Non-foaming milk continues

The foamability of milk is once more in the spotlight, and the BC Milk Marketing Board is now giving producers information that can help them anticipate potential issues.

“We now have enough research and data gathered to know that milk that has free fatty acids greater than 1.2 mmol/100g butterfat will not foam,” the board told producers in a January 22 bulletin.

During the latter half of 2023, the percentage of FFA tests that exceeded the threshold were at some of their highest rates seen since 2020, when the issue came to the fore.

September saw 22.7% of tests exceed the threshold, the third highest after August 2022 and January 2021.

Moreover between November 15, 2022, and April 26, 2023, there were four instances where processors could not market the milk they received.

“In these cases, during pasteurization the rancid odour was extreme, and the butterfat coagulated on top of the milk in the vat in large pieces,” the board reported. “Producers responsible for this milk received a non-qualifying milk penalty and were not paid for that milk shipment.”

While these four instances were extreme, non-foaming milk also prevents coffee bars from serving up the cappuccinos and lattes urbanites desire.

The issue rose to the top in 2020, as retail customers served up complaints to processors about the poor performance of their milk.

FFA levels are affected by a number of factors including agitation of the milk, excessive air emission, overpumping and temperature fluctuations. These actions can cause the membrane surrounding milk fats to break down, freeing them.

Work to educate producers and limit the incidence of FFA is an ongoing challenge, as the recent resurgence of high FFA levels indictes.

“This issue continues to be problematic today, impacting all stakeholders in the value chain,” the milk board says.

It encourages producers with elevated FFA levels to contact Erin Cuthbert, dairy technologist with the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food to discuss corrective actions.

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7 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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4 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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5 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.