, the genomic companies, and the AI vendors simply route around it.

On this exact question, the 2026 AGM delivered an 85% mandate and no plan. It disclosed an in-house 3D camera project and no partnership. It hosted the CEO of the American counterpart organisation and produced no joint announcement.

This is a strategic vacuum. It is the exact kind of vacuum the market fills on its own terms, on its own timeline, without waiting for the national breed association to catch up.

And it is, not coincidentally, the exact kind of file on which Section 4.15 matters most. The board is not bound by the resolution. The board is not bound to publish a timeline. The board is not bound to name a lead. The board is not bound to report back.

If Holstein Canada is still relevant in 2035, this is the file that will have proven it.

The Generational Gap Nobody Talked About

There is a line item in the 2026 reports that deserves more attention than it received.

The Young Leader program age range has been changed from 19–30 to 21–35.

Read that again. The organisation’s flagship pipeline program for the next generation of Canadian Holstein breeders has quietly moved its upper limit up five years. The lower limit moved up two. This is not a cosmetic adjustment. It is an admission that the 19-year-olds and 20-year-olds the program was designed for are not engaging in meaningful numbers, and that the Association’s “young leaders” are now in their thirties.

Look at the floor of the 2026 AGM. Look at the names The Bullvine has quoted in this piece: Hofstra, Blair, Dufour, Martin, Allery, Weary, Bumstead, Jeffrey, Karen, and Hawthorne. These are names that have been on microphones at Holstein Canada meetings for decades. The institutional memory in the room is extraordinary. The institutional youth is not.

There is no single voice in the transcript under 35 making a sustained governance argument. There is no generational cohort standing up and saying: this by-law is what I’ll inherit, and I’m not sure I want it. The silence on Section 4.15, on Section 2.05, on Section 2.09 is not only a silence about the document. It is a silence about the future users of the document.

A Holstein herd book is a 141-year-old asset. It is worth, in the loosest accounting sense, an enormous amount. But it is worth nothing at all if the next generation does not file registrations against it, does not classify animals into it, does not trust the body that holds it. If the under-35 generation is watching this AGM — and a growing number of them are, on the live stream that the new §4.11 will eventually make more accessible — what did they see?

They saw their parents’ generation pass a by-law making their resolutions non-binding. They saw the Young Leader age range creep upward to accommodate the fact that they are not there in sufficient numbers. They saw a CEO they have never met deliver a deficit disclosure that was, in its honesty, the most reassuring thing in the meeting.

Whether they come to the 2027 AGM in a number greater than sixty-five will determine more about the next decade than anything the board in that ballroom voted on.

The Dietrich Variable

No piece about the April 18 meeting is complete without sitting honestly with Greg Dietrich.

The Bullvine has been sharp in this article. It has to be equally honest about what Dietrich did right.

His financial candour was without recent precedent at Holstein Canada. He walked members into an unpleasant truth they could have been allowed to miss. His repeated line — “Talking is one thing, but what are the deliverables? We can talk here this year, and if we come up here next year and talk the exact same thing, then that’s a fail” — is the language of a leader who intends to move an organisation. His decision to move the investment portfolio to Burgundy, his preparation of a multi-breed herd book plan, his willingness to budget severances explicitly, his hiring of a new business development role, his extension of the Young Leader range, his visible attempt to speak French to a 43% francophone membership — these are active management decisions. Several are overdue.

Dietrich is also the person who used the projected $584,000 deficit as the justification for the appointed-director clause, from the floor, while the vote was live. He is the person who defended each contested by-law section as it came up. He is the person who will now operate, with sole board discretion under Section 2.09 and without binding member resolutions under Section 4.15, the governance architecture that just passed.

The guardrails on the CEO role at Holstein Canada are now the weakest they have been in the modern era, and the CEO in the seat is the strongest the organisation has hired in a decade. That is either the best news in this story or the most dangerous sentence in it, depending on who Dietrich decides to be.

His own framing, offered to members in his own voice on the morning of April 18: “The pyramid is reversed. The members are in charge of the board, who is in charge of the Association.”

There is now nothing structural in the by-laws preventing him from changing his mind about that.

He has probably earned the benefit of the doubt in 2026. The 2027 AGM will be the proof.

Does Anyone Care?

Return to the question at the top.

Look at the evidence. 0.8% of members voted on a governance rewrite that reassigned the relationship between the board and the membership. The most consequential clauses were never challenged on the floor. The organisation has lost money on operations for ten straight years. It lost 5,000 classifications in a single year. It budgeted a $584,000 deficit for 2026 on an assumption — doubled classifications — that the trend does not support. It received an 85% mandate on robotic milking and announced no plan. It did not report back on the accountability resolutions of its last AGM. It abolished the binding nature of future member resolutions at the same meeting in which the previous year’s resolutions were, visibly, partially unimplemented. Its Young Leader program has quietly aged upward to cope with generational disengagement. Its financial stability depends on a reserve fund it is now actively drawing down.

And in the face of all of that, Ontario and Quebec — the two provinces representing the overwhelming majority of Canadian Holstein members — did not appear in British Columbia in sufficient numbers to influence a by-law rewrite that will govern them for a decade.

They were not silenced. They were not barred. They simply were not there.

A healthy membership would have filled the ballroom. A healthy branch federation would have insisted on electronic voting before a governance rewrite of this magnitude was scheduled. A healthy board would have treated a 65-vote bar as embarrassing rather than sufficient. A healthy CEO — and Dietrich may yet prove to be exactly that — would have privately urged deferral rather than publicly defending passage.

None of that happened. What happened was a small, earnest, loyalist group in a hotel in British Columbia handed the keys to the new leadership and went home, and the national herd was asked to trust that the new leadership will steward the institution well enough that the guardrails will not be needed.

The Canadian Holstein breed will survive the 2030s. Holstein genetics are globally distributed, privately owned, and commercially valuable in ways that do not depend on any single national association. The cows will be fine. The farms will be fine. The semen market will be fine.

What may not survive the 2030s is Holstein Canada itself — the specific legal institution, member-governed, branch-based, bilingual, democratic, headquartered in Brantford. It may end the next decade smaller. It may end it as a service contractor to Lactanet. It may end it as a subsidiary of a combined North American registry. It may end it as a multi-breed data broker. All of these are consistent with what was approved on April 18. The outcome inconsistent with what was approved on April 18 is the one where the Association grows: rising membership, binding resolutions, branch autonomy, financial surplus from its own services.

That door was open going into the meeting. Sixty-five people closed it.

The Bullvine is not here to mourn. There is still time. The branch federation can request a Special General Meeting, with electronic voting, specifically to revisit Sections 2.05, 2.09, 4.15, and 5.05. Members can demand an implementation scorecard for the 2025 and 2026 resolutions. Resolution 5 already entitles them to a timeline, a budget, and a named lead on the robotic milking working group. A direct public answer on branch D&O insurance is years overdue. An annual reconciliation between board slide decks and KPMG-audited figures — the reconciliation Harry Vanderlinde asked for from the floor years ago — is a thing the board can simply choose to provide.

None of it happens without members who show up. There is no governance fix for 0.8%.

The real question the 2026 AGM raised is not whether Holstein Canada will legally exist in 2035.

The real question is whether enough of its members will care, in time, to make sure that when it exists, it still means something.

On April 18, 2026, out of 7,900 of them, sixty-five voted.

We will see how many show up next April.

Key Takeaways

  • Sixty-five members — 0.8% of Holstein Canada’s 7,900 — passed a wholesale by-law rewrite that makes future member resolutions non-binding, gives the board unlimited borrowing authority, and allows up to two voting directors to be appointed rather than elected.
  • Financials are worse than the headline suggests: the reported $1M surplus normalizes to a $350K operational deficit once unfilled-position savings are stripped out, extending a ten-year trend of expenses exceeding revenues, with another $584K deficit budgeted for 2026.
  • Resolution 5 — robotic milking sensor data as official test data — earned the day’s strongest mandate at 85%, but HC announced no working group lead, no timeline, and no budget, leaving the single most important strategic file for the breed’s 2035 relevance without a plan.
  • The 2025 accountability resolutions (branch D&O insurance, classifier autonomy, bilingual service, crampy bull identification) received no formal progress report at the 2026 AGM — the same meeting that codified §4.15, which now lets the board ignore future resolutions by default.
  • Branches should coordinate a Special General Meeting request with electronic voting specifically to revisit Sections 2.05, 2.09, 4.15, and 5.05; without that pressure, the governance centralization passed on April 18 becomes permanent and the 2027 AGM becomes a ratification meeting, not a deliberative one.

The Bullvine will continue reporting on Holstein Canada’s governance, financials, classification strategy, and data partnerships through 2026 and beyond. Tips, source documents, and branch communications are welcomed at the usual address. If you were in the room on April 18 and your voice has not been captured here, we want to hear from you.

Complete references and supporting documentation are available upon request by contacting the editorial team at editor@thebullvine.com.

Learn More

The Sunday Read Dairy Professionals Don’t Skip.

Every week, thousands of producers, breeders, and industry insiders open Bullvine Weekly for genetics insights, market shifts, and profit strategies they won’t find anywhere else. One email. Five minutes. Smarter decisions all week.

NewsSubscribe
First
Last
Consent

The Classifier Behind Eight EX‑97s: Bruno Jubinville’s Lifetime Crusade for Balance

In 1997, Bruno Jubinville couldn’t order coffee in English — but he could read a cow. Today, his balance‑first gospel is shaping barns from Quebec to Brazil.

Bruno Jubinville demonstrates the gospel of balance to classifiers from 50 countries during an international training session at Blondin Sires in St. Placide, Quebec. Twenty-nine years of reading cows — distilled into two open hands and one message. 

The Purina truck was still running when Bruno Jubinville walked into the barn.

He wasn’t there to evaluate cows. He was dropping off bags of heifer feed — a fill-in job after the Master Breeder herd he’d worked at for nine years had dispersed. But the Holstein Canada classification crew had just wrapped up their visit, and the classifiers were still hanging around when Bruno came through with his delivery.

One of them — half joking, half challenging, the way dairy people do across barn aisles everywhere — turned to him. “How many points would you give those cows?”

Bruno glanced at the animals. He said it for the laugh, he’d later recall. “87, 86.”

Both scores matched exactly what the official classifiers had just recorded.

Within a week, Holstein Canada was on the phone. They needed a French-speaking classifier from Quebec. There was just one hitch. Bruno Jubinville didn’t speak a word of English.

Not one.

That was April 1997. He wouldn’t leave Holstein Canada for nearly twenty-nine years.

Concrete Foundations and Cow Foundations

Bruno grew up in Coaticook, a small agricultural town in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, about twenty minutes from the Vermont border. It’s deep agricultural country — the kind of place where kids absorb the rhythms of dairy whether they mean to or not.

By twelve or thirteen, he was doing summer work on local farms — not purebred operations, just regular hay-season labour that puts calluses on your hands before your voice changes. After school, he crossed the border to Manchester, New Hampshire, where he poured concrete foundations for houses. Hard, physical, good money.

But family reasons brought him back to Quebec, where he landed at Chacook Holstein — a Master Breeder herd where he’d spend the next eight or nine years doing something he never planned on: learning to read cattle.

“I learned everything there,” he says. “They were really good cowmen. They bought lots of cows, we sold them, and I learned a lot.”

No animal science degree. Nine years in a barn where the standard was Master Breeder or nothing — watching, handling, studying cows that had to be right. That’s probably the credential that matters most.

When Chacook herd was sold, Bruno took the Purina delivery job. Supposed to be temporary.

Turned out to be a runway.

“Chantal Translated for Me. They Gave Me the Job.”

After that barn-floor audition — truck still idling outside — things moved fast.

Holstein Canada needed a Quebec-based classifier, and Bruno was invited to a formal evaluation: score six cows in front of a board with senior staff and veteran classifiers. He drove there with Chantal Chalette, a perfectly bilingual colleague who’d been asked to come along for a very practical reason.

