OTTAWA, December 4, 2009 – The Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) announced today its decision not to change the support prices for butter and skim milk powder. Effective February 1, 2010, the support price for skim milk powder will remain at $6.1783 per kg and that of butter at $7.1024 per kg.
Support prices are the prices at which the CDC buys and sells butter and skim milk powder to balance seasonal demand changes on the domestic market. They are also used as references by provincial milk marketing boards to price the milk sold to processors who make products such as butter, skim milk powder, yogurt, and ice cream. The price of dairy products paid by consumers is influenced by several additional factors such as the manufacturing, transportation, packaging, and distribution costs throughout the supply chain.
“Input costs have decreased slightly from their peak in 2008, allowing dairy farmers to recover their cost of production. This is why we have not changed the support prices for butter and skim milk powder” said Randy Williamson, Chairman of the CDC.
Despite the current economic situation, the demand for dairy products has remained stable in Canada. In the 2008-2009 dairy year, Canadian milk requirements were 50.04 million hectolitres, up 0.3% from the previous year. Maintaining current support prices will help consolidate or accentuate this trend.
The Canadian Dairy Commission, a federal Crown corporation created in 1966, is a key facilitator within the Canadian dairy sector. The CDC helps design, implement, and administer policies and programs to address dairy producer and processor needs. It is mandated to provide efficient dairy producers with the opportunity to get a fair return on their labour and investment, and to ensure that Canadian consumers are provided with adequate supplies of quality dairy products.
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For more information, please contact:
Carole Cyr
Communications Services
Tel: 613-792-2041
Email: carole.cyr@cdc-ccl.gc.ca
Web site: www.cdc-ccl.gc.ca