Dairy Farmers of Canada wants consumers to know that the Blue Cow logo is a sign that dairy products bearing the symbol are made from the milk of happy cows cared according to the industry’s long-standing proAction animal care initiative.
“The Blue Cow is worth nothing without proAction, because everything that we do in proAction actually backs up what the Blue Cow stands for,” Comox Valley producer and Dairy Farmers of Canada director Dave Taylor told the Mainland Milk Producers annual general meeting in Abbotsford, January 7. “ProAction is really the window into the commitment by dairy farmers in showing that they are producing high-quality milk for their consumers in a sustainable way with great animal care.”
Nationally, 8,715 products bear the industry-owned logo reserved for products made entirely with milk from Canada. The logo enjoys high recognition among consumers, and growing use by processors.
Taylor urged producers to participate in the current consultation on revisions to the National Farm Animal Care Council’s Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Dairy Cattle that is the basis of the animal care module of the industry’s proAction program. The comment period ends January 27, and everyone from vegans to vets can submit comments.
“It’s really, really important that you actually give input on this,” Taylor says. “Even for you to just go to the NFACC website, and say ‘I agree with what the code committee has done, I think it’s a balanced code,’ or ‘I think that one, two, three things need to change.’ Please go in and do that on behalf of your farm.”
Key areas of concern for Dairy Farmers of Canada are new and revised standards for cattle and calf housing, as well as criteria for how lameness is assessed.
The national code is reviewed once every 10 years. ProAction was launched as the Canadian Quality Milk program in 2002 and became mandatory in 2009.
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