Bruno’s English was, by his own admission, “zero.”

Every time the board asked a question, Chantal translated. Every time Bruno gave his assessment, she relayed it back. At the end, she turned to him with a line that belongs in a movie: “I translated for you. They’re going to give you the job.”

Bruno wasn’t so sure. That night, the phone rang for both of them at the same time. He was in.

He spent his first two or three years classifying across Canadian provinces without being able to communicate directly with English-speaking breeders. He’d walk in, evaluate the cows, give the final score, and leave. The numbers did the talking.

But it gnawed at him.

“I said to Jay Shannon, I would like to have an English course,” Bruno recalls, “because I want to understand the people who speak English. I want to work with them better and understand what they do.”

He took the course. Think about that. Nobody asked him to. Nobody expected it. A guy already proving he could do the job across multiple provinces just decided the numbers weren’t enough — he wanted to connect with the breeders he served.

Sixty Cows a Day and the Dark Alberta Roads

Here’s something people outside the classification world don’t appreciate — what the job actually looks like, week in, week out.

You leave home on Monday morning. Early. If the first farm is five hours away, you’re scoring cows by 1:30 in the afternoon. If it’s closer, maybe 10 AM. Four to six herds a day. Around sixty cows. Some breeders want you there at 4 AM so the udders are full. Others are fine with 7. You try to finish by five. You don’t always.

The work itself is quieter than people think. You stand behind the cow. You read the rear legs — the set, the angle, the way she carries weight. You note the udder floor, the fore attachment, and the teat placement. You assess the loin width, the body depth, and the spring of the rib. Sixty times a day, five days a week. The good classifiers see it in seconds. The great ones see what it’ll look like in three lactations.

Then the phone calls. Monday nights, Tuesday nights, lunch breaks — you’re scheduling next week’s visits while still grinding through this week’s.

“It’s really, really important to give a good service to the breeder,” Bruno says. “And those team members are really, really passionate about what they’re doing. You need to be. Because you’re always by yourself on the road.”

The isolation is the part nobody talks about. Some nights, you come back to a hotel room after a breeder was unhappy with a score, and you sit with that alone. No colleague to debrief with. No team dinner. Just you, the ceiling, and the knowledge that you’ll do it all again at 7 AM.

And those Alberta winters in the late ’90s — before GPS was standard, classifiers navigated by written directions. Drive five miles, turn at the barn with the blue roof, look for the light. Six miles into the darkness without one? You’re lost.

“In BC, you score more cows per day. In Quebec or Ontario, more herds, fewer cows per stop,” Bruno explains. The geography shaped the grind differently across provinces. The grind was constant everywhere.

Five days a week. Every week. For twenty-nine years. In 1997, punching linear scores into an early handheld that was basically a glorified calculator. By 2021, doing it on Connexxion.

Tom Showed Him the Passion

Ask Bruno who shaped him, and three names come up right away: André Tardif, Gilbert, and Tom.

“André Tardif showed me to be professional — always — when I’m doing my job,” Bruno says. “Gilbert hired me. And Tom — Tom showed me the passion. He transferred to me his passion.”

Tom Byers. Thirty years at Holstein Canada — eventually rising to Head Classifier — he was originally from Scotland and classified more than 300,000 cows over his career. The Bullvine profiled Tom years ago, and if you know his work, you see his fingerprints all over Bruno’s approach — the emphasis on education, the refusal to let a final score substitute for actual understanding of an animal.

Bruno absorbed Tom’s philosophy completely. When he started doing international workshops for the World Holstein Friesian Federation, Bruno ranked second among the presenters his very first time out — a performance he credits directly to what Tom taught him.

Here’s the thing Tom drilled into him — the insight that became the backbone of Bruno’s entire professional worldview. “At the end, I don’t think the final score is really important,” Bruno says. “It’s the linear code. Every country, when they look at our genetics, they work with our linear codes — not with the final score.”

The score is for the breeder’s wall. The linear traits are for the breed’s future. If you’ve ever wondered why the classification number everyone obsesses over isn’t actually the data that moves the needle on genetic progress, there it is, straight from a man who spent three decades inside the system.

Friday at 7 AM. Two 97s. One Weekend to Madison.

In Holstein history, Canada has had 11 cows that scored 97 points. Bruno participated in classifying eight of them.

Eight 97s, three breeds, one eye. The cows Bruno Jubinville helped classify to EX‑97 across his 29-year career — Holsteins, a Jersey, a Brown Swiss, and an Ayrshire. “All of them have a little defect,” he says. “All of them.” That’s what makes 97 extraordinary, not perfect.

He rattles off the names the way other people name their kids: James Rose, Kendra, Hailey, Shakira — and then beyond the Holsteins, Gorgeous the Jersey, Brown Heaven Fantasy the Brown Swiss, and the Ayrshire, View Village Gentleman Joy. Each one carries a memory so vivid you can practically feel the barn humidity in his voice.

The morning that sticks out the most is a Friday at 7 AM at Pierre Boulet’s farm. Bruno and his colleague Daniel were there, and two cows — Thrulane James Rose and Bruynland Strom Kendra — both scored 97 on the same visit.

“We were really nervous,” Bruno recalls, “because we scored 97 for two of them, and that put a lot of pressure on us.”

Both cows left that same weekend for Madison — World Dairy Expo. Rose, who was actually sick and resting when people were debating which cow deserved what, would go on to change the direction of the show ring itself.

“Rose was really ahead of the breed at that time,” Bruno says. “She changed the show. Smaller cows, a little bit. Before, it was all Logic — the Duke, so big and tall and long. Then Rose arrived.”

And Bruno was right there at the inflection point, clipboard in hand.

When you ask him which 97 was the most complete, he doesn’t hesitate. “Shakira. She was the most complete 97 I scored. On her legs, mammary, dairy strength — I would like to see the rib structure just a tiny bit more. But she’s the most complete.”

Remi Bernier, Bruno Jubinville, and Dave Weitzel with Erbacres Snapple Shakira EX‑97 — the cow Bruno calls “the most complete 97 I ever scored.” On her legs, mammary, dairy strength, she was as close to perfect as the system allows. Almost. (Photo: Carl Saucier)

Then he says the quiet part out loud — the thing that reveals how a great classifier actually thinks: “We need to understand — 97 points is not perfect. All of them have a little defect. All of them.”

He walks through the others with the reverence of a man who knows he’ll never see their like again. Vandenberg Amedeo Gorgeous — the Jersey — was a tank, the widest udder he’d ever laid eyes on. Hailey walked like a princess, so stylish that “when she arrived on the ring, nobody was talking.” And View Village Gentleman Joy — an Ayrshire he first scored as an 88 in first lactation, then 97 in a later round — remains “really special.”

His eye worked across breeds, not just Holsteins. He classified Brown Heaven Fantasy to 97 as a Brown Swiss, and scored another Brown Swiss — Iroquois Acres Jong Cali at Lookout Farm — to 97 alongside colleague Chantal Chalette. He also classified Goldwyn’s 1,000th Excellent daughter in Canada — Donar Pally Jo Goldwyn EX-90, a fourth-lactation cow with over 53,000 kg lifetime production at the time, bred and owned by Dorothea Beier and Horst Schulz in St. Cyrille, Quebec.

The Gospel of Balance

If there’s one word Bruno would stitch into the coveralls of every dairy farmer on the planet, it’s balance.

His favourite way of explaining it involves a football player he sat beside on a flight home from British Columbia. The guy was about 6’2″, over 300 pounds — a lineman who passed the ball to the quarterback. In the airplane seat, he looked enormous. Uncomfortable. Too big for the space.

“But when he started to walk at the airport, he was really functional,” Bruno says. “Strong and wide. The problem wasn’t that he was too big. The problem was that the seat was too small.”

Then the pivot: “That means every cow doesn’t fit everywhere. It depends on what kind of barn you have, what kind of installation you’ve got. Not every bull fits everywhere. Not every cow fits everywhere.”

It challenges a tendency that persisted in dairy breeding for generations — the pursuit of extremes. Extreme stature. Extreme frame. Extreme openness. Bruno watched that trend come, peak, and — finally — start to recede.

“When I started classifying, we’d sometimes finish herds at a 72 or 73 average,” he says. “Now we don’t see that anymore. It’s hard to find a heifer at 75 or 76. Most are 80 and over. We’re on the right path. I’m really, really happy about that.”

Walk into almost any Canadian herd today, and the spread among two-year-olds is maybe five or six points. That was unthinkable when he started. The consistency of modern cattle — driven by decades of genetic progress and the classification system’s increasing focus on functional traits — is something Bruno considers a genuine triumph.

But there’s a caveat, and it’s a big one.

The breed is now calving heifers at 22 to 24 months. Some of those heifers are milking 40 to 45 kilograms a day in first lactation. “It’s really hard for them,” Bruno says. “When a heifer is producing 45 kilos, the energy she needs — she’s running a marathon every day. She needs something behind her to produce and still stay in the barn.”

That “something behind her” is structural balance — the legs, the loin, the feet, the udder attachments that let a cow absorb the punishment of high early production and come back for second, third, fourth lactation. Without it, she’s a one-lactation wonder. And the industry can’t afford one-lactation wonders — not at today’s replacement costs.

His international presentations carried titles that doubled as manifestos — The Symmetry of a Cow and The Secret of Balance. Same message, delivered in barns from Southern Alberta to Cremona, Italy: you can have all the genetics in the world, but if the cow can’t stand on her feet and hold her frame together, the genetics don’t matter.

He’s got a dozen versions of the same teaching story, too. One breeder told him flat out: “I don’t like type. I don’t like type.” Bruno scored the herd — 81, 82, nothing special. Then he scored one cow 85. The breeder pointed right at her: “She’s my best. She gives lots of milk.” Bruno just smiled. “Yeah. But this is the type, you know.”

Locomotion: “My Baby”

If there’s one trait Bruno claims personal ownership of in the Canadian classification program, it’s locomotion.

“I always, always pushed to have locomotion,” he says. “For a long, long time. It was my goal before I left, to have locomotion evaluated. Because I think it’s really, really important.”

Canada’s challenge was unique. With a large proportion of tie-stall barns — particularly in Quebec — locomotion was harder to evaluate and harder to weigh properly compared to countries where cows walk an hour or more to the milking parlor every single day.

But Bruno’s international work opened his eyes to how critical the trait is once you step outside a tie-stall reality. In the Azores, cows walk through steep volcanic hills for one to two hours daily to reach the parlor. In New Zealand, they’re outside 99% of the time. And in England? The economic weighting on locomotion is enormous — because the data proves better-moving cows make more money.

“In England, the weighting of locomotion is really, really high,” Bruno explains. “They have numbers behind numbers. I mean money. When you have good locomotion, your cows make more money.”

He and colleague Jill Nelson developed a locomotion scoring video — a visual training tool scored on a 1-to-9 scale — that went out to classifiers across the country. It was one of the tangible tools Bruno left behind when he moved on.

Within Canada’s system, the three most important components for feet and legs are heel depth, side view of the rear legs, and rear leg rear view — all feeding into locomotion assessment. “I think we’re pretty good now,” he says. “I’m really happy.”

Getting Ten Countries to Agree on What a 7 Means

Classification harmonization — getting ten countries to agree on what a 7 for rear leg rear view actually means — sounds bureaucratic until you realize it determines which Canadian bulls get used in Colombia. Bruno sat on the WHFF Type Harmonization Working Group alongside representatives from the United States, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and New Zealand, meeting at international workshops to work through the painstaking details of making classification data comparable across borders. When he couldn’t make the most recent session in Cremona — he was sick — Carolin Turner stepped in. When semen from Canadian bulls flows to dozens of countries, and buyers in Brazil or Australia rely on Canadian linear data to make purchasing decisions, this harmonization work has real economic consequences.

