Dairy quota increases

Strong demand for milk is leading to a quota increase for producers across Western Canada.

Producers in BC and the other three provinces within the Western Milk Pool will receive a 2% increase to their daily quota effective September 1.

“This increase in daily quota is being issued to meet the continued strong demand in both the fluid and industrial markets,” the announcement, made July 31, stated. “[It] will also bring producer quota issuance more in-line with total quota allotted through total market requirements.”

The announcement kicked off the new dairy year, which began August 1. It follows an increase on February 1, which responded to processor demand.

BC producers received an extra 3% quota in that round, which aimed to level out quota issuance to each of the four provinces in the Western Milk Pool at approximately 101%.

“In previous years, we haven’t had the processing, so we haven’t been able to allocate all of our quota,” Jeremy Wiebe, executive treasurer with the BC Milk Marketing Board, told producers on April 12 as part of their spring meetings.

BC was one of two provinces to receive a boost to 101% quota allocation, thanks in part to the expansion of milk processing capacity in the province.

Most recently, Vitalus Nutrition Inc. has commissioned a massive new butter churn that’s supplying BC-churned butter to the west, and is also building a plant to process 500 million litres in Abbotsford that’s set to be operational by fall 2026.

“It’s a big deal for the West. It’s going to result in a lot of quota growth for farmers,” Wiebe said in April, noting that the outlook for milk processing is as bright as it’s been in at least a decade.

Demand typically increases with the return to school and regular fall activities.

However, staff with the four milk marketing boards across the Western Milk Pool provinces will continue to monitor the production and processing situation on a weekly basis to determine if further adjustments in production and quota allocations are needed.

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17 hours ago

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23 hours ago

Forty-six regions in BC are eligible to participate in the federal livestock tax deferral program, announced yesterday, more than anywhere else in the country. The program allows producers who downsize their breeding herds by 15% to defer reporting the proceeds until the following year, when they buy replacement stock. But after multiple years of drought, the BC beef herd is cruising 25-year lows and some producers are calling for more support to maintain and rebuild their herds. For more, see: [www.countrylifeinbc.com/bc-leads-livestock-tax-deferrals/]

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5 days ago

After weeks and weeks of no moisture, there's rain in Kelowna today. While much more moisture is needed over the coming weeks and months to reduce drought conditions and the air smells of wet campfire, the slow, steady rain is very welcome for fruit grower#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

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6 days ago

The first Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust Grassland Set-aside Variety Trial Field Day was held at Delta's family-owned Tecarte Farms, August 27. Co-owner Bill Bates and DFWT executive director Christine Schmalz welcomed more than 35 people to view seven acres planted to different grassland blends specifically chosen to rejuvenate the soil and support the farm's blueberries. For the Bates family, it was time to try something different following the decline of the field's blueberry bushes over the past several years. "We tried everything, and nothing worked," says Bates. The blueberries were removed in May and the grassland crops planted about a week later.

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Bessette Creek is the latest watershed hit with a temporary fish protection order this year as the province moves to protect returning Chinook salmon. A total of 131 surface and groundwater users must cease drawing water immediately, with forage producers, greenhouses and nurseries impacted. "Declining flows in Bessette Creek reached record lows in early July 2026 and have remained below the minimum level required to support fish population survival," says the province. Bessette producers have embraced voluntary cutbacks, scheduled irrigation and other measures to reduce water use, and are also waiting on funding to boost water storage infrastructure. They're the second group of producers hit with a provincial order this year. Salmon River irrigators were told to top watering earlier this month following a reprieve to address wildfire risk. Growers in both the Salmon River and Bessette watersheds are urging the province to support new water storage infrastructure in advance of next year.

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There is a problem... having lived in the salmon river ( silver creek ) area, I remember a fish biologist telling family members that salmon only "survive" in high iron content creeks, they do not "thrive".... salmon river ( silver creek ) is a very high iron content, would stain clothes brown when i would use bleach... So don't expect high salmon numbers off of that creek , even in ideal situations...

I just wish they would take an interest in CHASE CREEK....went bone dry...100% of trout abd other species died...smell was terrible from rotting fish. Understand this has happened many times in the past. Chase Irrigation District totally responsible for this disaster. Now fishermen are complaining about major drop in water levels at Pillar Lake.

They could not mismanage things worse than they have. It's impossible for them to. The fact that farmers that we need for our animals are now suffering the consequences our governments have not protected us from, is absolutely fucking wild.