Cardinal, Ontario – Pierre Lemieux, Parliamentary Secretary to Canada’s Minister of Agriculture, and Gord Brown, Member of Parliament for Leeds—Grenville, announced support of close to $945,000 under the AgriMarketing Program for the dairy sector to develop and implement a national traceability program and implement an assurance program for dairy production.
Dairy Farmers of Canada will receive $416,000 to design and implement a national traceability program for dairy cattle, update standards for milk producers to meet traceability requirements, as well as train and assist provincial associations with program implementation at the producer level.
In addition, $529,000 will be used to implement the proAction Initiative, a national assurance program for dairy production that demonstrates the dairy industry’s continued commitment to customers to provide high-quality, safe Canadian milk and dairy products that are produced responsibly. This includes on-farm pilot testing of assessment tools and producer training.
Quick Facts
- In 2011, the dairy sector in Canada generated sales of $13 billion.
- The dairy sector employs approximately 218,000 people.
- Dairy Farmers of Canada is the national policy and promotional organization representing Canada’s 12,529 dairy farms.
- Traceability systems are a key element in helping to protect the health of animals and the public and support food safety.
- The six programs under the proAction Initiative include milk quality, food safety, livestock traceability, animal care, biosecurity and environment.
- This investment is made through the Assurance Systems stream of AAFC’s AgriMarketing Program, a five-year, up to $341-million initiative under Growing Forward 2.
Quotes
“Canadian dairy farmers have a reputation for producing high-quality and world-class products. But we can raise that bar even higher. This investment will help the dairy sector demonstrate their commitment to high standards in animal health and food safety, leading to cutting-edge national traceability and assurance programs.”
Parliamentary Secretary Pierre Lemieux
“Dairy farmers in Canada already invest in various products and services to improve the quality of milk and care for their animals. As we proceed with the proAction Initiative over the next 10 years, we want to demonstrate to our customers our responsible stewardship to our animals and to the environment, as well as our commitment to produce sustainable, high-quality, safe and nutritious food. We are very grateful for this investment and recognition of our initiative by the federal government.” David Wiens, Vice-President Dairy Farmers of Canada
Associated Links
Growing Forward 2 (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
AgriMarketing Program (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
Brochure on proAction: http://www.dairyfarmers.ca/content/download/2204/31162/version/2/file/DFC769_proAction_Report_LR14.pdf
To see traceability in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMttP5Hu4mk
Video produced and provided by Dairy Farmers of Canada at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair 2012
Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