Bruno also took the Canadian classification system directly to Colombia, running training courses for local classifiers. He worked across Australia, Brazil, and numerous other countries. And he wasn’t just exporting a system — he was learning.

Bruno Jubinville (front row, centre) with Brazilian classifiers after a hands-on training session, November 2025. Different hemisphere, same language — balance.

“Every time, I love everywhere,” he says. “It’s so incredible how people like Canadian cows, how they like what we’re doing. They listen a lot, and they learn with us — and we learn too.”

Carolin Turner served as his co-coordinator for years at Holstein Canada, and when the CEO named Brad Eggink as Classification Manager back in 2017, he singled out Bruno and Carolin as “key leaders of our dedicated Classification Team” who would “take our Classification program to the next level.” That kind of endorsement doesn’t come from punching a clock.

Carolin Turner and Bruno Jubinville in their early Holstein Canada days. Nearly three decades later, when Bruno was too sick to make the WHFF session in Cremona, it was Carolin who stepped in — the kind of partnership that doesn’t need explaining

But Bruno pushes back on the nationalism that sometimes creeps into breeding conversations. “We talk about Canadian kind, Canadian kind. But I think everybody, every herd in the world, needs the same cows. Balance. This is where we are. The breeding is all around the world now.”

Still, when he sees balanced, functional cattle abroad, something sneaks in. “In my head, I always say, ‘This is a Canadian cow.’ I don’t know why. But it’s like — balance. We talk about balance.”

The Genomics Question

When genomic testing arrived, fear swept through the classification world. Bruno remembers it clearly.

“Classifiers were scared,” he says. “They said, ‘Genomics will take our jobs.’ People were saying we don’t need classification anymore.”

If you can predict a cow’s type traits from a DNA sample, why send a human to her barn? It wasn’t an unreasonable question. A lot of people in the industry were asking it.

Bruno’s answer is pragmatic: “Genomics is one of the best tools we’ve ever had. But it’s one tool in a box of tools. If genomics is so important, we need classification to prove the numbers. To improve reliability. You need classification.”

Tom Byers made the same point years earlier. “Any progress we’ve made is through classification and milk recording,” Tom shared in a 2018 interview. “Genomics wouldn’t exist without them.” Bruno and Tom — mentor and protégé — singing from the same hymnal on this one.

And they’re right. Genomic predictions are only as good as the phenotypic data they’re trained on. Without ongoing classification — without actual people evaluating actual cows — the reference population powering those predictions stagnates. Reliability drops. Breeding decisions get worse.

The proof is already showing up. Some genetic operations now have five, six, or seven generations with no classification or milk recording. The validation gap is growing. And the industry relying on those numbers hasn’t fully reckoned with what that means.

“When genomics arrived, some people totally forgot about family,” Bruno says. “They forgot about cow families. We always talk about bulls, bulls, bulls. But we need to talk about females. Both. We need both to improve the breed.”

That position has gained real traction lately, especially as breeders have seen genomic overreliance produce its own set of disappointments — bulls whose daughters don’t match the predictions, and cow families that fall apart after one flashy generation. The Bullvine’s own recent reporting on inbreeding trends and the Blondin Sires approach to deep-pedigree sire selection underscores just how relevant this concern has become. The pendulum is swinging back. Slowly.

First Out the Door With Connexxion

When Holstein Canada launched Connexxion in April 2021 — the new on-farm digital platform replacing a system in use since 2005 — they didn’t send a junior classifier to the debut. They sent Bruno. He headed to Peartome Holsteins for the first official classification visit using the new technology.

Classic Bruno. He asked for English courses when nobody expected him to. He championed locomotion when the tie-stall lobby pushed back. He adopted new tech when it improved service delivery. The thread connecting all of it? Whatever helps the breeder, do it.

Sandra at Véronamour, a brand-new Holstein Canada member when Bruno showed up for one of her early classification visits back in 2012, put it: “He provided us with so much information — he took the time to define each trait, the ideal traits that we should strive for in each animal, and why. It was a very informative visit for me; I use the information every day.”

That was fourteen years ago. The approach never changed.

The Part of the Cow Nobody Talks About

Before the interview wrapped, Bruno circled back to the thing he really wanted to say — the technical detail closest to his heart.

“Some countries still don’t evaluate loin,” he says, “but for me, it’s one of the most important parts of the cow.”

Most breeders think of the loin as the curvature of the topline. Bruno defines it differently. The loin — those vertebrae on top — needs to be strong and wide, side to side, because it supports the internal angle of the reproductive cavity. A strong loin keeps the fertility system at the proper angle. In the first lactation, you won’t notice a problem. But as a cow ages, a weak loin shifts that cavity angle, making her harder to breed, and shortens her productive life.

“We need to check inside the cow,” Bruno says. “When you look at a cow, not just outside. If she’s got a good loin, you can see that the internal angle of the cavity and the fertility system is right. This is why it’s so important for me.”

And then he delivers a line that might be the most provocative thing he said in the whole conversation: “I think the genetic potential is higher than what breeders can use right now because of management level. The genetics are pretty, pretty high now. I can’t imagine in the future we’ll have significantly better cows than this.”

He’s not saying we’ve hit the ceiling of genetic progress. He’s saying the gap between what genetics can deliver and what management practices currently capture is the real frontier. The cows are ready. The barns — the protocols, the transition management, the foot care, the facilities — aren’t always keeping up.

The Math That Makes Balance Pay

Bruno’s argument for balance and longevity isn’t just philosophical. Run the numbers, and it snaps into sharp focus.

Canada’s national average is roughly 2.5 to 2.7 lactations. At current replacement costs — CA$3,000 to $3,500 for a springing heifer — every additional lactation a cow completes is worth roughly $1,500 to $2,000 in avoided replacement cost alone, before you even count the peak production she gives in lactations three and four.

Here’s the math: push your herd from 2.7 to 3.5 average lactations on 100 cows — that’s 80 additional cow-lactations at roughly $1,750 in avoided replacement cost each. Call it $140,000.

That’s your robot payment. That’s your barn renovation. That’s the difference between scraping by and building equity.

And classification — the system Bruno championed for nearly three decades — exists for exactly this reason: to identify and reward the structural traits that let a cow last.

“After one hundred years of classification,” he says, “people still don’t know enough about why we classify. The program is built for two things: longevity and productivity. That’s the goal.”

“I Never Want to Stop Working With Cows”

After twenty-nine years at Holstein Canada — rising from field classifier to Manager of On-Farm Operations — Bruno made the move that surprised half the industry and made perfect sense to the other half. He joined Blondin Sires.

Not as a salesman. As an ambassador.

“I don’t want to sell semen,” he says bluntly. “I’m not a salesman. My role will be to educate people. What is a good cow? What is a balanced cow?”

The fit makes sense. Blondin Sires — owned by Simon Lalande, Dann Brady, and Nicolas Lalande out of St. Placide, Quebec — is built on exactly the philosophy Bruno has been preaching for three decades: deep pedigrees, functional type, and cow families you can actually trace back through generations of real milk records. Dann Brady co-founded Blondin Sires in part because he couldn’t find bulls backed by the kind of documented maternal lines he wanted in the major AI catalogues. That’s Bruno’s language. That’s balance.

“With my twenty-nine years,” Bruno says, “this is what I want to give — more follow-up to the breeders, more help with the breeding they do. Because it’s an investment, it’s really, really important.”

“It was hard for me to make the decision to leave, because I really love the team I work with,” he admits. That team — Carolin Turner and the classifiers he’d trained and mentored across every province — had been his professional family for the better part of three decades. Walking away from that takes a different kind of courage than walking into a barn at 4 AM.

But he’s got strong teammates at Blondin. Brian Carscadden, the Executive Senior Manager who brought more than 25 years of international sire analyst experience to the role, is deeply involved in the company’s growth strategy. And Dann Brady may have spent more time studying pedigrees and cow families than anyone in the Canadian industry — the kind of person Bruno can learn from while bringing his own three decades of type evaluation to the table.

“I still learn a lot about bulls and so many numbers,” Bruno says. “But I think it’s really important to help breeders with what they really need in the field. This is what I want to do.”

Still Learning

There’s a photograph floating around social media of Bruno at Mapleburn Farms during a classification visit. In the background, the farm kids are drawing cows on paper while he works.

That image says more than any career summary could.

“If we explain to them when they’re young,” Bruno says, “they will know in the future, when they’re on the farm, how important it is to have balanced cows and balanced herds. Because longevity — it’s the clue of the future.”

Bruno Jubinville spent his career inside one of Canada’s most important dairy industry programs. He scored eight of the eleven highest-classified cows in the country’s history. He pushed for locomotion when it wasn’t fashionable. He took the Canadian system to Colombia, to Brazil, to Cremona, and brought lessons home every time. He was the first to use Connexxion, the first classifier from Quebec to ask for English courses, and one of the last people you’d ever catch bragging about any of it.

“I never expected you would do an article on me like this, you know?” he says near the end of the conversation.

Twenty-nine years. Eight 97-point cows. A dozen countries. One word — balance — repeated so consistently that it became a career.

At Blondin, the barns are different. The conversations have shifted from linear scores to mating decisions. But the message won’t change. It hasn’t changed in three decades. It won’t start now.

Balance. Longevity. Respect the breeder. Love the cow.

And keep learning. Every single day.

Key Takeaways

  • A “joke” score from behind a feed truck turned into 29 years of classification, eight EX‑97 cows, and one of the most influential “eyes” in Canadian Holsteins.
  • Bruno’s bottom line: balance pays. Cows that last 3.5 lactations instead of 2.7 can put roughly $140,000 back into a 100‑cow herd in avoided replacements.
  • He helped drag locomotion, loin strength, and functional udders from the margins into the middle of the scorecard — exactly what 2025 robot barns and high‑yield fresh cows need.
  • Genomics, in his view, is just one tool in the box; without ongoing classification and cow-family data, the predictions drift, and inbreeding problems snowball.
  • At Blondin Sires, he’s taking that “classifier brain” straight into sire selection, focusing on deep cow families and balanced type instead of chasing the latest genomic rocket.

Continue the Story

The Sunday Read Dairy Professionals Don’t Skip.

Every week, thousands of producers, breeders, and industry insiders open Bullvine Weekly for genetics insights, market shifts, and profit strategies they won’t find anywhere else. One email. Five minutes. Smarter decisions all week.

NewsSubscribe
First
Last
Consent

This Was Never About the Cattle: What the TD 4-H Classic Really Teaches at 5:47 AM

Half these farms won’t exist in 20 years. But watch these kids at 5:47 AM—they’re not learning to show cows. They’re learning to lead an industry.

You see kids washing cattle. I see Canada’s next dairy CEOs learning their most valuable skill: helping competitors when nobody’s keeping score. That teenager in the red jacket? They don’t know it yet, but in 15 years they’ll build a genetics company with someone washing calves three stalls over. The rival they’re about to help with a stuck zipper? Future business partner.

I’ll never forget standing in that wash rack before dawn, exhausted and covered in soap, when the truth finally hit me: This was never about the cattle.

It was about who we become when nobody’s watching.

I was fourteen, third year competing at what was then called the Scotiabank Hays Classic. I’d just placed third in Intermediate Showmanship—respectable, not remarkable. But what moved me most wasn’t the ribbon. It was what happened in those quiet hours before the crowds arrived, before the judges appeared, before anything counted.

Younger members from another county team started seeking me out during those early-morning wash sessions. Not because anyone told them to. But because in those cold morning wash racks, we all learned the same truth: You survive this together, or you don’t survive it at all.

“Can you help me?” they’d ask. “How do you stay calm when everything goes wrong?”

That’s when the weight of it landed—the kind of responsibility that changes you. I wasn’t just competing anymore. I was becoming someone others looked to when the pressure got real.

Our Wentworth County team, celebrating our Premier Hays Classic win, was in my second year competing at what was then called the Scotiabank Hays Classic. The pride in this moment went beyond the ribbons; it was about the teamwork and leadership that earned us that “Building Youth Leadership” banner.

The Winter Everything Almost Fell Apart

The courage it took to walk away from security still catches my breath when I think about it.

By my late twenties, I had everything society says matters. Six-figure consulting salary. Professional prestige. A clear path forward. Three generations of our family had built a Master Breeder operation in southern Ontario. Dad spent nearly three decades revolutionizing Holstein Canada’s genetic evaluation system. His philosophy wasn’t just words on his office wall: “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”

But there I was. Following. Following someone else’s dream while mine withered.

My wife’s faith saved me. When I told her I couldn’t do it anymore—couldn’t keep trading my soul for a paycheck—she didn’t panic about the money we’d lose. She believed we’d figure it out together.

So I came home and started building from nothing. A marketing agency from our kitchen table. Within five years, we’d grown to serve four Fortune 500 companies. But even that success felt hollow. The pull back to dairy—to the industry that raised me—was too strong to ignore.

Why David Beats Goliath in Canadian Dairy

Here’s what shouldn’t make sense but does.

Canada has roughly 9,000 dairy farms, according to Agriculture Canada’s latest count. The United States? Over 30,000. We have 1.4 million dairy cattle. They have 9.4 million.

By every logical measure, we should be irrelevant. A footnote in global dairy genetics.

Instead—and this still amazes me—Canada exports between $155 and $178 million in dairy genetics annually. Our Holstein genetics consistently rank in the top three globally. We achieve the world’s best carbon efficiency at 48% below global averages.

How does a country a fraction of the size punch so far above its weight?

Look at who’s leading Canadian dairy. The vast majority came through 4-H programs like the Classic. That’s not a coincidence. That’s what happens when you systematically build leaders from age twelve up.

Curtis McNeil proved it. Won the Classic Grand Championship in 2005, the same week he captured Holstein Canada’s President’s Cup—first person ever to claim both. Today, he’s earned three Master Breeder shields, serves on Semex Alliance’s executive board. When he returned to judge the 2024 Classic showmanship, watching 300 teenagers compete, he called it “the best showmanship class I have ever seen in my life.”

Tyler Canning, 2022 Grand Champion. Nadia Uhr, 2024 Champion, after five years of competing. The pattern repeats across hundreds of Classic alumni now leading every major dairy organization in Canada.

My brother, Paul, then CEO of URUS, judging the TD Canadian 4-H Dairy Classic. Here, he’s congratulating Peter Leach from Kawartha Lakes, the Grand Champion Showman. Seeing Paul, a Classic alumnus, return to judge and recognize the next generation of leaders vividly illustrates how this network comes full circle and continues to shape the industry’s future. 

The Conversation That Keeps Me Awake

But here’s the hard truth these kids deserve to hear, even though it hurts to say it.

Based on current consolidation trends, industry analysts project that approximately half the dairy farms operating today won’t exist when these teenagers are thirty-five. Not because farmers failed. Because the economics became impossible for mid-size operations.

In the United States, mega-dairies with 2,500+ cows now produce 46% of milk while representing just 3% of operations. Technology isn’t optional anymore—robotic milking, AI monitoring, and precision agriculture demand millions in investment that most farms simply can’t afford.

The world these kids are entering is exponentially harder than what I faced.

So what do I tell those 300 teenagers preparing for the 2025 Classic, knowing what’s ahead?

Don’t be afraid to change the world. Use what you’re learning here to take on the world. And remember—the bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you fail to make the turn.

Some will leave dairy. That’s not giving up—it’s using the judgment skills we learned right here. Sometimes the bravest decision is recognizing when to pivot toward where your skills create more impact.

What Really Happens at 5:47 AM

Standing at the Royal Winter Fair last November, watching the 41st annual TD Canadian 4-H Dairy Classic, I saw myself in every teenager preparing their calf in those pre-dawn hours.

The wash racks at dawn tell the real story. Three hundred teenagers from counties across Canada, all preparing for classes that start in two hours. Premier County championships hang on every point. The competition is fierce.

But watch what actually happens: Competitors from rival counties stop their own preparations to help someone who is struggling. They share equipment without being asked. They teach techniques to direct competitors. They offer encouragement when frustration peaks.

Nobody mandates this. No rules require it.

This is simply who we are. Who we’ve always been.

Those people beside you at 5:47 AM become your professional network for the next forty years. When you need someone who understands the weight of impossible decisions, when you need truth without judgment, you call someone you showed against decades ago. That trust—you can’t manufacture it in boardrooms or build it through LinkedIn. It’s forged when you’re all exhausted, scared, and determined not to let each other fail.

Why I Had to Build The Bullvine

The moment that changed everything came when I was thirty-five. February 2012. Two weeks from initial idea to launching The Bullvine’s first article.

For that entire first year, I did not seek advertisers. Complete editorial freedom mattered more than financial security. People thought I’d lost my mind. Looking back, maybe I had.

But every skill I needed to make it work came from those years competing at the Classic. Making split-second decisions when your calf won’t cooperate and five hundred people are watching. Getting up the next morning after not doing as well as you had hoped. Walking back into that ring knowing you might fail again.

That’s the real training. Not for showing cattle—for life.

Today, The Bullvine reaches over 400,000 monthly readers. It’s become dairy’s most essential, most provocative platform. But what matters more is what it represents: proof that skills learned at fifteen in a show ring can build something at thirty-five that changes an entire industry’s conversation.

The Network That Will Save Everything

What happens at the Classic doesn’t stay at the Classic. It builds the collaborative tissue that makes Canadian dairy globally competitive despite our size.

When Canadian dairy organizations pioneered genomic selection—doubling genetic progress rates—it succeeded because people who’d competed as teenagers trusted each other as adults. Research institutions, AI organizations, breed associations, and progressive breeders are all collaborating across traditional boundaries.

That web of trust, built at 5:47 AM in wash racks over shared exhaustion and determination, drives Canada’s outsized global impact. You can trace nearly every major innovation in Canadian dairy back to relationships formed in 4-H.

What These Kids Really Need to Know

Parents watching their children compete face an impossible question: How do you prepare kids for an industry that might not exist when they’re ready to take over?

Here’s what my journey taught me: You’re not preparing them for dairy farming. You’re preparing them to navigate complexity and uncertainty with grace. Whether they lead dairy operations, genetics companies, technology startups, or ventures we can’t yet imagine—they’re learning to drive change rather than be consumed by it.

For ten years competing, I thought I was learning to show cattle.

I was actually learning to make impossible decisions with incomplete information. To find hope when logic says quit. To lift others when you’re barely standing yourself. To persist when persistence seems pointless.

These aren’t cattle skills. They’re survival skills. The same ones that let you leave a secure job with young kids depending on you. Launch a media platform that everyone says will fail. Tell uncomfortable truths that an industry needs to hear. And somehow find a way to make it all work.

My parents always said 4-H was our stepping stone for learning. From projects that taught responsibility to giving reasons that built confidence and public speaking skills, 4-H became the cornerstone of everything that came after.

The Real Legacy Forged at 5:47 AM

Standing at the Royal last November, I saw myself in every teenager preparing their calf in those pre-dawn hours.

5:47 AM. Three hundred teenagers from across Canada. Premier County championships hang on every point. The competition is fierce.

But watch what actually happens.

I saw a young woman from western Ontario helping a first-timer from the Maritimes who couldn’t get all the soap out of her calf. I saw a senior competitor from Ontario lend clipping equipment to someone from Alberta whose clippers failed.

Nobody mandates this. No rules require it. No one is keeping score.

This is simply who we are.

Those people beside you at 5:47 AM become your professional network for the next forty years. When you need someone who understands the weight of impossible decisions, you call someone you showed against decades ago. That trust—you can’t manufacture it in boardrooms. It’s forged when you’re all exhausted, scared, and determined not to let each other fail.

Three hundred teenagers. One cold November morning. The future of an industry that statistics say shouldn’t survive.

But we will. We always have. Not through miracles or magical market corrections.

Through each other.

That’s the harvest that matters most—not in the field or barn, but in the people we become together.

The road will bend. It always does. But if you use what you learn here—really use it—you’ll make the turn. Trust me on this. I’ve made that turn several times now, and each time I’ve drawn on skills learned standing exactly where these kids stand today.

In a world that often forgets, this is what we’re really teaching in those wash racks at dawn: How to be the person someone else needs when everything feels impossible.

The cattle were always just the excuse to bring us together.

The humans we become in those moments before dawn—that’s the real legacy.

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

  • Your competition at 5:47 AM becomes your career safety net at 35: The teenager you help in the wash rack today calls you with the opportunity that saves your farm in 2040
  • Canada’s secret weapon costs nothing: We export $178M in genetics with 1/3 the farms because rivals helping rivals at dawn creates trust that boardrooms can’t buy
  • The skills that matter aren’t about cattle: Walking into the ring after public failure, making decisions while 500 watch, lifting others when you’re drowning—that’s the real curriculum
  • “The bend in the road is not the end”: When half of dairy farms vanish, Classic alumni thrive because at 14 they learned the difference between quitting and pivoting
  • The cattle were always just the excuse: Building humans who understand collective success beats individual achievement—that’s why 4-H kids run Canadian dairy

The Sunday Read Dairy Professionals Don’t Skip.

Every week, thousands of producers, breeders, and industry insiders open Bullvine Weekly for genetics insights, market shifts, and profit strategies they won’t find anywhere else. One email. Five minutes. Smarter decisions all week.

NewsSubscribe
First
Last
Consent

Canada and Mexico Brace for USMCA Shakeup: What Dairy Farmers Need to Know Amid U.S. Election Rumblings

Ready for the impact of the U.S. election on the USMCA? Discover the potential changes for Canadian and Mexican dairy farmers.

Summary:

Hold onto your hats, folks! The looming U.S. election could throw a wrench into the current state of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have made it clear—renegotiation is on the table. With North America’s trade landscape in their hands, what changes might be in store for Canada’s and Mexico’s interconnected economies? The stakes are sky-high. Canada, with 80% of its exports heading south, is all-in on maintaining its substantial $900 billion trade relationship. Meanwhile, Mexico has its gaze set on shielding its vital vehicle-manufacturing sector while also aligning with U.S. expectations regarding Chinese imports. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is a significant trade deal that has been criticized for its imbalances in economic benefits and labor regulations. Are Canadian and Mexican dairy industries ready to adapt to potential shifts? The debate revolves around dairy market access and tariffs, with two scenarios emerging: reduced tariffs to flood markets with domestic products or tariffs to secure American interests but pose challenges for Mexican businesses relying on U.S. imports. Canada’s economy is at a critical point, while Mexico’s dairy sector faces challenges in balancing U.S. demands and safeguarding its interests.

Key Takeaways:

  • The USMCA renegotiation could reshape the North American dairy market dynamics, affecting supply chains and economic stability in Canada and Mexico.
  • Canada’s essential export relationship with the U.S., particularly in the dairy sector, faces uncertainty, triggering lobbying efforts to safeguard trade agreements.
  • Mexico’s vehicle-manufacturing industry and dairy trade are pivotal points of concern amid U.S. demands regarding Chinese imports.
  • The potential renegotiation reflects broader economic strategies by both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, impacting industries and bilateral relationships.
  • Stakeholders in the dairy sector should brace for potential shifts in market access and regulatory practices due to changes in digital trade and anticorruption regulations.
  • Regardless of the election outcome, the USMCA’s renegotiation underscores the ongoing evolution of North American economic ties and their global implications.
USMCA trade deal, dairy market access, tariffs impact, Kamala Harris USMCA, Donald Trump renegotiation, Canadian dairy industry, Mexican dairy sector, economic benefits imbalance, trade deal challenges, supply chain adjustments

Have you ever considered how a change in U.S. trade policy might ripple across your dairy farm’s operations? As the U.S. gears up for an election full of contentious debates, the future of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) hangs in the balance. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are eyeing renegotiations that could unsettle existing trade relationships. But what does this mean for your dairy business? Let’s find out. 

“Renegotiating USMCA could potentially reshape entire industries, with dairy being one of the most vulnerable.” — Wall Street Journal.

As candidates vocalize their plans, Canada, which exports 80% of its goods to its southern neighbor and Mexico, is on high alert. And with billions of dollars and livelihoods at stake, the tension is palpable. Stay with us as we unpack how these political maneuvers could impact you and your business. 

USMCA: The Dynamic Force Reshaping North American Trade and Its Dairy Implications

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is more than just a trade pact; it’s a dynamic force shaping the economic landscape of North America. Born from renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 2020, the USMCA was designed to address modern trade issues and boost economic ties among its member countries. Consider it an overhaul to lay the firmer ground for trade between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Critical changes honed in on labor laws, environmental protections, and digital trade, which reflect international commerce’s evolving priorities. 

Discuss why this agreement is crucial for the dairy industry, particularly in Canada and Mexico. Under the USMCA, the Canadian dairy market was partially opened to U.S. imports, permitting American dairy farmers greater access to Canadian consumers. This measure promised a bigger pie for U.S. dairy producers while allowing Canadian consumers the liberty of choice with varied pricing options. Mexico, already a significant importer of U.S. dairy products, managed to secure a stable trade lane, ensuring its milk-derived product supplies remain uninterrupted. 

But here’s where things get sticky. Given the current political climate, The trading ecosystem is again teetering at the edge. With another U.S. presidential election at hand, both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have expressed intentions to renegotiate this pivotal deal. Their intentions focus on addressing perceived imbalances in economic benefits and labor regulations. What does that mean for dairy farmers? Uncertainty isn’t just a shadow over crops; it’s looming over cross-border agreements. 

As Trump wraps up speeches that rally around “fair deals” and Harris emphasizes labor and environmental reforms, it seems inevitable that the USMCA will face potential upheaval. The question is, are the Canadian and Mexican dairy industries prepared to adjust to new rules of engagement? As the political tides shift, the North American dairy sector eagerly awaits.

USMCA: Shifts on the Horizon for North American Dairy Markets?

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is poised for change as political winds shift in Washington. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have joined the fray and are targeting this pivotal trade pact. But let’s narrow our focus to the dairy industry: What changes are brewing? 

The brouhaha centers around dairy market access and tariffs. Imagine, momentarily, the impact of amending the USMCA’s dairy clauses. Canada, with its vast dairy farms, and Mexico, which relies heavily on U.S. imports, must brace for turbulence. 

Two scenarios emerge under renegotiation. Either party could push for reduced tariffs to flood markets with domestic products. Visions of overflowing milk quotas or cheese stockpiles might give Canadian farmers pause. How will their business plans adapt? Could increased competition from the U.S. drive innovation or breed resentment? 

Conversely, introducing tariffs may secure American interests but spell trouble for Mexican businesses relying on U.S. imports. Picture production lines halting or, worse, shuttering. What’s the ripple effect on the local economy, and how will farmers navigate these uncertain waters? 

Should Harris take the lead, expect diplomatic nuance, potentially emphasizing sustainability alongside trade. On the other hand, a Trump administration might prioritize aggressive deals that promise quick returns stateside. 

In essence, dairy farmers and related businesses in Canada and Mexico must stay vigilant and prepped for any curveballs this political joust throws their way. Where will your allegiances lie, and how will you respond?

Canada’s Trade Tapestry: Will the USMCA Renegotiation Untangle the Dairy Sector? 

Canada’s economy, a vast and intricate tapestry woven around its trading ties with the U.S., stands at a pivotal moment. Over 80% of Canadian exports wend southward, shaping a critical artery for economic vitality. Therefore, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is not merely a deal—it’s a lifeline. But with the calls for renegotiation hanging in the air like a looming storm, Canada has every reason to brace itself. 

Now, let’s talk dairy—the buttery core of Canada’s trade concerns. For Canadian dairy farmers and stakeholders like you, the threat of renegotiation is more than a dot on the distant horizon. It’s the real and present thrum in the agricultural pulse. Under the current USMCA terms, Canada faced the daunting reality of granting U.S. dairy producers greater market access. The fear now? This access might expand further under new talks. Yes, that’s something to chew on. 

Canada needs to take this down. Ottawa has ramped up its lobbying efforts, sending envoys well-versed in trade and economics to Washington, D.C. Their message is clear: Preserve the $900 billion trade relationship. But it’s not just about trade value—it’s about the Canadian dairy sector’s survival and competitiveness on the global stage

Imagine the ripple effect on local dairy farms should renegotiations lead to an avalanche of U.S. dairy products pouring into the Canadian market. Canadian farmers could find themselves grappling with a more saturated market, which could lead to potential shifts in pricing and market stability. For those in the dairy business, this could mean revisiting plans, reassessing market strategies, and, more crucially, re-evaluating how to safeguard their livelihoods. 

So, Canada is watching closely as the winds of political change sweep across North America. The question is: In this game of negotiation chess, will Canada be able to protect its dairy sector’s interests against a potential checkmate?

Mexico’s Crossroad: Dairy Dynamics and the USMCA Renegotiation Challenge

As we zero in on Mexico’s perspective, the stakes are high with the imminent renegotiation of the USMCA. Mexico has always held a strategic position within the North American supply chain, primarily through its robust vehicle-manufacturing industry. But its dairy sector deserves attention, too. Consider how closely these industries are tied to your dairy professional or farmer’s livelihood. 

First, let’s examine the cornerstone—the vehicle-manufacturing industry. This industry isn’t just a pillar; it’s a skyscraper in Mexico’s economic landscape. With numerous manufacturing plants across the country, it’s a heavyweight exporter to the U.S. Changes in trade terms could disrupt supply chains, increase costs, and threaten Mexico’s economic growth. But here’s where things get trickier. Consider U.S. demands on Chinese imports. How does Mexico strike a balance without jeopardizing its economic interests? 

Now, onto the dairy sector. Mexican dairy farmers have steadily expanded their production capabilities and market reach. But look out! Changes to the USMCA could impact how fluid dairy products flow across borders. Mexican dairy farmers might see altered competitive dynamics with potential tariffs or regulatory hurdles. Will they need to adjust pricing or seek alternative markets? It’s a daunting thought, especially for those small-scale farmers who rely on consistent trade conditions. 

Balancing the U.S. demands while safeguarding its interests is a challenge for Mexico. The crux of this renegotiation could push Mexican policymakers to weigh vehicle manufacturing privileges against potential concessions in other sectors, like dairy. What are your thoughts as someone directly or indirectly affected by these economic tremors? Please share your opinion, and let’s get this conversation rolling!

USMCA on the Edge: What Could a Renegotiation Mean for the U.S. Dairy Sector? 

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, commonly known as the USMCA, is a linchpin for North American trade—and it might be up for a shakeup. On the American side, the potential renegotiation of this pivotal trade deal is stirring quite the pot. As voters cast their ballots in an election that could redefine Washington’s positions, both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have their sights set on renegotiation. But what does this mean for the U.S. dairy industry, already facing its challenges? 

First, let’s dive into the heart of the matter. Trade principles in the American playbook have always championed fair and reciprocal trade. However, the execution often varies between administrations. A Trump-led negotiation might emphasize reducing trade deficits, increasing market access for American products, and, let’s not forget, a hard line on Chinese imports, a shared concern for Mexico, too. In contrast, a Harris administration would likely push for policies that balance trade with broader economic and environmental goals. 

For American dairy farmers, these divergent approaches translate to different opportunities and obstacles. A more protectionist stance may shield them from competitive challenges abroad, possibly securing stronger footholds within Canada and Mexico’s lucrative markets. But does erecting barriers align with the core American trade principle of promoting open markets? 

Moreover, dairy farmers must weigh the pros and cons of renegotiation. On one side, they could gain from policies that deliver more consistent access to North America’s vast dairy market. On the other, they may wrestle with restrictions that might emerge from any renegotiated pact. How might these outcomes affect your operations, and are you prepared for the shifts that could be on the horizon? 

The overarching question for American dairy stakeholders remains—do these proposed changes sit well with the free-market ethos that the U.S. has championed for decades? Or do they lean towards a more insular approach that might bite back against agricultural exports down the line?

The Bottom Line

The USMCA stands on the precipice of change, with the American political scene and the economic stances of Canada and Mexico in flux. The renegotiation talks from Harris and Trump are raising eyebrows for good reason. For Canadian and Mexican dairy farmers, there’s more than just milk at stake; their livelihoods, shaped by the web of North American trade, hang in the balance. The uncertainty is palpable. Will their sectors thrive, or are there challenging roads ahead? 

This is the moment to stay vigilant, informed, and prepared. Understanding these shifts can empower you to make strategic decisions for your business. Change breeds opportunity—if you’re ready to seize it. 

We want to hear from you. What do you think about the potential changes to the USMCA? How do you see them affecting your operations? Please share your insights by commenting below, and let’s start the conversation. Your experiences and opinions matter not just to us but also to your fellow industry professionals. 

Learn more:

Join the Revolution!

Bullvine Daily is your essential e-zine for staying ahead in the dairy industry. With over 30,000 subscribers, we bring you the week’s top news, helping you manage tasks efficiently. Stay informed about milk production, tech adoption, and more, so you can concentrate on your dairy operations. 

NewsSubscribe
First
Last
Consent

Canadian Dairy Dilemma: Unpacking the Controversial Milk Dumping Report and Its Industry Implications

The Canadian dairy industry faces scrutiny over allegations that billions are lost due to milk dumping. Are inefficiencies within the supply management system to blame? Let’s delve into the issue and explore what could be done differently. 

Summary:

The Canadian dairy sector is questioning a report revealing significant milk wastage leading to economic and environmental concerns. Authored by Sylvain Charlebois and colleagues, the report highlights that since 2012, about 6.8 billion liters of milk have been wasted, which could have met the dairy needs of around 4.2 million Canadians annually. Critics argue that the supply management framework is at the root of the inefficiencies causing this wastage. The financial impact is steep, with a potential loss of $14.9 billion, and environmental repercussions are notable, equating to 8.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions—similar to emissions from 350,000 vehicles annually. Suggested reforms include transparency, penalties for overproduction, and strategic reserves for surplus milk. However, these estimates have sparked debate, and there is pressure on government officials to address these concerns with possible policy changes in supply management. This opens a dialogue about the need for innovation and sustainable practices in the Canadian dairy industry.

Key Takeaways:

  • A new report highlights significant waste in the Canadian dairy sector, with billions of liters of milk being discarded, potentially affecting the annual dairy intake for millions of Canadians.
  • The study implies inefficiencies in Canada’s supply management system, suggesting this leads to overproduction and subsequent waste.
  • Authors of the report call for legal measures against milk dumping and advocate for better surplus management practices.
  • There are debates on the validity of the report, with calls for independent validation of the study’s estimates.
  • Concerns are raised about taxpayer funding and foreign ownership in the Canadian dairy sector, questioning the consistency of government policies.
  • The report suggests revising dairy quotas to match market demands and introducing penalties for overproduction.
  • This issue has sparked discussions about the future of supply management and its impact on innovation and integration in Canada’s dairy industry.
Canadian dairy industry, milk waste statistics, economic losses dairy sector, CO2 emissions dairy, supply management system Canada, ecological economics dairy report, milk dumping impact, dairy farmers concerns, policy reform dairy industry, environmental impact milk waste

A recent report on the Canadian dairy industry has ignited a pressing debate. It unveils a staggering 6.8 billion liters of milk dumped since 2012, which could have fed 4.2 million Canadians annually. The economic losses amount to $14.9 billion, while environmental losses result in approximately 8.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions, similar to the emissions from 350,000 vehicles annually. These alarming figures raise critical questions about the efficiency of current practices and the urgent need for reform in the dairy sector in Canada.

Rethinking the Canadian Dairy Supply Management: A Call for Reform in Light of Surging Milk Waste

The Canadian dairy industry’s supply management system, a key component of agricultural policy, is designed to balance supply and demand. It uses quotas to control the amount of milk produced, ensuring it matches national consumption. This was intended to provide stable and predictable incomes for dairy producers, fostering rural development and economic sustainability. 

However, the system is now under scrutiny due to recent revelations regarding substantial milk waste.  These issues are highlighted in the report titled “Environmental and Economic Implications of Milk Waste in Canada,” co-authored by Sylvain Charlebois, Thomas Elliot, and Benjamin Goldstein.  The report’s findings of billions of liters of milk being discarded cast doubts on the system’s efficiency in its current form. Critics argue that the controls meant to prevent overproduction and stabilize prices have inadvertently contributed to inefficiencies and waste. This has sparked a debate on whether the rigid structure of supply management needs reform to adapt to modern market dynamics and environmental concerns.

Supply Management: Savior or Constraint?

Before the implementation of supply management, the Canadian dairy market was in disarray. Prices were unpredictable, overproduction was common, and financial stability was a constant struggle. Supply management was introduced to bring order to this chaos, stabilizing prices, ensuring farmers a fair income, and meeting domestic demand without creating surplus or shortages. 

Today, the original goals of supply management are at odds with the current challenges of the industry. While the system still provides a safety net for farmers, its rigidity is now a point of contention. As the recent report suggests, the system’s controls, which were meant to prevent overproduction, are now being accused of contributing to significant milk waste. This raises the question: are we stockpiling milk while the market is in need of flexibility and innovation?  

Can a system built to protect now become the very beast that shackles progress? In an era where efficiency and sustainability are paramount, does the original intent still hold its ground? Or is it time to revisit and rethink our approach to supply management, steering it to better align with the evolving environmental and economic landscape? These are the critical questions that the industry, policymakers, and stakeholders need to confront.

Unveiling the Milk Waste Enigma: Financial and Environmental Costs Revealed

The ecological economics study reveals a staggering estimate of milk wastage in Canada, with up to 10 billion litersdiscarded over 12 years. This equates to a potential financial loss of $14.9 billion, highlighting inefficiencies within the supply management system. The environmental repercussions are notable, with the waste contributing to an estimated 8.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, mirroring the yearly emissions from approximately 350,000 vehicles. 

Researchers adopted a material flow analysis to assess surplus milk’s environmental, economic, and nutritional implications. However, the study’s reliance on estimates rather than concrete data has drawn criticism. Jacques Lefebvre, CEO of Dairy Farmers of Canada, pointed out the need for independent validation of these assumptions and calculations, suggesting that the data might not fully capture the intricacies of milk disposal practices, which often follow strict regulations and only occur as a last resort.

The Ripple Effect: Diverse Reactions to the Milk Dumping Report Shake the Dairy Industry

The report on milk dumping has stirred significant reactions among various stakeholders, each bringing a unique perspective. Dairy farmers express frustration and concern over the allegations of waste, questioning the accuracy of the reported figures. They fear such findings could tarnish their reputation and lead to stricter regulations. Some insist that the surplus is often due to unforeseen circumstances rather than inefficiency. 

Industry groups are opposing the report, emphasizing its data’s limitations. Jacques Lefebvre, CEO of Dairy Farmers of Canada, states, “The authors of the study acknowledge that much of their conclusions are drawn from ‘estimates’ rather than a robust data set.” He insists, “These data assumptions and calculations must be validated independently.” This highlights a key concern within the industry regarding the need for more concrete evidence before concluding. 

In contrast, government officials are under pressure to address the issue. Calls for policy reform, especially in supply management, dominate discussions. Sylvain Charlebois argues, “My expectation was maybe 100 million liters a year, but it was much higher.” Pointing to the current system’s inefficiencies, he suggests, “The Canadian Dairy Commission must manage surpluses as it does with butter.” 

The differing perspectives between Charlebois and Lefebvre underscore a broader debate on balancing dairy production with market demands and environmental responsibility. As these conversations unfold, stakeholders are urged to come together and collaborate in seeking solutions that ensure sustainability while supporting the economic well-being of Canadian dairy farmers. This shared goal can unite the industry and lead to meaningful reform.

Reforming Supply Management: Addressing Milk Dumping in Canada

The issue of milk dumping in Canada appears to be deeply intertwined with the supply management system. While supply management aims to stabilize market prices and ensure fair wages for farmers, it ironically contributes to inefficiencies that result in significant waste. However, as Charlebois’s critique highlights, reforming the rigid structure of supply management could allow for the dynamism needed to adapt to market demands and prevent overproduction, potentially leading to a more efficient and sustainable dairy industry. 

One of Charlebois’s primary suggestions for reform includes the creation of strategic reserves. This concept isn’t brand new; Canada already manages a butter reserve. However, expanding this strategy to include powdered milk could mitigate waste by providing surplus milk to food banks or other industries instead of discarding it. Such an approach could transform what is currently considered waste into a valuable resource, serving both economic and social needs. 

Charlebois also advocates aligning production quotas with actual market demand. This could prevent overproduction and the resultant need for milk dumping. This alignment requires a more responsive and perhaps technologically integrated approach to forecasting demand, allowing production to be adjusted in real-time and minimizing the mismatch between supply and demand

By addressing these systemic inefficiencies, Canada’s dairy sector could reduce the environmental and financial costs of milk dumping. This would necessitate a shift from a purely protectionist mindset to one that embraces innovation and market responsiveness—ideals that could also enhance competitiveness on a global scale.

Regulatory Crossroads: Lessons from Comparing Milk Dumping Practices in Canada and the U.S.

When we compare Canada’s milk dumping practices to those in other countries, particularly the United States, distinct differences in regulatory frameworks become apparent. Canada’s supply management system seeks to balance supply and demand, which should theoretically minimize waste. Yet, as we’ve discovered, inefficiencies persist, leading to substantial milk dumping. 

In contrast, the United States takes a more market-driven approach. This can result in fluctuating prices, but it also provides less regulatory control over production levels. Consequently, the U.S. often faces even more significant challenges with oversupply, sometimes forcing farmers to discard surplus milk. 

The difference lies in the regulatory intent and execution. Canada’s regulated system aims to stabilize the market for farmers but at the cost of innovation and responsiveness to market changes. Meanwhile, the U.S. model allows for more rapid adjustments to demand but lacks protective measures for farmers during downturns. 

What lessons could Canada learn from this comparison? A hybrid approach might be better. By integrating some market-driven elements within the existing supply management system, Canada could improve its responsiveness to market demands without losing stability. Similarly, seeking flexibility, transparency, and innovation in regulating milk production could reduce waste while maintaining the benefits that Canadian farmers currently enjoy.

Global Dairy Dynamics: Unearthing Lessons from Canada, the U.S., and New Zealand’s Milk Management Strategies

When exploring the global landscape of dairy management, Canada’s supply management system offers insightful contrasts compared to those in the United States or New Zealand. Each system presents unique strengths and challenges, particularly in addressing overproduction and waste, two persistent issues within the dairy sector. 

Canadian Supply Management System: Canada’s approach is characterized by a tightly regulated structure known as supply management that controls production through quotas to stabilize prices and ensure farmer profitability. This model effectively shields the domestic market from extreme fluctuations and global competition, safeguarding farmers’ incomes. However, this security comes at a cost. Critics argue that it stifles innovation and flexibility while contributing to overproduction issues—surplus milk must be handled internally, leading to waste if not addressed promptly through redistribution or processing. 

United States Dairy System: In contrast, the US operates under a more market-driven system, where supply and demand dynamics predominantly dictate production. Farmers face considerable market volatility but benefit from fewer regulatory constraints, fostering innovation and efficiency. The downside is that this system can exacerbate overproduction issues, leading to significant milk dumping when demand slumps, as seen during the pandemic. However, in some cases, advanced processing capabilities and export channels mitigate such waste. 

New Zealand’s Approach: New Zealand, renowned for its large-scale export-oriented dairy industry, follows a deregulated framework. This system promotes efficiency and competition, with cooperative structures like Fonterra playing a pivotal role. While this model enhances global competitiveness and export income, it exposes farmers to international market pressures and price volatility. Nonetheless, New Zealand’s robust processing infrastructure and global distribution networks often enable efficient management of surpluses, minimizing waste. 

In essence, no system offers a perfect solution. Canada’s model provides stability but at the risk of inefficiency and waste. The US system fosters innovation yet struggles with volatility-driven waste. Meanwhile, New Zealand excels in global competitiveness, albeit with exposure to market risks. The key lies in balancing these elements to address overproduction and waste effectively, ensuring a sustainable and responsive dairy sector.

Understanding the Broader Impact: Supply Management, Subsidies, and Trade Relations Under Scrutiny

The economic and policy implications of the milk dumping report are vast, with potential repercussions not only for the Canadian dairy sector but also for international trade relations. At the heart of this discussion is the question of supply management. With the current system leading to surplus production, it may be time to reevaluate its efficiency and effectiveness. Could a revision of quotas that better aligns with market demand offer a solution, preventing overproduction and subsequent waste? 

Government subsidies play a crucial role in the dairy industry’s current landscape. The generous financial support provided to dairy farmers may inadvertently contribute to overproduction by minimizing the economic consequences of waste. Rethinking these subsidies could encourage more responsible production practices while fostering innovation and sustainability within the sector. 

The report also raises questions about Canada’s trade relations, particularly with China. The construction of a Chinese-owned baby formula plant in Ontario, supported by Canadian taxpayer dollars, highlights the complexities of these relationships. Could these foreign investments be better harnessed to benefit Canadian interests, ensuring that domestic industries thrive and that trade relations do not compromise national priorities? 

The report suggests a pressing need for policy reforms that balance domestic needs with international commitments. As such, the government must navigate these challenges carefully, striving for an equilibrium that minimizes waste, supports farmers, and maintains robust international trade relations. The task is daunting but necessary for the long-term viability and sustainability of the dairy industry.

The Bottom Line

In wrapping up our exploration of the challenges faced by the Canadian dairy sector, we find ourselves at a critical junction. The pressing issue of milk waste, estimated at up to 10 billion liters, underscores inefficiencies within the current supply management system. This inefficiency leads to financial loss and raises environmental concerns. 

The discourse on supply management reform is complex, as it involves balancing regulation with innovation. Should we strive for a more flexible system that encourages market responsiveness, or should we maintain our current practices to protect domestic producers? These questions are not quickly answered but are crucial for shaping the industry’s future. 

As we continue this dialogue, consider the broader impact: How can the dairy sector innovate while maintaining stability? What role should government policy play in facilitating or regulating this balance? Share your thoughts and join the conversation. Your perspectives are essential in navigating these uncharted waters. 

Finally, this isn’t just a discussion for industry insiders—it’s a conversation for all stakeholders committed to a sustainable future. Engage with this content by commenting below, sharing it across your networks, or sparking discussions within your professional circles. A robust exchange of ideas will drive the industry forward, ensuring that we cultivate a more resilient and efficient dairy sector for the future.

Learn more:

Join the Revolution!

Bullvine Daily is your essential e-zine for staying ahead in the dairy industry. With over 30,000 subscribers, we bring you the week’s top news, helping you manage tasks efficiently. Stay informed about milk production, tech adoption, and more, so you can concentrate on your dairy operations. 

NewsSubscribe
First
Last
Consent

Modernized LPI to Focus on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Milkability Enhancements for Canadian Dairy Cows

Discover how Lactanet’s updated Lifetime Performance Index will enhance dairy cow genetics by focusing on greenhouse gas reduction and milkability. Ready for the change?

The Lifetime Performance Index (LPI) is a pivotal tool in the Canadian dairy industry, aiding producers in breeding top-quality cows. It evaluates various traits like production, health, and fertility to help farmers enhance their herds. As Lactanet gears up to update the LPI early next year, the changes will refine trait weightings, add new subindexes, and introduce a sustainability element. This aims to improve focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing milkability, providing a more comprehensive tool for breeders while maintaining its trusted reliability.

As Brian Van Doormaal, Chief Services Officer at Lactanet, points out, “The expected response is relatively high when you breed for these traits.” His expertise in the field adds credibility to the information, keeping the reader engaged.

Navigating Genetic Selection: Leveraging the LPI to Cultivate Optimal Dairy Herds 

The Lifetime Performance Index (LPI) is a critical tool for dairy producers, enabling precise and foresighted breeding of high-quality cows. Integrating traits like production, health, fertility, and longevity, the LPI provides a comprehensive genetic potential assessment. This holistic approach aids in identifying top performers and making informed breeding decisions tailored to producers’ specific goals, reinforcing the importance of the LPI in the dairy industry. 

One of the LPI’s key strengths is its ability to evaluate traits directly impacting milk production and cow health. Producers can select cows excelling in these areas by analyzing milk yield, fat content, and protein levels, enhancing overall herd productivity. Simultaneously, health and fertility traits are meticulously evaluated, enabling the breeding of robust, resilient cows capable of maintaining peak performance. 

Moreover, the LPI’s detailed sub-indexes for specific traits, such as reproduction and health & welfare, allow producers to focus on particular areas of interest. Whether improving calving ability, reducing disease incidence, or enhancing milking speed and temperament, the LPI provides targeted insights for meaningful genetic improvements. The LPI is a strategic guide that helps dairy producers navigate genetic selection complexities to achieve a balanced and optimized herd. 

Modernizing the Framework: Enhancing the LPI for Contemporary Dairy Farming

The proposed changes to the Lifetime Performance Index (LPI) involve significant updates aimed at modernizing its framework to better reflect current priorities in dairy farming. The Health and Fertility group will be divided into two distinct subgroups: Reproduction, which now includes calving and daughter calving abilities, and Health and Welfare. A new Milkability subgroup will incorporate traits such as milking speed and temperament, which were not previously part of the LPI. 

Another significant update is the inclusion of the Environmental Impact subindex, which initially focused on Holsteins due to available data. This subindex evaluates feed and methane efficiency, addressing the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This change highlights Lactanet’s commitment to sustainability by considering how traits like body maintenance, which correlates with a cow’s stature and environmental footprint, impact feed energy usage. 

These enhancements refine how breeders can utilize the LPI, offering precise tools for selecting traits that align with production, health, sustainability, and overall herd improvement. Despite these adjustments, the new LPI is expected to closely resemble its predecessor, retaining a 98% correlation with the current index.

Subtle Shifts, Significant Impact: Van Doormaal on the Continuity and Enhanced Precision of the Modernized LPI

Brian Van Doormaal, Chief Services Officer for Lactanet, emphasizes the subtle changes in the modernized LPI and their alignment with producers’ objectives. “It’s not the relative weighting that determines how much of an impact breeding for these traits could have,” Van Doormaal explained during the Open Industry Session webinar. “It’s your expected response when you breed for these traits. And in these cases, the expected response is relatively high.” 

Van Doormaal underscores that the modifications will not compromise producers’ ability to concentrate on specific traits. He asserts, “When all the numbers are crunched, and the newly introduced traits are brought into the index, the list of top-rated bulls in the categories will remain largely unchanged today.” 

He reassures that the anticipated consistency in top performers reflects the robustness of the current system. “What I believe we’ll be looking at next April is an LPI that will be 98 percent correlated with today’s LPI,” he noted. This continuity alleviates concerns among breeders about potential disruptions or strategic shifts. 

Moreover, Van Doormaal points to the high expected response rates from breeding for the newly emphasized traits. This outcome is rooted in rigorous data analysis and the integration of new genetic discoveries, enhancing the predictability and efficiency of the breeding process. Thus, while the LPI evolves to include modern considerations, its core principles and effectiveness as a breeding tool remain steadfast.

Collaborative Consultations: Tailoring the LPI to Breed-Specific Genetic Goals 

The consultation process between Lactanet and breed-specific organizations has been extensive and collaborative. Since Brian Van Doormaal’s initial proposal in October 2023, Lactanet engaged with Holstein, Ayrshire, Jersey, and Guernsey representatives to refine the modernized Lifetime Performance Index (LPI). Significant discussions focused on fat versus protein weightings, which vary by breed. For example, Holsteins may prioritize protein due to market demands, while other breeds may emphasize fat based on their production systems or consumer preferences. These consultations highlighted the diverse breed-specific goals within the LPI framework. Additionally, Holsteins addressed reproductive health issues like cystic ovaries, whereas Jerseys focused on balancing durability and production. This collaborative dialogue has been crucial in tailoring the LPI to meet the unique genetic goals of each breed.

Refined Genetic Insights: Expanding to Six Sub-Groups for Comprehensive Dairy Cow Evaluation 

The new index will expand from four to six sub-groups of genetic traits, providing a more nuanced evaluation of dairy cow genetics. The existing Health and Fertility category will now be split into Reproduction and Health and Welfare sub-groups. This change includes specific traits like calving and daughter calving ability, offering a more detailed picture of reproductive performance

Introducing the Milkability subgroup will also incorporate milking speed and temperament, which were previously not part of the LPI. By focusing on these practical traits, the modernized LPI aims to provide producers with more comprehensive and actionable genetic information.

Green Genes: Embedding Environmental Impact into Holistic Dairy Cow Selection

The Environmental Impact subindex marks a pivotal moment in genetic selection, highlighting the need for sustainable dairy farming. This subindex, initially for Holsteins, focuses on feed and methane efficiency to reduce the environmental footprint. Extensive data from Holsteins allows for a robust assessment of these traits. This subindex includes body maintenance, linking a cow’s size with its energy use. More giant cows need more energy for maintenance, affecting milk production. Integrating body maintenance ensures a holistic approach, combining efficiency in milk production with environmental responsibility.

Streamlined Insights: The Refined and Accessible LPI for Informed Breeding Decisions 

Modernizing the Lifetime Performance Index (LPI) aims to refine metrics and enhance communication with dairy producers. The updated LPI offers a clearer understanding of a cow’s performance by reconfiguring existing genetic traits into six sub-groups. These subindexes – including Reproduction, Health and Welfare, Milkability, and Environmental Impact – provide specialized insights to guide targeted breeding strategies. For example, breeders looking to enhance milking speed and cow temperament can focus on the Milkability subgroup. Similarly, those interested in sustainability can reference the Environmental Impact subindex for feed and methane efficiency metrics. This structure allows each component to serve as a detailed genetic evaluation tool, aligning with specific breeding goals and operational realities.

Anticipated Outcomes: A Nuanced Yet Stable Transition for Dairy Producers

The revamped Lifetime Performance Index (LPI) promises a smooth transition for dairy producers. Integrating new traits like milk ability and environmental impact with existing core attributes, the modernized LPI offers a comprehensive cow evaluation. Van Doormaal highlights a 98 percent correlation with the current LPI, ensuring minimal changes in top-rated bulls and maintaining confidence in breeding decisions.

Precision in Breeding: Leveraging Relative Breeding Values for Clear Genetic Insights

Each sub-index evaluation will be presented as a “relative breeding value” (RBV), clearly measuring a bull’s genetic potential. The breed average is 500 with a standard deviation of ±100, standardizing trait evaluations for more straightforward interpretation. For instance, Lactanet’s analysis of Canadian Holstein bulls showed that 38.7% had RBVs between 450 and 550, 24% ranged from 350 to 450, and 25% fell between 550 and 650. This RBV system simplifies genetic evaluations and empowers breeders with breed-specific insights.

The Bottom Line

The modernized LPI represents a strategic evolution in dairy cow genetic evaluation, balancing productivity with enhanced health, welfare, and environmental sustainability. The revised LPI offers a more comprehensive tool for breeders by adding traits like calving ability and ecological impact. Consultations have ensured breed-specific needs, such as addressing cystic ovaries in Holsteins, are considered. Introducing relative breeding values makes the LPI user-friendly and effective for informed decisions. This new framework supports continuous herd improvement and aligns with the industry’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As Brian Van Doormaal noted, while rankings may remain unchanged, the updated index promises greater precision and relevance, marking a step forward for the Canadian dairy industry.

Key Takeaways:

  • Emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions with a new Environmental Impact subindex, including feed efficiency and methane efficiency, available initially for Holsteins due to data availability.
  • Division of the Health and Fertility group into separate Reproduction and Health and Welfare sub-groups, adding traits like calving ability and daughter calving ability.
  • Introduction of the Milkability subgroup to encompass milking speed and temperament traits, enhancing cow manageability in dairy operations.
  • Body Maintenance is included in the Environmental Impact subindex to factor in the environmental cost of maintaining a cow’s condition relative to its milk production capacity.
  • The modernized LPI aims to remain highly correlated with the current index, ensuring continuity while incorporating new traits.
  • Lactanet’s consultations with breed-specific organizations ensure the updated LPI will account for the unique genetic goals and concerns of different dairy breeds.
  • The updated LPI framework will streamline use, presenting evaluations as relative breeding values based on a standardized breed average, facilitating easier decision-making for breeders.

Summary:

The proposed modernization of the Lifetime Performance Index (LPI) by Lactanet aims to refine genetic selection for Canadian dairy cows by introducing new sub-groups and traits, emphasizing sustainability through reduced greenhouse gas emissions and enhanced milkability, and maintaining breed-specific goals. Brian Van Doormaal assures that these changes will not impede the core utility of the LPI for breeding high-quality cows, with the expected outcome being a closely correlated index to today’s LPI. Detailed consultations and analyses reveal that while nuanced adjustments will provide more precise breeding values, the top genetic performers will largely remain consistent.

Learn more:

Say Good-Bye to Supply Management

For years the topic of Supply Management has been a hot button issue for dairy producers around the world.  Those who operate under a supply management system, such as the one in Canada, are strong advocates for the program.  While those that do not, such as New Zealand, Australia, and the US, tend to look at it with envy and even disdain. Recently there has been a lot of international talk about supplying of the supply management in the dairy sector.  The EU is removing supply management and the US government, who was  proposing a supply management system,   removed it in their most recent farm bill (Read more:  Dairy Farmers from Across the Nation Oppose Supply Management and  Compromise Reached: Supply Management OUT of Dairy Policy in Farm Bill).  With world trade becoming a greater and greater reality for all countries, it is only a matter of time before supply management, as we know it, no longer exists.

With that in mind we decided to take a look at the Canadian Supply Management System and the resulting impact, if it were removed.  Canada’s Milk Supply Management System was created to solve milk surpluses and low returns to farmers.  Understanding how this policy originally came into practice helps explain its longevity.  And understanding how the system works in practice points to the pressures it faces today.  These include astronomical quota costs, unanticipated dairy imports and globally uncompetitive pricing.  The system has had to evolve to address a range of domestic and trade changes.  The current milk supply management operates under three “pillars”: production controls (quota), administered pricing, and import controls.  As conditions have changed, regulations under supply management have changed.  It has been broadly successful in doing so, but its complexity has created operating costs and burdens for government and the dairy industry. Furthermore, with a more global economy, it has recently become a stumbling block in Canadian government world trade talks.  (Read more: Are We Playing Hide and Seek With Supply Management? and  Why the Future of the North American Dairy Industry Depends on Supply And Demand).

What’s the Story around the World?

Comparing Canada to the rest of the world, we find that New Zealand and Australia are at the highly market-oriented end of the continuum.  Canada is at the highly protectionist end. The U.S. and Netherlands/EU are in between.

Canadian milk production has been essentially constant since the mid-1970s and is actually down compared with the early 1960s.  At the same time, milk production in the U.S. has increased steadily.  In Australia, it has increased markedly following policy changes, prior to recent years when widespread drought limited production.  Netherlands dairy production increased steadily before quota controls were imposed in the 1980s and it has been relatively steady since, with a recent increasing trend.  New Zealand’s milk production is significantly up.

And what about milk pricing?  The national patterns diverge to a degree.  The available data suggests that prior to the mid-1980s, milk prices in the countries considered here broadly increased.  Canadian milk prices have continued to increase since the 1980s.  In the U.S. prices abandoned their trend of increases in the 1980s and have since become more volatile, consistent with the reduction in support pricing.  Similarly, in the Netherlands, the increasing price trend ended in the late 1980s.  Milk prices in Australia increased through the 1980s and plateaued in the 1990s. However, with the recent super market price wars, the price for milk in Australia has been extremely volatile.  New Zealand has seen a trend of higher prices and increased volatility, with some similarity to Australia.

Say Good- Bye to Supply Management - figure 1

Figure 1 presents divergences in milk pricing, using the U.S. as a reference.  The chart plots monthly P5 Eastern Milk Pool27 (Canada) blend milk prices versus U.S. Federal Order blend prices for New York/New Jersey and for the Upper Midwest since 1997.  Milk prices in Canada are generally much higher than those in the U.S. Over that period, the eastern Canadian price averaged $C63.05/hl, while the U.S. Midwest price averaged $C39.42/hl and New York/New Jersey averaged $C44.31/hl.  Moreover, because U.S. milk prices are much more volatile than those in Canada, the price differential is commonly wider than these averages suggest.  For example, the price spread between eastern Canada and the Upper Midwest U.S. has frequently exceeded $C40/hl— more than the average value of the Upper Midwest price itself. (Read more: Canada’s Supply-Managed Dairy Policy: How Do We Compare?)

The key advantage that Canadian producers have enjoyed over its peer countries is that fluid milk markets are characterized by seasonality that creates surpluses, which are diverted to industrial milk markets and thus result in lower industrial milk prices.  Sudden losses of export markets exacerbate domestic surpluses and depress milk prices.  Under persistent surpluses, with their associated inequities and low returns to farmers, the initial response is to mitigate adjustment through 27 The P5 Eastern Milk Pool is an interprovincial pooling agreement among Canada’s eastern provinces (Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island) mandated pooling systems and more interventionist policies, such as price supports, product surplus removal programs, and production quotas.  These are eventually reduced or eliminated due to their cost burden.  The industry then adjusts, resulting in market growth.  Canada has not experienced the same pressures to reduce or eliminate interventionist policy that its peer countries have, so Canada continues to use certain approaches that its peers have dropped.  Nevertheless, industry adjustment has occurred in Canada, but without the market growth seen elsewhere.

Therefore, while Canada has not seen the growth that other world markets have, it also has not seen the extreme volatility that those other markets experience.  This stability is very much appreciated by Canadian milk producers, despite the high cost of entry and production (Quota, and Quota financing costs).

The World is Changing!

After 30 years in a supply management system the UK has now abandoned it.  Moreover, the EU as a whole is pushing for other countries to remove supply management as well.  (Read more: Canada May Drop Cheese Tariffs to Access EU Beef Market and Canada’s dairy farmers ‘angered and disappointed’ by EU trade deal that would double cheese imports).  This is causing great pressure for Canada to follow suit.  As the Canadian government seeks to open trade for all industries, especially Oil, Lumber and Beef, that access often comes at a cost. In Canada’s case that cost is opening up the Canadian dairy market.  More competition will mean that Canada’s high milk costs will have to go down thus decreasing the net return to producers.  While I don’t foresee the abolishment of the quota system immediately, it will happen.  As Canada opens up its markets to the world, that means that the Canadian government will have to further subsidize the milk price or allow the milk price to drop.  As the Canadian government is already running tight on its fiscal position, they are not likely to subsidize this system for very long.

While no one is arguing the benefits that supply management has had for the Canadian dairy farmer, that protection has come at a cost.  One of the greatest costs that I don’t think many realize is that it has allowed many producers to become complacent about their operations.  They have not been forced to be as efficient as possible.  Those that have been the most complacent are the ones who are going to feel the greatest hurt as Canada continues to open up access to world markets.  For those Canadian dairy farmers who think that the Canadian government will protect them till the end….what about the beef farmers, lumber and oil industry?  How can the Canadian government afford to protect and grow the market for all of them?  Everything has a price. (Read more: Save Frank & Marjorie Meyers Farm – The Army Is At The Gate & This Farmers Number Is Up!)

As a clarification point, while supply management as we know it is threatened, there is no question that the Canadian government is committed to a strong domestic agricultural industry.  Many other countries, including the European Union and the United States enact policies that subsidize (directly or indirectly) domestic production. This is something Canada does not currently do.  As the world market evolves, the Canadian system may have to move toward global markets and away from supply management.  It is also important to note that Canada gives more access to imported products than many other countries give in any single sector. Canada currently imports over 6% of the market for dairy products and more than 7.5% for poultry.  In contrast, the United States gives only 2.75% access to their market for dairy products and Europe offers a mere 0.5% for poultry. These will all be areas that will be addressed as world trade evolves.

The Bullvine Bottom Line

The world is rapidly moving to a free market economy.  This highly market oriented system will mean that those producers who can produce milk the most cost effectively will excel and those that are not efficient will perish.  Canada and its quota system that has done an amazing job at protecting its producers are most likely to be the hardest hit by these global forces.  Producers that are looking to the next generation need to seriously evaluate their operations and become as efficient as possible as fast as possible.  The message is clear.  Canada will be saying goodbye to the current supply management system.

 

Get original “Bullvine” content sent straight to your email inbox for free.

 

[related-posts-thumbnails]

Glen McNeil: Communication, Common Sense and Respect for the Speed Bumps Delivers Holstein Leadership

So much about dairying in North America is in a state flux, that it is reassuring when people are willing to take leadership roles.  Glen McNeil, the Immediate Past President of Holstein Canada, demonstrated his commitment to Holsteins and leaves the position still committed to continuous improvement of the industry and hopeful for changes ahead. “There will be speed bumps that give us a reality check and that is called balance and experience.” But overall he is positive. “People seek, adapt and embrace change at different stages. Developing proactive policies and direction on an ongoing basis is the responsibility of the Board of Directors as is due diligence…”  This doesn’t mean he sees the world through rose-coloured glasses. “The constant degree and speed of change, and the methods of communication that are being used today mean that everything becomes super fast paced.”  Adapting to the times and respect for the people on all sides of an issue has worked well for Glen.

Barn to the Board Room – Respect for the Roots

gm2Glen has great respect for people in the barn and in the Board Room. It has served him well and been returned to him. He highlights his experiences while at the Holstein Canada Board table. “This enriching experience at the Board table has helped me develop an attitude of respect towards people and their opinions. People remember how you treat them and how you make them feel, longer than what you said. The most important ingredient of success is knowing how to get along with people.”

Getting the basics right about people and developing cow knowledge skills has been important to Glen. He looks to those who influenced him early on. ” My parents taught me work ethic, morals, respect and care of livestock. Dave Houck (Romandale Farms) taught me the art of breeding including aAa. Dave introduced me to Bill Weeks from Vermont, Frank Phister of Mexico, and many great Holstein enthusiasts worldwide. Earl Osborne, Bill Grieve and Pascal Lemire, all Past Presidents of Holstein Canada, were great leaders that inspired me.”

The Triple Excellent Heather Holme Team

The team of Glen and Vanda took over ownership of Heather Holme in 1977 and they have always focused on “the vital importance of developing positive relationships with family, employees, clients, and suppliers to our business.” Attention to detail has helped the McNeils to bring out the best in their cows. Having won three Master Breeder Shields is a unique and rare achievement. It is always amazing that those who reach these heights make the success sound simple. Glen has a four point philosophy.  “Sire selection and animal care on a day to day basis is paramount! Consistently using elite breed improving sires in complimentary matings for generations is vital. We use our classification information and aAa in every mating. We avoid incorporating inferior genetics. “ Simple but true. And yet it goes beyond genetics to the people involved. The McNeils praise each team member on-farm at Heather Holme or through their service suppliers for the expertise that they contribute to the overall success.

(L) Heather Holme R Josee EX 4E (C) Heather Holme Gibson Jolene EX 2E (R) Heather Holme Golden Jewel VG

(L) Heather Holme R Josee EX 4E
(C) Heather Holme Gibson Jolene EX 2E
(R) Heather Holme Golden Jewel VG

The World Wide Excellence of Canadian Holsteins

Glen is equally emphatic about his commitment to Canadian Holsteins and their role.  “There is not a country in the developed world that is short of milk or we would not have the milk price issues that are as evident as they are today in so many countries. Canada needs to continue to breed a balanced dairy cow that can sustain the high production to enable them to express their genetic potential over a lifetime to increase profitability. Every dairyman in the world wants trouble free, profitable cows, with the correct conformation to withstand the high production that today’s dairy cow is capable of producing.”  A big order but one Glen is confident can be achieved.

Holstein Canada CEO Ann Louise and President Glen McNeil share their Canadian "hockey" heritage with Irish and Finnish #2012WHC Participants!

Glen McNeil and Holstein Canada CEO Ann Louise share their Canadian “hockey” heritage with Irish and Finnish 2012 World Holstein Conference Participants!

Achieving More Close to Home Too

With the pressures on all organizations to provide relevant and needed services to its members, The Bullvine asked for Glen’s thoughts on Holstein Field Services “Field Service is just that, an extension service to our members to communicate to and educate our dairies on the profitability opportunities with registration, classification, milk recording, genome testing, etc. The pricing model for services must be flexible and will evolve as more dairies see the advantages of these services. Communications in different forms is paramount today.”

The Next Turn in the Road

Having seen the Holstein industry from various viewpoints, Glen shares his perspective. “I have tremendous respect and faith in our youth involved in the dairy business at many different levels. In having the opportunity to travel worldwide I have great appreciation for supply management in Canada.” New opportunities will present themselves with all the hills and valleys that progress demands.  McNeil knows it will take willingness to change. “We would never consider using the same sires that we used 20 years ago, or farm the same way, feed or manage our cows the way we did 20 years ago. Common sense and understanding what Genomics can and cannot do will be very revealing in the next 2-3 years.”

Holstein Canada CEO Ann Louise Carson, President Glen McNeil, and Board member Mario Perrault were very pleased to recently attend the All-European Championship Show in Fribourg, Switzerland

Glen McNeil and Holstein Canada CEO Ann Louise Carson, Mario Perrault were attending the All-European Championship Show in Fribourg, Switzerland. The traditional alpine horns in the picture are played in the Swiss Alps.

“One Door Closes. Another Opens.”

History will continue to be written at Heather Holme where one theme they have built on is that “challenges are also opportunities”. Glen welcomes the changes opening up in his schedule. “I am fortunate to be able to return to our farm on a more regular basis than I have for a few years to assist Curtis and Vanda as required and spend more valuable time with our family”. No doubt there will be new evolutions ahead. It is noteworthy that the McNeils are using Facebook to share their ideas and to market their cattle by almost daily updates. Look for the McNeils to have and sell healthy cattle as they have maintained their CHAH (disease free) Herd status when others found it an expense rather than an investment.

Curtis and our Herdsman Greg Feagan, Greg has been working with us for 31 years.

Son Curtis and herdsman Greg Feagan, Greg has been working with Heather Holme for 31 years.

The Bullvine Bottom Line

The McNeils at Heather Holme believe in taking good stock and best practices, making them better and getting results. Adapting to and changing with the times has built their success. Glen looks to the future with the same equanimity that has served both Heather Holme and Holstein Canada well. “Change is inevitable and desirable. Adapt and harness new technologies to continue to be profitable and competitive and learn how to adapt to change. “We applaud McNeil for his dedication, vision and commitment.  It smoothes out the speed bumps so that Glen can confidently declare. “The future is bright for Holstein Canada and the Canadian dairy industry!”

 

Get original “Bullvine” content sent straight to your email inbox for free.

 

[related-posts-thumbnails]

Send this to a friend